RSSMay 9, Easter V
by the Rev. Barbara Cawthorne Crafton for ERD
5/9/2004
Acts 13:44-52 or Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
Revelation 19:1, 4-9 or Acts 13:44-52
John 13:31-35
Psalm 145 or 145:1-9
What shall we do in the midst of all this conflict?!?
The early Church sounds awfully familiar: conflict, jealousy, accusation. No sooner do people receive new life in Christ, it seems, but they begin to attack each other. This is church?
Yup. Was then, is now. Wish we were different, but it sounds like we've tended toward argument and controversy since the beginning. The Jews before us were the same. An old Jewish saying puts it succinctly: Two Jews, three opinions.
The fight then was about whether or not Gentiles should be part of the young Church. To many Jewish Christians, it seemed obvious that following Christ was simply a way of being a more faithful Jew, a way that should be practiced within the exclusive fellowship of the Jewish people. But to the newcomers, this was by no means clear. Being Jewish was an accident of birth and culture, and shouldn't be expected of people who don't come equipped with it. We know how it ended: Gentile converts didn't have to become Jews first, the Church widened, and it has reflected the culture of every place to which it the faith has been carried.
But they didn't know how it would end. The controversy was angry and frightening. It looked to some of them as if the whole enterprise would be snuffed out by its own infighting. We know all about this, too: it looks that way to some of us when we behold the controversies of our own day. How on earth are we ever going to hold together through all this, we wonder, frightened and angry.
I can't make predictions about how our strife will end. Nobody can. But I do know one thing: none of the issues that divide us relieve us of our obligation to the poor. When Jesus himself was asked what His followers would look like, He was clear: we would be the ones who fed the hungry and gave drink to the thirsty, who visited the sick and those in prison.
Episcopal Relief and Development is emphatically uninterested in our political divisions. There are no litmus tests, for donor or diocese or recipient. A program must be directed at people in need. That is the only test ERD cares about.
Maybe it's time, now, to focus on these things. People may not believe the same things about matters of doctrine, even important ones. They may not even agree on what matters of doctrine are. But we can all agree on this much: we are all called to serve people in need.
Episcopal Relief and Development is an effective, reliable, and vital ministry of the Episcopal Church in communities around the world. Episcopal Relief and Development provides emergency assistance in times of disaster, rebuilds devastated communities after the immediate crisis is over, and offers long-term solutions to help people sustain safer, healthier, and more productive lives.
