Once upon
a time, in a land much like ours, there were some weary travelers who came to a
village with nothing but a cooking pot. They found a place to camp near some
water, filled up their pot, and put it over a fire. Then they took a large
stone and put it in the pot as it simmered.
A
villager, upon seeing this, becomes curious and asks, “What are you cooking?” The
men explain that they were making a wonderful dish called stone soup. “We would
be happy to share with the village,” they explain. “We just needed a few small
things to make it extra flavorful.” The villager decides that he can part with
a few carrots and he adds them to the pot. Another villager sees them and
contributes some potatoes. So forth and so on the villagers add their
ingredients until there is a wonderful, nourishing soup to be enjoyed by all.
This folk
tale slyly illustrates what the concept of gleaning can look like in a
community. By each contributing some, there is always enough for all. In the
story, the villagers were sort of tricked into contributing, but they did
contribute on their own accord because they believed that the end result would
be something great. And it was. But it would not have been if they decided to
keep their doors locked and never spoke to the strangers amongst them.
In the
story, the stone was the base for the soup, with the villagers building upon
that. Similarly, as Paul reminds us today, Jesus Christ is our foundation. We must
choose with care how we will build on it – individually and as a community. We
are the Body of Christ. We belong to Jesus and Jesus belongs to God. All parts
of us belong to God: our hurts, our joys, our imperfections. If we believe that
God’s Spirit dwells within us, that means that God’s Spirit dwells in others,
too, whether we like it or not.
And this
should matter to us. This should change us. This should transform us into being
perfect as our “heavenly Father is perfect.” Not an ethical or moral
perfection, but a perfection based on the Hebrew sense of “wholeness” (tamim). To be perfect is to serve God
wholeheartedly with a single-minded devotion. That is what we are striving for
in this lifelong journey with Jesus.
So if we
are striving for wholeness in God, then our lives as disciples will show it.
Our love is not one of vengeful retaliation, as we see in our gospel story
today (Matt. 5:38-48). Instead, our love extends even to our enemies, because
that is what God calls us to: actions of
faith. The thoughts and feelings that are inside us are acted out with the
vehicle of our bodies. Are we God’s dwelling place? If so, how does anyone
know?
Jesus
calls us to radical hospitality – for ourselves and for others. God loved us
first so that we could know what love is. It is because of God’s love for us
and our love for God that we are able to love ourselves and to love others in
return.
“Love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of
your Father in heaven. … For if you love those who love you, what reward do you
have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?”
Tax
collectors were despised in Jewish culture for being unpatriotic and were seen
as unclean by coming into contact with gentiles.
“And if
you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others?
Do not even the gentiles do the same?”
The
gentiles were unbelievers and unclean to Jews. To be compared to such as them
was insulting. Jesus calls the disciples…Jesus calls us to a higher standard
than this. God’s love is seen in the world when communities are concerned with
compassion, justice, and care of everyone, especially the most vulnerable.
Have you
ever walked into a party or a conference where you know only one or two people?
Or have you ever been the new person at school, at work, at church? You look
around and everyone else is chatting and seems to know each other and you just
stand there feeling awkward. It’s hard to know where to begin.
It’s
always easier to love the person who already loves us or to talk with the
person we already know who likes the same things we do. But Jesus doesn’t call
us to the easy life. Jesus calls us to discipleship. That means not just
mingling with, but embracing the other. That means noticing the awkward person
in the corner and inviting him or her into our conversation. That means praying
for those who wish us ill and respecting the dignity of every human being, as
we promise to do in our Baptismal Covenant.
Victor Hugo begins Les Miserables with the story of Jean Valjean. He is an
ex-convict who has just been released from nineteen years in prison for
stealing bread to feed his sister’s children. As he reenters society, no one
will house him or give him work because of his criminal record — that is until
he stumbles into the bishop’s house. Much to Valjean’s bewilderment, the bishop
treats him with kindness and hospitality. Seizing the moment, Valjean steals
the bishop’s silver plates and, then, flees into the night.
The bishop’s reaction to Valjean’s treachery is not what
we might expect. Instead of being angry and offering condemnation, the bishop
examines his own behavior and finds himself lacking in charity. “I have for a
long time wrongfully withheld this silver; it belonged to the poor. Who was
this man? A poor man evidently,” he reasons to himself. So when the police
arrive with the captured Valjean, the bishop’s silver in his possession, the
bishop calmly greets the thief and says, “But I gave you the candlesticks also
... why did you not take them along with the plates?” The police, surprised and
confused, reluctantly let the thief go.
Jean Valjean
expects blame and condemnation for his actions. Instead, he receives
forgiveness and mercy. He expects hatred, and, instead, he receives love. At that
moment evil is transformed into good.
Remember,
there will be times when we are the awkward person or when we are someone
else’s enemy. The Christian life is not a passive life, but very active and
intentional. It means seeing God in the other, as God sets no bounds in loving.
If we stay inside the boundaries of where we feel comfortable, wars, racism,
ageism, sexism, and prejudice of all kinds will continue.
Look
around you in the pews today, or when you’re at work or school, or on the
street. Catch someone’s eye. Hold eye contact for a moment and really look at
them. See them as God sees them – precious and holy – a child of God.
How does
it feel to be beheld like that? What is it like to know that you are loved by
God with such utter completeness?
Again and
again and again, God gives us grace instead of grief. God gives us blessing
instead of blame. God gives us comfort instead of condemnation
Hopefully,
it is life changing. Hopefully, this love reminds us that we are all part of
something greater – a community that is larger and more understanding than we
know. Hopefully, we will know that we are cared for by a God who really see us
and invites us to share what we have for the soup, no matter if we think it’s
fitting or not.
This is
what it means to be God’s dwelling place in the world – our hearts have changed
and our actions of love for one another make the soup what it is: a dish that
people want to gather around and be part of.
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