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Sermon June 11, 2023
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, MSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
Second Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, Track 1
https://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Pentecost/AProp5_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__June_11__2023
Video: https://youtu.be/6tSz0jF9XdY
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9
As you know when I moved to Washington DC for my job with the National Association of Social Workers, I ended up attended the Washington National Cathedral. It was probably January of 2007 and I was at the Cathedral’s observance of Martin Luther King, Jr birthday. I was speaking with Ms. Corinne Barnwell, who was staffing an information table.
Corinne was married to the then Canon Missioner, Will Barnwell. They were from New Orleans by way of Boston. Through the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond in New Orleans, I knew Corinne’s sister, Margery Freeman. Margery and her husband David Billings had let me stay in their home one year during Mardi Gras. Yes, it is a small world.
As Corinne and I were enjoying our conversation, another woman walked up, delighted to see Corinne. Corinne introduced me to Esther DeWaal. Esther was from England. Her then husband had been the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral for a time. I knew nothing about Ms. de Waal, except that Corinne was obviously delighted to see her. It was explained to me that Esther came to be in residence at the National Cathedral each winter for about six weeks. She lived in the then Cathedral College.
The next week, I received an email that people could have spiritual direction with Esther and to call to make an appointment. I was looking for a spiritual director, so called and made my appointment for a morning prior to going to work. Again, I did not know much about her or her work, but seemed like a great opportunity.
I was beginning to explore new paths in my life, especially feeling called to the ministry. It was definitely very early in that process. As I spoke to Esther that day about what was going on with me, she gave me one of her books, Living with Contradiction: Benedictine Wisdom for Everyday Living, first written in 1989. I was in awe, because this book was exactly in tune with where I was and the questions I was asking of God. I was humbled that this woman who had only spoken to me for less than an hour, could see me so clearly and see what might be helpful.
In our Gospel today there is a simple but powerful verse. As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.
Jesus walking along and seeing someone and immediately inviting him to follow. And just as extraordinary was that Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew, the tax collector, whom we know was reviled. Do any of us really “like” the tax man even today? How much worse must it have been back in Jesus day where Matthew represented the oppressive authorities of the time and it was probably hard to see that any of that tax money would benefit the people or make their lives better.
Follow Me, Jesus invites. What does it mean to follow Jesus? As my friend Esther de Waal wrote, following Jesus, I would say, requires us to live with contradictions. There are so many, aren’t there?
Jesus says we must lose our lives to save them. We must die to live.
Jesus says to sell everything, give to the poor and follow him and yet how are we to live? I mean we need food, clothing, shelter, community at the very least.
Jesus says to take care of people who are poor and also that the poor will always be with you.
Jesus accepts us just as we are, warts and all as it is said, and also expects us to be transformed and changed by following him.
In other words, there is little “either/or” when following Jesus Christ. There is more “both/and.” There is more holding two things in balance that seem like opposites… to hold two things in tension. As Christians, we live in contradiction as my friend Esther de Waal writes in her book.
She says:
“I am nothing without God; it is his grace that calls me and upholds me. Yet my human nature is good, and God looks to me for the activity that will make use of my gifts. Again, I believe that if I can enter into this paradox and incorporate both these elements into my life, I shall escape that passivity that encourages me to do nothing at all and hand everything over to God, or that terrifying compulsion of over-activity that comes from reliance upon my unaided self.” P. 33
We are neither passive nor “energizer bunnies.”
Jesus walks by and asks us to follow him. In doing so, we must be prepared to live with the contradictions.
Amen
Living with Contradiction: Benedictine Wisdom for Everyday Living by Esther de Waal https://www.amazon.com/Living-Contradiction-Introduction-Benedictine-Spirituality/dp/0819217549
