Who, Me?

September 4, 2005 (Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 18)

  by The Rev. Canon Linda Yeager, Canon Deacon

• Ezekiel 33:(1-6)7-11
• Psalm 119:33-48 or 119:33-40
• Romans 12:9-21
• Matthew 18:15-20

(From The Lectionary Page)

I’m sure many of us remember the Coca-Cola song, as we liked to call it—especially those of us who have been around awhile. Remember the mass of people of all nations holding hands, spreading out on the hillside: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be.” Perhaps it was a schmaltzy way to sell a soft drink, but the concept lingers. And as I studied the scripture passages for this week, that song kept reverberating in my mind, along with another word: responsibility. Individual responsibility. That thought has remained in my mind and spirit as we have walked through a week of unbearable heartbreak and tragedy.

I find that thought reinforced in all the passages today, beginning with Ezekiel. The prophet saw himself as a sentinel, a lookout, a sentry, called to warn the people of their sins, but also to let them know that God is full of compassion, and God wishes the wicked to change their ways and turn to God. God wants God’s people to live in peace. Ezekiel had a weighty responsibility to fulfill.

In our Psalm for today, the psalmist begs for God’s help to be taught God’s statutes. The psalmist will take the responsibility to keep God’s laws, but he needs God’s instructions and help. By the way, if you look at that very long psalm, Psalm 119, you will see that it contains 176 lines and its form is truly remarkable. It is one of the wonderful psalms that in its entirety consists of 22 eight-line stanzas that correspond to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, with each line of a stanza beginning with the same letter. The subject of all 176 lines of the psalm is the joy of observing and studying God’s words as Law and of the willingness of the psalmist to take the responsibility to follow that Law as it is taught in the Torah.

Next, we take a look at Paul’s letter to the Romans. This particular passage reads like a segment of Proverbs, doesn’t it, with a battery of “shoulds.” Among them, however, we can find a theme of sorts. Paul, like Ezekiel, understands that there is, indeed, evil in the world, and, he explains, Christians must take the responsibility to respond with love, joy, patience, perseverance, hospitality, and the like. “ . . . if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink . . .” Paul encourages the Christians in Rome to be at peace with everyone and to take responsibility for one another.

And then we come to Matthew. In the first verses of chapter 18, preceding today’s reading, the disciples had asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. He had told them, “Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (18:4) He then warns people to remove any obstacles that would keep others from following Christ. And he tells the parable of the lost sheep: “If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go in search of the one that went astray?” (18:12) So, in our passage for today, which follows, Jesus was probably referring to the dispute about who should be the greatest. And perhaps the disciples were perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed for asking such a question or even smarting a bit after the gentle rebuke. Jesus now advises the disciples to seek reconciliation when one sins against the other. His step-by-step advice follows the pattern of the synagogues at the time that Matthew lived and the advice is based on an honest expectation of good will. The spirit of the instructions once again refers to our responsibility for one another. Jesus concludes his remarks in this section of Chapter 18 by reminding them that “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Alone, of course, we pray and Christ dwells with us, but we are, by nature, social people, and Jesus also commends corporate prayer. And for the small number of followers, surely this phrase offered comfort and encouragement. But notice, even in this phrase, Jesus addresses the dependence of one upon the other.

We are not to live isolated from one another, but to support, encourage, even confront one another. Mother Teresa had a wonderful way of expressing this sense of responsibility, one for another. She said, “I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look only at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one. You get closer to Christ by coming closer to each other. As Jesus said, ‘Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.’ So you begin . . .I begin. I picked up one person—maybe if I didn’t pick up that one person I wouldn’t have picked up all the others. The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if we don’t put the drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. Same thing for you. Same thing in your family. Same thing in the church where you go. Just begin…one, one, one.” [Michael Collopy, Works of Love Are Works of Peace: Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Missionaries of Charity (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1996) p. 35.]

We are all feeling overwhelmed by the needs surrounding us. This past week we have witnessed the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. The sights and stories are truly overpowering. The need is so great, and we are so far away. But if we listen to scripture, we know that we are responsible, one for another, even if what we have to offer is only a drop in the ocean. But if we don’t offer our drop—our dollar, our letter of hope, our contribution of clothing, our prayers for the suffering—the victims will have one dollar, one letter of hope, one outfit, one prayer less. In addition to the national response with Episcopal Relief and Development, we at the Cathedral are working to link with one parish in the area to whom we can offer personal help and hope. You will be hearing more about that effort of individual responsibility.

And the birthing center in Haiti? Why Haiti people ask? Why not? If we are able to help save one baby or one mother, that is one baby or one mother less that will have to suffer the agonies of inadequate medical care and hopelessness. It doesn’t matter where we save this mother or this baby; it is the process of reaching out with heart and hand that is important.

We feel overwhelmed by what is happening even in our own community, the senseless killing of innocent victims, the pain of loss and the fear that encompasses our neighbors as well as ourselves. What can we do against the gang mentality, against the bitterness, indifference and hatred of one against another? If we follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbor as ourselves and if we assume responsibility one for another, we will find a way to help even one person or one family, to reach out with tolerance and hope. We will help one family pay their utility bill; we will aid one family with their rent. For one less victim means one less grieving family, one less senseless loss.

Mother Teresa was convinced that “the biggest disease today is not leprosy or cancer or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, deserted by everybody.” She believed that each of us has been sent to bring God’s love to the world, to prove God’s love to those who feel unloved.

So, what can we do individually to overcome violence, disaster, hatred, war, and to bring peace to the earth? Not even Mother Teresa would have suggested that she had all the answers to the complex and difficult problems facing our world. But we can begin by offering our loving responsibility to one person at a time. We can, with love and prayer, follow Jesus’ words to love one another and to reach out to one another. If each of us would single out one person to help, one drop to put in the ocean, little by little, person by person, we would inch closer to the peace that we long for, the peace that was meant to be.