Dear Friends,
When I was a teacher, the president of the school would say every August that the start of school is like getting an elephant up on its hind legs. Well, starting the program year at church also feels that way as we return from summer vacations, church school begins again, old ministries are renewed, new ministries begin, people who’ve been gone a long time from church and those looking for a church come hoping for a community that welcomes them in. There’s excitement in the air as we start singing the psalm again, the choir takes on some harder music, we see old friends, and we regather with a party for All Saints / All In and to take our annual parish photo!
I hope everyone, everyone, everyone will come by the party on Saturday (PLEASE RSVP, though—Courtney needs to order the pizza this afternoon!) and attend church on Sunday, gathering for sure at 10:45 in front of the church for our parish photo. Wear white with a bright accent color, using our stained glass windows for inspiration, though if you can’t manage that, no matter! We just want EVERYONE in the photo! (Read more about all of this below.)
Often on this “All In” Weekend, though, the Sunday Gospel is . . . rough. Some years it’s Jesus telling his disciples to “take up their cross.” Some years we hear Jesus teaching that anyone who does not “hate mother and father, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even life itself” cannot follow him (that is even too punk rock for me!). One year we heard last week’s Gospel about how to deal with conflict in community. This year we hear the second half of the section in Matthew that focuses on “life in community,” and it continues on the theme of forgiveness when Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive a brother who has wronged him—maybe seven times? You can practically hear Jesus laughing: “Seven!?! How about 70 x 7 times!” he responds.
People can get worked up about this passage since it seems to insist on endless forgiveness and on the “victim” of a wrong being a kind of “doormat” to a bad actor. That is a legitimate criticism, and the Church has sometimes used it to insist women remain in abusive marriages or that parishioners should be patient and forgiving towards pastors who have violated their obligation to care for the sheep. But that’s not what Jesus is talking about; he is not advocating for us to be doormats or to be abused but to live in the radical hope of reconciliation. He’s talking about how in true Christian community we are to bear with one another, care for one another, forgive one another, show mercy to one another, ask forgiveness of one another (Matthew 5:23-24). In other words, we are to be “all in” with one another, not leaving in a huff when we don’t get our way or someone screws up, apologizing when we act like jerks, forgiving when someone else does. These aren’t necessarily rules for everyone and every community in your life; these are the rules for life in community with folks who are trying (and stumbling and failing and trying) to follow Jesus.
And, for that, I am ALL IN!
See you in church!
Faithfully, Suzanne+