Tuesday in the Second week of Easter: In the World

Lessons: Psalms 5,6; Daniel 2:1-16; First John 2:1-11; John 17:12-19 

 

When I was in my twenties I was deeply affected by St. Francis. Perhaps it was because he had left wealth behind so abruptly to follow a life of service inspiring many by his understanding of the care at the core of Jesus and God. One of my ordination gifts was a crewel work of St Francis. One day as I walked past it, I suddenly stopped and looked about my home and thought; "You have failed to emulate this one." The life of perfect poverty was far from me and thus not my core desire. A moment of self honesty is good. I had however found another practice. My home was a place of hospitality. I had a rather open door for others who might stay the night, receive a meal, hold conversation. That was perhaps for now my calling.

Years later I was taken to dinner by a parishioner I admired mostly for the tenor in his home, a deep cooperation between all the family members. Their life was a kindly luxurious life as he was financially successful and worked long and hard. Yet what made them stand out in my mind was that there was a great care between all six of them.  He would always credit his wife.

At dinner he said to me; "I want to thank you for something. For a long time I have wondered, 'Why me? Why have I been so successful in my life?' You turned the question on me in one sermon when you told us the deeper question was, 'How will I show God my gratitude for blessing in my life?' Then you spoke of tithing. I began my journey then and it has been a life giving turn in my understanding." I was humbled to have been so useful to him. Learning to tithe had been the same in my home.

Jesus says in today's Gospel, "I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth." John 17:14-19.    

Being in the world but not of the world is a challenge, especially if one is not Amish and chooses to live in but apart. The Johannine community saw the world in very shape dichotomy most of us do not hold. And yet there is a point and a question. How does one live in this world, this society and not just cave to it? How does one live more deeply? And the answer is both simple and challenging. Mostly it is an attitude of generosity with our life and what passes into and out of our lives. We assume the attitude we hold this life for God's good use. If something moves toward us that counters this view, we seek an appropriate response. Sometimes this is rejection. Sometimes it is gentle distancing. Sometimes it is a dialogue. Sometimes it is creatively changing a course.

We treat our homes as places of cooperative generosity. We assume that every blessing that comes to us be it material, relational, spiritual (as if those can be divided out) is to flow through us as a benefit shared with others, not just dammed up for ourselves alone. Like Jesus we look for how to be principled, compassionate, forgiving, encouraging, centered on the ways of God.

Being in the world and yet not fully of the world is worthy of a lifetime. It is worthy of God and is a way to say, "Thank you for the mystery that is me, that is us." 

And sometimes we look around ourselves and say, "Hmm, I failed at this one. A moment of self honesty is good. Lets begin again."