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Laity Address - Micah 6:8
North Central New York Annual Conference
Thursday June 1st, 2000
Three weeks ago at General Conference, the cover of the Daily Christian Advocate bore the headline: “Final Votes on Homosexuality Reveal a Church in Pain”. Few could deny the truth of this statement. Our church, our denomination is hurting. We are struggling over our diversity and differences, searching to see if we can live with one another, searching to see if we are united still, searching to see how different we can be and still be a part of one body. The struggle has not been easy, and it is far from over. We offer each other the choice of leaving the church. We think of leaving ourselves. We debate, we argue, we question. We are in pain. We are aware of our problems. Even society at-large watched our agonizing for two weeks in Cleveland. Without a doubt, we see our conflicts, and so does the watching world. The question is, does the world see anything else? What do we do, now that the General Conference has ended for another quadrennium? Do we have anything else to show the world and ourselves?
Clearly, we must answer yes. If we are the committed disciples of Christ that we claim to be, we obviously have something else to show, something else to give. We disagree, we misunderstand, we fight, we hurt, but we still have work to do. Our inability to move beyond theological controversy in one arena does not halt the need for the Word of God to be carried through the world. In fact, perhaps the pain our church now faces only increases the need for God’s love and grace to be understood by all. We, and the rest of the world, need grace, peace, and wisdom from God now more than ever, to guide our work that we still might be in ministry. We have much work to do. The question, then, that remains is “how do we begin, in light of our struggling?” Moving on can seem overwhelming at first. We feel fatigued from debate, doubtful of our neighbors, and anxious about the future. How can we begin to move forward, in spite of our hesitations? No doubt, the road ahead has more obstacles in store. No easy path is promised. But if we are committed to surge ahead, we must find steps to continue our journey. There is no cure-all for our pain, no quick fix. Yet, if we try to keep focus on the important matters, and keep ourselves centered as well, we may yet show the world that we still have something meaningful to share.
So where do we begin? I would like to suggest today that we turn to Scripture to find a starting point. Here, a single verse gives some direction that might help us, as a church, move forward. In Micah, chapter 6, verse 8 we read, “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?” In one verse, we hear three powerful commands, which, if followed, could focus our purpose and guide our living. We are asked to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly. If we followed these principles closely, what in our church would change? What in ourselves would change? We would have to make adjustments, perhaps significant ones, in our personal life, our spiritual life, and the life of the church as a whole if we wanted to be sure that we could say we were doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly. What would these changes entail? Are we ready to make those changes? Those sacrifices? Examining each of these three principles, let’s see where we, the hurting church, might find some focus and direction as we struggle to keep on task.
We are required to walk humbly with God. Though this principle comes last in the verse, I consider it perhaps the most important task for the church. If we can walk humbly with God, doing justice and loving mercy might come easier for us. Are we, the church, a humble people? Humility is a priceless virtue, one worth striving to achieve. At General Conference, the United Methodist Church formally repented for the sin of racism, once fostered in our own buildings, encouraged by our own clergy, and adopted by our own members. Attendees of the service pinned on small squares of sackcloth, to symbolize the repentance of so many and so great sins. The sackcloth represented an attitude of humility - recognition that in our human fallibility, we had strayed grossly from the path God laid out for us. We had ceased, concerning the color of one’s skin, to walk with God. So, with humility, we repented. The service experienced stands for the action intended for the future. Our humility, shown that night, must be carried into action in the days to come. We have slipped and lost our way. If we are willing to become humble, we can walk with God. If we are not willing to see - to see where we have been wrong, or to see how we have hurt others, or to see that we must change - if we are unwilling to see, we distance ourselves from God. Walking humbly is the way to build our relationship with God and with one another.
We must walk humbly in the face of pain in our church. One of the minorities reports filed at General Conference opened with the words, “we acknowledge with humility our inability” to come to consensus around the issue of homosexuality. Though many found this language too ambiguous for the Book of Discipline, I think that such a statement puts the face of reality on the state of our church and on our relationships with one another. No one can deny the fact that we cannot agree around this issue, and other issues of theology and Scriptural interpretation. We must put the stamp of humility on these matters if we are able to work past them and continue as the body of Christ. Whatever the “right” and “true” answer is for all of our disagreements and debates, we cannot imagine that God is smiling upon the way we often engage in our debates or show our diversity. We must walk humbly, especially where issues come into play into which we invest so much time, energy and emotion.
How will walking humbly change the face of our church? The possibilities are endless. Perhaps instead of “offering” one another a chance to leave, we will encourage one another to stay and engage in honest, open dialogue. Perhaps instead of assuming with an air of authority that we have the answers and the correct way of thinking concerning the ‘hot’ issues, we will really listen to one another, really try to understand why the other person holds a certain view. Humility might force us to admit that we do not have all of the answers theologically speaking, but that we will be committed to looking for the answers about how we can live with one another in the church, in the body of Christ. At General Conference, Bishop Joel Martinez from the Nebraska area challenged us with the question, “Is there any person from whom we have nothing to learn, no gift to receive?” The answer must be a decided ‘no’. With humility, we have much to learn, much to receive, if we can only become humble before God and one another. The world is watching us. We are watching each other, measuring every move. Let the world see a humble people, a people realizing imperfection, and pain, but ready to work hard to move ahead. Let us show each other humility, humility that says, “I don’t understand you, but as your brother, your sister in Christ, I want to see your perspective, to feel your pain, and to listen to your heart”. Let us put on the sackcloth, repent for the sin of divisiveness, mistrust, and ill will toward others, and commit ourselves to renewed efforts of walking humbly with our God.
The second part of the verse from Micah bids us to love mercy. Mercy seems, at first, like such a simple concept. God is merciful, and we should be too. But what does that mean for us? What exactly is mercy? How can we be lovers of mercy? Mercy, according to my thesaurus, also means leniency, compassion, forgiveness, kindness, tolerance, charity, benevolence, and generosity. That is quite a list. Each synonym has slightly different implications, different suggestions of what mercy is. Compassion we see in Christ’s embrace of people seemingly unlovable. Forgiveness we ask for ourselves, and promise to others each time we pray the Lord’s prayer. Charity expresses Christ’s command for us toward those who are hungry, thirsty, and empty, and also expresses the goal of our missions and ministries as a church. When we think of mercy, do we think of all these things, all of these possible aspects of mercy? Perhaps we should. Our humble walk with God is the attitude we must have toward ourselves if we are to be God’s people. In the same respect, then, mercy is the attitude we hope God adopts toward us. We seek a merciful God. Likewise, it must be the attitude we embrace when we deal with others, both outside and inside the church. We must be merciful when we consider others, interact with others, give love to others, become angry with others, disagree with others. Having adopted humility for ourselves, the only appropriate response toward others is mercy.
When I think of the word mercy, I think of grace. Grace, for me, is perhaps the single most important concept to understand relating to my faith, discipleship, and growth in relationship with God. Grace is what enables us to have relationship with God in spite of our failures. Grace is our gift, totally undeserved from God. Grace, as this most precious blessing, the enabler of our existence, is the gift God shares with all, regardless of circumstance, ready for the taking. Grace we cannot wish to be denied from anyone, and likewise we ought to consider mercy, a gift that we too can provide for others, as something which everyone is worthy of receiving, something that we need to offer to all. Grace is not ours to give - that power is God’s. But mercy is something we have the power, through our love, to bestow on those around us. So, let us bestow it freely! Let us love mercy and love sharing mercy, spreading mercy, and giving mercy to all that need it.
What might loving mercy mean for the face of our church? I mentioned ‘charity’ as one of the synonyms for mercy. I suggest, then, that what our church might gain from loving mercy can be heard in the words of the well-known hymn, “Where Charity and Love Prevail”, written in the ninth century. Listen to hear if the words still ring true for our church today. “Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found. Brought here together by Christ’s love by love are we thus bound. With grateful joy and holy fear, true charity we learn. Let us with heart and mind and strength now love Christ in return. Forgive we now each other’s faults as we our faults confess, and let us love each other well in Christian holiness. Let strife among us be unknown. Let all contention cease. Be Christ the glory that we seek, be ours his holy peace. Let us recall that in our midst dwells God’s begotten Son. As members of his body joined, we are in Christ made one. Love can exclude no race or creed if honored be God’s name. Our common life embraces all whose Maker is the same.” Imagine such a church, where the love of mercy was the picture the world saw.
Still, that is not enough. God commands more from us. We must walk humbly. We must love mercy. But these two components must be joined with a third. They must be accompanied by action, because without action, the rest is meaningless. We must do justice. Humility is our self-attitude, and mercy is our attitude towards others, but justice is the way we can make our attitude known to others, to the watching world. Justice is our expression of what we feel in our hearts. It is significant, I think, that God commands not simply to love justice, or to favor justice. We are not asked to wish for justice, or to urge justice from others. We are told to do justice. We have action that we are commanded to take. We have work to do.
God in God’s own actions provides us with the most vivid examples of justice throughout the Old and New Testament works. In Isaiah, chapter 43, verse 19 God declares the intent to take action, bold action, in the world. “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the dessert.” God is forever doing justice in the world. Likewise, Christ set about bringing justice to the formerly un-looked upon, the nobodies. He ate with those others despised. He challenged those who followed the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law. He declared the temple leaders to be hypocrites for proclaiming one thing but failing to act, to do justice, where justice was sorely needed. He commanded us not to pity the hungry but to feed them. We were not asked to feel for the sick but to visit them. Jesus demanded not that we shun the prisoner but that we minister to that one. Jesus’ life and ministry were characterized by a passion for doing justice, and he commanded that we do the same. Are we listening? Are we ready to hear the clear commandments, to embrace them and to act, to do justice? Bishop Clarence Carr, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion church, in his words to the delegates of General Conference, said, “I pray that we will not just ask God to bless what we do, but that we will do what God can bless”. The issue is justice. No matter what decisions we - as a denomination, as an annual conference, as a local church, or as an individual of conscience - no matter what decisions we make, if God cannot bless our work, then our work is worth nothing. If the actions we take are not justice based, then we have sorely missed the mark.
I was deeply moved by the service of repentance at General Conference, but I was challenged as well. I agreed whole-heartedly with apologizing for the pain our church caused so many people for so long. However, I asked myself, as the bishops from the AME, AME Zion, and Christian Methodist Episcopal denominations had to ask us, what would change because of the repentance service? What would I, personally, do differently, having done this act before my friends in Christ and before God? Suddenly, the answers become much harder to give. Suddenly, the commitment made becomes more real and meaningful, when the idea of action is attached. Suddenly, the service for reconciliation becomes a quest for justice. We must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, love the enemy. We must do justice.
And what does God require of us, the United Methodist Church? What does God require of this church, which is in pain, and divided, and confused about where to go from here? God requires that we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. The commands are clear. Are we willing to move forward? The prayer of Ignatius of Loyola characterizes what our prayer must be as a church, if we are ready to follow God’s plan for us. Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to labor and not to ask for any reward, except that of knowing that we do your will. The eyes of the world are upon us. Let us be prepared. Let us be bold. Let us be humble walkers, lovers of mercy, doers of justice. Let us be children of God, and let us, many, but one, be the body of Christ for the waiting world.