+Earlier this week our Presiding Bishop was preparing to celebrate and preach at Southwark Cathedral in London when she received a communiqué from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s office asking her to not wear her mitre while at Southwark. Her mitre, the Bishop’s hat, is nothing special just a symbol of her office. No words she preached, or sacrament she celebrated would be less effective without her wearing it, but the principal of the request—that if she didn’t look like a Bishop then somehow the Church of England could pretend she wasn’t a Bishop---is ludicrous. Bishop Katharine is a duly elected, consented and consecrated Bishop in the Episcopal Church—she is our chief pastor and primate---she is the face of our church to the world.
And Rowan Williams, this week, asked that face to hide.
Because the Church of England is embroiled in great debate over the election of women to be Bishops in their own church and because the Anglican Communion as a whole is embroiled in debate and dissension over the Episcopal Church’s election and consecration of openly gay Bishops, the Archbishop of Canterbury afraid of our disagreements, afraid of our differences, afraid of change, attempted to relegate our Presiding Bishop to some second class of Bishops, he tried to diminish her.
But he failed. You see Bp Katharine knows that a mitre has NOTHING to do with her being a Bishop. She knows that by removing it he was the one who was looking intolerant and absurd, not she. And so with grace and dignity, she fulfilled her promised appearance at Southwark celebrating and preaching at their Sunday Eucharist last week, while carrying the mitre and never mentioning the controversy, never casting a stone.
It’s difficult to hear today’s reading from Galatians and not wonder if Bp Rowan has forgotten some fundamental tenets of our faith.
Paul writes, “for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. ... 28There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
But I don’t think the Archbishop is all that different from the rest of us: he’s fearing change and appears wary of those people who are different than he. We all do this from time to time.
This is such a core human trait that all of the major world religions preach welcoming the stranger, healing the sick and caring for the poor, treating all of God’s children as the beloved they are.
Because we all need reminding. Because in theory it all sounds great----sure I respect the dignity of everyone, I understand that there are no differences under God, that we’re all equally cherished children of God…..
But then we’re walking down the street and a street person, someone who is afflicted by the internal demon of mental illness or addiction heads towards us, or sits among us in our pews and suddenly that welcome doesn’t feel so warm, that stranger seems a little off putting, we wish, in our hearts of hearts, that they would just…..be less different.
Adhering to Paul’s admonition that there shall be no difference between slave or free, male or female sounds really good in theory but, when put into the practice of our daily life, it becomes more difficult.
The different, the new, can be very stressful. Especially in the church. It was difficult when women were first invited to participate in the life of the church by serving on vestries (which women couldn’t do until 1970), by being ordained priests (1976) by being consecrated Bishop (1989) and finally by being chosen Presiding Bishop, 2006. It’s stressful when new members join us…we’re thrilled they’re here but until we all get to know each other it can be awkward. Especially when they sit in our pew, or suggest we do something differently…...
Change is difficult.
But Paul makes it pretty darn clear: there are no dividing lines in the Kingdom of God and there’s no room for division.
We must accept every single human being as the precious child of God they are. No exceptions. But we think of exceptions all the time. [Paul certainly didn’t mean HER …..or HIM, or that group….]
It would have been easy for Jesus to walk right by the Gerasene Demoniac. He could have, like so many of us do, just cross the street when the crazy homeless, smelly guy came bellowing toward us. If it got bad enough we could call the police, if it had gotten bad enough Jesus could have had his disciples deal with this man and his demons. BUT HE DIDN’T. He didn’t because he knew that beneath all the fear and frothing, all the screaming and yelling that man was a beloved child of God, waiting to be healed.
Paul is clear in his Epistle, Jesus is clear in the Gospel and Bp Katharine was clear in her actions: there will always be people with whom we disagree. There will always be people whom we fear, there will always be people who, on some level, wish that we would go away but God, as he did with Elijah in today’s readings from Kings, will not let us run for long and God will not let us hide….because God, in gracing us with this life, has also given us a great responsibility: to refuse to let the differences between us, to let a fear of the unknown, to let our resistance to change, keep us from offering healing and grace to one another—those we know and those we don’t. Those with whom we agree, and those with whom we don’t.
God has told us, Jesus showed us, St. Paul told us and Bp Katharine showed us: this is a broken world and only when we work together, only when we stand above our differences and disagreements, are we really living Christ-filled lives.
Today is World Refugee Day. Here in Buffalo we are blessed to have many refugees living among us. Here , for generations, people fleeing danger, fleeing torment, fleeing oppression, have found safe haven in Western New York. We, as a community have welcomed these strangers, embracing them and making them safe. In honor of them and remembering the work of Christ and the words of St. Paul please stand and join me in the Prayer for Immigrants and Refugees which you’ll find in your pew. May we, like Bp Katharine, stand above our fear of difference, our resistance to change and live out our baptismal covenant by respecting all whom we encounter, no matter who they are or where they’re from. Let us Pray:
A PRAYER FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS
Blessed are you, God of all nations.
You bless our land richly with gifts of the earth and with people created in your image.
Grant that we will be stewards and peacemakers who live as your children.
Blessed are you, Lord Jesus Christ.
You crossed every border between divinity and humanity to make your home with us.
Help us to welcome you in refugees, immigrants and all newcomers to our nation.
Blessed are you, Holy Spirit.
You work in the hearts of all to bring about harmony and goodwill.
Strengthen us in human solidarity and in hope.
All-loving God,
grant us vision to recognize your presence in our midst,
especially in the stranger among us.
Give us courage to open the door to our neighbors
and grace to build a kingdom community.
Amen.
(The Episcopal Church, Migration Ministries, 2010)
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