Romans 13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20; September 10, 2023; Homecoming Sunday
The title of this sermon is “Common Ground.” Note, it is not called “Same Ground.”
For though we are all the same, equal and loved, by and as children of God (as I have said over and again here in year one) none of us, not even siblings, exist on, or are even buried in, the same ground of life.
For to be on, or in, the same ground would also mean that we come from the same money, the same upbringings and memories, the same perspectives of thought, education, and opinion.
But, we don’t. We don’t. And so, just because you experience something one way, doesn’t mean that others experience it the same way. Likewise, just because one thing is true for you doesn’t mean the same thing will be true for others. And just because you read a headline, an article, a book, or even a gospel in your way, doesn’t mean that others, even who are in the same pews as you, will agree.
But you know what, that’s okay! That’s okay. For we have a whole church history filled with wonderful and orderly dissent and good Christian disagreement, and yet through it all, we have been given inescapable evidence that this can still work. Imperfect, sometimes messy, and maybe even a little bloody, the Church can still work even when we disagree.
You see, often we make the mistake thinking that the only way we can make it work as Christians is if we reverberate and harmonize upon the exact same frequencies. Upon the exact same thoughts. Upon the exact same beliefs. As if we all have, or should, exist upon a flat, single, and straight line of faith, that worships God without deviation or fluctuation.
But the truth is, Christians like the rest of the world exist upon something more resembling a circle than a flat line. The Earth is not flat despite what Kyrie Irving would have you believe, and neither then is our faith or our experiences! Rather, it is like a circle in which we find ourselves, and in it we are spread out from each other, often residing either at north or south poles of dogmatic thought, or in east or west hemispheres of doctrinal belief; and yet, even so, we are caught in a common gravitational pull that unifies us towards that which is in the middle, which is God. The pull (at least here) being our common love for Jesus. For Yeshua.
And so, even though it’s a wonderful dream (perhaps), it is yet unrealistic that we will ever stand upon the same ground, sharing the exact same thoughts, experiences, and beliefs. But, that doesn’t mean that we should give up the search for common ground. For common meridians and compatible intersections which all draw us back to the center of what’s important. To God. And then through Christ, back outward towards each other.
Matthew’s gospel lesson today gives us three steps towards achieving something like this. Not one or two. But three. Three steps to guide us in reconciling with each other. Bringing us back to center, back to what’s important.
If Matthew wanted us to take this task of unifying lightly, he would have outlined a single step, a simple to-do, or he would have said, just forget about it and move on. But instead, he gives us three movements, three clauses, each increasingly more complicated, such that we are all but forced to try to find commonality before considering throwing each other away.
You see, for Matthew, as it was for Jesus, and as it is for God, relationships matter. Our unity and our relationships to and with each other matter. And so, they shouldn’t be so easily discarded in a single step or two, or over a single disagreement or two.
In this world today where we are all too quick to do just that: to unfriend, to unfollow, to block, and say, the hell with you, the hell with them, we are reminded by scripture, by our gravitational pull, to do the exact opposite. To do everything we can to work and stay together; such that even amongst our differences, and our missteps and wrongdoings, we yet remember that which is our center, that which we all commonly share. Namely, at least here in this place, that we are all Christians who are just trying our best to love and serve the Lord in the ways known to us, which have been shaped and colored by our unique upbringings, experiences, and perspectives.
Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that the best way to find and stand on this common ground together is through refashioning ourselves in and by love (Valerie’s favorite sermon topic). “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” – Romans 13:8
Now love, as we know, as great as it is, is not always so black and white as law. No, love is in fact sometimes incoherent, messy, and even sometimes a little bloody. Any of us who are in loving relationships, or who have watched the trial of Jonny Depp and Amber Heard, know this all too well. For love is rarely how it looks on Instagram, or as easy as it appears in the matrimonial magazines or “Lifetime” movies. No, love takes work, love takes patience, and love takes real and vulnerable honesty. Which means, just like Matthew teaches us, love requires numerous steps towards making it work, towards sustaining its flame, towards reconciling where it has gone wrong.
Love then, if real, if lasting and true, is rarely ever easy. Instead, it requires a heck of a lot of self-sacrifice, self-giving, and self-humbling. For love asks us to think of someone else’s perspectives and experiences before articulating our own, which means it does not force our own opinions and beliefs onto someone else. Instead, love allows for all issues to be openly even if painfully considered and discussed rather than bullying each other or burying the issues altogether. For wherever compromise and common ascent can be achieved, love demands that decency and respect must come first. Love then, finally, never requires of itself to look the same, but it hopes that it might share at least those things in common.
My friends, on this Homecoming Sunday, where we celebrate new officers who will discuss and disagree on all matters of importance at Session and Deacon meetings; and on this Rally Weekend when we recognize our pillars who have lived through all sorts of comings and goings here at Grace… we who are here surrounding them must continue, if not begin for the first time, to show each other decency and respect; opening our hearts and minds so to find common ground even amongst those you privately can’t stand; even amongst those you have already tried but have twice failed to love.
Amen.
