Sermon for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2018 in Jerusalem

SERMON FOR WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY 2018

Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Jerusalem
23 January 2018

The Rev. Carrie Ballenger Smith

Grace and peace to from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Exodus 15:20-21

The Song of Miriam

Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’

With the Sisters of St. Brigid at the reception after the service!

***

A few years ago, I took a short plane flight from Chicago to Oklahoma City with Southwest Airlines. This small American airline company is known for both its short domestic routes and its cheap fares. It’s also known for having flight crews with a sense of humor.

On this particular flight, just after we reached a cruising altitude, we heard an announcement from the cockpit:

“Dear passengers, there’s no need to be alarmed, but we thought you should know this will be an ‘unmanned flight’ today.”

Then there was a longer-than-comfortable silence, while I and the other passengers tried to understand: Is this some kind of self-flying automatic plane? Is anyone even at the controls? What was happening?

But just when we were starting to get worried, the voice came back on the intercom and said: “That’s right—our pilots and flight crew today are all women! We are un-manned all the way to Oklahoma City!” and then the female captain gave a joyous laugh, right into the microphone.

What a relief, to know we were simply un-manned, not un-piloted!

I thought again about this “unmanned” flight this past Sunday, when we welcomed a large group of American college students to our English-speaking worship service here at Redeemer. The students sang with us, prayed with us, and shared communion with us, and afterwards I spoke to them about what it’s like to be a Christian in Jerusalem. A few hours after the service, I noticed that the leader of the group posted on Facebook:

“I never thought my first worship service in the Old City would be led entirely by women!”

It was only then that I realized our service that day had, in fact, nearly been “un-manned”. This wasn’t really by design—it just so happened that the preacher, the pianist, the Scripture readers, and all but one of the communion servers that day were women. I quickly typed a response to this trip leader, saying:

“Yes, the service was led by women this week—but consider it only a mild corrective to a few thousand years of worship led by men only!”

Now, if what I’ve just said makes you uncomfortable, I would say that was exactly what I hoped to do at the beginning of this sermon. Because the truth is, I’m a bit uncomfortable standing before you today! It’s not easy being the only woman preaching during an entire week of sermons.

And I also thought it was good to start with some discomfort, because it’s important to name the truth that whenever we visit each other’s spaces (as we have been doing this week in Jerusalem) we are uncomfortable.

We are uncomfortable, because we’re not all the same.

We are uncomfortable, because when we step into each other’s very different traditions, what we experience can feel like hearing that we’re on an “unmanned” airplane flight!

We’re not sure what to do, or how to act, or if we are even welcome there.

Some of us chant in Greek, and some in Arabic, and some sing in four-part harmony.

Some of us use finger cymbals and triangles, and some have massive pipe organs.

Some have elaborate worship spaces, and others have small intimate chapels.

Some have very ancient liturgies, and some of us were literally putting it together yesterday! 

And yes, some of us have women in the pulpit, and at the altar—and we occasionally hold services in which no men are involved. At all. 

And this is why the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is both the best and the hardest week of the year. Oh, we want to support one another. We live in a conflicted city, in a divided land, and we are the minority religion in this place. For this reason, we want to love one another, as Jesus loved us. And I believe we genuinely do want to fulfill Our Lord’s prayer that the church would be one, as He and the Father are one. Not only that, we would love to do it first in Jerusalem, as an example to the world!

But…we may wonder if “Christian Unity” means we have to give up something of who we are. After all, we have strong feelings about each of these points of difference I just mentioned. These are no small matters! This does not feel like adiaphora! Neither our aesthetics, nor our theology, nor our ecclesiology, are things and of us want to change or give up or deny for the sake of some false "unity".

In fact, if we are honest, our prayer during this annual Week of Prayer might really be: 

“When Christ sees fit to re-unite us under one roof, please let it be the church where I feel most comfortable!”

But I believe we must really trust that unity in Christ is possible, although we do not understand yet what that really looks like. For as it is written in Jeremiah, “For surely, I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” And again, in the Gospel according to Matthew, we have read that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).  

We must really trust that the unity Our Lord Jesus desires for His church is not a unity that diminishes diversity or erases identity, but one which celebrates the beauty of us all.

So the question is: What might this Christian Unity look like? How can we ever be one, when we are so very different?

I must confess that I was a bit perplexed when I saw the assigned Scripture readings for this week of prayer, and especially the readings for this third day of the Week of Prayer. I wondered: What in the world do these texts have to say to the Christian churches in Jerusalem? What image could these possibly give us as we try to imagine our future one-ness?

But then I looked to the text from Exodus chapter 15, which is the main theme for this Week of Prayer 2018. And of course, as the only woman preaching this week in Jerusalem, I was quite drawn to the last two verses, the Song of the female prophet Miriam:

Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.’

How interesting it is for us to be hearing the story of the people of God passing through the waters, at this time in Jerusalem. We are facing a very difficult time in our city right now. Some world leaders are making statements and speeches which will have long-lasting consequences for us. The future for a peaceful solution in Palestine and Israel is not certain. The people of this land always have hope, but the truth is it feels like we are standing at the edge of some very stormy waters, and the way forward is not at all clear.

So perhaps it is fitting to read the song of Miriam, which comes from the other side of the waters. Perhaps this is just what we need, to remember that at a time when everything seemed hopeless, when the people were weary and were starting to doubt, when some were even longing to go back to slavery, because at least it was known…God showed the people the way forward. Moses obeyed the Lord, and the waters parted, and the people of God walked on dry land to safety, and freedom, and liberation.

Our God made a way out of no way, and when they were on the other side, what did the people do? Miriam and all the women sang and danced for the Lord.

 “Sing to the Lord!” She announced to all the people. “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, I am grateful for this image of praise during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, because sometimes I think we forget that the Lord desires our praises.

Sometimes, because our churches and our city and this land and our broken world require so much of our energy, and so many of our prayers, we forget that God also loves to hear our songs of gratitude, and of joy!

It is good and right that we should sing to the One who has vindicated us time and again,

Who has thrown horse and rider into the sea,

Who has freed the oppressed,

Who has already brought down the dividing wall,

Who has kept promises,

Who has provided for God’s people in every time and place,

Who has sent Jesus to walk with us, to suffer for us and with us,

And who, by Christ’s resurrection, has granted us eternal life.

In the midst of all the political turmoil of the times, we must not forget to sing!

In the midst of division between (and within) our churches, we must not forget to sing!

In the midst of worry about the future, we must not forget to sing, with Miriam and Moses, and with all the saints of every time and place—for things may seem uncertain now,

we may be divided now,

but Our God has already triumphed gloriously.

Horse and rider have already been thrown into the sea,

Sin and death have already been defeated,

And we have already been made one.

That’s right—we have already been made one, today!

For during this Week of Prayer, we are not only dreaming of some future, idealistic, unity.

We are one, right now, in this place, in song, and in prayer.

We are one, as Miriam and the women were one, using their whole bodies to praise God for their liberation.

What wonderful practice this is, for the day when we are all singing in the one heavenly choir!

Today, in this place, we are already one, even in our diversity. 

And this unity is not for our sake—it is for the sake of God, who desires our prayers and praise.

And it is for the sake of our neighbors.

For if we can come together in prayer,

Then surely we can come together to as co-workers for God’s kingdom.

If we can come together in song, then surely we can come together in action when we are challenged to throw horse and rider into the sea!

Because after all, now in these last days, we the church—the one people of God, the one Body of Christ today— have been called to throw the horse and rider into the sea,

To part the waters,

And bring down walls,

And heal the sick,

And feed the poor,

And raise the dead,

And set the oppressed free,

And be fearless brokers of peace with justice in our city, and in the world.

Dear sisters and brothers, this is so much easier to accomplish if we aren’t in competition!

This is so much easier to accomplish if we have already worked through our discomfort with each other’s differences!

And this is so much easier to accomplish if we have practiced singing as one.

In harmony, of course—

Because each of our voices is different.

May Jesus our Liberator,

And our Reconciler,

hear our songs and prayers this day, and every day.

And may we be one, as Jesus and the Father are one. Amen.