Sermon preached at Sung mass, Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Year 2, Proper 19, Wednesday, Daily Mass:
Psalm 33:1-12,22*, 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13; Luke 7:31-35
Today is the feast day of John Coleridge Patteson, bishop of Malanesia. He and those with him were killed visiting the island of Nakapu when he was mistakenly connected to slave-raiders had attacked the island.
I am reminded of a conversation I had with a friend a few years ago. I had heard so many sermons in Seminary that didn't mention two things that I think are essential to Christian preaching and evangelism. The first is the death and resurrection of Jesus. The second is love. They are connected and I remember saying that I would be happy if every sermon I heard had mentioned one or the other. When we talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus we are talking about the love that God has for all of us. Love so that nothing, not even death can seperate us from God.
Patteson's death is very similar to the events in today's Gospel. He was killed because someone made an incorrect assumption. Likewise, John the Baptist was accused of having a demon and Lesus was accused of being a drunkard and a glutton.
If, following the logic of Saint Paul as illustrated in our Epistle today, we start with love; strip everything else away and start with nothing but love, then the assumptions we have don't lead us to killing people, they don't lead us to casting people out, and they don't lead us to trowing around insults and branding people. The cross is a good starting point. The cross is the ultimate example of God's love for all of us. By taking up the cross and following the example of Jesus we are starting with love. Love does not lead us to make the kind of assumptions we see in the demise of Patteson and in today's Gospel account. Love is patient, love is kind, love never ends.
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