“The Waters of Death and Life”

Lord, have mercy! Some of us know that plea, often offered in response to some sort of situation we don’t understand, don’t want to face, wouldn’t wish on our greatest enemy. Lord, have mercy! It is the plea echoed in the prayer we offered at the beginning of worship today, for all God’s creation suffering in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. God of mercy, for all those suffering in the waters of death, hear our prayer.

It is nothing less than the flowing of the Spirit’s power that on this day when we gather to pray and wrestle for understanding and direction in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans and Biloxi, we also pause to remember the life of Albert Schweitzer. Musician and theologian become physician and ethicist, today we remember the missionary whose life was defined by a reverence for life. He died at the age of 90 on this day in 1965. He was born 130 years ago the son of a Lutheran pastor, in a village of what was then part of Germany (now France), and lived his personal faith convictions out of inner necessity for the sake of others.

“Faithfulness toward Jesus is not a sort of complicated, mystical notion that sounds quite impressive in sermons but has no meaning in practical life. Far from it. Whoever has looked into the eyes of Jesus as he appears to us in his words knows that true happiness consists of service to this Great One and his Spirit – and a life offered to his work. Those who accept this mode of life, who know how to live it, become brothers and sisters.” [Excerpted from REVERENCE FOR LIFE]

“[People are] truly ethical only when [they obey] the compulsion to help all life which [they are] able to assist, and [shrink] from injuring anything that lives ... At times we have to decide arbitrarily which forms of life, and even which particular individuals, we shall save, and which we shall destroy. But the principle of reverence for life is nonetheless universal and absolute.” [Excerpted from chapter 26, THE PHILOSOPHY OF CIVILIZATION]

In promoting his understanding of our call to reverence for all life, Albert Schweitzer taught that we must try to demonstrate the essential worth of all life by doing all we can to alleviate suffering.

It is the strength of this Lutheran theology, of God’s light shining in the midst of the darkest suffering, God’s promise fulfilled for all people and all time in Christ, that gives us hope in the face of any disaster, that gives us power to be a glimpse of God’s rainbow of hope for those suffering in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina today.

Our presiding bishop, Mark Hanson, reminds us: “As we hear the heartbreaking stories of people who are suffering and dying from this disaster, we are reminded of refugees throughout the world. Please pray for all who struggle and suffer from the injustices of hunger, homelessness, and despair. I ask you to join me in renewing our commitment as Lutherans to be present wherever there is suffering, to bring healing and hope in Jesus’ name.” This from the man who is in Bethlehem where he is meeting with leaders of the Lutheran World Federation, joining other Christians in speaking the truth about alienation and persecution as well as our deep need for reconciliation in the Middle East and around the globe.

The gospel reading from Matthew brings those matters home to us here today: “If another member of the church sins against you …” In the Greek it is literally if your brother sins against you. But brothers and sisters are connected by water in this Jesus-graced world, not just by blood nut also by the cleansing, refreshing, renewing forgiving waters of Baptism. Hence the use of “church.” Jesus addresses those followers the church, his sisters and brothers, who had been having a tough time understanding him all along. Chapter 18 begins with the disciples asking Jesus a question that hardly seems relevant, hardly seems a life or death matter: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus, the one whose attention had been focused on the least of these all along, responds by lifting up the humility of children, naming our grown-up penchant for getting in the way, and rejoicing in the extravagance of God’s love. Then Jesus gets down and dirty about, well, about the dark side of live. “The kingdom of God, the world embraced by God’s love, if like this, too: If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone.” In 20 years of leading congregations as pastor through times of celebration and transition, I have watched this gospel bring healing more times than I can remember. And I have watched a misuse of these words, the dismissal of this wisdom wreak such havoc I can never forget. “Go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens, you have regained that one.” If not, try steps two and then three, and failing that turn the member over to God in prayer.

Have you ever tried this? It really works. Some years ago I served as adviser to congregation about ready to implode over the destructive behavior of one strong member. She was one of those members who had been active for decades, but now she was trying to sabotage the ministry by building a “coalition” of angry members. She’d make angry phone calls to and contacts with members sharing her side of the recent controversy surrounding their pastor. It was only one side of the story, and any logical person could see that. But the situation was anything but rational. Emotions were running very high. And being a long time member, a now adult pastor’s child who had understanding and credibility in the church, it was hard for people not to trust her version. The problem was she never did come to the “brother.” She went to everyone else.

In order to turn the situation around, first the pastor tried to speak with her. Then the pastor went with the congregation president, both to no avail. So the congregation council, following the guidance outlined in the constitution, invited her by letter to meet with them to address behavior that was becoming disruptive to the community. She instead submitted a letter of transfer. That was hard – the leadership wanted their “day in court” so to speak – but she chose another route, and the leaders had to turn the matter of reconciliation over to God’s good time.

Hear again the prayer of the Psalmist: Teach me, O God, the way of your statutes…Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways. Turn away the disgrace that I dead, for your ordinances are good. Amen.

Years later now everyone is on speaking terms again, and the former member is happily active in another congregation closer to home where her children and husband have also found a place to grow.

God knows we have only finite energy. And God also knows the world’s needs are great enough to sap the energy we do have, and more. The last thing we need do is waste energy being angry, or stirring up trouble, or turning away from one another. “Love your neighbor as yourself,” Paul reminds us. “Do no wrong to a neighbor … fulfill the law.” Trust enough to turn to the one nearby who has wronged you, and speak the truth in love. Trust enough to turn to the ones far off who are hurting, and make love visible in gift and deed. Show reverence for life, all life, and allow God’s Life-giving waters of Hope to flow through you.