19 Pentecost/Year C/October 16, 2022
Alternative lectionary: BE Campaign: BE HUMBLE – week 3
Genesis 33:1-12; Psalm 131 (GNT); Romans 12:3, 9-18; John 13: 3-17
(As a reminder): For the month of October, we are joining other Episcopal and Methodist Churches nationwide in using an alternative lectionary as part of the BE Campaign…To BE JUST, TO BE KIND, and TO BE HUMBLE…It’s based on the teaching of the prophet Micah, who, in a time not unlike our own in 700 BCE, asked the question: “What does the Lord require of us, but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God?”
Bishop Mark invited us to participate in this offering as a way to help us take a closer look at some scriptures that illuminate what it means to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God; and to open our eyes and ears and hearts and minds to more fully understand how these scriptures can shape, transform, and inspire our communities to look a bit more like the Kingdom of God…in a time of so much division, uncertainty and anxiety in our world…
This week’s focus calls upon us to BE HUMBLE…to walk humbly with God…
And just as the last couple of week’s themes, to BE JUST, to BE KIND were BIG and BROAD terms to define and act upon as followers of Jesus in a time of so much division, uncertainty and anxiety in our world...this week’s theme also invites us to discern what it means, as a follower of Jesus, to BE HUMBLE, in a time such as this…
And when I use that phrase…in a time such as this…I’m especially calling to mind at the moment…this month of October, and these final weeks leading up to the mid-term elections in our nation…
I’m wondering, what it means to be humble, in an election season…
I’m really wondering aloud, what it could look like, to be humble, as the one offering themselves up as a candidate for election, or to be humble, as one of the campaign team members, or to be humble, as ones who will be engaged in conversations about our views and hopes for our favorite candidate to be elected in November…
I don’t think it would take much effort for any of us to imagine what an election season could look like…if the guiding principles were to be humble, to be just, to be kind…and what it could like, if one made it a daily practice to strive to not think of oneself more highly than one ought to think, to let love be genuine, to bless those who persecute you, to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those who weep, to hold fast to what is good, to outdo one another in showing honor, to not claim to be wiser than you are, to not repay anyone evil for evil, but to take thought for what is noble in the sight of all…
Yet, the challenge for us, is to not only imagine and believe that something different is possible, but to have the courage and the resilience to practice making small, simple intentions and changes in our daily lives that can move us from rationalizing and categorizing everything in our minds, to living out a way of love, that is centered around our humble trust in God…that is centered around the love of Jesus that inspires in us…a new way forward in this life…that calls us to walk humbly with God, and each other…every day…
A new life going forward, …that calls us to not only imagine a new way of life together that is not marked with daily acts of violence, hatred, and division, in our words and actions among God’s diverse family…but to do the very thing as Jesus has taught us and shown us in today’s gospel reading that can lead to deep healing and reconciliation between all God’s people...when we humble ourselves before God and one another…and as we seek and strive to love and serve one another…and respect the dignity of every human being…
In our gospel reading today, we listened to the familiar foot-washing story we hear every year during holy week…that captures the essence of what Jesus is teaching his disciples who say they want to follow him…to BE HUMBLE…
After Jesus had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So, if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. (John 13:12-15 NRSV)
Jesus said, I speak from my heart…The one who serves is not greater than the one who is served. A message bearer is not greater than the one who sent him. If you walk in this way of blessing, you will do well, and it will return to you - full circle. (John 13:16-18 First Nations Version)
(Micah 6:8) What does the Lord require of us, in this election season, and every season of our lives together - but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God?”
Let us pray this morning, for the healing river of the Spirit to move among us and guide us as we seek a new way forward together in this election season, in this season of our church life and community life, to walk humbly with God and one another…so that we can not only imagine and believe in a world without division, hatred and violence…but that each one of us, may be empowered by the love and power of God: The Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, to go out into the world to make it so…
Rev Julie Platson, St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK
Closing prayer/hymn: Healing river of the Spirit
1 Healing river of the Spirit, bathe the wounds that living brings.
Plunge our pain, our sin, our sadness deep beneath your sacred springs.
Weary from the restless searching that has lured us from your side,
we discover in your presence peace that world cannot provide.
2 Wellspring of the healing Spirit, stream that flows to bring release,
as we gain our selves, our senses, may our lives reflect your peace.
Grateful for the flood that heals us, may your church enact your grace.
As we meet both friend and stranger, may we see our Savior’s face.
3 Living stream that heals the nations, make us channels of your pow’r.
All the world is torn by conflict; wars are raging at this hour.
Saving Spirit, move among us; guide our winding human course,
till we find our way together,flowing homeward to our source.