When I take groups to Jerusalem, I like to stay at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, a center for education and spirituality right on the border between Jerusalem in Israel and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The center hosts short-term pilgrims like our travelers, clergy and scholars on sabbatical, and college students doing study abroad. On my two recent trips, they were also hosting a couple from the United States who were living there for 6 months to one year as volunteers. John and Tessie are members of Bruderhof, a community of Jesus-followers who live and work communally and share all of their possessions. I was impressed and humbled as John shared how work assignments like teaching the children, cooking in the communal dining hall, and even nursing are decided by a group of leaders who considers the gifts and training of members and makes assignments accordingly. Sometimes, John shared, he has been given work that brings him great joy. Other times he must work at tasks that are less pleasurable. All of the work, though, is done with a sense of contributing to the good of the whole. Every member of the community has what they need, and the load is carried equally by all.
There is something about this radical communal living that appeals to me. It echoes the community that was shared in the early church – like what we read about in Acts 4: “Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common.” The Bruderhof way of life also echoes with the Beloved Community that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made reference to in numerous speeches, essays, and letters. “Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.”
In the Beloved Community . . . racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood. If so many people of good faith believe in this kind of vision for the world, why does it feel so out of reach, so idealistic?
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? These are visions that excite our deepest desires for harmony and well-being not only for ourselves but for the world. When I listen to John and Tessie share about their communal life, when I read about the unity and generosity of the believers in Acts, when I listen to Dr. King preach, I think, “I am in! Sign me up!” And I bet many of you feel the same way. If so many people of good faith believe in this kind of vision for the world, why does it feel so out of reach, so idealistic?
Dag Hammarskjöld, the second secretary-general of the United Nations remarked in his spiritual autobiography that too many people are willing to make great commitments – commitments like following Jesus, joining the church, or even marrying their beloved – but they are not prepared for the ordinary, everyday commitments that such a great commitment requires. We are prone to think that in making the great commitment we have done enough and so we shut our hearts to the daily tasks that make such a great vision possible.
We are prone to think that in making the great commitment we have done enough and so we shut our hearts to the daily tasks that make such a great vision possible.
For John and Tessie, the great commitment of living radical discipleship in intentional community meant not only joining that community once as young adults but choosing every day to put on the simple, modest dress of their fellows, to work at the tasks assigned to them, and to submit to the guidance and instruction of community leaders. Tessie told me about days when she was working in the kitchen with a woman she found difficult and she would grumble inwardly about this work that had been given to her.
Among the early church members, the great commitment to following the Jesus Way had to be lived out in daily commitments like giving the proceeds of your land sale to the community (Acts) or refraining from eating certain foods that used to be acceptable (Romans). It was not easy for them, either. The very next reading in Acts tells the story of Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the community about their land sale. The whole reason for Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians was because of tensions in the community between believers of different ethnic groups.
Among King’s followers, the great commitment to the Beloved Community was accompanied by a daily commitment to non-violence. King was calling on his black followers not to hate the white person who was oppressing them. He was calling on all of his followers to accept suffering without physical retaliation. Participating in non-violent direct action during the civil rights movement required a great deal of training and preparation. You did not just show up to Woolworth’s and sit down at the lunch counter. That great commitment was preceded my many small commitments to training and personal reflection.
This is true even in the small things. I signed up a couple of weeks ago for a 10-K race on July 4. Now that is no life-changing commitment, but it is still a “great commitment” that will require daily, ordinary commitments to running and training if I hope to finish that race. Most days, I have to really convince myself to lace up my running shoes and hit the pavement. If it weren’t for a friend who promised to run the 10-K with me, I probably would have put it off or given up already.
Charly and Ol Ny, the two of you will soon enter that great commitment of Christian marriage. You are pledging yourselves to one another for the rest of your lives. It is a great commitment, indeed. But in many ways, the great commitment you make today is so much easier than the ordinary, everyday commitments that marriage will require of you. Each morning when you wake up, you can choose: will I make coffee for my wife this morning or will I wait for her to make it for me? Every evening when you go to bed, you can choose: will I listen to what is on my husband’s mind tonight, or will I be so wrapped up in my own concerns that I cannot hear what he has to say? When you are hurt or angry or disappointed you can choose: will I bury my feelings to avoid confrontation or will I risk the vulnerability that makes reconciliation possible? Will you pray together regularly? Will you be patient in the face of suffering or difficulty? Will you organize your finances to make room for generosity? These are the everyday, ordinary commitments that make your great commitment possible. Strive after these things, and the rest will follow.
The same can be said for all of us who are gathered here today, not only for our marriages but for our relationships with one another in the church. Many of you have already made a great commitment to follow Jesus and to count yourselves as members of this faith community or another. Are you also making the ordinary, everyday commitments that bring that great commitment to life? In those precious moments of downtime during the day, you can choose: will I persevere in prayer, or gaze mindlessly at my smartphone? When someone is feeling distraught, you can choose: will I listen with compassion, or will I think, “I don’t want to get involved with that?” When you are in need, you can choose: will I ask for help, or will I try to appear strong and together? Will you organize your finances to make room for generosity? Will you speak words of hope rather than words of cynicism or despair? Will you be patient with your sister whose language or customs are hard to understand? Will you associate with the lowly instead of seeking after importance or notoriety? These are the everyday, ordinary commitments that make your great commitment possible. Strive after these things, and the rest will follow.
After Charly and Ol Ny exchange their marriage vows we will all celebrate the Lord’s Supper. The feast at the table is one of the great signs of Beloved Community. There is, perhaps, no greater equalizing act than sharing a meal. At this table, all are equally in need of mercy, and all are equal recipients of mercy. At this table, everyone is of upmost importance and so no one is more important than anyone else. At this table, we affirm a kind of holy friendship that says, “I am running this race with you. I need you to keep me going, and you need me.” Most importantly, at this table we receive Jesus Christ and with him the power to make the everyday ordinary commitments required of us and the grace we need when we fail. Thanks be to God.
May it be so. Amen.
Preached on Sunday, June 5 at Eliot Presbyterian Church. We also celebrated a wedding ceremony during worship.