Jesus, be merciful!

Jesus is warning us to not do what is such an easy trap, for me at least, to fall into.

Because it is easy to fall into a certain mode of being, a certain way of believing.

It is easy to see ourselves as the hero.

It is easy to place ourselves in the midst of a parable Jesus is speaking about and imagine we are on the right side of the story.

We are the ones so convinced of Jesus’ powers of healing that we will remove the roof from where he is staying so that we can lower our friends stretcher into the living room so that he can be healed.

We are the widow reaching out for but a thread of Jesus’ cloak so that our bleeding might be stopped after so many years.

We see ourselves as the prodigal returning home, the Good Samaritan.

We are Simeon proclaiming the savior has arrived.

We are sometimes even Jesus, forgiving those who hurt us, just as he did from the cross.

Very rarely do we see ourselves as the mocking crowds, the rabbi who walks past the Samaritan on the road, or the Romans charged with the arrest of Jesus.

Imagine if we saw ourselves as Judas questioning why such expensive oil was purchased instead of using that Denarii for the relief of the poor.

We want to be good people.

We are, in fact, good people.

Mostly.

Meaning all of us are mostly good, not most of us are good and some of us need a talking to back there after church!

Yes, we are mostly good.

We give to the church.

We volunteer when we can, where we can.

We add to our already busy lives so that we can drop off our kids at confirmation practice.

We participate in the Christmas pageant, (to be held this year on December 18. Plan accordingly!)

We do all of this stuff.

We set up the altar, we come in on Saturdays to make sure everything is prepared for Sunday, we listen to the Word, we share the Word, we attend vestry, and do things and other things and more things and we wonder about those who do not.

We wonder where those who do not do things are on Sundays.

We think about staying in pajamas instead of going to church.

We wonder about those who do not make the sacrifices we make to worship a God who loves us completely, without question, we wonder where they are and think…

Well, we don’t think we are better than them, but at least I pray, Lord.

At least I give thanks to you, God.

At lease I realize the Spirit is around us, Jesus, just as you promised.

See, God, I am not like them.

And there is the trap.

There is that human inclination once more going against what Jesus is preaching about.

Because we do wonder about the role of church in this day and age.

We wonder about this overall trend of the churched becoming unchurched.

We wonder about the formerly religious becoming less religious, becoming what some are called, “nones.”

Now, just an aside here: When I first heard the term “nones” I immediately thought of nuns.

You know, those women devoted to Jesus serving Christ in the world who wear black and white habits?

Sound of Music?

Nunsense the Musical?

Sister Act?

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit?

Sally Field in the Flying Nun?

Ok.

I digress, but you know the nuns I am talking about.

The other nones are n. o. n. e. s. nones.

Nones are folks who when asked about their religious preference answer, “None.”

We wonder and sometimes, sometimes on our prideful days, we think, well: “At least I have Jesus.”

Our wondering can perhaps turn into pride.

Our pride, into prayer.

“Lord stay with me.”

“Don’t let me become separated from you, God.”

“Don’t let me become like one of those people who deny you, deny your love.”

Our prayer lives, in loving God as much as we can and as much as we do, can risk going overboard in a sense.

And that is where Jesus is asking us to check ourselves.

Because it’s easy to go overboard, for me as much as anyone.

When I am asked about St. Luke’s, I respond rather excitedly.

I tell folks about the wonderful people here, the beautiful church, the willingness to try new things on.

I tell them so many good things seem to be in front of us.

And I sometimes hear from others in response about how things aren’t going so well at their parish, how their Sunday services can sometimes seem to be the fulfillment of Christ’s promise that where two or three are gathered, he will be in the midst of them.

And I am sometimes thankful, prideful in fact, that this church is our church and our church is not their church.

That is my confession.

That is my blind spot.

Sometimes, I am prideful.

Jesus is preaching humility.

And I need to remember to humble myself before God.

Jesus, be merciful to me, a sinner!

If I find myself in this story, let me be the one who finds mercy through humility.

Jesus is asking us to understand and look for the reasoning behind the actions that make one prideful and not see our own humility as something to brag about.

We understand each other better when we seek out what makes us ourselves, when we understand that we are all children of God.

It is not on us to judge the none, the n.o.n.e., none.

It is on us to understand the none.

Not as a potential recruit, not as someone for us to pursue and bring them here so that we can increase our Sunday numbers, but to walk with them as siblings in Christ.

To share God’s love with the stranger, the one who is the other.

While the number of folks who do not identify holding a particular faith or set of beliefs, the number of people seeking out some form of spirituality is increasing.

Within that number of nones are folks searching and wondering about God just as we wonder about our own faith.

Just as we wonder about what role God plays in our lives day to day, so too are folks wondering about spiritual things that make sense to them.

Pride gets in the way of us communicating with those who are not exactly like us.

Pride inhibits us from knowing all of God’s children.

This morning’s gospel is not specifically about good and bad.

It is not about how someone is bad at praying and someone else is better.

Ultimately, we need to place ourselves in the story and see it as a telling of what is ideal and how we can find ourselves, sinners all of us and full of pride, in that story.

Not good and bad, but a roadmap towards humility and humility leading eventually towards salvation, “for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

In humility, we can seek out the seeker and understand their journey.

In all of our humbleness we can ask that seeker of spirituality to join us on our journey fully acknowledging that we do not always know where it will lead.

We do know however that the path we can travel together is made smooth by the love of the Lord our saviour Jesus Christ.