As I read Paul’s second letter to Jesus’ followers in the
city of Corinth, I was reminded of a request that Betty Pat Leach made in one
of my last visits with her before her death. “When the reader is introducing
the reading from the Epistle, could we please have them say, “Paul’s letter to the
Church in Corinth”? He wasn’t writing to the whole city, he was writing to a
small group IN the city.
For those of us who had the privilege of knowing Betty
Pat, it’s not particularly surprising that she was thinking about our
liturgical framing of scripture upon her deathbed! Because, Betty Pat knew that
words matter.
Words matter. What we say here, within the context of our
worship, shapes our understanding of who we are, what we believe, and how we
enact that belief in our wider communities.
So, difference does it make if we re-frame the reading of
the Epistle, changing from “Paul’s letter to the Corinthians” to “Paul’s letter
to the Church in Corinth”?
Well, for one, it reminds us that the defining
characteristic of those to whom Paul wrote was shared adherence to the way of
Jesus. It also reminds us that these followers of the way did not represent the
majority culture of the day. Finally, it helps us to consider that Paul was
writing to a Church.
The Church in Corinth was a Church, just as St. Clement’s
Episcopal Church is a Church!
So, given this simple truth, how does St. Clement’s hear
the words of Paul within our own context?
St. Clement’s is an Episcopal Church within the Episcopal
Church of the United States of America, within the Anglican Communion. We are a
part of a much larger whole and as we gather this morning, the 79th
triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of
America also gathers.
At General Convention, #gc79, there is great debate about
everything from Prayer Book revision to the presence of nursing babies on the floor
of the House of Deputies. There are ongoing arguments about the full inclusion
of same-sex couples within the life of the church (there are 8 Bishops in the
Episcopal Church who still deny marriage blessings to same-sex couples), as
well as resolutions brought forward to address the sexual harassment and
exploitation of people within the context of the church. I am quite simply,
daunted, by the breadth and scope of legislation being brought to the floor of
convention—particularly because I have a vested interest in so much of what is
being considered on the floor of convention.
But, as I consider convention within light of the Church
in Corinth I am reminded of the words of the Episcopal theologian, lay leader,
and advocate for the ministry of the laity, Verna Dozier, "We forget that complexity of differences in the New
Testament church. We like to say it's unified, yet we're always romanticizing
about the day when the church will speak with one voice. The church has never
spoken with one voice, not since time immemorial."
The church in Corinth consisted of both wealthy local
converts, and the poor. It consisted of people who were accustomed to having
worldly power and influence and those who had long been subject to the whims of
the powerful. And, the in-fighting in the community was intense as members of
the church tried to navigate the significant differences of race, class and
gender. Does this scenario sound familiar? The Episcopal Church in 2018 is not
unlike that in Corinth—consisting of people accustomed to having worldly power and
influence, and those who have long been denied power in our world. Prayer Book
revision arguments coalesce around the question of the inclusion of images of
God that reflect the imagio dei of women and the breadth of gender identity; the
question of allowing a nursing baby on the floor of convention becomes a
question about the inclusion of young parents in the legislative body. And,
once again, we find the Church struggling to navigate significant differences
of race, class and gender…
In her book, Authority of the Laity, Verna Dozier wrote
that “God came into history to create a people who would change the world, who
would make the world a place where every person knows that they are loved, are
valued, have a contribution to make, and have just as much right to the riches
of the world as every other person. That is what the church is all about, to
bring into being that vision, that ideal community of love in which we all are
equally valuable and in which we equally share. Every structure of life comes
under the judgment of that vision: our politics, our economics, our education,
our social structures. Even the church!”
Ms. Dozier’s words resonate as the church continues to struggle
with the tension of God’s call to full inclusion of all people, and our own
failures as a Church to live into God’s dream.
I can only imagine how the community in Corinth responded
to Paul’s emphasis upon strength in weakness and the importance that the gifts
of every member of the church be recognized. However, my imagination is inspired
by my awareness of how the Church we have today responds to contemporary voices
which echo Paul’s words in our 21st century context.
One such voice is that the President of
the House of Deputies, the reverend Gay Clark Jennings, who enjoins all of us, “to
open ourselves to leadership that doesn't look like the leadership we've seen
most of our lives”
This was one of the challenges facing the church in
Corinth—leadership in the Church does not and should not simply be a mirror of
our biases and assumptions about who gets to have power in this world. And, so
today we hear Paul remind all of us that power does not emerge from a position
of worldly strength, but is instead born of weakness--think of Jesus’ rejection in his hometown,
think of the vulnerability of the disciples as they went from place to place
with only a walking staff and one tunic for the journey.
It is critical that all of us remember that we are a
Church founded by the rejected, the persecuted, and the marginalized…
The power of God is, indeed, made manifest in weakness!
And, so as I consider the concerns of General Convention
and the wider world in which it exists in context, I think it is critical that
we prioritize the voices of those who have been rejected, persecuted, and
marginalized. I think it is critical, because our scripture and our tradition
tell us that it is in the full inclusion of the rejected, persecuted and
marginalized voices that God’s dream for all of us will come to fruition.
To appeal once more to Ms. Dozier, the dream of God is that,
“all creation will live together in peace and harmony and
fulfillment. All parts of creation. And the dream of God is that the good
creation that God created -- what the refrain says, 'and God saw that it was
good' -- be restored,"
In strength and with grace--let it be so.
Amen.
In strength and with grace--let it be so.
Amen.
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