THERE ARE TIMES WHEN I REALLY SURPRISE MYSELF. IT WAS A MONTH OR SO AGO, DURING ONE OF MY TRIPS HOME FROM COLLEGE PARK THAT I HEARD A DISCUSSION OF A RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK ON PUBLIC BROADCASTING. MY INTEREST WAS PIQUED, AND IMMEDIATELY ON MY ARRIVAL HOME, I SAT DOWN AND ORDERED IT FROM AMAZON. WHEN IT ARRIVED, I PLUNGED INTO THOSE 423 PAGES, NEVER MOVING IT FROM THE HANDY TABLE BESIDE MY FAVORITE CHAIR UNTIL NOW. THE TITLE OF THE BOOK IS THE WORLD IS FLAT, AND ITS AUTHOR, THOMAS FRIEDMAN, ISA COLUMNIST FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES.

NEEDLESS TO SAY THE TITLE IS ENGAGING SINCE WE ALL KNOW THE WORLD ISN’T FLAT. WE HAVE KNOWN THAT SINCE THE 15^TH CENTURY! COLUMBUS WHEN HE SET OUT TO DISCOVER INDIA, ASSUMED THAT THE WORLD WAS ROUND, AND ALTHOUGH HE MISCALCULATED THE DISTANCE, NAMED THE PEOPLE ON OUR CONTINENT WHEN HE BUMPED INTO IT “INDIANS.” FRIEDMAN WENT ON A TRIP TO INDIA RECENTLY, AGAIN ASSUMING THAT THE WORLD WAS ROUND AND WHEN HE GOT TO THERE, IT SEEMED, BECAUSE SO MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN BANGALORE WERE SO LIKE AMERICANS, THAT THE WORLD WAS FLAT. THESE FOLK WERE SPEAKING ENGLISH, IMITATING AMERICAN ACCENTS IN THE CALL CENTERS, AND USING AMERICAN TECHNIQUES IN THEIR BUSINESS. THAT CITY LOOKED JUST LIKE ANY CITY IN AMERICA. MOUNTAINS AND OCEANS, FENCES AND DIFFERENCES ARE NOT PART OF A FLAT WORLD.

THE BOOK GOES ON TO DESCRIBE IN GREAT DETAIL THE CHANGES THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN OUR WORLD BETWEEN 11/9 AND 9/11, WHICH HE DESIGNATES AS THE TIME THAT THE WORLD WENT FLAT. ON 11/9 THE BERLIN WALL CRUMBLED. IT WAS TORN DOWN BY PEOPLE, AS FRIEDMAN DESCRIBES THEM, WHO DARED TO IMAGINE THAT THERE MIGHT BE “A DIFFERENT, MORE OPEN WORLD- ONE WHERE EVERY HUMAN BEING WOULD BE FREE TO REALIZE HIS OR HER POTENTIAL- AND WHO THEN COULD SUMMON THE COURAGE TO ACT ON THAT IMAGINATION.”

THERE ARE CHAPTERS ON THE INFLUENCES WHICH CREATE HIS FLAT WORLD SUCH AS FIBER OPTIC CABLE, WHICH MAKES A TELEPHONE CALL TO INDIA IMMEDIATE AND COSTS NEXT TO NOTHING, TECHNOLOGY AND THE INTERNET WHICH ARE DEVELOPING FASTER THAT ANY OF US CAN MANAGE IS ANOTHER. AND THERE IS WHOLE BUSINESS OF OUTSOURCING WORLD WIDE WHICH IS EXPANDING AT A RAPID RATE. HE CALLS THESE THINGS “ FLATTENERS.” WE CAN’T MISS THEM. I CALLED THIS WEEK TO INQUIRE ABOUT AN ITEM ON MY AMERICAN EXPRESS BILL. THE MAN WHO ANSWERED MY QUESTION HAD AN ACCENT AND OUT OF CURIOSITY I ASKED HIM IF HE WAS IN INDIA, “YES.” HE SAID CHEERFULLY. WE KNOW ALSO THAT THE STANDARD OF LIVING FOR MANY PEOPLE IN THAT COUNTRY AND OTHERS HAS BEEN RAISED AS A RESULT OF OUTSOURCING. ON THE NEWS THURSDAY I LEARNED THAT DELTA IS HAVING MANY OF THE ROUTINE SERVICING OF ITS PLANES DONE BY MECHANICS IN EUROPE WHERE LABOR RATES ARE LOWER, AND THE QUALITY OF WORK IS EXCELLENT. IN THE NEXT SENTENCE THEY ADDED THAT IN SOME CASES THE HIGHLY TECHNICAL WORK ON EUROPEAN PLANES IS BEING DONE IN THE U.S. I GUESS THAT IS INSOURCING.

BY NOW I SUSPECT YOU ARE WONDERING HOW THIS BOOK IS IN ANY WAY RELATED TO OUR GOSPEL FOR TODAY. LET’S GET BACK TO MATTHEW. FOR SEVERAL CHAPTERS BEFORE TODAY’S READING JESUS HAD BEEN TRAVELING AROUND THE COUNTRYSIDE TEACHING AND HEALING PEOPLE. THE CROWDS HAD BEEN GETTING LARGER. MORE AND MORE HAD COME TO HIM WITH THEIR PAINS AND CONCERNS. “THEY ARE HARASSED AND HELPLESS, LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD” HE SAYS, SIMILAR PERHAPS TO OUR SITUATION TODAY, FACING PROBLEMS AND TROUBLES THAT SEEM INSUPERABLE. AS JESUS LOOKS OUT INTO THE CROWD HE SEES A GREAT NEED, GREATER THAN HE COULD EVER MANAGE ALONE, SO HE DECIDES TO CALL SOME HELPERS, HELPERS TO “SEND OUT AND LABOR INTO THE LORD’S HARVEST.” THERE IS AN URGENCY IN THAT THE CROPS ARE RIPENING AND MUST BE HARVESTED.

HE CALLS TOGETHER HIS DISCIPLES, THOSE CLOSE FRIENDS WHO HAVE BEEN WITH HIM, LEARNING THE ROPES SO TO SPEAK. AT THIS POINT HE NO LONGER REFERS TO THEM AS DISCIPLES, BUT APOSTLES, PEOPLE WHO ARE TO BE “SENT OUT” INTO THE WORLD. IT SEEMS THEY HAVE MADE THE GRADE, AND ARE READY TO SHARE HIS MINISTRY AND MISSION WITH HIM. AS HE DOES THIS HE GRACES THEM WITH SOME OF HIS POWER, THE POWER TO HEAL AND OVERCOME EVIL, TO RECONCILE AS HE DOES. “CURE THE SICK, RAISE THE DEAD, CLEANSE THE LEPERS, CAST OUT DEMONS.” HE SAYS, AND WITH THIS, THIS POWER WHICH HAS BEEN GIVEN TO HIM BY GOD HIS FATHER, IS PASSED ON TO THEM. AND OFF THEY WENT.

WE KNOW FROM STORIES THAT ARE TOLD LATER IN MATTHEW THAT THESE APOSTLES STILL HAD A LOT TO LEARN. THEY HAD TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING HIS PARABLES. WHEN HE TOLD THEM HE WAS TO DIE, THEY NEVER GOT IT. THEY FELL ASLEEP IN THOSE LAST HOURS OF HIS LIFE, AND WHEN HE WAS ON THE CROSS, THEY WERE NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. BUT DESPITE ALL OF THIS, THEY TOOK THE CHALLENGE TO GO FORTH, TO PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS IN AN UNSETTLED WORLD.

LAST SUNDAY AT THE CATHEDRAL WE RENEWED OUR BAPTISMAL VOWS, AS WE ALWAYS DO AT CONFIRMATION. I WAS REMINDED, AS I AM OFTEN, OF MY PROMISE, WITH GOD’S HELP, TO “PROCLAIM BY WORD AND EXAMPLE THE GOOD NEWS OF GOD IN CHRIST.” DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE ARE APOSTLES TOO? I AM INCLINED TO THINK OF MYSELF AS A DISCIPLE, A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST, NOT AN APOSTLE. BUT YES, I AM CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE.

I WONDER WHETHER PERHAPS IT IS A LACK OF CLAIMING THAT WE ARE APOSTLES THAT SOMETIMES KEEPS US FROM REACHING OUT BEYOND THE WALLS OF THE CHURCH. THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN A PART OF OUR VIA MEDIA GROUP I THINK HAVE SHARED A WONDERFUL SENSE OF COMRADERY AS WE’VE TALKED ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, THE SPIRIT, WITH JESUS. WE OFFERED SUPPORT TO EACH OTHER AND ENJOYED NEW FRIENDS. AND FROM THIS, I THINK WE ARE CALLED TO MOVE OUT FROM ST. JOHN’S INTO THE WORLD. WE AREN’T CALLED TO LIVE IN A CAVE, AS COZY AS IT IS, WE MUST GET OUT THERE!

FRIEDMAN HAS SOME THOUGHTS WHICH HELP ME THINK ABOUT THIS. HE TALKS ABOUT WANTING OUR COUNTRY TO EXPORT HOPE, NOT FEAR. BUT I WONDER HOW WE DO THIS. THE REAL WORLD IS A MESS IN MANY WAYS. FOR EXAMPLE THE IDEA OF EXPORTING HOPE TO SUCH AS OSAMA BEN LADEN AND OTHERS LIKE HIM WHO CLAIM THAT WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS IN THE NAME OF RELIGION, SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE. WHAT ARE THEY HOPING FOR? FRIEDMAN ALSO WANTS US TO WORK HARDER AT BEING FRIENDS TO OTHERS IN THE WORLD, SHARING THEIR CONCERN FOR THE CARE OF THE EARTH, BEING MORE GENEROUS WITH OUR GREAT WEALTH. ONE STEP WAS MADE YESTERDAY WHEN OUR COUNTRY AGREED TO FORGIVE THE DEBTS OF SOME VERY POOR COUNTRIES IN AFRICA.

AND WHAT ARE OUR DREAMS FOR THE WORLD, YOURS AND MINE? I SOMETIMES WONDER IF WE, AT ST. JOHN’S MIGHT FOCUS MORE ON OUR DREAMS FOR THIS CHURCH THAN OUR MEMORIES. THAT’S HARD WHEN SOME MEMORIES ARE GOOD, BUT, RECOGNIZING WHAT WE HAVE THAT IS NOT CHANGED BY TODAY’S WORLD SITUATION, CAN WE LOOK AHEAD WITH IMAGINATION?

I HAVE BEEN IMAGINING, FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE IF WE OFFERED VIA MEDIA AGAIN NEXT YEAR, NOT TO THE SAME PEOPLE BUT TO A NEW GROUP, AT LEAST HALF OF WHOM WERE NOT EPISCOPALIANS. THEY MIGHT BE PEOPLE WHO HAVE MOVED INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND ARE CURIOUS ABOUT US, OR PEOPLE WE MEET WHEN WE ARE OUT AND ABOUT. THE OTHER HALF OF THE GROUP MIGHT BE NEW MEMBERS OF THIS CHURCH OR FOLKS WHO HAVE BEEN “FRINGE MEMBERS,” WHO HAVEN’T FOUND A WAY TO GET INVOLVED. IT MAY SOUND LIKE “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE,” BUT IT HAS POSSIBILITIES. AND THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS, OTHER WAYS WE CAN BE APOSTLES?

LIKE THE EARLY APOSTLES, WE WILL MAKE OUR MISTAKES, MESS UP IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. BUT JESUS DIDN’T GIVE UP ON HIS APOSTLES AND I DON’T THINK OUR LORD WILL GIVE UP ON US. CHRISTIAN HOPE WILL BE ON OUR LIPS AND IN OUR HEARTS. AND ALTHOUGH THE KINGDOM MAY SEE FAR AWAY, THE SPIRIT OF GOD WILL BE WITH US. WE WILL BE SENT OUT AGAIN AND AGAIN, AS THEY WERE, OUT FROM THIS CHURCH INTO THE FLAT WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE.

Ruth T. Healy - Associate Priest

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