Richard Davenport

August 20, 2023 – Proper 15

Romans 11:1-2, 13-15, 28-32

            A place to belong.  I was reading an article not that long ago about this woman who thought she would try living as a man.  It didn’t go well.  For her, the biggest problem was in how men socialize.  It’s just different for men than it is for women.  We operate with very different social rules.  Women need to get together with other women and gab about all of the things women like to talk about.  Us men stand at a distance and just shake our heads.  We don’t understand it.  We never will.  But we don’t have to understand it.  It’s just how women are.  We men do the same things.  We get together and talk about man things and women look at us and shake their heads. You don’t understand it.  You never will.  It’s just how we are.

            Still, for as puzzling as groups of men or groups of women might be, there’s still the common thread to both, belonging.  We all want places where we can go and have people know who we are and who welcome us.  We want places where people are always glad to see us and will always make room at the table for us. 

            Of course there are all kinds of groups you could join for any number of reasons.  There are formal groups you might be a part of.  Charity groups, like the Lions Club or Kiwanis, for instance.  A particular school you attend or are an alumnus of. Back in Cincinnati, with its heavy German population, there were German cultural societies that celebrated their German heritage, getting together for meals, hosting festivals, and other German-oriented events.  Around here, if you’re motorcycle enthusiast, you might a part of one of the motorcycle groups around here and who make themselves seen and heard at the Steel Horse Rally. 

Even less formal groups still have their sense of belonging too.  Just a circle of friends becomes its own group, you have shared experiences, shared stories, shared jokes, all kinds of things those on the outside won’t appreciate like you do.  Deep friendships are remarkable for how, even after years apart, you can meet up and all of those stories come back.  Other groups can also share stories.  Being a fan of a certain sports teams puts you in a loose group, but still one with those shared stories.  Fans can come together and talk about the game, the players, how things have changed, what the future holds, and join together in cheering on their team.

As with any of these groups, there are those who belong and those who don’t. Not belonging isn’t necessarily a problem.  Someone who enjoys baseball but who doesn’t have a favorite team may still be welcomed by a group of Cincinnati Reds fans or Mariners fans.  “Belonging” to a group like that, doesn’t always require a lot of effort, so fans aren’t always so picky about who hangs out there and who doesn’t.

But, that isn’t always true.  Many sports teams have those long standing rivalries.  A Minnesota Vikings fan showing up at a Green Bay Packers game, or vice versa, may not be met with the same kind of welcome.  The group you’ve encountered knows you’re different, you don’t belong.  The same might be said of the military.  However you ended up in the military, whether as a volunteer or by draft, putting in your time and being a part of a group not everyone can claim.  Even if you didn’t really want to be there, the fact remains that you did the hard work.  You earned the right to wear the uniform and be recognized for your service.  You earned the rank and awards that you were given. Someone who shows up at the local VFW claiming to have been a marine during Vietnam or Desert Storm, who never actually served, probably isn’t going to receive the same kind of welcome as someone who actually served.

You can’t really fake belonging to groups like this, whether they are formal or not.  You can try and fake your relationship to these groups, get yourself a surplus military uniform, get an appropriate team jersey, get yourself a motorcycle, or just learn the names of a particular group of friends, whatever the case may be. Just hanging out with a certain crowd and pretending to be one of them doesn’t actually make you one of them.

As St. Paul writes to the church in Rome, he writes to a people caught up in the chaos of that period of history.  He writes during a time when everything is new and different.  It’s not that the Roman Empire itself was all that new.  It had been around a long time and would continue to be around for a long while still. No, he’s dealing with how everything has changed with the arrival of Christ.  The very thing God had been preparing the world for for thousands of years had finally happened.  The savior had come and he had died to take away the sins of the world.  He had risen again to bring eternal life to all who trusted in him.  He had ascended into heaven to await the day when he would return to bring an end to this era of history, to close the book once and for all on the story of sin and death.

God’s people had been waiting for this day.  They had been waiting a long time.  All of God’s people rejoiced to see the day, whether they were humble shepherds tending their flocks, to stalwart centurions, or even the occasional priest or Pharisee.  They understood what it meant that Jesus died on the cross and they knew he had done it for them.  The message of Christ’s death and resurrection was truly good news.

God’s people knew everything was different now.  But there were many who called themselves God’s people who kept on with business as usual.  These were generally Jews, descendants of Abraham.  They thought they’d be accepted by association.  Like someone who thought he should receive military courtesies because his dad was in the service, or someone who called himself a fan of the team because he knows the names of one or two of the players, or someone who bragged about being in the Lions Club because he helped out at one of their fundraisers.  These folks thought just being around or connected to the right people was all you needed.  They knew some of the right names and had been involved in some of the right events.

St. Paul says that even though they had been specifically invited to join God’s people, they opted not to.  They didn’t have the time or the interest or whatever.  They made a token effort and moved on.  In the end, what does this association get them?  Nothing, as it turns out.  If you aren’t a part of the group, you aren’t a part of the group. If all you want to do is hang out with them or look like them, or get the benefits of being a part of the group, that isn’t enough. 

So the Jews, many of them, however much they might call themselves God’s people aren’t actually an official part of the group.  It’s a sad fact, but they had every opportunity.  God did everything possible to invite and encourage and still they weren’t interested.  But this isn’t just a Jew problem.  It’s a church problem.  We’ve been seeing it for years now, how many people would come to church every Sunday, would attend the various church functions, would call themselves Christian, and they were never really a part of the group.  As soon as it became unfashionable to be a Christian, they no longer felt any incentive to try and associate with the church.  So they left.  We see them go and it saddens us.  Perhaps, in time, they would have heard the message and believe.  Perhaps, in time, they still will.  But, we have to acknowledge them for who they are. 

The warning is there for all of us.  What brings you here today?  While in many places around the country, being a Christian makes you something of a pariah, around here it’s the non-Christians who still the oddities.  Are you here to just keep up appearances?  Are you here because your family has always gone to church and if you stopped going your mother would give you an earful?  If those are the kinds of things that brought you here, then you’re getting exactly what you wanted and no more.  In the end, any time you spent here will have gained you nothing because you never really wanted what God offers to his people here.

Where there is a warning, there is also assurance.  God grants his mercy to all people.  Whether you grew up in Jewish household or not, whether you’ve been a lifelong church goer or not, however it is you came to be here, here is where God is giving his mercy to you.  Your past has no bearing on your membership as one of God’s people.  None of us were worthy of admission, but God himself takes care of that.  He baptizes you as sign that his mercy is yours now.  He treats you as one of his own.  If you have come here seeking mercy, seeking forgiveness, seeking salvation and life, you will find it here. 

That’s what the church is about.  This is the place God promises to offer to us what Christ earned on the cross. This is where God promises to save sinners.  This is where God promises to give life to those who dying.  God doesn’t want you to misunderstand.  He doesn’t want you to think the church is just about some minor worldly benefits, such as a reputation in the community or freedom from nagging in your family.  This is where you receive what Christ died to give you.  This is where God calls you his own.

In 1 Corinthians, St. Paul tells the Corinthian church that, when we celebrate Communion, we are making a proclamation.  We proclaim that Christ died and that Christ will come again. All who come to his table to share in his body and blood make that same proclamation.  This is who we are.  We are the people for whom our savior died.  We are the people our savior will take to be with him in his new creation. God gives you his assurance that all of this is yours.  Whoever you were before doesn’t matter.  Here, in God’s house, at God’s table he has called you to be his people.  That’s what he died to make you and that’s the promise he extends to you. 

St. Paul tells you, “Don’t be a pretender.  Rejoice in God’s mercy.  Rejoice that God has made you his own.  Rejoice that he sent his Son to die for you.  Rejoice that you have new life now, on account of Christ, who gave his life for you.  Rejoice that has marked you as his in Baptism and now calls you to his table to receive the grace he died to give you.”