DO NOT LEAVE US COMFORTLESS
John 17:20-26
A
responsible task for the preacher is to connect the scripture readings
of the day to current events. This Sunday’s readings readily lend
themselves to that as we prepare for the observance of Pentecost next
Sunday.
In the reading from Acts there are two situations that have current
parallels. The first is the young slave-girl who brings her
owners a great deal of money. She is exploited because she has a
spirit of divination; everyone is willing to pay to find out what will
happen next. But she annoys Paul and the other apostles and they
heal her. Now, we all learn in life that no good deed goes
unpunished; sure enough, the apostles are arrested but the exploiters
apparently go free.
Exploitation of young people, especially women and children, is a
current and troubling occurrence worldwide. The victims are often
arrested, but their handlers are less often brought to trial.
Young women frequently are used as sex slaves, or servants in homes but
are never paid, and often hidden from view. If we found out who
the people are who handle food we enjoy at our tables and in
restaurants we would discover many are exploited as laborers, recruited
with promises, brought to food processing plants, forced to pay for
their meals and housing, and dismissed if injured, with no way to
return to their homes and families. I witnessed all these things
while working with community groups trying to get a multinational pork
producer in Missouri to treat people humanely.
The next connection comes with the jail itself where Paul and his
friends are fastened in the stocks, after receiving a severe
flogging. Jail has not improved a lot. Last Sunday I
announced that our newest member, Jeff, is an inmate of the Washington
County jail. He has been there since October, awaiting transfer
into the state system.
I visited Jeff last Monday. The room in which we met had a fetid
odor that I could smell in my clothing after I left the building.
He has literally nothing to do all day long. There are no
rehabilitation programs available to him. He would like to work
on his GED, but the 20 available slots are reserved for those under
court order to get their high school equivalency. Jeff’s sentence
did not include that order.
There are 700 or so men residing in a space built for 500; so everyone
– guards and prisoners alike - is under a constant bombardment of
noise, demands and limited resources. It took Jeff 3 weeks just
to find someone who could get him a set of nail clippers so he could
trim his fingernails.
It is news about exploitation, and visits to the Washington County jail
that sometimes leave me feeling comfortless. Of course I could
say it has nothing to do with me; and I would be right - but not
justified. My baptismal promises say I will respect the dignity
of every human being, and that I will persevere in resisting
evil. Every person does not make those promises, but I do – and
so do each of you. So, when we buy our food it is important for
us to care whether someone was exploited in producing it; when we hear
of someone in prison it is incumbent on us to care about them, and
those who do will hear the words of Jesus one day, “I was in
prison, and you visited me.”
When I go to see Jeff, I do it on your behalf. If you send him a
card or a letter, then that is one way you can be present and “visit”
him. His address is on the bulletin board downstairs.
In the Gospel from John for today, we hear part of what is often called
the High Priestly Prayer; Jesus prays for his disciples, that they all
may be one. His strong, passionate prayer for their unity is
based on the premise that what the world sees in them it will also
seek, a unity and love that overcomes estrangement.
We are not a people at one with another. We use terms like
liberal, conservative, traditionalist, socialist, sexist, racist, quite
freely to describe those who differ from us. Even in the church
we are deeply divided over points of view and have positioned ourselves
to be wary of those who don’t see things quite the same way.
The demise of civil discourse, debate and honest compromise in our
politics has been replaced by sound-bites, half truths and outright
lies sprinkled liberally as ads during the morning and evening news,
all underscored by the candidates themselves announcing, “I approve
this ad.” And watching it all I feel again comfortless, because
in none of them do I sense the truth, the vision, the plan, the contact
with reality. Listening to conversations and the rancor in which
some seem to revel makes we wonder if our democracy can ever return to
some sense of civility. Again I feel comfortless.
Good news is always, always a bad sell – but we’re in that business,
and there is Good News. First, we hear in the reading from
Revelation that Jesus is the bright morning star, the one who invites
us to drink from the water of life as a gift…no charge, freely given to
anyone who asks.
And while we don’t often hear about them, there are those who work
tirelessly against exploitation of people, especially the poor,
children, and those who lack resources to fight for a just wage and
benefits. There are those who visit inmates, talk with their
families, and try to link meager resources with the many in jail who
are there because they lack education, medical care or basic things
that all of us take for granted. These people bring hope to those
who are truly comfortless.
In the case of Paul and his friends, the risen and ascended Lord
delivers them from prison – much to the astonishment of the jailer who
becomes a Christian after seeing the awesome power of God. Jeff,
remember him, the young man in the Washington County jail? Well,
he was baptized last October, and since then his journey has been one
of discovery: finding the Lord in that place, meeting Jesus in some of
his guards and fellow prisoners, and discovering a new power within
himself to face what is to come, even welcoming it as a redemption of
his life which was headed for destruction.
This is all because of the power of the Holy Spirit, the inspiration
and direction, the power of the healing of memories, the breaking of
the chains of addiction, all of that comes from God breaking into our
lives and not leaving us comfortless. We prayed in the collect
today that God would not leave us comfortless, and God has answered
that prayer.
The fruits of the Holy Spirit, as we read in Galatians, chapter 5, are
love, joy and peace. That is what we are promised. In our
baptism the prayer for the gifts of the Spirit is a prayer for an
inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and persevere, and
the gift of joy and wonder in all God’s works. These spiritual
gifts were given us in our baptism, but they are often latent, lying
dormant especially when we allow cynicism and cheapness and political
rhetoric to overwhelm our senses.
The prayer that Jesus prayed for his disciples is the prayer the risen
and ascended Lord now prays for each of us: that (we) all may be
one. I invite each of you to pray for the power of the Holy
Spirit to come more into this church, and each of our lives. We
will not be overwhelmed by the gifts of the Spirit. As we prepare
to celebrate the birthday of the church at Pentecost, my prayer is that
each of us will be comforted, strengthened and affirmed for the work of
spreading Good News to many so badly in need of its hearing.
Let us pray (read the collect for 7 Easter):
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus
Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us
comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt
us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen
The Rev. Ben Helmer
St. James' Episcopal Church
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
16 May 2010