Today’s gospel proclamation reminds us that Jesus of Nazareth is the consistent lover of the unlovable The Saviors persistently disregards all socio- cultural norms and stereotypes of his day that differentiated between us and them. There was much about this itinerant Nazarene that was quite innovative. Instead of avoiding the lepers as unclean he touches them. He shows compassion and mercy to the adulterous woman about to be executed by a band of self righteous religious folk. He converses with the Goyim. He permitted a group of women to accompany him around the Galileans countryside . In all probability, he may have been supported by some of these women, which would have been quite scandalous in the very paternalistic and chauvinistic first century Palestine. Jesus eats with the despised tax collectors who were considered to be traitors and collaborators with the oppressors. He interacts with and even accommodates a military leader of the hated Roman occupying force. Throughout the gospel narratives, he associates with those who were labeled as moral failures, misfits and degenerates. His congregation was made up of the irreligious and immoral people who were politically and ethically suspect by the vast majority of good God fearing people of Israel. His disciples included the obscure, abandoned and hopeless that existed on the fringe of first century Judea. He elected to minister to. the outlaws of Palestinian society who were often judged to be without religion, morals or value.
Today’s gospel narrative is no exception; we hear of the thirsty and exhausted Jesus interacting with a Samaritan woman .At the time of Jesus, a rabbi was prohibited from teaching woman. A respectable rabbi would not speak with a pious Jewish woman in public let alone a Samaritan woman of ill repute. The fact that this woman was going to fetch water at high noon, in the heat of the day, implies that she wanted to avoid social interaction with other Samaritan women. It is the contention of many scholars that because of her extensive sexual history, she would have been considered an outcast among outcasts.
In first century Palestine, there was a deep rooted hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. The etiology of this mutual animosity stems from the Assyrian conquest of the Jews and the subsequent Babylonian exile. Between 597-582BC, there were three deportations of the Jews ordered by Nebuchadnezzar. But these exiles did not involve a relocation of the entire population. The conquerors left a remnant of Jews in Israel. During the time of the exile, the Samaritans who were among those who were left behind started to inter- married with the foreigners whom the Assyrian had also relocated in Israel. The Jews started their return in 520 BC. During the early post exilic period, political and economic factors precipitated the tension between the people of Judah and the Samaritans. This conflict eventually evolved into outright hostility. The people of Judah were convinced that they were the authentic people of the covenant and that the Samaritans were half breed schematics. The split between the Jews and the Samaritans gradually widened until the Samaritan eventually built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim. At the time of Jesus the hatred between the Jews and Samaritans was so intense that they did not speak to each other and most Jews would go out of their way to avoid the perceived ritual impurity of walking through Samaritan territory. But the Liberator disregards these prejudices and stereotypes simply because this particular woman has a very specific need that He alone could meet. Throughout his ministry, the savior was always wiling to go outside his comfort zone, beyond his social circles to meet the needs of his people. Can anything less be expected from we who bear his precious name ? But are we compliant with the example of our Blessed Savior.?
Prejudice is defined as an adverse opinion formed without just grounds and prior to sufficient knowledge. It is safe assume that a vast majority of us harbored biases toward others and entertain certain prejudices. However the universality and ancient history of prejudices in no ways justifies their continuation. If you are plagued with the bondage of prejudices in your heart than you are in desperate need of the saving grace of the Liberator.
The apostle Paul proclaims in Gal 3/28-29 that our faith in the Liberator makes us one. This belief in our universal need for the Liberator of mankind should eliminate all discrimination and prejudices. We. need to reflect upon just how radical this apostolic proclamation is. It was written by the inspired author nearly 2000 years ago when the Jews were convinced that they alone were the chosen of Yahweh, It was proclaimed when slavery was a part of everyday life. It was revealed at a time when women and children had absolutely no rights.
Jesus of Nazareth the Liberator of mankind is the solution to all the prejudices, hatred, oppression and inequalities that plague our planet. The barriers that we often appear to be obsessed with, race, gender, whom one loves, age, socio economic status, marital status, appearances and personal histories means nothing to the Nazarene. He accepts, forgives and liberates all who come to Him in faith. We who bear his precious name must seek the grace that will enable us to imitate him in the ways of unconditional acceptance, tolerance and love. Let us take a few moments to explore and examine some potential prejudices that may prevent us from being an authentic faith community of liberation and evangelization.
In this day and age of political correctness most of us would minimize the extent of our racial prejudices. However it has been said that the most segregated time of the week in America is Sunday morning. In a time when most segments of our society are trying to live together, we continue to worship at our white churches, black churches, Hispanic churches or Asian faith communities. There is absolutely nothing wrong with associating and worshipping with those with whom we have a common history, identity and interest, but it must be remembered that an authentic faith community excludes no one. An authentic faith community will go out of its way to make every visitor welcomed as a sibling in the Savior. We must also avoid stereotypes about the historical Jesus. The liberator was not a 33 year old Caucasian Baby Boomer Republican who used the King James Version of the Old Testament.There is no place for racial stereotypes in the authentic faith community of the Jesus of Nazareth.
There is also a very dangerous tendency to permit nationalism and patriotism to become more important in our churches than the Liberator’s gospel of unconditional love, forgiveness and mercy. I cherish and love our nation and appreciate all the gifts that the Creator has bestowed upon America. However I remain cognizant that no single nation has a monopoly on God’s love or blessings. The precious blood of the Liberator was shed not only for Americans and Israelites but for men and woman of every continent and nation.
There is always a danger of engaging in socio –economic favoritism. Most of us enjoy being around successful individuals and hard working individuals. However one’s socio-economic status should never be a factor in determining how one is accepted, treated, or permitted to serve in the church of Jesus Christ. We must be mindful that the God of the Covenant has always had a preferential option for the oppressed, humble and the exploited of this world.
We must be very cautious to avoid gender bias. Jesus’ approach to women was revolutionary and countercultural. Nowhere in the New Testament do we find the Liberator distinguishing between women and men as children of God. Some of the Savior most dedicated and faithful disciples were women. It was primarily His mother and female disciples who remained with him until the end. It was Mary of Magdalene who became the apostle to the apostles and carried the good news that the Liberator was alive and would be with us for all eternity. We must be open to the movement of the Spirit of the Living God in determining who exercises specifics role of service within our faith communities. We must continue the Savior’s divine ministry of empowering and enabling the downtrodden and marginized of society to realize their dignity and worth as children of the Living God.
We must also strive to establish multigenerational faith communities. The youth are our future. They should be invited, instructed and made to feel as though they are significant and productive members of our faith community. The youth should have every opportunity to enjoy and benefit from the wisdom, experiences and living witnesses of their elders. Infants,
toddlers and teenagers will always be welcomed in our faith community,
In this day and age when we are all encouraged to be political correct in our words and actions, most are very aware of racism, sexism and ageism. But how do we treat the addict or alcoholic who continues to relapse? How do we deal with the person with multiple divorces? How do we interact with the person who has yet to learn proper impulse control? An authentic faith community is the one that does not object to conversing with sinners as did our divine founder The church of Jesus Christ will always be a clinic for sinners and not a museum for the self righteous. Since we all have a perpetual and desperate need for conversion how can we pass judgment on any of our siblings in the Lord.?
The Liberator has a universal unconditional love for all the inhabitants of this planet. After all he came to gather all nations into the peace of God’s kingdom. The sole purpose of the incarnation of our blessed Savior was to bring peace and pardon to the contrite and to heal the wounds of sin and division. His love is infinite and unconditional, something we mere mortals will never comprehend. The fact of the matter is that the divine Nazarene loved Judas Iscariot just as much as he loved Mary of Nazareth who gave him birth.
Whoever calls upon his name with humility and authentic repentance will be saved. .He shows no partiality, discrimination or favoritism. The Savior does not look at the circumstances of our life. He does not interact with us on the basis of external appearances. He will never judge us according to human standards and for that I am most grateful. Everyday I give thanks that on the other side of my last breath; the Savior will judge me according to the content of my hearts and not according to the labels that have been placed upon me.
The savior never approves or enables sin but he loves us despite our sins. We who bear his precious name must seek the grace to imitate the savior’s ability to accept people where they are without judgment or condemnation. Some of the harshest words of the Nazarene are found in Mt. 7/1-5 where he cautions us to avoid judging our siblings. That is one of the passages that I read and reflect upon almost on a daily basis.
Another potentially lethal bias that we are all vulnerable to is to discriminate or to pre -judge our siblings in the Lord on dogmatic or ritual grounds. We are called by God to look beyond our differences and to focus upon those common bonds. We who bear the precious name of Christian must strive to be a united body of believers. After all the church springs from one saving event and one liberating message. We have been called by the living God to become a unified community of believers, disciples and witnesses. The one temple of the Holy Spirit must not become a plurality of chapels where siblings compete with, accuse, judge or attempt to convert each other. Make no mistake, the existence of any form of divisive disharmony among we who have been liberated by the one savior is always and everywhere a scandal that contradicts the will of God and impairs our divine mandate to proclaim the saving gospel to each and every creature.
The divisions that exist within the body of Christ are all man made and maintained and not willed or condoned by the God of truth and unity. After all we acknowledge one Lord and Savior. There is one sanctifying spirit His spirit, One Creator Father His father. We posses the one gospel His good news regardless of how differently we may interpret it. The scriptures contain a strong exhortation against any form of divisive exclusiveness, attacks upon the beliefs and practices of our siblings or the arrogant assertion that our community has a monopoly on the spirit of the living God.
However this spiritual unity mandated by God and desired by the savior does not demand the establishment of a mega monolithic assembly. The ecclesiology of the New Testament does not contain a centralized institution with uniform worship, hierarchies or even theologies .Tensions and differences existed in the apostolic church between local communities, within the various local assemblies and even among the apostles themselves. There is one God but diverse way of worshipping Him. It is said that the Pentecostals and Charisma tics have just as much right to dance in the aisle as Catholics and Methodist have to sleep in the pews. There is one Lord and Savior but different customs and traditions surrounding the ways we experience and celebrate our salvation. There is one Spirit but diversity in styles of leadership and theologies. So long as we are in fellowship with each other, so long as we are willing to pray with and for each other, so long as we are determined to collaborate in proclaiming the gospel and facilitating the establishment and survival of Christian values and ethics, than there is no scriptural objection to the coexistence of our diverse communities of baptized believers
Only when our coexistence is characterized by narrow-mindedness, lack of charity, partisan arrogance or judgmental exclusiveness does our diversity became a detrimental scandal and an impediment to fulfilling the wish and prayer of the master. It is my firm conviction that a lack of compassion, dogmatic arrogance and a propensity to judge our Christian siblings is always and everywhere a sinful disgrace that is contrary to the will of God and the good of mankind.
I want this faith community to be a place where all believers are welcomed and accepted as siblings in the Lord Jesus. There is no greater sign of God’s love than when two very different people can worship together. Today I invite you to think of the one person who would feel most out of place in this congregation. Now I want you to invite that person to come and worship with us. When we encounter a new face in this community, each of us has a moral obligation to go out of our way to make that brother or sister welcomed.
To Jesus be all honor praise and glory both now and forever Amen
