A Year Later

It’s been almost a year
   Since the world changed forever
      At least that’s what they say
         About that day
In some respects they’re right
   But mostly what I think changed
      Is not the world
         But our perspective
Things look very different
   On this side of the terror
      The way good folks in other places
         Have seen it all along
Except we still don’t really get it
   We haven’t learned the lessons
      Because true insight
         Requires transformation
The planes crashed
   The towers fell
      The tears flowed
         And then we just hit back
We don’t really want to look inside
   To discover ways to change things
      It is safer just to blame it all
         On someone else
Consolidate our power
   There’s no room for disagreement
      It’s us against the bad guys
         Winner takes the world
So I’ll pray for those we lost
   I’ll grieve what we’re becoming
      And maybe some day soon
         The world will really change forever

I confess that a large part of me just wants to ignore this anniversary. So much has been made of September 11th and all too often I’m afraid it has been used as an excuse to move us further down a most unhelpful path. I wonder how much of our humanity we are willing to sacrifice in the name of security.

But if we ignore it altogether, then nothing will change. Apathy and resignation means that others will continue to define the agenda. Vengeance will continue to take precedence over justice. Might will continue to define right. The world will continue to be divided into us and them.

There is another way to live, but the price is quite steep. We have to be willing to risk being open and vulnerable. We have to be willing to trust that God will not only guide and direct us, but be present with us in the very midst of our living. Paul put it quite plainly when he wrote to the church at Rome. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” (Romans 13:8) In a culture where retribution defines much of how we approach our relationship to those with whom we disagree, the idea of choosing love as the standardized currency of exchange seems a very foreign concept indeed. It means taking the initiative and taking a chance. This business of living in true and genuine community is not easy and it is not safe. It leaves us hanging way out front and very exposed. But that is precisely the approach to living we are called to take. Paul tells us to love. Jesus tells us to keep on loving. In Matthew’s Gospel (18:15-20) we find instructions for how to live in community with one another, even when there are conflicts. In contrast to the “I’m not talking to her until she apologizes” approach we so often favor, Jesus encourages the injured party to initiate reconciliation. And in contrast to the scandal-driven, tabloid headline crazy manner in which so many of our conflicts are handled, Jesus presents us with a model of quiet, personal interaction. Unfortunately, this passage in Matthew has been badly misused and misunderstood down through the years. Verse 17 says, “If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” Every commentary I read on this passage this week missed the point completely. They all seemed to think that the end of this process was excommunication. “Well, we tried, but they just wouldn’t listen, so we’re now washing our hands of them for their own good.” But that flies in the face not only of the overall tone of Jesus’ ministry, but also the specific context within which this passage occurs in Matthew’s Gospel. Immediately preceding this section is the story of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to go in search of the one which is lost. Immediately following this section is the discussion with Peter about forgiving someone seventy times seven times. What we know from other places in all of the Gospels is that what Jesus did with Gentiles and Tax Collectors was to eat with them and love them. This is not instructions for cutting off fellowship. It is a command to do whatever is required to maintain the connections of community.

Even more to the point, it seems to me, and, unfortunately, even more misused, is what comes next. “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18) This is not a commission, but a warning. Jesus is not deputizing us to be God’s holy police force. He is reminding us that we are the vehicles through whom God’s grace is shared with the world. What we do matters. How we relate to those around us matters. Where will the world hear about God’s love if not from us? How will the world experience God’s grace if not through us? As people of faith who seek to follow where Christ would lead us, we carry the responsibility of living in community with each other and with the world. It is not always easy. It is not always popular. It is not always safe. It is the life we are called to live. So in these “post-September 11th” days, may we seek to offer the world another model for how to live and how to relate with each other -- one in which genuine love defines the rules. Perhaps then the world really will be forever changed.