Sunday Homily - May 19th, 2019 - A Ragamuffin Gospel

Peter's Vision of the Sheet

I.

It was a cold, windy evening in Indianapolis,
 when Christian evangelist Brennan Manning enters into a local church
  to hold a three day seminar
   for several hundred gathered people.

Manning, a Korean War veteran and Franciscan priest,
 begins his talk in what he calls the most "magnificently monotonous" way possible:
  talking about the love of God in Jesus Christ our Savior.
  [The Ragamuffin Gospel, pg. 37]

He gives about an hour session,
 and using Holy Scripture, symbolism, story, and personal experience,
  gives the most fundamental and basic conviction of the Christian faith:
   that God is Love, and that Love is found most fully in the sacrificial love of God
    in His Son, Jesus Christ
     who came to die so that we may have life.

He finishes his presentation,
 and after talking with a few people on the way out of the auditorium,
  overhears the pastor of this particular church talking in an irritated, upset manner
   with his associate.

And Manning overhears this one sentence,
 this one particular sentence that this pastor says,
  and it is the following:
   "*sighs* That Manning guy? Humph, that airhead didn't say one thing
    about what we have to do to earn our salvation!"
    [The Ragamuffin Gospel, pg. 15]

Let me say that one more time,
 just so you can hear it again:
  "That airhead didn't say one thing...
    about what WE have to do
     to EARN
      OUR salvation."

Manning writes about this experience,
 and MANY similar experiences as he travels the U.S.
  And he simply concludes this account by saying this:
   "Something is radically wrong [if this is what we think about God]."

The problem goes a little deeper than just this account from Manning.
 Because it highlights a particular problem that we U.S. Americans still continue to struggle with:
  I think we have forgotten who God is.

Think about it:
 How often have you heard or are tempted to think of God
  as this sort of small, pedantic bookkeeper
   scribbling little notes about those bad things you did the other day
    so that at the next divine board room meeting,
     God can produce your ledger and discuss the areas you need for improvement
      so that maybe next month we can decrease the necessary expenditures
       of divine grace for your soul?

That may sound really silly.
 But is that not how we live sometimes?

We as Christians profess that we believe in a God of Love and Grace,
 and yet so often we live completely opposite of that fact.
  We say that we believe in Grace,
   and yet the evidence of that belief is simply not present in how we live our lives
    in how we treat each other
     and ultimately, and most unfortunately,
      in our very perception of God Himself!

It is absolutely astonishing, friends,
 at how many people desperately resist this notion
  that God is a loving God!

And it comes from all quarters:

The atheist/agnostic whose strawman god is an angry, vengeful one
 because that is the easiest god to take down as being "fake."

The well-meaning, sweet talking professionals who drop hints of a distant God,
 "Oh, well, God just wants you are happy!"
  in the same manner that an absent parent just wants you to be happy
   without having to deal with your crap.

And also in the moralizing,
 beat-you-over-the-head antagonizing legalists
  who emphasize the check-list purity code that you have to live by
   in order to gain God's brownie points.

What happened to the God who became incarnate by the Virgin Mary,
 lived as one of us, yet without sin,
  dies on the cross as a sacrifice for our salvation
   and destroys death through His own death
    because of His divine love for us?

How often are we tempted to exchange a God of relentless compassion
 for a God made in our culture's own image?

II.

God's desire for the world is not hidden in our philosophy or human striving.
 It is public in the Gospel of Jesus Christ
  found all over the place in our readings this morning.

Does God really have unconditional love
 regardless of who a person is or what occupation they have?
  Well, in our Acts reading, the answer is YES!

Peter receives rebuke about "Eating with the uncircumcized"
 the unclean, non-covenant bound people.
  And Peter tells them of his vision:
   and how God revealed that we cannot call unclean
    what God has made clean.

Therefore, what was once thought impossible with our small minds
 was made possible with God.
  EVERYONE who calls upon God through Jesus Christ
   has indeed received and have been made brothers and sisters in Christ's body,
    and receives the Holy Spirit.

Well, alright that is well and good, one might say,
 but all of the turmoil that we experience just makes it clear
  that we are just doomed to live out this vicious cycle of brokenness and war,
   with no end.
    I mean, does God even have a plan at this point?
     Well, in our Revelation reading, the answer is ALSO YES!

God is God, we are not.
 And God is coming again to set all things right
  and to make all things new.

And because we can't even imagine what that looks like,
 we have to resort to poetry
  to give us the simplest glimpse of the goodness God has in store for those who love him.

St. John sees the Holy City of Jerusalem,
 with all its inhabitants washed white in the blood of Jesus Christ the lamb,
  and a loud voice proclaims that God is WITH US.
   The voice proclaims,

"See, the home of God is among mortals.
 He will dwell with them as their God;
  they will be his peoples,
   and God himself will be with them;
    he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
     Death will be no more;
      mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
       for the first things have passed away."
       [Revelation 21 NRSV]

God is preparing for us such a realm of existence
 that even when John witnesses this vision,
  not even he could capture it in a way that is clear.
   And yet, even when John's words fail,
    the heavenly voice speaking to John assures him
     that God is coming to make all things new
      and that surely Jesus is coming quickly.

Well, that's all nice pie in the sky stuff,
 but there are all kinds of people who will take advantage of me if I love them.
  I mean, I can't just put myself out like that for everyone,
   or else my life is pretty much over.
    Well, you might not like the Gospel's answer to that:
      because following Jesus costs you your life.

Jesus, out of love for the disciples,
 partakes of the Last Supper before his crucifixion for our salvation.
  And he dines with ALL the disciples.
   All the disciples.

Which means, even Judas dined with him before leaving.

Jesus, in full awareness of what Judas was going to do,
 still breaks his body and pours out his blood for us anyway.
  Because God is sacrificial, unconditional love.
   And if you count yourself as Jesus's disciples
    you must be known by your love for one another.

As Christians, this is non-negotiable.
 If you are a follower of Jesus, you will be known by your sacrificial love for each other.
  And that will cost you your life.
   Because you have to give up what you think about your life
    so that God can give you eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

III.

All of these passages of Scripture are set on fire by that same Love
 that is God.

And this unconditional love of God in Jesus Christ
 given freely to all who call upon his name
  is the Gospel that we proclaim.

It truly is GOOD NEWS to everyone!
 It ISN'T something that makes you a particularly well-cultured person,
  nor does it transform you into an upper class citizen,
   nor does it sand off your edges where you struggle.

It is,
 as Brennan Manning would describe,
  a Ragamuffin Gospel.

It is a Gospel of radical,
 life-giving Love of Jesus,
  for us sinners of all shapes and sizes.

"It is a Gospel for the beat-up,
 the bedraggled,
  and the burnt out.

It is a Gospel for inconsistent and unsteady disciples,
 whose cheese is falling off their cracker.

It is for the poor, weak, sinful people with limited talents and heavy burdens.

It is for the bent and bruised who feel like their lives are a grave disappointment to God.

It is for smart people who know that they are stupid,
 and honest disciples who admit that they are scoundrels at best."
  [The Ragamuffin Gospel, pg. 14]

It is a Gospel inaugurated by our Lord Jesus's Christ's own words,
 "I have come to seek and to save the lost."
  [Luke 19:10]

So, maybe you are a sinner like me,
 a person who knows that I am hopeless in my attempts to get God's brownie points.
  A person far less perfect that I wish I was.
   A person who often feels like a disappointment to God.

Know this:
 God made you, in beautiful and wonderful ways,
  God cares for you and desires your friendship,
   and God loves you, warts and all.

Now, go share that Gospel with the rest of the world.

In the name of the +Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.