Isa. 40:21-31; 1 Cor. 9:16-23                Radical Relationship 1

                                 Life-Giving Community            E/GR            Feb.5, 2006

1. Radical relationship is our theme for the next 4 weeks.  We?re going to start by asking, what about a faith community makes it life giving?  Our scripture seems a bit strange, about becoming weak to win the weak!  We don?t want to be weak for heaven?s sake!  In a world where bullies threaten and brag, weakness is despised.  What was Paul thinking? 

2. Maybe there?s something in the community at Corinth that would explain Paul?s strange response. There were divisions between the rich and the poor, among Christians with a Jewish background and those who weren?t.  Some felt spiritually superior because they followed Chloe, while others because they followed Peter.  The city they lived in was very committed to a life that seemed to put individual pleasure ahead of the good of the community.  Paul is desperate to help people see the kind of faith community they could have and what a difference it would make in their lives. 

3. We don?t have the same conflicts, but we surely understand, how important and difficult it is to live well in community.  We just need to gather more than one person in a room.  There will be differences.  Imagine then a whole community!  So what can we learn from Paul about what makes the life-giving community that we all are called to?

4. Paul begins our scripture by strongly proclaiming that he will not assert his rights!  In his case, as an apostle he?s speaking of his right for a salary for his work.  He preferred to not feel strings attached.  Don?t you wish your minister preferred to work without pay!  But then you understand how you like to have a paycheck come in!  However, there?s another important piece of community here.  Not asserting our rights.  My rights could be seen to exist in a little circle around me.  In that circle I can move around, and do as I like.  But when my circle comes across your circle, my ?rights? change.  I no longer can do as I like.  Add a whole lot of circles.  Community not about individual rights, but what builds up the community.  The Gospel, or Good News, takes precedence, in case my rights come between us instead of love.

5. Paul goes on to say he has no choice but to be an apostle.  Now he of course doesn?t mean he was forced into this.  Mind you, he had a pretty strong experience - but still the choice.  I do this because I can do no other- Paul uses the word obligation.  It?s the positive energy that compels us down a certain path, so we know we?re on the right track.  That?s how it is with the calls that come to each one of us.  A woman told me about her call this week.  She?d been having a nagging feeling that God was calling her to something.  But she didn?t know what.  She had a dream about a beloved cousin she?s concerned about.  She followed it up with prayerful thinking.  She came up with a plan.  As she talked to others there was such an overwhelming response, even from strangers, she?s sure she?s on the right track.  Church is a place where faithful people come together to help each other live out the call that God blesses us with.

6. Paul says, ?I have become all things to all people.?  Now this is not a Chameleon, hiding in camouflage.  Nor a person blown about by every prevailing wind.  But one grounded and firm in his own identity as child of God.  It?s this place of faith then that we can come from so that our own rights are not overpowering, and we don?t need to promote our own self-interest.  Paul could become as a Jew to those who loved the Law and came to God through the Law.  Or as a Gentile to those who came to God through the risen Christ.  With no jealousy or competition.  Building up community becomes the important thing.  It?s only possible when we are healthy enough to come from a place of inner strength.

7. Then Paul says that we need to accommodate ourselves to those who are seen as weak.  For far too long we?ve missed the boat and demanded that those seen as weak become strong as we see it in order to be accepted.  We forget that we are a community who are all needy pilgrims not a select club for the pure.  Of course all along the journey there have been those who have ?got? it.  St. Francis of Assisi was awakened during the night by one of the brothers who groaned from the pangs of hunger because of their fast.  Francis woke the others to break their fast and they all ate, in order that they not embarrass the one needing to eat.  They responded with compassion, in a concrete, simple way.  They would fast another day, because the discipline was still important to Francis.  But the brother was most important.    Calm compassion, plus creative problem solving = life-giving community.

8. Paul?s becoming weak to those believed weak, was not becoming a weak person.  It?s radical empathy.  I deeply enter the world of others where I am so focused on understanding their hurts and dreams that mine disappear for a time.  It?s the exact opposite if the person sitting there, not listening, and waiting to make their point.  It?s not being weak.  It requires great maturity and compassion for this.

9. This leads us to think of radical hospitality, which is central to many faiths.  It?s about welcoming people into our space.  Making ourselves and our resources available to others.  Then we enter the ?others? space to find out how to become one with them so that the difference of ?us? and ?them? is lost.  It?s about recognizing they have much to give to us also.  Together we can experience God?s transforming power and radical community.

10. Then of course there?s that other puzzling bit about being free, when we all know that there are times we don?t feel at all free.  Circumstances may result from choices we make or others make, or some random accident or mistake, or illness that we?re caught up in.  Where is our freedom then?  It?s about how we will act in the midst of the circumstances that are beyond our control.  Not ranting and railing ? because that doesn?t help after the first minute.  And it?s not resigned despair.  That spirals us downward.  But it is letting go of whatever injustice or pain is distressing us ? for our own sake so it doesn?t make us sick.  And for the community?s sake, so it can be healthy.

11. I got an e-mail that adds to our understanding of radical community ? The Lessons of the Geese!   It fits in well with our theme of weakness.  You?ve likely used the term ?silly goose.?  Maybe they?re not so silly!  Take the V formation.   As each bird flaps their wings, they create an updraft for the bird immediately following.  The flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on their own.  People in a team do get going quicker and easier when they are traveling on the trust of one another and lift each other up along the way!  Whenever a Goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of going it alone and gets back in formation to take advantage of the power of the flock.  When the lead Goose gets tired she rotates back in the wings and another Goose takes over.  It pays to share leadership and take turns doing difficult jobs!  Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep their speed.  Words of inspiration help energize those in the front line to keep going in spite of the day-to-day pressures and fatigue.  When a Goose gets sick or is wounded and falls out, two Geese fall out of the formation and follow the injured one down to help and protect him.  They stay with him until he is able to fly or dies, and then launch out with another formation to catch up with their group.  If we have the sense of a Goose, we will stand by each other, and stay in formation with others headed where we want to go.  There?s reward, challenge, and privilege in being part of a community.

12. This weakness Paul is talking about builds up radical community.  Of course there?s a paradox, because it requires incredible strength.  To live in this way, we need God?s strength indeed.  We are promised.  ?Those who wait upon their God shall renew their strength.  They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.?  Isaiah 40: 31.  Our God blesses us in the building of this radical community.