One of the books I read this summer was God Is Not a Christian which is an edited collection of the writings and lectures and sermons of Anglican Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu. Driven by his faith and his understanding of the Gospel, Archbishop Tutu stood as a primary voice and courageous witness in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. When apartheid was finally dismantled and Nelson Mandela elected President, Desmond Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which worked to repair the injustice which had been done and to rebuild the fabric of national life in his newly integrated country. Today, while he has stepped away from much of public life, he continues to speak out for justice and peace and inclusion, and to challenge those leaders, including the elected leaders in his own country, whenever and wherever he believes they have turned their backs on the most vulnerable.
To tell the truth it was only an okay book.
It was not one I found myself wanting to mark up and to write notes in the margins. But, on the other hand, I was humbled to read it for on those pages I had the privilege of hearing, even if at a distance, the voice of one who has risked his life in a way that I will never have to risk mine, and of getting a sense of the faith of one who has “spoken truth to power” and given witness to the Gospel in a way few pastors and preachers ever have the courage to do.
You can imagine that in the 150 or so pages of his book, Archbishop Tutu regularly references scripture recalling and calling upon the words of Jesus and the Jewish prophets and the heart of the Torah to help make his point. But, there was one section of the Bible he turned to more often than others. Or, maybe it was just that I noticed it more often than the others. One verse from that powerful affirmation of faith written as Prologue to the Torah at a time of extreme crisis for the Jewish community. These words from the book of Genesis:
“So God created humankind in God’s own image.
In the image of God, God created them.
Male and female God created them.
And God saw everything that had been made and, behold, it was very good.”
Archbishop Tutu takes those verses and pushes them forward into today’s world…
Not just, male and female God created them, but also…
- Black and white God created them.
- American and African God created them.
- Gay and straight God created them.
- Republican and Democrat God created them.
- Latino and Latvian God created them.
- Christian and Jew and Muslim and Sikh and Buddhist God created them.
From that one verse grew an understanding of humanity and the world and the way God intends the world to be, that has sustained his life and faith.
But, there is another African concept to which Tutu regularly refers which stands alongside the Gospel and helps to shape his understanding. It is captured in the African word ubuntu which, while difficult to render into English, can be translated to mean,
“A person is a person through other persons.”
Or, I am who I am because of who we are.
And, that is what I really want to have us think about this morning.
I am who I am because of who we are.
I am the pastor I am…
I am the person I am…
I am the father and husband I am…
I am the community member I am…
Because of who we are.
This community of faith…
All of you…
Have shaped me and taught me and supported me and challenged me countless times and in countless ways.
- You have taught me about hospitality and inclusion as we have worked to create a place where all are welcome to explore their faith and deepen their understanding of that which we know and name as God.
- You have made space to ask and to try to answer what I have come to think is the most important religious question of the day which is “Who is my neighbor?”
And we have responded by saying:
– Those who receive food at the food pantry are our neighbors.
– Those who live in cardboard boxes in NYC and who sleep on the floor of
Fellowship Hall during the winter are our neighbors.
– Those families with whom we work to build homes whether with Habitat for
Humanity or in Buchanan County, VA or the rural communities in
Nicaragua are our neighbors. - And you have taught me about what it means to care for each other.
Through your prayers.
Through the phone calls you make and the conversations you have.
Through the meals that are shared when someone is sick or there has been a death in the family.
You get the idea.
In more ways than I may ever know…
And, in more ways than I can ever express…
I am who I am because of who we are…together.
But what I want you to hear is not primarily about me.
What I want you to hear is this:
That, maybe like me…
You are who you are because of who we are together.
At least, that is what I hope. That…
Your faith…
Your values…
- The way you think about your life…
- The way you spend your time and your money…
- The way you treat the others…
- The way you practice hospitality…
- The way you work for justice and peace…
- The way you care for the others around you…
- The way you pray…
- The things you do today to make your household and your communities and our world better for tomorrow than they are today.
All those sundry pieces that make up who you are and who you are becoming are supported and nourished and challenged and shaped by this particular and peculiar community of faith.
Am I right?
I have been here long enough and know some of you well enough to know that I am not the only one for whom this is true.
And, maybe just as important as all that is this.
Maybe being that type of community…
That type of church…
Is the most important thing we do.
And, is the most important thing we are.
I grew up thinking that church was worship on Sunday morning.
What you did for an hour and then you were done with for the week.
I now know that is not true.
Church has something to do…
Faith has much to do…
With the people we chose to stack around our lives.
That wall of support and challenge and partnership and caring and prodding and pushing and comforting and praying…
That makes us who we are.
And shapes how we live.
And allows us to grow towards who we are meant to be.
Ubuntu.
A person is a person through other persons.
I am who I am because of who we are together.
You are who you are because of who we are together.
And God saw what had been made and, behold, it was very good.
Amen.