Ephesians 4:25-5:2
“If there is anything I have learned about men and women, it’s that there’s a deeper spirit of altruism than is ever evident. Just as the rivers we see are minor compared to the underground streams...the idealism that’s visible is minor compared to what people carry in their hearts unreleased or scarcely released. Humankind is waiting and longing for those who can accomplish the task of untying what is knotted and bringing these underground waters to the surface.” (Albert Sweitzer).
What if our purpose in each generation is to inhabit the human struggle on Earth for what the experience does to us? What if the goal is not progress but embodiment, not advancing knowledge but increasing compassion? What, then is knotted within us and between us, and how can we unravel the knots? Despite the harshness of reality, survival of the fittest isn’t the only rule of nature…As humans, we always have a choice to stand on the neck of the fallen or to lift them to their feet. We can choose whether to dominate and be alone or to cooperate and mate for life.
-Mark Nepo, Better Together than Alone.
Our scripture passage from Ephesians gives us good advice for living together in community. Everybody works the best they can. Those who earn extra, share. When there are disagreements, you resolve them before bedtime. When you talk about each other, you do so with grace and compassion. Everyone is kind. We look out for one another.
We’ve learned that the earliest followers of Jesus were all about forming compassionate communities. They gathered in small groups; they ate long meals with conversation between courses; they took care of each other and welcomed those who were traveling through. These groups stood in intentional contrast to the Empire which controlled their lives. The Empire was violent and brutal. In Empire people did whatever it took to get ahead, even if that meant lying, cheating, or betraying those close to you. Empire looks out for those in power. Jesus’ people made a choice to turn away from the values of Empire and to live in a different way. They did so under the radar, simply by living out Jesus’ values of love and compassion in the privacy of their own homes. They built communities that lived by Jesus’ example.
Many contemporary authors are writing about community these days. Mark Nepo, the author of our second reading, is one of those, calling us to learn how to live together in ways that build everyone up. In our century the values of community still stand in contrast to the values of our Empire. What is the American dream? To get ahead? To be a self-made man, taking advantage of the opportunities of the frontier to build a business and a fortune? To spend a fortune on luxury for yourself and your family? To do whatever it takes to build a good life for those closest to you? Many folks are suggesting that this dream has never been a reality and that it doesn’t serve us well anymore.
Alongside our image of the pioneer family staking a claim and becoming real, prosperous Americans stands the also-true reality of homesteads claimed for almost free, transportation on government-subsidized railroads, land grant colleges educating generations, and communities of neighbors looking out for each other, forming schools and churches, sharing tools and labor and more. America has always been a place where someone could start with almost nothing and get ahead. It’s never been a place where those people succeeded alone.
Religion has been impacted by the idea of the self-made man. Much of what goes by the name of Christian today is about the individual getting right with God by agreeing to the doctrine and following the rules set by those in charge. Agree and you’re in, “saved”; differ and you’re out. There’s not a lot of compromise or compassion or celebration in any of it.
I’m intrigued by Nepo’s suggestion that we are called to “in habit the struggle of human life” in a way that shapes us. To “embody” community rather than to meet personal markers of progress. To become compassion. When we end worship each week, we sing about being the body of Christ – the actual hands and feet of Jesus among the people of our community.
Let’s take a minute and remind ourselves where we are embodying or inhabiting compassion…
I think it’s true, that when we do more than just volunteer some time or money, but we BECOME compassion and care, we see things differently. Let’s start with people. Who do you see with different eyes because of the ways we’re being compassion in our community?
When we connect with people, even people much different from ourselves, with compassion, it changes the way we understand the purpose of community. It’s not just “us” with resources and “them” with needs, but all of us with a variety of gifts and needs we can meet together. We become family. And because we live in a place where it’s possible to impact the way the “empire” works, we can ask for changes that make life better for everyone, not just those with wealth or power. So, given what we care about and the people we connect with, what changes would we like to see in our piece of the Empire?
I suspect we could write a 900-page document about changes we would like to make, just like some folks have done in Project 2025, but the content of our document would be quite different from that. It would be different because we begin from a different perspective. It’s about how we’re connected to everyone and want what’s best for the whole community. Rather than protecting our advantage, we look for ways to share available resources so that everyone benefits. We wouldn’t write the program and impose it; we’d invite those impacted to be in conversation about what’s needed. We wouldn’t decide what the best outcome would be for everyone, we’d ask people what outcome is life-giving to them.
I’m dreaming of a time when Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a way to be; a way to live, from the inside out embodying the love of God for every person, every country, every being. I want those who know God is love to love folks around them, all the folks. I want those who know the stories of Jesus to practice radical inclusion and abundant hospitality and contagious hope. I want us to start from “how can we be the presence of Christ in the world?” and move to “what can we do to make life better?” and “how can we think about life in a more holistic and compassionate way?” I think we’ve made a good beginning. I look forward to hearing what you think comes next.