Homily for
The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Sunday 22 January 2017
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
A Parish of the Diocese of Bethlehem and The Episcopal Church
Readings:
In the Epistle reading for this Sunday we find Paul
speaking rather boldly to the Corinthian Church. He observed that they
had become a rather divided church. Some of them say they belong to
Chloe, others to Peter (or Cephas as Paul prefers to refer to him), others to
Paul, others to Apollos. Finally Paul mentions some have said they belong
to Christ.
Paul will not stand by and let this go unaddressed.
His speech is rather harsh and blunt. He asks the Corinthians questions
aimed to remind them that their sole focus needs to be on Christ, that their
primary identity needs to be that of a Christian. And Paul knows the
significance of this in a way that is foreign to us who are the Church in
America who live in a comfort that often times leads us to forget the power of
this identity.
What am I talking about? In the Acts of the Apostles,
St. Luke makes reference to the fact that it was in Antioch that the believers
were first called Christians. Remember that among the first to proclaim
Jesus in that city we find St. Paul. This apostle and his generation of
the faithful knew who it was that had first called them Christians. He
knew the attitude that lay behind it. We forget this, and have difficulty
seeing this, but Paul and his generation knew it was persons outside the Church
who had developed this term, and that in the mind of those who first used this
term, this was an insult, a derogatory label. Among those, I dare say who
knew this, we can safely assume, I believe, that we would find the Corinthian
Church founded under the oversight of St. Paul.
All of this drives Paul to push the Corinthians to lay
aside all other identities and all other allegiance, and to be first and
foremost those who belong to Jesus Christ and take pride in being called
Christians, even when others intend this to be an insult.
The Corinthians are not the only ones who need to receive
the boldness of St. Paul. We need to hear it also. It is fitting
that we hear this message on this Sunday. This past Wednesday was the
Feast of the Confession of St. Peter who answered Jesus' question: "But
who do you say that I am?" His answer: "You are the
Christ." This coming Wednesday is the Feast of the Conversion of St.
Paul, who was encountered by Jesus on the Damascus Road. From that
encounter the persecutor was transformed to be an apostle and herald of the
Gospel.
During the days in between these feasts we keep the Week of
Christian Unity. But what can we say about Christian Unity? A study
done in 2006 showed that there were 217 distinct denominations at that
time. It should be noted that this number does not include the groups of
churches who have rejected a denominational identity and who refer to
themselves as "Non-Denominational.". And in the 11 years since
2006, a number of the Christian traditions, including within our own Anglican
Catholic tradition, have experienced further schism. The number is quite clearly larger than the former 217; how much
larger I cannot say. It really doesn't matter how much larger it
is. What matters is that clearly there are far too many Christians saying
"I belong to" someone other than Christ, as one did the Corinthians.
There is something even more troubling. Among all these different
voices, how many of them believe that they and they alone are the purity of the
Church. We all know this! How many places have we found ourselves
where we are told directly that we are not welcome to draw near and receive the
Blessed Sacrament of the Altar in which Jesus longs to feed all his children
with his own body and blood? How many times have we experienced moments
when others within the Church have told us that in fact we are not
Christians? I dare say we have all experienced this!
St. Paul speaks directly to us and our generation of the faithful.
He challenges us to lay aside all this division and cling to our unity, our
"oneness." Elsewhere he tells us that there is "One Lord,
One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all.". In other words
the apostle is telling us, "There is only One Church; established by none
other than Jesus Christ through the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit
who proceeds from the heart of the Father."
But it is not enough for us to simply receive Paul's bold speech.
The apostle calls us to receive this in such a way that we as Christians first
and foremost join in boldly calling the Church of our generation to lay aside
all division and embrace our catholicity.
But how do we do this? We must consider this question. We
promote the unity of all Christians not in anger nor with frustration. We
do so in a spirit of love. Paul did not wish to injure those to whom he
spoke this message. He sought to build them up peacefully and show them
the all-encompassing love of Jesus Christ for all persons. This is the
way we should act with others, even when those others press forward in seeking
division rather than unity. In doing so we share our walk of faith, our
Christian identity and allegiance to Jesus. We do so not in our own name,
but rather in that name that is above all names, the name of him who prayed
before going to the cross that all who followed him by faith would be one even
as he and the Father are one.
This is by no means an easy task. But if we remember that even more
importantly than this being the will of the apostle who wrote so many of the
epistles and brought so many to the saving knowledge of the Christ that this is
the will of Jesus himself, we can be so bold as one was St. Paul. How can
I be so certain of this? Remember, dear friends, that when Jesus wills
something to be so, he also, through the power of the Holy Spirit, gives us
everything we need to accomplish that will. Only he does not give it to
us all individually. The gifts necessary are given to the whole body, of
whom we all are only one member among many. We need each other, not only
the ones who would according to their own will accept us, or whom we would
accept ourselves, but even those whom we are tempted in our sinful nature to
reject, and who would be tempted in that same sinful nature, to reject
us. Read on in 1 Corinthians and you will find St. Paul saying boldly
"if all were an eye, or an ear, or a hand, where would all the other
senses be?" If any are cut out, the body is handicapped, and the
Gospel is robbed of it's power.
May we embrace this truth, and in prayer and service, in word and deed, as
Christians above all other identities, seek the health of the whole body of Christ,
the fullness of the One Church, of whom Jesus is our head, our life, our
salvation and inspiration.
Father
Timothy
Alleman
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