Epiphany 7 Sermon | Allison Pace
The Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
20 February 2022
Love, Forgiveness & Our Spiritual Bodies
I speak to you in the name of the One who taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing. Amen.
“Love is not fundamentally a matter of sentiment, attachment or being “drawn toward.” Love is active, effective, a matter of making reciprocal and mutually beneficial relation with one’s friends AND enemies. Love creates righteousness, or Justice, here on earth.”
This is an excerpt taken from theologian and Episcopal priest Carter Heyward’s book, Our Passion for Justice.
I don’t know about you, but I have certainly had plenty of moments in my life when loving and forgiving my enemies seemed like an impossible task…a far-fetched idea that would never come to fruition.
Many of you might know that I grew up riding and showing horses. My childhood best friend was someone I rode horses with—we were inseparable for close to 15 years—many called us sisters, and truthfully I thought of her as my sister. In fact, my horse, Jazz, lives at her family’s farm just up the road in Montpelier.
Over the last several years, my friend and I have started drifting apart—we went to different colleges, saw each other a handful of times each year and began to experience our lives in different ways.
And even so, I reached out to this friend of mine on many random occasions throughout the year–we would talk on the phone or text and talk about life in college and our plans to see each other when we were home for summer vacation…until one day she stopped responding…
…birthdays went by, we didn’t talk…years have gone by without seeing each other. And then, in September of 20-21, my grandfather died.
I didn’t hear anything from my childhood friend.
A few weeks ago, I found myself visiting my horse, Jazz. I had two very dear friends who joined me on this visit. And as we were getting ready to leave, this childhood friend of mine pulled up in the driveway next to where we were standing. I waved to her and said “hello”...she didn’t say or do anything back. It was at this moment that I realized our friendship no longer existed in the way it once did.
Today in the Gospel of Luke we hear a continuation of the Sermon on the Plain from last week’s Gospel. Jesus is prescribing us additional ethos and instruction on how we are called to live among each other, even in the midst of hostility. Jesus is calling us into a life that is radically counter-cultural…
…a life in which we are called to love our enemies…
…a life in which we are called to bless those who curse us…
…a life in which we are called to give to those who take from us.
This is really tough.
There’s no denying or painting a pretty picture that sometimes, this is a tough call to answer–we all know that, and I think Jesus knows that, too; after all, God became human in the person we call Jesus–God knows what it’s like to be a human. But, still, hearing this call from Jesus and truly living into this radically countercultural idea can be tough…
…and yet, our common, everyday thriving as members of the Body of Christ depends upon and is rooted in love and forgiveness for each other, even those…especially those whom we vehemently disagree…
That’s why it is absolutely vital that Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians talks about our Spiritual Bodies…some might call that our soul–the way in which we live by and through the Spirit.
Our Spiritual Bodies is what connects, knits and binds us together as the Body of Christ–a network and beautifully spun web of fierce love that can never be separated.
And because we are members of the Body of Christ, we will never be separated from each other…because we belong to God, we also belong to each other.
Medieval English mystic, Julian of Norwich once wrote,
God wants to be thought of as our Lover.
I must see myself so bound in love
as if everything that has been done has been done for me.
That is to say,
The Love of God makes such a unity in us
That when we see this unity no one is able to separate oneself
From another.
As members of the Body of Christ, we have been given a gift–a gift so awesome and unbelievable and precious that we can’t help but share it with others–it’s the gift of this altar--our Sacred Center. This is the place where our Spiritual Bodies come for nourishment, so that we can indeed go back out into the world to live a life of love and forgiveness–a life truly rooted in the teachings of Jesus.
When we live by, and through and truly in, our spiritual body, we are transformed–we transform the world around us, and in return, we make the Resurrection of Jesus Christ real. We make our own redemption real. We assist in creating a world where love and forgiveness aren’t simply things we talk about, they are actions we partake in.
And this…this beautiful Body of Christ…this network that our spiritual bodies belong to is exactly why we are called to love our enemies…why we bless those who curse us…why we pray for those who abuse us…because, we as Christians, know something about love and forgiveness…we show love in our actions…and we follow love down roads of righteousness and justice.
In our Genesis lesson this morning, we hear that Joseph, led by his spiritual body, followed God down the road of love and forgiveness. Joseph comes back to a family that sold him–left him–deserted him. Sent by God, Joseph exhibits an immense amount of love and forgiveness towards his family, despite their wrongdoings.
This is pure bravery–a bravery that we need to pay attention to–a radically countercultural way of life, similar to what Jesus calls us into in today’s Gospel. Joseph shows us that we are called to tear down the earthly walls that confine and restrict us–walls which make us aim only for ourselves–only for our physical bodies.
Joseph shows us that when we truly live into and by our Spiritual Bodies, we grow the Body of Christ—we grow the Kingdom of love and forgiveness.
Remember, even Jesus died at the hands of his enemies…and yet he calls out to our Creator, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Jesus prayed for his enemies before he was crucified…before he made the ultimate sacrifice and died to save every living being–to save us from our own sins.
I hold my former childhood friend in my prayers…I have forgiven her in my heart…I pray for her because we belong to each other…our spiritual bodies are members of the Body of Christ...that binded network of Christ’s hands and feet in this world.
The late Archbishop of South Africa, Desmund Tutu once said, “when we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others.”
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And so where does this leave us–what does all of this mean for us?
Simply put: let your spiritual body, your soul, do the walking and talking—let your spiritual body guide all that you do each and every day.
Our physical body is but temporary—what we do with our spiritual bodies is how we truly live, and move and have our being in Christ—it’s how we love and how we forgive.
I’m not implying that this is an easy task to do all of the time…
…but I am saying that if Jesus is truly the root and foundation on which our lives are built, then love becomes not one of many options…
…it becomes the only option. Amen.
Allison M. M. Pace
Director of Children & Youth Ministries, and REDS Chaplain
