We are on a roller coaster of some sort. I used to see a wonderful spiritual director—a priest in NYC whose ministry I had observed from the back pews; one day I saw the way she lifted up the fear and anxiety of the entire parish and offered it to God and the result was holy relief; I stood in line to shake her hand on the way out and she eventually led me not only through my own ordination but also through more than a decade of wilderness. We used to have a metaphor that when we could let go and let God we were on a roller coaster—the trick was not to be afraid, but rather, to enjoy the ride.
Well, I hope you all are enjoying this ride.
I think, as she would have said, we should remember that when the ride ends we all walk off, back home, back to work, back to whatever sustains us.
Of course it is love, God’s love as known through creation and especially in our own hearts, that sustains us. Sustainability has become a byword in recent times. We think about sustaining the environment, we think about sustainability in social terms. Have we thought about sustaining love? It is important to embrace deliberate loving if we hope to achieve sustainable love. This means we must remind ourselves constantly to love. Here is a simple, almost silly, example: all last week at the end of the day when I finally got dinner in the oven and sat down to relax while it cooked I turned on my television and there was nothing I could bear to watch! One night was that (well, never mind, it was vaguely political I suppose …). Most evenings not even the news was on because of some sports event. I was irritated, I channel surfed looking for anything acceptable, I vowed to write nasty emails … I was not deliberately loving. It was only when I remembered to take a deep breath, relax, and look for something enjoyable that I was able to get on with my evening, and my life. This might seem, as I said, silly on the face of it, but we do this sort of thing thousands of times each day, and when we forget to love, our lives devolve until we lose our connection with God and with each other, residing only in our own self-made abyss. In Exodus (20:20) after receiving the Ten Commandments, “Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you so that you do not sin.” It is a reminder from God, through the prophet, that God calls us to deliberate loving. After all, it is the absence of love that is the only sin.
The message is built into all of creation; even the creation itself speaks wordlessly of the love that brings it forth. Like a volcano building a mountain, love burns like the sun as it builds up creation. Nothing in creation, not even us, can hide from love. In Psalm 19 the psalmist reminds us that “one day tells its tale to another, and one night imparts knowledge to another;” that the “sun … rejoices … to run its course … nothing is hidden from its burning heat.” It is a metaphor for love, of course, that is the deepest knowledge of creation, that rejoices, that runs its course, that is the only way to prevent sin.
Of course giving love requires deliberate attention; the building up of love is work, hard work. Paul writes of it in Phillipians 3 as “straining,” and “pressing,” as a “prize” to be won. In Matthew’s Gospel (21:42) Jesus reminds us that “the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes.” It is a reminder that even the weakest among us can become deliberate about love. Even the weakest who gives love becomes the strongest pier. This is god’s awe-some creation in which the whole is dependent on care—love–those who inherit the kingdom are those who create the love that builds up the foundation from weakness to strength. love builds up.
Here is the message for people of oppression, here is the rallying cry for LGBTQ people, to remember that we are children of God’s love, that our very identity is created by our love, and that we especially are called to be deliberate in love.
Proper 22 Year A 2020 RCL (Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Psalm 19 Caeli enarrant; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46)
©The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.
Dimensions of Reality: glbt Christian spirituality 