Why Minister to Others?

The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (RCL, Year B, Proper 9)
Summer Sermon Series (3 of 11)
July 5, 2009

The Reverend Susan Beth Pinkerton

Yesterday we celebrated the anniversary of our nation’s independence, both our freedom as a nation and our freedom as individuals. Today we ponder a different kind of freedom; the freedom to reach out beyond ourselves and to minister the Other. Why minister to others? This question follows the first issue in our sermon series, Pay Attention! We explored the issue of whether we can be truly present in the moment while maintaining our faith and as well as our connections to our past and future; standing at the intersection of kairos (eternity) and chronos (temporal) time.

Last week Paul addressed the second issue: Pay Attention to What? Ministry! He talked about the challenge of serving those unlike ourselves. No matter the reason for our differences, we are called to serve and minister to the needs of those who are in desperate need of help. Jesus models this love in his response to Jairus, the synagogue leader, and his plea to heal his dying daughter and his response to the hemorrhaging woman’s desperate attempt at healing. It is exemplified in St. Benedict’s Rule of Life, where to all guests are treated as if it were Christ himself and especially so for the poor and destitute, “for in them Christ is received the more.”^[1]

So, why are we called to minister to the Other? Why take the risk to step out of our comfort zone and expose ourselves to others, especially one that is unlike me or you?

Because we are the “Other.” We become one with the other in our underlying connectedness that binds us to each other and to all of humanity on the most basic human level. This is the human condition we share with each other, no matter our race, sex, religion, gender, nationality or social status. We are one. How you and I live our lives, making decisions and choices, affects those around us and ultimately the entire world.

John Donne, Anglican priest, poet and lawyer, eloquently captures the depth of our human connectedness;

No man is an island, entire of itself…because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.^[2]

We are involved in humankind, both in our living and in our dying.

In Mark’s gospel Jesus personifies this truth when he sends out his disciples, two by two, to spread his message of unconditional love, justice and compassion.^[3] He knows this is a dangerous and difficult business. Jesus has already tasted ridicule and humiliation when his own family and neighbors treated him as if he had lost his mind. With rather brisk instructions, he sends them out with the knowledge that they have what they need already. They do not need to stock up supplies, form a strategic plan or take a six-week course on how to minster to the other. However, they have each other and a supportive community to depend upon. They already possess what they need to do the work Jesus has given them to do. And so do we.

Having lived on this earth for over half a century, I have learned that to reach out also requires me to reach within, to reconnect with my true self, coming face to face with my own demons, fears, woundedness and deep, deep need to be loved and accepted unconditionally. Without this connection to my interior self, I am stunted in my capacity to be present with an other, to relate and empathize with someone who is also in desperate need of these very same things. In these Gospel passages we see Jesus living in the moment, present to himself and those all around him while reaching out to the Other in love and compassion, living out his sacred story of just and loving service to a broken and ravaged world, even to the point of death.

Two weeks ago I attended a conference at Georgetown University that focused on respect, reconciliation, and religious freedom between Muslims and Evangelical Christians. During a break I was introduced to two men who share a most amazing story of forgiveness and reconciliation. It brought into clear relief for me why we minister to the Other.

James is a Pentecostal pastor and Ashafa is a Muslim imam. They are each highly revered religious leaders in Nigeria. Several years ago, during a time of civil unrest between Christians and Muslims, they took up arms as militia leaders and fought each other. Today several mass graves serve as a bitter reminder of the horrible atrocities that were committed by Christians and Muslims during this uprising. After the fighting James and Ashafa resumed their roles as religious leaders. However, they remained bitter enemies, fueled by the terrible losses they each suffered during the war. James lost his right hand in the fighting and Ashafa’s spiritual leader was murdered along with his two cousins. Each tells how they were consumed by anger, hatred and mistrust toward the other. James recalls that his “hatred toward all Muslims had no limits.” Ashafa was filled with the burning demand for revenge. Each man saw the other as the Other in the most embittered and hateful way.

For years each man wrestled with their feelings of hatred and intolerance toward the other, struggling with how to reconcile their hatred when their respective faiths called them to forgive. The Koran and The Bible both place a premium on forgiveness, turning evil into good. However, they did not know how to let go of this consuming anger, hatred and bitterness. The turning point came when James’ mother was gravely ill. Ashafa came to visit her and came again when he learned of her death. James was so taken back by this act of genuine kindness and charity by his enemy that he felt compelled to risk visiting Ashafa’s mosque. Their healing had begun and their relationship began to flourish.

Each man, in their own way, took the risk of real physical danger to reach out to the other with courage, humility and sincerity, not knowing how they would be received. But in their reaching out they first reached within themselves, acknowledging their own the deep sadness, despair and brokenness. Once they came face to face with their own human frailty, they were able to acknowledge that same frailty in each other. They saw themselves in the Other. They were the Other. In time their relationship grew and the hatred and bitterness has been replaced by genuine love and respect for each other.

Today, they travel all over the world together, as brothers; going out two by two, leading workshops on peace and reconciliation, modeling for the communities their own story of love and healing. They are bringing peace to a world where there was once strife and violence. Their lives are a manifestation of the transformative power of love made possible when we reach out to the Other.

They have a signal that when one does not agree with another on an issue, they will simply say to the other, “I need your help.” And they retreat to work it out.

I need your help. You need my help. We need each other. We are interconnected as One Body in Christ, bound by the love of the Incarnate Christ because, “no [one] is an island entire of itself.”

Amen.

[1] LIII Of the Reception of Guests taken from The Rule of St. Benedict and referenced in The Rev. Paul Roberts Abernathy’s sermon on June 28, 2009, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC.

[2] John Donne, “Devotions: Station 17” in Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and Death’s Duel.

[3] Reference to this Sunday’s Gospel, Mark 6:1-13.