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Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Home Page
The Rector's Welcome
Worship
Sermons
Music & the Organ
Newsletter
Schedule & Events
History
Programs & Ministries
Tour the Building
Links
Map & Directions
Monthly Calendar
Fr. J. D. Ousley
2 May 2004“Beyond Episcopalian Tribalism”
In the Name of God: Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. Amen.
This summer, a former Honorary Assistant at Incarnation, Sheryl Kujawa- Holbrooke, will be finishing a history of our parish. And those of you who know Sheryl are aware that she is a keen observer of the Episcopal Church.
One time, she and I were talking about the church in New York City. I said something about the new congregations that had been established in recent years for new immigrants. In this diocese, for example, we have Chinese, Haitian, Korean and Caribbean congregations.
Sheryl herself had grown up in a Roman Catholic parish that was largely Polish-American and reflected her own background.
Anyway, I made some careless remark about how the church is changing because we now pay attention to these "ethnic groups." Sheryl responded, "Well, you're part of an ethnic group yourself! Everyone is a member of an ethnic group."
Of course, Sheryl was right. While I might think of myself as not "ethnic," I am Anglo-American, with mostly British background, and I have lots of attitudes and customs stemming from that heritage.
I have even joked about what a WASP street fair would be like; how dreary it would be compared to the parties thrown by New York's other immigrant communities. Instead of a vast selection of food and dancing in the street, Anglos would likely serve thin cucumber sandwiches along with weak tea. As for music, in the unlikely event that if the WASPs opened their wallets, they might have a string quartet-but the whole event would last for at most half an hour!
Tribalism, though, isn't really a joking matter. While we enjoy familiar customs that we have picked up from our family background, we can also be enclosed by them. They can limit our view of the world; they can make us think far too much of ourselves; they make us over-value minor differences between us and other people.
All three of today's lessons are about overcoming the limits of tribalism in religion. In the First Lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, Paul reminds his Jewish audience that the people of Israel had been sent "the message of salvation." They were to proclaim the one and true God to all people.
The Revelation to St. John gives a poetic vision of blessed souls in Heaven. St. John is careful to note that this multitude "that no one could count" comes "from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb ..."
Finally in the Gospel text, Jesus portrays himself as the Good Shepherd, and he calls his followers to transcend their Hebrew origins and unite in following their "Good Shepherd."
In all three lessons, we can find hints of radical change. The Christian movement started as a heretical sect in Judaism. While traditional Jews were still waiting for the Messiah, Jewish Christians believed Jesus of Nazareth was the one sent from God. Moreover, they believed that Jesus had risen from the dead and could now show God's way of salvation to all people. As in Paul's teaching and the Book of Revelation, so in the Gospel of John, Jesus is the Messiah for "all tribes and peoples and languages."
Yet how easy it is for Christians to forget this central truth of our faith. How easy it is to think God came just for us -- just for people like us. How easy it is to talk universal and act tribal.
The historic congregations of the Episcopal Church have plenty of tribal customs, from Gothic churches with stained glass to classical music and poetic liturgical language to coffee hours with silver urns and china cups. I happen to be very attached to these customs, myself. But I have to remember that these features of our folk religion aren't essential to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And when we recognize that the Gospel is a universal message, that Christ is the Good Shepherd of all people, we find that "tribes" very different from ours can teach us interesting things about the Gospel.
Take the Evangelical churches. Those Protestants can appear to Episcopalians to be moralistic -- even puritanical -- if we look at these churches more carefully, we may be impressed by their spiritual traditions.
Evangelicals have discovered, for example, that when they focus on the person of Jesus, and when they study his teachings intensely, they experience God's love.
And their prayer times, so concentrated on Jesus, become deeply moving. We can learn a lot from the evangelical Christian "tribe."
And, though this is more of a stretch, we can also learn from the tribal customs of other religions.
Our Lenten Class this year discussed the major world religions, and several members of the church who attended the class told how their prayer life had been enriched by Buddhist or Hindu meditation. Their visits to shrines and centers of these faiths helped them to get in touch with aspects of their souls -- they were reminded they needed quiet; they had to look at their priorities in life.
Contact with other faiths can help those of us who are Christians to find universal truths common to different religions. Bracing contact with another spiritual tradition can renew our own faith.
Finally, we who are Episcopalians at this troubled time in Anglican history, have to reach out to others in our global communion.
We might think this would be easier than appreciating other Christian denominations or other religions. After all, Anglicans share the same historic roots in the Church of England. We have similar prayer books, and in this diocese and, indeed, in this parish, we have many members from outside the American Episcopal Church.
Despite all these international links, though, debates about theology and ethics have shaken the Anglican Communion. Today, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is no longer welcome in certain African countries. Nor are women priests from some countries welcome to minister in others.
What a mess! In this time of conflict, what can we in the American church learn from brother and sister Anglicans who have such different moral and cultural beliefs from ours?
Well, we can be reminded that ethnic preferences are just that -- preferences. Such habits and customs aren't as important as our common need to know God, to love God and to serve God.
For God calls all of us to "from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages," to put our preferences aside and stand "before the throne and before the Lamb ..."
And now unto that same God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be ascribed as is most justly due all might, majesty, power, dominion and praise, now and forever, Amen.