I Epiphany 4-B
Sunday, 29 January 2012
The Rev’d Lloyd Prator
New York City

I think that it was in the study of mathematics that I first leaned about the word “congruent”. I was always attracted to words which I thought sort of elegant, and as a kid might say now, cool. I learned that congruent figures were those which, if placed one atop the other, coincide in all their parts. Another way of putting it is that they match.

Today, we read in the gospel about the synagogue worshipers being astounded at Jesus because he taught with authority, not like the scribes. Those poor old scribes. I am sure there must have been many good ones among them, but generally they are set up as straw men for Jesus to deride and supersede in theological discussions.

Generally the scribes, and their friends the Pharisees, were known to be those who liked to turn attention to themselves, who liked to seek the places of honor, and who emphasized the cultic, ritual aspects of Jewish life.

Jesus, on the other hand, spoke with authority. People said that because what he spoke about, he actually lived out, and what he commended, he did. The exorcism in today’s gospel is an aspect of Jesus’ turning words into action. He would do the same thing when he perceived people hungry and saw that they got fed. He would do the same thing when there was insufficient wine for a wedding reception and he managed to pony up some fairly good zinfandel.

This is what the writers of the gospel meant by speaking with authority. It is what I like to describe as speaking and acting congruently. What is inside the heart is the same as what is on the lips and what is on the lips is the same as what is wrought by the hands. The gospel of Jesus is about congruence.

I think congruence is still a value we rightly treasure. It is the opposite of hypocrisy; the value most different from the centering on self. Martin Luther, the great 16th century reformer to whom we owe so much sound theological tradition, once said that our sinful self-centered nature is described best in this Latin phrase: We are in curvatus in se. Being curved in on ourselves.

If we are truly to be followers of Christ, truly to respond to the one who calls us, we are not free to pursue merely one’s own desires. I was disgusted — although not entirely surprised — when I learned that some of the candidates for the presidential nomination had given less than $400.00 to charity last year. Sounds fairly curved in on oneself, to my way of thinking.

It seems to me that our vocation is to live with authority the way Jesus did, and in fact, as a community, we are often challenged, as well, to live with that kind of authority. Both individually and corporately.

Individually, we live with authority when our lives are not so much turned in on themselves as they are turned outward toward others. A group of men were once running for election as bishop in a major city. A Bishop election, and we just went through one here in ths diocese last year, is a fairly political process, so it is difficult to see the trends of faith and call which are a part of the process. Often they are buried under egos. I heard two of these men talking about the election, and one of them was convinced he was going to be elected. “What are you going to do after the election,” asked the other, “my wife and I are going t Nantucket for a week just to unwind.” “Well”, said the first man, “we had a trip planned to London even before the election process started, so we will do that. And, of course, I may need to stay over a few days in London. I may be needing a few things.” he said with a wry smile. “Hmm?” puzzled the second man. “You know”, he said, “we may need to spend some time shopping at Wippell’s.”

Now Wippell’s is the most exclusive supply house in the whole Anglican Communion, known for the best copes and miters, crosiers and rings, that an aspiring young bishop might long for. And, indeed, our friend certainly did. He was going to be prepared to get the stuff, as he put it.

I smiled as I overheard that conversation, and while I did not think of it at the time, it certainly was an example of one being curved in on himself. Smug and satisfied, he thought he had it all sewed up, not to make too bad a pun.

As it happened, someone else was elected. He probably still made the London trip, but it did not need to be a shopping trip to Wippell’s.

Institutions can become curved in on themselves and forget the authority they bear. Churches can become so inward looking that we lose sight of our authority, borne from Jesus, and carried into a world in need. The beginning of the calendar year is a time when the parish thinks about the next chapter in its life. Our financial year begins in January. We elect wardens and vestry members at the APM today. And we begin new things. We have decided to have another youth group here; this one is a high-school singing group, looking for a home; looking for a place to get musical experience and training not easily attainable in the schools these days. We are thinking about another project to help the poorest people in the world, this time, the outreach committee is exploring carefully the possibility of helping with sick and injured children in the ravaged country of Haiti, or some African or Asian country.

When we do these things, we share in the faith of Jesus and in that faith and in that authority lies his freedom; freedom he passes on to us as a promise, a reward, and also a challenge.

May our lives, individually and corporately, be congruent with the life of the one who gave his life for us that we might have eternal life.