Sometimes when I read through the lessons for a given Sunday there is a theme that jumps out at me and today was just such one of those days because the overarching theme seems to be that people are idiots. In the Old Testament we have the Israelites, who if you recall have escaped slavery in Egypt, now wishing that they could go back into slavery because they had really awesome melons and leaks - I may be enslaved but at least I had a nice piece of cantaloupe to go with with my morning egg and toast. In the Gospel it is the disciples turn to shine. They boast to Jesus about how they had found an unsanctioned demon caster outer and made him stop casting out demons because as we all know people would rather be possessed by demons than have non-union employees help them out of their fix. In our other lesson, the one from James, people do get off a little easier, but even there James has to remind people that they should pray. Which is, of course a good reminder, but you would think that it would be something that a Christian would remember to do. It seems to be like reminding a bricklayer that they need to mix up some mortar - it sort of goes along with the job. And while it would be nice to say that this is just a sort of historical anomaly and that we have somehow eliminated stupidity from the gene pool in my experience stupidity seems to be alive and well. I mean the other day I saw a story about a guy who burned down his house because he was trying to bake cookies on a George Forman grill (yes that did happen in Florida and he had finished two bottles of vodka).
But of course stupidity is not the sole possession of residents of the state of Florida. I find that we as Christians have a pretty fair amount of our own unique stupidity and that we can often be the worst impediment for bringing people to the faith because we do so many things that repel people. Now please do not think that I am singling out any of you, I am just as guilty or perhaps more guilty of being a bad advertisement for Christianity. But here is the thing, at the end of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” So this is why stupidity or more appropriately lack of stupidity is so important. Jesus is telling us to go and make disciples, that is part of what we sign up for when we become Christian and as a result we not only need to do it we need to be somewhat good at it and part of being somewhat good is not repelling people. That is not making people less interested in Christianity than they were when we first started talking with them.
And while I don’t really want to make this sermon entirely about not being an idiot. I do, however, think we do need to take stock of ourselves and see if we engage in behaviors that might make people wonder why they would even consider being a Christian. The more important bit, though, is to act in ways that not only do not repel but actually attract, that actually bring people to Christ. But one more thing before I go on. I want to make sure that people are clear that I am not suggesting that not being an idiot or trying to attract people to Christ is some sort of marketing technique or tricks we employ to lure people to Christ, but is rather the way God has called us to live. Let me explain.
This past week I was at a retreat for the Armed Forces Bishop and our keynote speaker was our presiding bishop Michael Curry. He told a story, and just as a quick aside if you have ever heard him speak you also know that he told the story much better than I am about to tell it, but here it goes. He said that he was visiting a diocese and had done his usual bit and that there was a reception afterwards where various people were working there way through a reception line to greet him. He said he noticed, as he was shaking hands and having pictures snapped of him, that waiting in the line was a very large white man with a long beard wearing a sport coat and overalls. He said that he was acting a bit different from the rest of the crowd which made him feel a bit concerned, but he continued on with the receiving line until this man made his way to the front. Much to his relief the man shook his hand, thanked him for being the presiding bishop and then went into his story. The quick version of his story was that he grew up in a family that was quite racist - his father and grandfather were both very high up in the Ku Klux Klan and that he had taken their views on with very little questioning. He said that part of the Klan worldview was that they had their own version of Christianity, a view as you might suspect that fit quite well with their half baked racial theories. It was a Christianity of exclusion and for lack of a better term, hatred. The man said that he then went to college where he found a group of like minded individuals and then eventually became a teacher in a small town in Arkansas. He said that one day he was passing a church and thought he should probably go there sometime and eventually did. It was an Episcopal Church something which he said that he had never heard of, but sort of assumed that the would be Christian in the same way that he was brought up to understand that term. But once he got in there he saw something much different. He saw the love of Christ, he saw people that loved him and who eventually loved him into repudiating his former beliefs. He saw that Christ died for all so that all may come within his saving embrace. And because of his background this was the reason he was so happy to see Bishop Curry as presiding Bishop. By the way I assume that all of you know, but just in case you don’t and this story makes know sense to you Bishop Curry is African American.
The thing that struck me so much about this story was the way that his conversion took place. It was not by being lectured or harangued about his beliefs - he was not told that his racist kind were not wanted in the Church. Rather, he changed because he saw a reflection of the love of Christ. He was not shamed into it, but rather was drawn towards it. That is the real trick of Christianity isn’t it? Getting ourselves out of the way so that people can see the love of Christ. Or put another more pleasant and aspirational way, being so filled with the love of Christ that when people see us they see Jesus.
Interestingly, the greatest draw and greatest hindrance to bringing people to Christ is the people in the Church. If we get it right we see stories like the one Bishop Curry told. If we get it wrong we see ungrateful whiners like those in the Old Testament or the squelching of God’s will like we see in the Gospel. The great thing is that we have control over this. We may not have control over how other people act or what happens in the world, but we do have control over how we act and how we chose to share the love of Christ. My hope is for myself and for this parish that we would be that shining city on the hill that draws people to it with the irresistible glow of Christ’s love so that we may be his both now and forevermore.