Do
you know there is a struggle going on, a struggle for America's heart
and soul? To put it simply, the struggle is between them and us. And the
question that I would raise this morning is: Who are they and who are
we? Who is the them for you and who is the us for you? It's true in our
society, Republicans and Democrats have been debating issues — one
could be them, another could be us — but it's true not only in political
parties, but also in the Church of Jesus Christ. Thirty years ago in 1969,
the Bureau of Census reported that 90% of all Roman Catholics had always
been Roman Catholic; 85% of all Baptists had always been Baptist; 80%
of all Methodists had always been Methodist; 70% of all Lutherans had
always been Lutheran; 67% of all Presbyterians had always been Presbyterian
and 60% of all Episcopalians had always been Episcopalian. But today in
1999, the Bureau
of Census tells us only 25% of the people in a particular religious group
have always been in that group. Today three out of four people in that
group have been members of another religious group.
What I want
to get at this morning is this: God wants to break down the barriers that
separate us. He wants to teach us a very important
theological lesson: we need each other! We need people who aren't exactly
like us. We need people who don't think exactly the way we think or look
the way we look. What God is telling us in the scripture lessons this
morning is that He wants to break down dividing walls of hostility among
us so that we are one. Did you hear what we read responsively in Galatians
this morning — and what I read from Ephesians?
In
Paul's day, when Galatians and Ephesians were written, society was chauvinistic
— men were dominant. That was the kind of society it was. Yet Paul
dared to suggest to the people that in Christ there is neither male nor
female. I'm telling you that was radical. And Paul went on to suggest
that not only is there neither male nor female, there is also neither
Jew nor Greek. At that time everyone thought you had to a be Jew to become
a Christian. Paul was saying to the Gentiles — a Gentile means anyone
who's not a Jew — that they could be Christians also. There's neither
male nor female, there's neither Jew nor Gentile, there's neither slave
nor free. Christianity broke down the socioeconomic strata from a hierarchical
society where wealthy people sat with wealthy people and poor people sat
with poor people and rearranged all the price tags, so that you have a
melting pot of diversity in the church where rich and poor sit side side
by side. Even master and servant could sit beside one another and take
communion. Their unity came from being one in Jesus Christ.
This morning the lesson
God wants to teach us is the wonder — the wonder — the wonder
of differences. Where in your life and mine do we most need to learn this
lesson? This morning God wants to ask us three questions. As we focus
on these three questions, we're taking an inventory of how well we're
doing in becoming a community that makes us and them into we. Two diverse
groups into one. People who are estranged from one another bridging that
gap. Take an inventory as we ask these questions into how well we're doing
on becoming one in Christ.
Question Number One.
Where in your life right now — where in my life right now —
are we limiting God? Where are we limiting God? Is there anyone here who
never thought they would live in New York City? Is there anyone here who
said to herself or himself, "Well I'll come to New York for one year,
two years tops," and that was five or ten or fifteen years ago? Isn't
it true that often God leads us to do things we would never imagine? But,
sometimes when we're not open to what God has in store for us, we're limiting
God.
There
are some words that need redefining in the Church of Jesus Christ. The
word liberal, the word evangelical, the word charismatic, the word conservative.
As I mention those words, do you find yourself thinking, "Do I fit
that label," or do you say, "Ah, that's my word." What
I find so interesting is that often conservative people say, "I'll
never become a liberal" and liberal people say, "I'll never
become an evangelical." You
know what's interesting — these are wonderful words. The word liberal
comes from liber, it means free. Now if liberal means that you have no
absolutes or standards, you wouldn't want to be a liberal, but if liberal
means that we're willing to get involved with the people on the margins,
if we're willing to reach out to the poor and the broken, as Jesus Christ
did, if we're willing to become passionate to suffer with the poor, then
wouldn't we want to be a liberal? Isn't that part of what the Bible teaches
— Old and New Testament?
Now if evangelical means buttonholing someone today on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street after church to ask, "Are you saved?," would any of us really want to be an evangelical? But if evangelical means someone who knows that the Gospel of Christ is good news and wants to share it with someone as one beggar helping another beggar where to find bread, then isn't evangelism a wonderful word? Helping someone in an authentic way in their time, in God's time, discover the wonderful grace and forgiveness of God. Isn't evangelism a wonderful word?
If charismatic means someone who raises their hands during worship and praises God only with their hands, suggesting they're a little more spiritual than someone else, would you want to really be a charismatic? But if charismatic means — which the etymology suggests — grace-gifted, then all of our gifts are inspired by the Holy Spirit. We need God's empowerment to do what we do, so wouldn't we want to be charismatic in the best sense? If conservative means, "It's my way or no way," is that really the way we want to live? Do we want to be a conservative? But if conservative means maintaining tradition and remembering that there are standards, then maybe being a conservative is a wonderful thing — something we would want to be. Don't you see, conservatives need liberals and liberals need evangelicals and evangelicals need charismatics and we all need one another.
Question Number
Two.
Where in our life right now are we breaking God's heart by being silent? You were saddened, as I was, to read in the paper of the tragic shooting of twenty-two-year-old Amadou Diallo, the Guinean immigrant — shot by four New York policemen with forty-one bullets. You saw it on the newsreels, on television, and read it in the New York Times. This has been a tragedy for our city. There have been gatherings all over the city of people of color and white people. Editorials that have been written and there have been several funeral services. May I tell you that since this happened, I've been in five gatherings — five — with clergy of color from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian traditions. What I have been learning is that people of color all over this city often feel that those in authority do not give them the benefit of the doubt. In fact, they are suspect just by walking down the street! And I've heard some of the saddest stories I have ever heard — stories that have broken my heart as a Caucasian male. When I walk down the street to a restaurant, no one stops me; but if somebody else, a person of color, walks to that same restaurant, they are often stopped because someone has labeled or stereotyped them. Whenever a tragedy like this happens, we know we are going to hear voices expressing outrage. What I've been asking myself is, why am I sometimes silent? Are there times when I should speak? Times when we should speak? Times when we should define what "we" means and what "they" means?
Question
Number Three.
Are we willing to take a hammer to start to tear down the walls that separate
us from other people? Will we take that hammer and begin to tear down
those dividing walls, one block at a time? Did you see the pictures of
King Hussain's funeral service? The President of the United States, the
Prime Minister of Israel, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization,
and the President of Syria, who had never been in the presence of an Israeli
official, were all together. It was a sign of what I think God is asking
us to do — to be more at one with one another and to celebrate our
differences and to learn from one another. This is why I want us to go
on the excursions planned by our "Church in the City" committee.
I want us to go out and hear what other congregations are doing, in Manhattan,
in Harlem, in the Bronx, in Brooklyn, in Queens. Our neighbor churches
are doing some phenomenal things from which we could learn. I want us
to go hopefully and prayerfully so that some walls will drop down and
we will be able to learn from one another. And maybe, just maybe, some
of our stereotypes will start to come down as well. I hope you'll join
with me, the other clergy and staff, and the volunteers as we visit and
then invite our neighbor churches over to our congregation to fellowship
with them and learn from one another — people from different walks
of life, different racial/ethnic backgrounds, but all of us one in Jesus
Christ. What a wonderful testimony to God's love. Will you join us? Where
is God asking you to take a hammer to start to tear down a wall?
