Sermon for Sunday June 17: Love or judgment?
On “sensual Sunday” we hear two contrasting stories of how religious people deal with sin and sinners: Nathan’s confrontation with King David, and Jesus’ dinner with Simon the Pharisee where the woman who was a “notorious sinner” was saved through her love.
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“Religion is about bringing people home. Christianity is about bringing people home. We’re searching for that love of Christ that lets us be who we are, while transforming us. That’s what the Paschal mystery is all about. That’s what life in Christ is all about. And every time we say to someone no, you need to be punished because you’re a sinner, we push them out to the margins.
“That’s why they are afraid of us.
“I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people whom I admire and like out there in the world about the possibility of being a Christian, and they tell me within five minutes in one way or another, ‘I’d love to do it, but I’m scared to death of you.’
“Because they haven’t heard about the Jesus that sits at the table and lets you be who you are. They’ve only heard about Nathan. So when we talk to people, we need to say, ‘We’re not Nathan. Be who you are, and we’ll figure it out.’
“Because God loves us all. God wants us all to be made whole, and the only way to make most of what’s broken in us whole is to be able to be open and unafraid of God. And that’s out job to say that.”