Healing the Breach

How will you heal the breach like St. Cuthbert?

Collect for St. Cuthbert
Almighty God, you called Cuthbert from following the flock to be a shepherd of your people: Mercifully grant that, as he sought in dangerous and remote places those who had erred and strayed from your ways, so we may seek the indifferent and the lost, and lead them back to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Lessons for today:
2 Corinthians 6:1–10
Psalm 23
Matthew 6:24–33

Think for a moment about the following question: Who in the world is your arch nemesis? Presumably none of us are crime-fighting superheroes, so perhaps that is the wrong question. Let me try it again. Who in this world do you most dislike? Or, maybe I could put it in more practical terms: With whom would you not want to be stuck on an elevator for several hours? Do you have an answer?

I will not make you submit your answer for approval, but I wonder on whom your mind focused. Was it a politician whom you feel is unfit for office? Is it someone who incites terrorism? How about someone closer to you? A sibling who was relentlessly unkind? An ex that treated you like dirt? A parent who disowned you? A child who permanently scarred you? I imagine we can think of someone not just in the news but in our lives who has caused us great harm. How about someone in this church though?

Quite often in the history of the Church (with an uppercase C) severe dislike has arisen between fellow members in the Body of Christ. While enmity between any two parties causes pain, when hostility arises among followers of Jesus a dreadful scarring occurs. The wounding that we—as Christians—inflict upon one another seems more dubious and detrimental than scars caused by outside forces. It is like a clinched right fist punches a tender left bicep, a left foot stopping a right big toe, an elbow crushing a hipbone. This violence only causes pain to oneself. Still, as I look around the Christian landscape, I see more divisiveness than ever before.

In our Youth Confirmation Class last spring we discussed the particular place of the Episcopalian Tradition among the Christian landscape. Evan used the image of a river, which has split into divergent streams to express our current state of denominationalism. At first, I found myself taking pride in our place in the river—not at the head of the waters, but also not the most recent stream to sprout off on its own. Certainly I celebrate the place we occupy in the scope of Christianity.

Yes, I love that what draws us Episcopalians together is the importance of our worship. I cherish that we do not make people sign some statement of beliefs before we start loving them. I think it is paramount that we serve together, like Jesus served us. I believe it is critical that we do not turn off our minds in church. And of course, I love the integrity that our lives are to reflect following Jesus not just on Sunday mornings but every day. Still, when we start to believe that we have it all, that we are right about everything, or that we are better than anyone or everyone else we have lost our way. And worse, we have created a breach between ourselves and fellow members of Christ’s Body. Of course, this kind of Christian-on-Christian aggression is nothing new.

During the years of the Seventh Century branches of Christianity fought battles on the farthest reaches of the British Islands. Not only were two parts of the Body of Christ undergoing conflict—the Roman and the Celtic practice—but also, in that time and place paganism was challenging Christianity’s place in the hearts of many. Onto the scene stepped a calm, devoted monastic named Cuthbert whom the Church celebrates today.

After the death of Aidan, who challenged paganism in Northumbria, Cuthbert became the preeminent Christian leader in the north of what we now call Great Britain. Cuthbert received a vision in the night sky, as Aidan was dying, which caused Cuthbert to enter the religious life. He served as prior at two monasteries and was also made a bishop. As a religious man he would travel great distances to care for isolated people staying months at a time if necessary to ensure that their physical and spiritual needs were met. On top of this, his calm presence at the Synod of Whitby allowed for the rising division between Celtic and Roman practices of Christianity to cease.

Cuthbert represented in many ways the Celtic practices of Christianity during the day, but instead of seeking his own end he sought first the Kingdom of God. Cuthbert served as a healer of the breach between Roman beliefs and Celtic ones. If not for his reassuring leadership the Church would have suffered even greater division. As a bishop and a monastic, Cuthbert led using word, deed, and sacramental leadership, so that God’s healing could happen and all could follow Jesus—the head of our Body.

We might look back at the life of Cuthbert and think that ultimately he failed though, as the Church catholic appears so divided today. We may believe that Cuthbert’s hope of a unified Body of Christ appears broken now. However, his way of reflecting the light of Christ and sharing the Good News of Christ in his day provides for us a cheerful example in our divided days.

If we seek first the Kingdom of God and follow in the path of Christ Jesus we will not be divided. The closer we grow to God, the closer we grow to one another. Will we agree about everything with others? No. Will we all worship God in the same way? No. Will everyone acknowledge the same way of following after Jesus? Probably not. However, if we are to begin to heal the wounds we have been so good at making on our own body—the Body of Christ—we must be willing to care less about the worries of this world and more about the life in God’s Kingdom.

God gives us the joyful task of living into God’s Kingdom not in the future, but right now. There are not separate parts of the kingdom—there is one Kingdom! God calls us to be part of the one body—the Body of Christ—right now. There are not multiple bodies—there is one body. God calls us to be like Cuthbert who was a healer of the breach in his day. How will we heal the breaches in our day? How will you love your enemies inside and outside the Church?