Title: “”Working it Out”

Scripture: I Corinthians 12:1-11

1/18/03 Second Sunday after Epiphany

Rev. Joy R. Haertig

Last week you may remember when Ryan Lambert shared some words of thanks to this congregation during his invitation to the offering.  I remember hearing some of you giggle when Ryan thanked you for being a church that could argue together.  This may have seemed like an odd thing to be thankful about, so I would like to share with you a bit more of what was behind his words.  

When I sat with Ryan at his ordination exam with our conference Committee on Ministry, the chair of the committee asked Ryan to begin by sharing anything he thought the committee might need to know about him that was not in his ordination paper.  He began by talking about his experience of being a member at our congregation during the time we were in the midst of what we now lovingly remember as our parking lot and tree controversy.  He talked about how uncomfortable he was when he realized that this was going on in our church because of past experiences growing up in a church in Deer Park, Washington.  There he witnessed an actual split in the church at least two times over various difficulties they encountered.  He told the committee that he was so amazed as he watched our congregation struggle through the issues, reach a compromise and move on.  He said that it was the first time he had witnessed reconciliation in action within a community.  Some of us remember those days all too well - they were not easy.  There were serious clashes over different priorities as well as cost.  We did lose some of our church members and that was painful, and it did take time for many of us to heal from some of the wounds of ugly arguments.  

It was an example of how polarizing diversity can be.

But as Ryan remembers so well, we did not split over it, compromise did occur and eventually the grace of reconciliation and time enabled us to move forward.  

The portion of Paul's letter to the church at Corinth we heard this morning is only a small part of a larger response that Paul wrote to the Corinth congregation as it struggled with the diversity of its community in their cultural backgrounds, races, economic status, religious beliefs and practices.  Diversity was polarizing them and Paul was writing to help them understand that reconciliation would not be found in “sameness” or by creating a hierarchy of value, but in learning to recognize how diversity is actually part of God's plan and can be nurtured and appreciated on behalf of the common good.  

Well Paul, it is one thing to write such wonderful things - and quite another to live it.  Diversity elicits a variety of responses; on either end of the spectrum can be fear or fascination.  

I remember how shocked I was by my daughter when she was probably 3 or 4 years old and I saw her move away from another child at the zoo whose skin was a dark black.  When I asked her about it later she said that she had been afraid of how different his skin was from hers.  If I told her that story today, she would be embarrassed to know she reacted in that way.

Some scholars would claim that we are “hard-wired” or at least deeply conditioned in our fear or fascination response to what is different or “strange”, whether it be skin color, a different culture or religion than our own, sexuality or even an idea.  Robert C. Morris writes: “We label it as “other” and if fear gets blown out of proportion it can even become xenophobia, blind revulsion and rejection.  On the other hand, the very same strangeness may pique our interest and even blossom into xenophilia, a fascinated love of that which is different.”  

Morris believes that our task is to find a middle place between these extremes.  We need our instinctive wisdom of caution, while we need a disciplined curiosity that keeps us open and respectful.

Finding this balance seems more important than ever in our religious communities, schools, local and national governments, cities, suburbs and neighborhoods as the diversity of our diversity becomes more and more obvious!  

Again I quote Robert C. Morris from his article in the Weavings Journal:

“We seem to be faced with strangers at every turn.  Different cultures, religions, ethnicity's, and values now confront each other in ways unanticipated one or two generations ago…AnAncient, isolated, mountain-separated valleys of tribe, tongue, religion, and clan are being connected by rapid transportation, high-speed communication, and vast international migration.  Even within nations, the conflict of majority groups with minorities, and the emergence of “identity tribes” - movements based on ethnicity or race, sexual orientation or gender, theological or moral fervor - can create a heightened sense of estrangement from the other, and an increased chance of xenophobia.”

His words do remind us how much has changed in this last generation!  It can be downright overwhelming.  One response to this growth in diversity could be to tighten down the hatches and put guards at the gates as though our fear can protect us.  Or another response would be to seek engagement rather than estrangement.  

This week I read two articles in the magazine The Christian Century, written by two different Presbyterians, Barbara Wheeler and Richard Mouw.  They were both writing articles in response to the concern that the Presbyterian denomination may split over struggles of human sexuality, expressing their heart felt prayer that the denomination not choose to take those ultimate steps.  I see these two writers as modern day Paul's writing to a church in conflict over diversity, yet their thoughts and challenges are applicable in or outside of the church - regardless of the particular topic.  I would like to share with you some of their insights:

Wheeler begins by naming the basic difficulty, that there are two groups that generally can't stand each other in the Presbyterian Church and that each is fearful that it and the wider church will suffer if the other gains any more power or prominence.  She then writes, “What if we not only acknowledge the fact that we are strangers to one another in our denomination, but even give thanks for it?  Instead of denying our estrangement or bemoaning it, why not embrace it as a gift from God?  How's this for a model of the church (she writes): a company of strangers, who like Abraham and Sarah set out for a new place because “from a distance” all of us, in our own weird ways, “have glimpsed the promises of God and greeted them?” (Heb. 11:13)

“[What if we could be] a church (it works to insert other words here as well such as “a nation” or “a family”) that contains members whom we think are strange, even barbaric?  [For it is] a healthier setting for Christian formation.  Familiarity and affinity breed bad habits as well as virtues.”  She continues by lifting up the imperfections of each side - that conservatives need liberals because of conservatives tendency towards aggressiveness and liberals need conservatives because of liberals tendency towards snobbishness. (In other words, our strengths and weaknesses are one of the reasons we need each other!)

Wheeler ends with these thoughtful words: “The church is better off - more productive and more faithful - when the strangers in it hold on to one another…InIn struggling through their disagreements, Presbyterian strangers show the world that there are alternatives to killing each other over our differences.” (Powerful statement, again I would like to insert the word, “American strangers show the world…)I)

In the article by Richard J. Mouw he talked about what he learned in the 1970's and 80's in debates over just war doctrine and pacifism.  To set a caring tone in a potentially divisive conversation, it is good to begin by taking time to talk very personally about the things you respect in the other person's position.  (This is a helpful approach whether you are having a difficult conversation with your spouse or partner or between democrats and republicans!)

There are too many signs and stories in scripture and in our living that lift up the place of diversity in God's wonderful world for us to faithfully shut ourselves off from one another.   

And so this leaves us with the next question, what are the tools we need as individuals and communities in order to foster a healthy balance between our natural caution towards that which is different and a desire to engage and grow in our understanding and acceptance?  Our society is rapidly becoming more diverse and it is easy to feel a sense of estrangement from each other, as it seems we are faced with “strangers at every turn”.  What can we do to help foster an attitude of respectful curiosity rather than debate whose right or turn away in fear or judgement?

In closing - I want to share these words from Robert C. Morris:

“We can never tell when the strange person, idea, or custom is grace presenting itself to us as one small part of God's project of weaving the world together in love.  The next stranger we meet may carry a blessing that will change our lives.”  Amen.