Proper 7A + Open your heart + 6.25.23

 

M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Genesis 21:8–21; Ps. 86:1–10, 16–17; Romans 6:1b–11; Matthew 10:24–39)

A friend recently gave me a book on focusing on just the essentials as a way to lead a productive life. It's called Essentialism by Greg McKeown and in the first part he talks about the priorities that we have as individuals and organizations. He says that historically, in the English language at least, a priority meant only one thing – literally the thing before the moment you were in, the prior thing. But over time, we have decided to have several "priorities" and having so many we lose the opportunity to do great things with a single focus.

If you know me, you know that I have a hard time finding just one goal because I like to be open to various parish projects and needs. I often want to do all the things! But I think that today’s gospel invites us to think about priorities.

In today's gospel, Jesus says: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Here, he asks that we put God first. It's a difficult passage because of course we love our families, but he asks for something difficult. He asks that we put God first, as a priority before our families.

One of my fellow scripture interpreters said this week that maybe Jesus is saying this because if we don't put God first, we end up putting our family first. That at first doesn't seem like a bad thing. But what happens is that, in putting our family first, we always think of our family and not our neighbor. We focus on our blood related tribe. Jesus invites us to prioritize our family of God. To take care of our family, yes. But also to think of others, not just those closest to us by blood.

Because if we don’t prioritize this way, it can lead to the abuse of other human beings who are not perceived as one’s “family”. Thinking back to the Juneteenth celebration this past week, I read this scripture from Genesis in another way. Last week we saw Sarah's hospitality and generosity, but this week we see how she only thinks about her blood relations. She wants to kick Hagar and Ishmael out. Why? Because of a mockery of the mistress of the house? Because she feels it’s too risky to have another person around who could share the inheritance with Isaac? This is not Sarah's most generous moment. One would even say that this moment shows her abusing her privilege as a person in power. Although she had supported the relationship between Hagar and Abraham when she thought of herself as a barren person, now she chooses her blood family and almost wants to leave Hagar and Ishmael to die, at least the child who is so small and weak.

But what God does here is amazing. Because we know that God loves Abraham and Sarah, but here he sees injustice. And he goes to Hagar and says “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” And after this, she sees a well and Ishmael can drink and survive!

God loves Abraham and Sarah, but He also loves Hagar and Ishmael. And this is what is interesting. When we put God first, we open our hearts to our neighbors as well. To all of creation - our human and animal neighbors as well. We know that we cannot live only for ourselves, nor for our families only. But we have to live for others too.

We can't do everything. But when we open our eyes, maybe we can see the needs that surround us. We can respond to people we don't know as if they were family.

We have a history as a country of doing the opposite of this. Last Saturday I heard Cindy Morales describe the history of the Colonia here in Oxnard. She said that that neighborhood developed because Mexican workers were not allowed to live in other parts of Oxnard. Because of this it became a part of Oxnard that was rich in culture, but also sometimes disproportionately affected by violence. Because there were no options for young adults. It was an example of our city planners putting a “red line” around a certain neighborhood to keep certain people in, or perhaps other people out of other neighborhoods. Obviously now in Oxnard we have more diverse communities, but for some families the effects of discrimination continue.

When we see that we are doing wrong, we have to change our actions. St. Paul says: Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” We know that racism is a sin of our country, and now that we know more, we can do better.

Maybe not everyone agrees with me. In fact, we saw a large group on January 6, 2021, many of whom wanted to keep power in Euro-American hands. But on the other side there are people of good will who see the richness in diversity. People who know that churches like ours, churches that contain different cultures and traditions, are the future. And that’s a good thing. This diversity will make us better humans. Sometimes there is a sense of loss, but we know that in dying to self we truly gain life as Christians, as Jesus has told us.

So, don't get discouraged by a world that will make it difficult for us to follow Christ. But let us be encouraged, knowing that we are valued and loved by God. Jesus says “…Even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”  By putting God first, we can open our hearts to others and eventually we may realize that we are all siblings in Christ. Amen.