Becoming a Community of Faith
Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20
Two brothers lived on adjoining farms for forty years. A bitter dispute developed between them. It was their first serious rift in all that time of farming side by side, sharing machinery, and trading labor and goods as necessary. They never even had a quarrel until now. It began with a small misunderstanding. Eventually it mushroomed into a major difference, and finally it exploded into a war of words, followed by separation and silence.
One morning there was a knock at the back door of the elder brother’s house. He opened the door and found a man standing outside. He was stooped and was holding a carpenter’s toolbox. “I’m looking for a few days’ work.” It turned out he was an itinerant carpenter. “Is there a small job here that I can do?” “Well, I believe there is,” the older brother said. “Look across the creek at that other farm. That is my neighbor’s property – in fact, it is my brother’s property. Last week there was a meadow between our farms, but then he ran a bulldozer through the river levee and now there is a creek between us. I suspect he did that to spite me. But I’m gonna do him one better. You see that big pile of lumber? I want you to build a fence – an eight foot high fence, between us, so that I never have to look at his place again. Can you handle a job like that?” The man replied, “I think I understand the situation. Please show me your tool shed and I’ll do a job that will please you.”
The brother got the carpenter all setup and then went into town. The carpenter worked all day, measuring, cutting, and pounding nails. At sunset, the brother returned just as the carpenter was finishing. The brother was aghast. There was no fence. Instead, there was a bridge across the creek. It was a fabulous piece of workmanship, even including handrails. To the older brother’s surprise, he saw his younger brother crossing the bridge with his arms outstretched. “You are quite a craftsman and brother to do this after all that was said between us.” The two brothers embraced at the center of the bridge. As they turned they saw the carpenter packing up his tools. “No wait,” they said. “Don’t leave. We have other projects for you to do.” “No thanks,” the carpenter said. “I need to move on. I have other bridges that need to be built.”
It’s no coincidence that the bridge builder in this poignant story is a carpenter, like Jesus. At Holy Cross we might imagine this itinerant carpenter was Earl Scherbarth. And our lessons for today imply that the carpenter is a Christ figure, and some of us would still say, “Yeah, that’s Earl.” We’re reminded that God’s people do not create barriers that isolate people from each other, and that God’s work is to build bridges between them.
Next week we celebrate our vision with a wonderful hymn festival at both 8 and 10 am. Our vision is to be a community of faith where people are inspired and equipped for a journey of living lives centered in Christ. Our lessons today give us the opportunity to focus on the very first part of that vision statement. They call us to explore some of what’s involved in being a community of faith – the hard stuff of bridge building, of reconciliation.
Any time we’re in relationship with anyone, there will be conflict. Personally I find it pretty hard to believe that those two brothers didn’t have even a quarrel in forty years. Barry and I have been married just 25 years and we’ve had plenty of quarrels. That may be why we’re still married. I’ve been here almost four years and I’ve been in plenty of quarrels. Being part of a community of faith doesn’t mean we don’t have conflict, especially when there is change going on. Conflict and change go together. It’s absolutely normal. We’ve been focusing recently on building a bridge from Holy Cross to the surrounding community. Building that bridge, especially to the children of this community, is going to be our focus for the next several years. And in the process, we’ve been like every other community of faith that has gone through transition. We’ve had some conflict. So we can congratulate ourselves. We’re normal! We’re just like everybody else! (Turn to neighbor, shake hands, offer congratulations.)
But being a community of faith also means we need to be intentional about our life together in some very specific ways. Relationships last when people know how to disagree. Psychologists and family systems experts have a term called “triangulation.” Simply put, it is when Person A has a problem with Person B and instead of going directly to Person B, she complains to Person C and D and E and F and G, creating triangles of confusion. Disagreement is not destructive in and of itself. But triangulation is destructive. And it’s not new, either. Today, we see that Jesus advised people to go directly and privately to a person with whom they have a problem. And if that doesn’t work, take it one step at a time – take someone along next time, then take it to the church. Each step along the way has one purpose and one intent – reconciliation. Bridge building.
Pastor Lindholm served Holy Cross for 32 years. It’s no secret that Pastor Lindholm and I are different. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not Pastor Lindholm. And Pastor Lindholm is not me. It’s no secret that some folks have had a tough time making the transition from one pastor to another, especially after such a long tenure. Very early on in my time as your pastor, a conflict between Pastor Lindholm and me began to fester. Direct communication between us was deteriorating. So, some distance was setting in. The creek was beginning to form, so to speak.
Enter an itinerant carpenter, in the person of Chuck Lindquist. Chuck came to me with his toolbox looking for work. He invited conversation about the situation, we prayed together, and then he very methodically and systematically set up a meeting between Pastor Lindholm and me at Pastor and Pat’s home. We visited Pastor Lindholm together and Chuck helped facilitate a conversation between Pastor Lindholm and me that needed to take place. Rather than let himself get triangulated, Chuck built a bridge across that creek and to this day Pastor Lindholm and I cross it regularly for the sake of our friendship, and for the sake of this community of faith and for the sake of bearing a faithful witness to Jesus the great bridge builder. And I remain to this day so grateful to Chuck for showing up at my door with his toolbox. It wasn’t easy for him. But I also know he didn’t do this on his own strength, either. And I remain so grateful to so many of you who are so good about NOT triangulating, who come to me directly when you have concerns, and who work to build bridges among us here. Sometimes we do this very well, and sometimes not so well.
Today we’re reminded that God’s people are claimed, met and called by the One whose outstretched arms on the cross already reconcile us to God. Today we’re reminded in our second lesson that doing God’s work means being sent to demonstrate love, as the one and only debt we owe to any person. Today we’re reminded in our Gospel that in a community of faith we reach out and seek reconciliation with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Today we’re reminded that each of us is inspired and equipped for the ministry of bridge building: as we come to the holy table we are reconciled with God so that we might also be reconciled with one another. Today we’re reminded that living our lives centered in Christ means doing what we can to build bridges wherever we might see the need. AMEN
Pastor Dana Runestad
7 September 2008 Time After Pentecost – Lectionary 23
Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Livonia MI
A08L23 Mt. 18:15-20