EQB

"Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum habitare fratres in unum." I am certain that you all understood completely the Latin phrase I just spoke, but just in case here it is in English, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." These words begin the one hundred and thirty-third Psalm. They also happen to constitute the motto of Sewanee: The University of the South. These beautiful words from the Psalmist have been carved delicately onto the hearts of many including myself.

Over the past few months after finishing up our mid-week Eucharists in St. Mary’s chapel I have stealthily flipped the lectern Bible open to the page that holds the Psalms around 130, including the 133rd song. Partially I did it to see if anyone would notice or if it would annoy Evan—it has not to my knowledge accomplished that. Even more than trying to subtly pay homage to my school though, I have felt a deep pull towards something beyond myself—towards the goodness of dwelling together in unity.

Driving around Sewanee's mountaintop campus in rural Tennessee one likely will spot many oval stickers on the backs of automobiles, which read EQB—Ecce Quam Bonum—Behold How Good! Not just a bumper sticker people there yearn to be together—in classrooms and lecture halls, in dorm rooms and common areas, in fraternity houses and sorority buildings, on sports fields and wooded trails, at the dining hall and the University Chapel. This concept of dwelling in unity radiates as a particularly excel-ling and somewhat peculiar goal for a four-year institution. Those who have been shaped by that place though, would have it no other way. And while it is not a perfect place void of its own dark ages, God has used that community and places like it to shape to give us a foretaste of heavenly communion. So these opening words of Psalm 133 provide a much needed trajectory for all of us to follow in a world bleak and battered by recent hate-filled events.

Somehow though when I saw that we would sing the 133rd Psalm together this morn-ing my heart let out a painful sigh. This groan was filled with desperation for at this particular moment God's desire for us to dwell together seems a far off pipe dream. The events in Charlottesville, VA last weekend—the scared actions of some too afraid to see the truth that God yearns for all to dwell together—and the pulsating shock-waves of anger, fear, and violence, which crested afterward—not only point out the widening discrepancies that exist between people in this country, but also that a chasm separates "the nightmare that this world often is and the way God dreams it can be” –to borrow a line from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

We can so easily isolate ourselves into self-segregated tribes that confine us and live into this nightmare. Hatred, aggression, and hostility towards others have made dwelling together in unity seem a nearly impossible hope. And yet, through Christ all things are possible.

In today's Gospel lesson we discover how Jesus dealt with three separate relationships that existed precariously along fault lines—not unlike what our world feels like today. Jesus' relationship with the Pharisees, his disciples, and a Canaanite woman point to God's desire for unity to overcome estrangement, for Communion to dispel isolation-ism, for grace to outshine hatred. In each relationship we discover how we may dwell more deeply in Communion, while not befriending oppression in the process.

First, Jesus loved to spar with the educated, religious people of his day—the Pharisees. His difficulty with them had less to do with their being religious and more to do with how they let being religious get in the way of sharing God's love freely with others. Along this line, Jesus warned against following blindly man-made laws regarding what makes one pure or holy. External practices do not lead to salvation, rather the power of God's spiritual healing within oneself leads to sacredness. Jesus appears wary of a religion that scapegoats the other.

Next, Jesus' relationship with his disciples appeared unsteady, as he frustratingly yearned for them to see God's realm more fully. When Jesus pointed out that what comes out matters far more than what goes in his disciples worried how the Pharisees had received Jesus' teaching. The disciples struggled with leaving the comfort of their familiar religion behind. They could not understand why Jesus wanted them to do something new. The challenge Jesus lay before his disciples focused on having a broader vision: behold what leads to living grace-filled lives and let go of the vestiges that no longer lead to unity with God and neighbor. If religion prevents new growth, then it is fruitless.

Finally, we turn to this relationship between Jesus and the Canaanite woman. Upon entering Tyre and Sidon, a place filled with others who were not part of God's plan of salvation, a Canaanite woman began hounding Jesus and his disciples. She sought healing for her demon-stricken daughter.  Jesus paid her no mind—ignoring her entirely. His disciples were not as adept at tuning out hecklers, and they begged Jesus to send her away. So, Jesus said to his disciples, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." If this were not harsh enough, as the woman knelt before him Jesus replied with some of the most difficult words found in red lettering within the whole New Testament: "It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs."

• Is God's dream not unity among all children?
• Is grace not extended to all?
• Are there really outsiders and insiders in God's realm?

Sometimes grace surprisingly breaks through from an unexpected source. After being compared to a dog the Canaanite woman persisted. She daringly called out Jesus, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table." She under-stood that God's grace extended even to her. Others may have seen her as despicable, annoying, and part of the wrong group, but she had faith in God's love—she got that grace destroys boundaries between us—she knew that grace implores us to live to-gether in unity. Even if Jesus himself did not yet see it, she did. She knew God's ex-pansive abundance—God’s love embraces us all even the despised Canaanite. Her faith was indeed remarkable, for it was faith in a grace that united her with God and united God with all.

We live in a time when divisions exist as deep and wide as those between Jesus and the Pharisees, between Israelites and Canaanites. The scared actions of a few continue to inflame society in anger, fear, and violence. We are far from the dream of Psalm 133 to dwell together in unity, but we must not give into hatred, despair, or aggression our-selves. Instead we must hope. Hope like the Canaanite woman. Hope in a grace that extends even to those presumed to be on the outside. Hope so greatly in God's reign that we are willing to stand up to whomever opposes the outstretching love that unites all.

And with this bold hope let God turn our faith in action, for we are called to act. We are called to act like the Canaanite woman even if it means we have to stand up to Jesus himself. Let us always be on the side of grace extending not just to the few, but to all. If we ever hope to dwell together in the unity of God it will come when we share grace as freely as it is given to us by God! Behold how good and pleasant it is to dwell together in unity through God's grace extending to all.