The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost

Proper 11

Sunday, 19 July 2009
The Rev’d Lloyd Prator

New York City

The second reading is from Ephesians. Ephesians is one of those letters the authorship of which is uncertain. The standard canons of scripture attribute it to Paul the apostle, but some scholars have doubts. Doesn’t matter. Plan and simple matter is this: This letter contains some of the most important things about Christianity in the whole Bible. Let’ say, for sake of discussion, that Paul the apostle wrote it.

So, you may say, I don’t like Paul because he did not like women or gays and lesbians. And you are tempted to dust off anything that has Paul written at the top of it. Big mistake. Biggest mistake. Really.

Take a closer look. Paul is writing to Gentiles, that is, to put the matter clearly, if somewhat clinically, to men who had not been circumcised. Two major barriers within the new church—had to be a man, had to be circumcised. And yet, Paul goes on to say that God broke down these barriers to create one new people. God has broken down the dividing wall between groups of people; he has proclaimed peace and unity to all people, to those far off and those near.

Now, in fact, Paul and the theologians of the early church went forward and drove their point home by not only abandoning circumcision, a sign which excluded non Jews, but also replaced it with baptism, a sign which includes all of humanity—no0t just those who happen to have been borne male and Jewish.

All of these changes came about because Paul was determined to make the point that God had broken down the dividing wall between parts of the human family. And that determination has echoed down the corridors of time throughout the history of the Church. It was this notion of tearing down the walls between humanity that led to the early abolitionists struggle against slavery. It led the church get on board the movement for equality between men and women. It led the church to get on board the early movements for civil rights and liberties back in the sixties. And, yes, it led the church years and years ago to begin the process of supporting gay men and lesbians in the struggle for equality.

This week, in Anaheim, our church took another step in the struggle against dividing the church between gay and straight. The General Convention of our Church voted to withdraw from a consent decree that established a policy against ordination of gay and lesbian bishops. The church should be proud of what it did.

Not that the whole matter has been laid to rest. There will still be struggles to maintain our position in the Anglican Communion, the vast majority of which disagrees with the position we have taken. And yet it should be of some comfort to us to realize that all of the positions of human liberation have begun with a minority speaking in a very small voice heard, initially by few. We have taken a few good steps forward, and one of them happened this week. We should, I think, give thanks for that.

Not only did Paul the apostle open the church to Gentiles, without forcing them to become Jewish, not only did Paul the apostle, with others, open the church to women by abandoning circumcision, he also created some lasting metaphors with which we can speak of the church which we love, and which gives us access to Jesus the Christ. In today’s reading, Paul speaks of the church being like a building built of finely hewn stones, each of us being one stone fit together with others, and Jesus being the chief cornerstone.

The building built of hewn stone is a powerful image. I have never been terribly fond of the notion of the church as a family—family life in our days does not always offer the best standards for the church to emulate. It seems to me that the equally ancient image of the community is the better image. A community is composed of people who come together because they feel called. They come together because of affinity and common mission. They come together because they have discovered that they fit—like a well-hewn stone. A much sturdier image, I think, and one, which calls out the best in us.

Today we give thanks for a community, which did what was right. A community, which took a step to ensure that people of all sorts and types are welcome. In the long run, that inclusiveness, accompanied by missionary zeal and enthusiasm, should inspire us to grow and develop into a “holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” (Ephesians 2:2)