Philippians
4:4-9
I
had prepared a sermon for this morning on the text “Rejoice in the Lord always.
Again, I say, ‘Rejoice.’ Be
anxious for nothing, but in prayer with thanksgiving let your request be made
known to God, and the peace that passes understanding will keep your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus.” It’s a good
sermon, not a great one, and entirely appropriate for the week of
Thanksgiving. There are copies of it on
the church web site, and if you want to read it, that would be where to find
it. I need to elaborate on it, though.
My
problem is that this past week I, and many in the United Methodist Church, were
challenged to live by that scripture.
(That’s the pesky thing about the Bible – it’s easy to read when you’re
sitting there at the breakfast table or before you go to bed or on your coffee
break. Then something happens and you
hear it saying, “Do you get it? This is
what I’m talking about!”)
The
Rev. Frank Schaefer, a member of this conference, was put on trial for going
against the letter of the Discipline,
our book of organization and procedure, when he presided at the same-sex
marriage of one of his sons five years ago in Massachusetts. For the record, he broke no civil law, but
church law clearly forbade him from doing what he did.
The
trial took place against the backdrop of current debates in the wider society about
the rights of sexual minorities, about what marriage is or should be, and about
how to allow for dissent on religious grounds without permitting inequality
before the law.
It took place amidst
arguments within the church about biblical interpretation and how far our basic
outlooks have diverged from one another’s – have they stretched so far that
they are about to break? The Methodists
split over slavery in 1844, only reuniting in 1936, and there are rumblings of
that again because a lot of these differences are expressed along geographical
lines, this time complicated by the fact that since then we have become a
global denomination and there are a whole lot of United Methodists in Africa
and Asia who approach things very differently from those of us in North America
and Europe.
And Paul says to
rejoice? Really?
Bishop
Johnson has asked that a letter about these events be read across the conference
this morning, and I want to do that.
I’ll only skip some sections where she thanks those who assisted, as
deeply torn as most of them were in doing so.
"A pastoral letter to the people of the
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
My brothers and sisters,
I bid you grace and peace in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It
has been a difficult week for our conference as many gathered at Camp Innabah
for the church trial of the Reverend Frank Schaefer. A trial is a somber
event in the life of our church, and one that we approached with prayer and
sadness.
I want to share my thanks to all of those who worked to make the process go
smoothly, from the camp staff to those who served as chaplains, bailiff, TIP
staff, greeters, and many people in our churches who were praying for this
process and all involved. Our goal was that the trial could take place in
an environment that was gracious, hospitable, and respectful. This was
possible only because of the dedicated and caring efforts of staff and
volunteers.
The issues involved are difficult for people of faith and conscience. The
trial court’s task was not an easy one, and we trust that they listened
intently to the evidence that was presented and considered it carefully in
order to make the best judgment they could. I want to express my
appreciation for their time and their service, as well as to Bishop Alfred W.
Gwinn, Jr. (retired) who presided over the trial in a dignified, compassionate
and fair-minded manner. …
After finding Rev. Schaefer had violated Paragraph 2702.1 of the 2012 Book of
Discipline, the trial court voted to suspend him from all ministerial duties
for 30 days. During the 30 days, Rev. Schaefer is to discern whether
he can uphold the Church’s Book of Discipline in its entirety. If he
cannot, he must withdraw from ministerial office at the end of the 30 days at a
meeting of the Board of Ordained Ministry.
This is an issue that causes pain for many in our church and we hold all those
affected in our prayers. We know that United Methodists have diverse
opinions on this issue and our hope is that pray and work together toward
unity, greater understanding, and healing. Settling our theological
differences through church trials is simply not an effective form of problem
solving. It is expensive, grueling and it leaves numerous painful scars
behind. The hard work of relationship-building and holy conferencing needs to
replace a win-lose court setting.
I ask that you hold Rev. Schaefer and his family in prayer at this time.
Rev. Schaefer has a heart for Christ and for the church and this is a most
difficult place to be. He has taken a difficult stand and during this
period of discernment our prayers and support are very important.
I ask that you follow the Book of Discipline where it says: “We affirm that
God’s grace is available to all. We will seek to live together in
Christian community, welcoming, forgiving and loving one another, as Christ has
loved and accepted us. We implore families and churches not to reject or
condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in
ministry for and with all persons.” (Paragraph 161.F)
Let us also follow words of Paul who advises us: “You were called to freedom,
brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but
through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one
word: ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and
devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.”
(Galatians 5:13-15).
Bishop Peggy A. Johnson"
Let’s
get back to the text for this morning:
“Rejoice
in the Lord always. Again, I say,
‘Rejoice.’ Be anxious for nothing, but
in prayer with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God, and the
peace that passes understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus.”
When
Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, there were a lot of things going on
in his life and theirs that made it look like the whole project of being a
church, a community of faith, was doomed.
For one thing, he was writing from prison [1:7]. For another, although he had been glad to
hear from the church in Philippi, which he had helped to found, and glad to
receive a gift from them to help provide for his needs [4:10], sending it had
led the messenger to contract some kind of illness that almost killed him. Then, when he reached Paul in jail, he told
him about some messy internal politics among the Philippians where there were
two women whose inability to get along with each other [4:2], was endangering
the whole church and it weighed on him especially because he respected them
both.
Yet Paul doesn’t spill any ink
complaining. In fact, in a letter that
is only four chapters long, relatively short for Paul, he uses the word
“rejoice” nine times. When he thinks about his imprisonment, he sees that it
gave him a chance to bring the gospel to the Imperial Guard [1:12-13] and he
says,
“What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in
every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.”
[1:18]
When he thinks of the trouble that
he’s been through, he looks at the good that it has brought to the Philippians
and the way that they stand out in the world like stars in the night sky
[2:14], and that leads him to say,
“But even
if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of
your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you— and in the same
way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.” [2:17-18]
Over and over again, he urges others
to do the same.
“Rejoice in
the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” [4:4]
Therein
lies the key to his persistence. It
isn’t rejoicing for troubles, or even rejoicing amidst troubles. It’s rejoicing “in the Lord”, who has overcome troubles. It’s thankfulness for the profound work of
Christ, who has redeemed the world, and us, from all that would separate us
from God’s love. That’s how he could
write to them at a time when he wasn’t sure whether he would be executed or
released, saying,
“It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be
put to shame in any way, but that by my speaking with all boldness, Christ will
be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, living is Christ and dying is
gain. If I am to live in the
flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my
desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more
necessary for you.” [1:20-24]
As
it turned out, he never made it back to them. Just writing to them, though, brought him some
comfort, and what he wrote was,
“Finally,
my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same
things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard.” [3:1]
Are
you spotting a theme here, yet?
I am dreading further trials and the
news coverage that is always so black-and-white that it misses the deeper
debates and the agony that is real within many lives. But if I cannot rejoice about any of it, I
can and must rejoice “in the Lord”. The greater our human brokenness, the more
clear it is that only a gracious God would bother with us, no matter who we
are. The greater our fragility, the
clearer it is that it is not we who hold things together, but the Holy Spirit
that makes us one, not just in some voluntary organization, but in Christ.
In that there is peace and, yes, it
passes understanding. But it is
real. We are going to get through this,
and when we do, there will be something else that will threaten our unity in
Christ. It will not succeed,
either. The gospel isn’t about how we
get things right. It’s about how wrong
we get things, but that we are still loved by God, and loved infinitely, and if
you have to have proof of it, then let me tell you about a man who was dying on
a cross who looked at his tormentors and said, “Father, forgive them.”
Forget rejoicing in us.
Never, ever fail to rejoice in the
Lord.
