Sermon: June 11, 2023
Reading: Genesis 12:1-9 / Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Jesus told the Pharisees to “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’” Who are the tax collectors, the sinners, and the ritually unclean in 2023? Who are the ones being excluded and not welcome at the table? It’s not difficult to hear and see the finger pointing from a multitude of directions claiming these are the ones; those are the people causing all the problems in our country. How can you associate with them? How can you tolerate them? You need to cancel and ostracize them form society. You need to remove them because they are unacceptable.
Jesus says we need to learn what it means that God desires mercy, not sacrifice. If God shows mercy and compassion, loving everyone, then how is God calling us to respond faithfully?
Like Abram, we can faithfully choose to live into the promise of God’s love. Like Matthew, we can choose to follow in the way of Jesus’ mercy. Each and every day, we make decisions about how we live our faith in the image of God’s love. Some choices are automatic and spontaneous, requiring very little thought. Other decisions require careful discernment and prayer. We always have a choice to follow Christ, and faithfully live a life dedicated to embracing all people with God’s love.
On page 833 of the book of Common Prayer, there is a prayer attributed to St. Francis.
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
God does not ask us to be perfect, but to be faithfully available in spirit and to proclaim his love. Today, let us choose to respond to God’s unconditional love with faith by showing mercy, love, and compassion to all of God’s children.
