Rekindling the Gift of God

This morning I want to say something about the current political climate and the role of religion as we consider our civic responsibility in the midst of an uncertain and politically charged environment.  To make clear where I am coming from as a Christian and a person who relies on our biblical history and tradition, I am committed to the messages of the Old Testament prophets and Jesus and his followers in the New Testament.  The question for me and I hope for you is how are we to interpret these sacred texts and their meaning for us during a time of anxiety about our common future? 

During the 1980’s and 90’s there was a program in our Diocese that brought many Episcopalians and other Christians and Jews together for study and conversation.  The program was called the Abrahamic Accord.  Its focus was to increase understanding between our two faith traditions by examining where they were compatible and where they differed.  I recall attending several of the conversations and listening to scholars from both traditions on a variety of topics. 

Now, twenty years later, there is a renewed desire to rekindle the conversation.  So, two weeks ago a few of us from All Saints went over to Temple Beth-El on the East Side to listen to Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman and the Rev, Mark Sutherland as they addressed the question, “What do we believe, and how does this shape the way we feel about the current tone of civic debate in America?”

Mark Sutherland and Rabbi Howard Voss-Altman are struggling along with other religious leaders, myself included, who are looked to for guidance, not of a political nature, but from the perspective of our Jewish and Christian prophetic tradition.

Our lives are shaped by the public and private attitudes that influence our stories.  Many of these are our individual stories.  They are of two kinds: stories that are dominated by fear give rise to influences that divide us; and stories that focus on healing and liberation give rise to the shaping of virtue.

As Christians and Jews we share a biblical epic story of the prophetic vision of justice, equality, inclusion and peace.  Our biblical story says that our ultimate allegiance is to God alone: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, you shall worship no other gods but me.”

We learn in the Exodus story that God liberated the Israelites from bondage in Egypt and led them to a land of promise.  Then the prophet Isaiah continued this story of good news in announcing, “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Many years later Jesus taught in the synagogue in Nazareth where he had been raised.  It was the Sabbath and he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah where he found this text:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant.

This story of biblical freedom from bondage and the command of the Lord to continue the work of liberation is central to both Jewish and Christian traditions.  It is our story and its application to our current condition is what is needed to build virtue and our common aspirations of hope for a better future.  I am deeply troubled by the current political dialogue because too many people today live in bondage lacking opportunity for freedom and justice.  There is not enough attention being given to the needs of the poor, and expressions of kindness are minimal at best. We need a greater exchange of ideas and the development of policies that are enlightened by the values of compassion, reason and virtue.

In today’s Epistle reading, the Second Letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy from prison.  He said, “I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed…of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Paul asked Timothy to “rekindle the gift of God” because it is God who gives us a “spirit of power and love and self-discipline.”

Paul said, “join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling…. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.”

Ours is a holy calling today just as it was in the time of Isaiah, in the time of Jesus’ disciples, and in the time of Paul and Timothy.  We are to adhere to the standard of sound teaching as we have received it in the Bible; and we are to share the faith and love we have received through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Through our baptism the Holy Spirit lives in us and we are given the power and grace to minister to one another and to those in need.

You and I share the faith that has been entrusted to us.  That faith is what we celebrate when we gather for worship.  It is the faith that informs the values we live by every day.  It is the faith we celebrate and the reality of God’s compassion that is beyond all the political pronouncements and stories that divide and separate us from our true calling which is our allegiance to God.  Amen.