How do we care for one another in a Christian community?
When God appointed the prophet Ezekiel as watchman for the house of Israel, Ezekiel knew that his job was not to stand watch for his community’s enemies (the people are already enslaved and in exile!), but to look for any evil that might further destroy the people’s covenant with God, anything that might affect God’s relationship with God’s people. God specifically asks Ezekiel to warn the wicked, so that they might have a chance to turn from their way. Ezekiel had to keep his heart open, else he would not be able to hear God’s words; his heart was not, in the words of Psalm 96, hardened, for Ezekiel heard the Lord’s voice, and spoke the Lord’s words. Similarly, we can only bow down in worship if we stay open, listening for God to speak to us, remaining reliant on God as our focal point in whom we trust, the people he shepherds, the flock he guides. If we keep our hearts open, our relationship with the Lord can only deepen, and, through it, our relationship with one another in community.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus explains the need for his followers to seek union and to live that union, building community along with a shared consciousness. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them, Jesus tells his disciples. We are called to understand ourselves as part of a community grounded in Christ Jesus, and to be witnesses to a Christian life; we must know what it means to belong, and give witness that belonging. Divisions between any two affect others in the community; Jesus speaks with the intent to emphasize connection, to open doors that might be shut. We are all watchmen (and women), each responsible for holding the community together, and we do so by remaining open, open to the Lord and open to one another.
For God is the love that binds us together in the union of community. Ezekiel, as prophet, kept a watch out for his community; he had to love them enough to do so; he had to remain open. Paul’s advice to the Roman community holds for us as well: owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another. For love is the fulfillment of the law, a law that calls us to step beyond our selves and to open to and care for our neighbors, even those we might not like, loving enough to accept others as they are, without needing to change them. If we care for others, as Jesus did – and he loved us enough to die for us! – that love will be transformative, binding us together as one flock, and thus enabled to reveal his love to our world.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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