Pentecost XXIV, Proper 26, Year A

Micah 3:5-12
1 Thessalonians 2:9-13,17-20
Matthew 23:1-12

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The most holy people I know don't much criticize other people and never speak an ill word of another person. Those are rare people, but they exist. Look carefully in our parish family, and you'll find some. Rarely criticize, never condemn, never speak ill of another - that's a holy, healthy standard which we should strive to achieve. It's hard work, very hard work, but it's vital for a healthy spiritual life.

While it's arguable that most criticism should not be taken too seriously, we can hear valuable things from all people, perhaps especially so from close friends. When they have criticism for us, it's wise to listen carefully and pray about it. This is especially important when Jesus has criticism for us. Jesus' criticism comes from love. He's not worried about building himself up by taking us down. He loves us. We can trust him.

In today's gospel Jesus levels some harsh criticism at the scribes and Pharisees - the ostentatiously religious. Jesus' purpose is not to make his disciples feel self-satisfied and superior. The message is not that Christians are holier than the scribes and Pharisees. Rather, in our world, we Christians are the ostentatiously religious; we're like the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus' criticisms should lead us to focus on our own hearts. Self-examination, turning our critical eye on ourselves, is an essential spiritual activity of being a faithful follower of Christ. It opens us to growing in the Holy Spirit.

Today's gospel begins with Jesus saying, "Practice what you preach." Our behavior reveals the depth of our faith. Jealousy, anger, self-pity, ill humor, dissension, disrespect, self-indulgence, deceit, discontent - these do not characterize holiness. They are not what we want to be. As we follow Christ, as our relationship with him develops, gradually - very gradually, we grow in patience, kindness, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control, hope, love. Our behavior shows whether our faith is authentic, whether our faith has integrity. Jesus lays into religious people who preach God and outwardly seem pious, but then don't show the reality of God in their behavior.

Jesus argues that religious integrity and authenticity come from staying focused on the big picture. The scribes and Pharisees "bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them upon men's shoulders." They get distracted by all the little rules and make them more important than the big things. They see the individual trees, but not the forest. Christianity first and foremost is about loving and serving people, about forgiveness and acceptance of others, about being humane and peaceful. Jesus didn't make people feel guilty and unnecessary and weighed down with obligations. Jesus makes people feel forgiven and loved and lightened. "Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you. . .; for I am gentle. . ., and you will find rest for your souls." (Mt 11:28-29) That's how we want other people to experience us.

Individuals need integrity and authenticity, and so do Christian institutions - like parishes. In this parish, we are growing in faithfulness and integrity, and one of the ways we are doing that is by honoring our history and what we are. We change and grow by building upon our strengths. Last week in the catechumenate, we talked about the Oxford Movement of the nineteenth century as the genesis of the Anglo-Catholics. Every parish family, every Christian community journeys to God with Christ in a slightly different way, and our Anglo-Catholic heritage fundamentally shapes the way this parish follows and proclaims Jesus Christ.

The keystone of being an Anglo-Catholic is worship, worship where we encounter Jesus and are united with him, worship where our souls are enriched, worship where our experience of the holy transforms us. The Oxford Movement emphasized the importance of ceremony and beauty in worship. The Son of God became a human beings, and thereby hallowed our souls, our minds, and our bodies. Every part of us worships God - our bodies as well as our minds and hearts. So we cross ourselves, genuflect, stand, bow, kneel - all ways we use our body to pray. Our worship is full of rich color, smells, movement, sounds, tastes. All of human experience, all of our physicality can glorify God.

Among the chief contributions of the Oxford Movement was reviving the Anglican Church's appreciation that we are part of the Church universal, the entire body of Christ, the Church through time and space, organically united to Christians of all times, in all places. We look to the wisdom of the larger Church for guidance. We respect and esteem what other Christians believe, but we also can question it. The Church, like faith itself, is not static, but dynamic and expanding.

While we recognize that the Church sins and errs, Anglo-Catholics know that despite this the Church is a divine institution, a place where we come to know Christ through the sacraments. Due to the influence of Anglo-Catholics, the mass has become the standard, normative worship of the Episcopal Church. It is the primary means by which God continues to nourish us. Anglo-Catholic parishes celebrate the mass every day as we do in this parish. One area of our corporate life where we could grow in integrity is by more of us taking advantage of the daily masses.

Anglo-Catholics also emphasize that the work of the Holy Spirit is not limited to the Church. We have much to learn from outside of the Church. God reveals truth in many places - in the arts, in sciences, in literature, in nature, as well as in prayer and worship and scripture. We do not fear the world and doubt and learning and investigation. Christianity encourages creativity and intellectual inquiry - of all kinds. Christian faith is wholly compatible with modern learning and is not threatened by scientific inquiry. The Church gave birth to modern science and technology. But we also recognize that we have a great need for humility, that God is mystery, that creation is a mystery. We balance poetry and mystery with reason and inquiry.

To sum up to this point, we are being true to our Anglo-Catholic heritage (one) in making worship and prayer the priority of our spiritual lives; (two) in respecting and being guided by the rich tradition of the Church universal, the Church catholic; (three) in nourishing our spiritual life through the sacraments, especially the mass; and (four) in being open to the Spirit and truth in all aspects of life - not fearing the world, but engaging with the world.

And today's mass in particular points to one other essential identifying feature of Anglo-Catholicism - a deep concern for social justice. Today after the closing hymn, we are going to process around the block to show concern for and to grow in solidarity with the homeless. It is a witness to the world and a reminder to us that God cares for all people. The great Anglo-Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, said, "The journey towards God in adoration and towards the world in service are not two journeys but one." The Anglo-Catholic tradition recognizes that prayer and worship and devotion lack authenticity without real concern for other people, especially for the poor, the exploited, the disadvantaged.

A great Anglo-Catholic, Frank Weston, Bishop of Zanzibar at the beginning of the last century, said, If you are Christians then your Jesus is one and the same: Jesus on the Throne of his glory, Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus received into your hearts in Communion, Jesus with you mystically as you pray, and Jesus enthroned in the hearts and bodies of his brothers and sisters up and down the country. And it is folly - it is madness - to suppose that you can worship Jesus in the Sacraments and Jesus on the Throne of glory, when you are [mistreating and dishonouring] him in the souls and bodies of his children [when you are allowing that to happen]...

Go out and look for Jesus in the ragged, in the naked, in the oppressed and sweated, in those who have lost hope, in those who are struggling to make good. Look for Jesus. And when you see him, gird yourselves with his towel and try to wash their feet. ⁽¹⁾

I believe in that. I don't live it nearly as well as I should. But I believe in that. It's what we all want to be. It's true heroism. We're not Christians to be exalted above other people, but to reach out to all people. Treating all people as brothers and sisters in Christ shows the nobility, the purpose, the vitality, the humanity, the promise of being a Christian. Our tradition, our heritage emphasizes that we know Jesus Christ in and through other people. It's about the primacy of love, service, mercy, humility, and not getting bogged down with all of the minutiae of religion. It's keeping focused on what is most important to Jesus.

1. Quoted by Geoffrey Rowell, The Vision Glorious, OUP (1983), pp. 241-42.