The Ultimate Outsider and Holiness

A wonderful morning of worship at the Community of Saint Peter's in Cleveland yesterday. Blessed to share the experience with a number of good friends. A reflection by Gail Ranshaw placed in the bulletin complimented the very fine sermon by Robert Marone on seeing the holy in all things. Here are the inspiring words of the author:

"For the pious Jew, perhaps the most extreme class of outsider was the crucified. To be hanged on a tree until one was dead was a particularly repugnant method of execution which took place outside the city walls. Christian theology teaches that Jesus was the ultimate outsider, and by his splayed arms invites and welcomes all outsiders. The lectionary's use of lepers, foreigners, Samaritans, tax collectors, and the uncircumcised indicates that just as Christ was on the outside of what was thought holy, so the word of God proclaims that all outsiders are to be seen in a new light. Depending on one's life situation and experience, different types of people get viewed as the outsider. Perhaps it is those who are poor, or unwashed, or incarcerated, or alien, or unemployed, or terminally ill, or sexually different; it may, on the other hand, be those who are incredibly rich or socially successful. Americans are raised to so avoid death that those who are dying come to be shunned as outsiders. Yet because of the cross, Christians see Christ in the face of each outsider. Twentieth century Christians Dorothy Day and Gustavo Gutierrez are among those who call us, not only to smile at the outsider, but to live with the outsider, for it is among the outsider where Christ is.

"The group of images designating the outsider illustrates how well the lectionary readings work as a metaphor. Take for example the leper: thankfully people with various serious skin ailments are no longer misdiagnosed as lepers and ostracized from our communities. Thus a gospel reading about leprosy functions not as a literal directive from God, but as an image for us to contemplate: Who are our lepers? Whom do we fear? Whom do we ostracize? And if we judge ourselves as an outsider, we are the thief on the cross, welcomed inside the church by the presence of the body of Christ." (Gail Ranshaw, Treasures Old and New)

Love One Another - Brian