Psalm 103: 1-13
This week the Bible Study met on Thursday to contemplate these two readings. We shared our insight in the style of Lectio Divina - we read over the passages aloud, and offered what struck us from the passage, what stuck out, and how we related to it.
We shared our questions and wonderings, and our experiences that related to this scripture. I felt lucky to get to know the folks gathered there a bit better, and to share a bit of myself and my beliefs with them.
I am grateful to have a similar opportunity to introduce myself to all who are gathered here today as we embark upon our time together over the coming months. As far as today goes, it may help to know that table fellowship - the act of breaking bread - and music have long been key components in my faith. Music is a big part of my spiritual practices. My family loves to share music. I have been raised in church, and have witnessed many expressions of faith. I am excited by the radical hospitality I have seen already offered at Northwood, and am looking forward to learning more about your ministries, passions, and projects. I look forward to building connections and getting to know each other as we gather and build community here at Northwood. For example, the choir’s anthem would not have been as engaging if they had all simply read the words aloud. Their singing brought their message to life!
In today’s scripture readings, in both Thursday’s bible study and my research over the past week placed the Psalm within a relational context. Our words and prayers may fall short of capturing the full breadth of God’s glory. It can help to remember that though we read the psalms, this prayer was originally shared in song. The use of music in worship helps us connect to the beauty of God, who is reflected in our sung praises. With our voices, we lift up beliefs and prayers off the page and raise them to God.
As a song, this psalm calls us to bring our full selves to our praise and prayer, to bless God by demonstrating our love for her with our heart, soul, and mind (Deut 6:4). For me, this invitation to bring our full selves to worship certainly involves singing with others.
When we are feeling burdened, the “Psalmists [invites] those gathered to root their minds and hearts in their memories of God’s actions.” We are reminded of God’s grace and love in action. While we are suffering, we are invited to recall God’s forgiveness, healing, and redemption. This psalm was a song that was used in worship by our ancestors in faith. This creative aspect of singing helps us to pursue beauty, and to enjoy and appreciate it. This [relational] approach to prayer “seeks to mirror that mysterious beauty” of God and God’s love for creation by lifting up our own voices.
In this call for our whole-hearted praise and thanksgiving, we can see “love and justice touched in holiness.” In this passage, God’s love has greater magnitude than any of our mis-steps or concerns. Our mistakes are dwarfed by God’s bounndless love. Any suffering we are in the midst of “cannot be [because of] our sins, for we know that our God is not only compassionate but also committed to enacting justice.”
This song is meant to “remind those gathered of Yahweh’s character, to work on behalf of the oppressed” which reminds the oppressed community of hope” We are reminded that we do not “bear our pain alone, [and] that together we wait for redemption” This is a way of reminding us that our suffering is temporary, and the pains of this Earth will come to an end, while the love of God endures forever. In the end, any punishment or “judgement is overwhelmed by God’s extravagant mercy”
God’s love forgives our mistakes, and we are continually held in God’s embrace, even when the world may make us feel forgotten or alone.
Matthew 18: 15-20
The passage from Matthew offers a practical guide of reconciliation in the early church. This is distinct from legal justice, as forgiveness within Church (as the body of Christ) seeks to retain members. Together, we are instructed to work towards reconciliation, repentance, and to offer multiple chances for an offender to be welcomed back ‘into the fold’ after a difference of opinions.
This week I learned that this passage is so important that it has been called the Rule of Christ. These instructions for Christ’s followers were offered because Christ and his disciples recognized that conflict arising was inevitable. How we respond to conflict is key to our living into our beliefs, so that our prayer is a call to action. Unlike a courtroom, in the church, we seek justice not for the sake of uncovering truth, but with respect for all parties, and by demonstrating humility towards one another.
The “Rule of Christ redefines the goals of” conflict. Rather than coming to a conclusion about who is right, this instruction demonstrates how we can work to rescue and forgive, to offer care in a spirit of humility.” “The Rule of Christ [emphasizes] care for the offender or sinner and [does] not necessarily [work] to establish the rights of the offended.”
Rather than jump to correct the offended, the church is reminded to seek “care for the church member who has faltered” and if at all possible, “avoid public shaming”. All parties are invited to accountability within the community we build together, to “be accountable to the authority and discernment of the whole community.” “We are most free when we bring in the collective wisdom and discernment of the whole diverse body of Christ together”
If we regard the church as the body of Christ, with each of us as a member of that body, it follows that all members are vital to the function and health of the church. We cannot operate without a member of this body. There is a mutual interdependence we are invited into, in which no member is more or less important than any other. Each of us are vital to the functions of the body of Christ. If unaddressed, conflict can spread like disease, and overtake an otherwise healthy body.
We know that reconciliation can be a challenge within faith communities, as the church is by nature a diverse body, in which we gather alongside people from all walks of life. Most groups gather around a shared experience or common interest. The church is not built around sameness, but around shared values and beliefs, which come from a variety of perspectives and experiences. Diversity is our strength. The church community is not meant to bully one another into sameness. Instead we are invited into a “communal agency of care”
The balance to strike is that the process outlined by Matthew also “does not dismiss pastoral care for the offended one. Rather, [it expresses] an ethos of care for the other.” This “theology of care” fits within a rabbinic custom of discerning what laws to apply to a situation.
We must be careful with how we read the passage that instructs us to treat the offender as we do Gentiles or tax collectors. This might sound like condemnation of those who fail to resolve the conflict within community, until we recall that Jesus continually outraged religious leaders by inviting, dining and respecting those who were reviled by others. We are called to notice where love is already moving and to join in. We can lift others up, through encouragement, advocacy, prayer, and action.
In my experience and training, I was lucky to take part in compassionate listening workshops. This method of communication has been used between Palestinian and Israeli parents who have lost their children in the ongoing conflict. In compassionate listening, we are invited to listen for the values underlying what is being said, and find ways to listen even when we are triggered. I hope that we can cultivate and engage our curiosity in community, to bring about shared songs and understandings, and invite one another into observing new and different perspectives. Christ can help us to shed light on the possibilities for love and light within a challenging and broken world. May our community come together and celebrate our differences, and work to better understand one another and the nature of Christ’s love. Amen.