Moving from We to Me

Father John explained in his sermon this week that the Old and New Testament readings dovetail this week.  The Old Testament reading was the beginning of Deuteronomy as God is showing Moses the promised land while telling him that he would not enter it.  The scripture makes the point that Moses was still vigorous and capable, but his mission was complete and he died. 

In Matthew, Jesus is coming to the end of his time on Earth and has been dealing with a series of questions from Pharisees and other leaders who are trying to trick him.  The latest is “which is the greatest commandment?”  Fr. John pointed out that this might not be as easy a question at it would seem to us today…Jesus would have had 613 laws from which to choose.  As we all know, Jesus answered that we should love the Lord with our whole heart and our neighbors as ourselves.  Next he is pressed on the question of who is the Messiah?  And Jesus’ answers contradicted the Pharisees and others’ preconceived idea of the Messiah as an earthly king. 

Fr. John relayed an anecdote from a recent conference where the Reverend Dr James Tengatenga from Malawi in Africa spoke to the conference and noted that those of us in the United States have a different orientation from those in many other cultures.   In the US, we often approach our view of our being as “I am because of who I am.”   Fr. John contrasted this outlook with some of the most important services of the Church, including baptism, confirmation and marriage…in each of these, the congregation is asked whether they will help those for whom the service is conducted with a collective response of “we will.”   In other cultures, their outlook is “I am because we are.”  Like those people in Jesus’ time, this contradicts our preconceived outlook.

Father John pointed out that God wants us to approach everything in our lives from a “we” perspective vs. one that is all about “me.”  Whether it is supporting our congregation, our neighborhood, our town, or even globally, we need to “move from me to we.”  Only then can we expect to enter the promised land and experience the Kingdom of God.”




posted by m white