The Third Sunday of Epiphany, Year C

As Wise as Geese

Readings: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21

There is a consistent theme running through the readings today, that of our Christian vocation. The Old Testament reading is a reminder that God calls us to hear, to understand, and to follow the law, not the law laid out by society, but the law of God. The people of Israel have returned from their long exile in Babylon. Their nation is in a shambles. Not only does the city need to be rebuilt, but the people have forgotten their ways. Law and order need to be reestablished. Nehemiah calls them together for the reading of the law. They are reminded of the things they hold in common, things that set them apart as the people of God. He tells them of their need to draw together as community. They are reminded to rejoice, for they are called back into community with one another, and that is cause for great joy.

We too need to return from exile. Society has exiled us. Our faith, at one time the foundation of western civilization, is constantly being called into question. Our sense of ethics is assaulted on every side. We seem to have lost the understanding that as Christians we are called to live in the world but to live as Christ. We are called to a vocation as Christians. It is our life’s work. That vocation should lead us to an awareness of God's law and its effect on how we live our lives. Do we live differently? If we do not, we are in danger of losing forever the moral precepts of our faith.

Who are the Nehemiah’s, the prophets of our time who are calling us back to the law? Do we need to be reminded of those things we hold in common, the things that make us a community of faith? They are a good reminder as we end the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, for it is a call, not to Anglicans, but to the whole people of God.

It is also fitting that we should be reading the passage from Paul's letter to the Corinthians, for it is a call to be community. He is writing to a community that is deeply divided. They are quarrelling about who is to be leader. They are arguing about which ministries are the most valuable to the community. Paul uses the image of the body to express their need to draw together as a community. It is a very clever illustration, and Paul milks it. We all know how the parts of our body work together. We know that we do not have to think about how to get from one spot to another. Our feet simply take us. We do not think about the complexity of vision, at least not until we need bifocals. We simply look and see. His analogy provides an ideal, a norm by which we work as society.

Christ, Paul tells them, exists as a body. The parts of the body are all the Christians. By baptism, we become a part of the body. The body becomes a reality. Nothing can prevent the baptized person from being a part. So we find in the community a diversity of race, of sex, of social class, all interrelated, all necessary to the unity of the church. That unity is the essence of Christian community.

Paul knows that the Corinthians need to work together as a community. He warns them not to dissociate themselves from the body because of their differences. It is their very individuality, their particular gift, which is needed for the church to function. So when someone says to you, “I can be a Christian without going to church!” remind them that while they may be able to function outside the church, the body of Christ is incomplete without them.

Diversity is the real strength of Anglicanism. We are a world wide communion of believers. We worship together in many different ways. What are the implications of Canadian society with its multicultural diversity? Is it an obstacle to growth? Or is it a challenge to change and grow? Who do we leave out because they do not look like us or act like us? Are we open to children and young people? Are we open and friendly to visitors? Do we invite people into our community? How do we work to bring unity into our diversity? How do we work with our Ecumenical partners?

That is the challenge of the gospel reading for today. It is a call to Christian vocation, our personal call to ministry. It calls us to follow Christ in reaching out to others. In this beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus expresses the mission to which he has been called. Anointed by the Spirit he has been sent to preach the gospel to the poor, the disadvantaged, the exploited. It is the dawning of a new age. Scripture is fulfilled in the person of Christ.

God continues to be shown through individual lives, yours and mine. Jesus fulfilled his ministry through proclamation. He preached. He chose disciples and they preached. Reformations and crusades were launched. Revivals were born. Churches were built. Slaves were set free. Good news was proclaimed. That Christian mission is still being fulfilled in every part of the world. Sometimes the price is tragically high. But then the price for Christ was tragically high.

But the price for not following that mission is even more tragic. Is it a price that we are already paying in Canadian society? What are the signs, the epiphanies of today? If we listen to the prophets of our time, then the signs are of moral decay and an end to Christianity. The latest demographic report of our diocese points out that we are a church in decline. We are more used to closing churches than to building them.

Are we meeting the needs of society? Many who call themselves Anglicans are not even Christmas and Easter Christians. They come to church only for the services we offer. We might call them "hatch, match and dispatch" Christians. Do we know what people are searching for? Do we care? Do we want to make a difference in this place? Do we want to fulfill our vocation as the people of God?

Geese can teach us a great deal about our need to be part of the body of Christ. Perhaps you have read this in some form or other. It is not clear who wrote it or for what purpose, but geese have a sense of interdependence, which speaks some deep truths to us as Christians. When you see geese heading north for the summer or south in the fall, flying along in "V" formation, you might be interested in knowing what scientists have discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. That “V” formation adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.

Do we share a common direction and sense of community? We can look back to a glorious past and rest on our laurels, or we build on each others’ strengths and change and grow.

Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone. It quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.

If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are heading in the same direction as we are.

When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point, teaching us that it pays to take turns doing hard jobs.

Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. Do we encourage others in their lives and in their ministries?

When a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay until the goose is either able to fly or has died, and then they fly together until they catch up with their group. If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other, protect one another and sometimes make new friends who seem to be going in our direction.

We are a Christian community. We are the body of Christ. By baptism, each one of us is called to Christian service. Each one of us is important to the fulfilling of our mission as a church. Let us see the face of Christ in those around us. Let us be a community of love.