The Very Rev. Fr. Stephen Crawford
June 26, 2022 (Year C, Proper 8)
This sermon was preached the Sunday following a landmark Supreme Court decision regarding abortion. Hopefully, I can post some follow-up writings, such as an in-depth look at the Episcopal Church's teaching, reflections on the Church and politics, as well as reflections on the dignity of women and importance of freedom.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
For Freedom Christ has set you free. So St. Paul writes to the Galatians. Something big happened last Friday. It has to do with what we mean by the word “freedom.” The Supreme Court gave its decision on an important case, Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The courts decision was to overturn Roe v. Wade, declaring that the Constitution does not guarantee the right to an abortion.
I’m sure there are different reactions happening here in our Church. Some of us at St. Mary’s Church are dismayed at this. Some of us are overjoyed. Let me just acknowledge how difficult this topic is. Let’s be gentle with each other. If you don’t like something I say, please come talk to me about it.
This will be an interesting test for the Church. The Scriptures command us to rejoice with those that rejoice and to weep with those that weep. Can we rejoice with our brothers and sisters that are rejoicing? Can we weep with our brothers and sisters that are weeping? That does not mean letting go of your own convictions. But it does mean that we’re open to the possibility that our brothers and sisters, even those we most disagree with, might have some glimpse of the truth. If you’re overjoyed at the outcome of this court case, then entering into the grief of our brothers and sisters will help us all see the extremely difficult road waiting for a large number of women. If you’re dismayed at the outcome of this court case, then entering into the joy of our brothers and sisters will help us all see how just how precious even the most fragile human lives are. If we can do that, if we can love each other in that kind of way, then our Lord will be glorified in front of a nation that desperately needs that kind of witness.
The Episcopal Church has offered teaching about pregnant mothers and the children they carry. Unfortunately, like quite a bit that we do in the Episcopal Church, it’s a bit muddled. You’ll get statements about what the Church teaches. But you get those statements right alongside claims about one particular meeting of one particular General Convention happens to believe. So it takes some sifting, but what you find is actually surprisingly traditional. This is what it says:
All human life is sacred. Hence, it is sacred from its inception until death. The Church takes seriously its obligation to help form the consciences of its members concerning this sacredness. Human life, therefore, should be initiated only advisedly and in full accord with this understanding of the power to conceive and give birth which is bestowed by God. (1988-C047; reaffirmed 1994-A054)
There’s a basic point I want to make, and I hope it’s helpful. We as a nation are wrestling with fundamental human rights. When we as a people are having that kind of conversation, the main thing that we’re hoping for is that we will see the humanity of human beings ever more clearly. If that can happen, if we succeed in recognizing one another’s humanity, hopefully we can respond to that humanity well. Can we appreciate one another’s humanity? There is a lot at stake in that question. Closing our eyes and ignoring one another’s humanity—whether it’s the humanity of women or the humanity of people with dark skin or the humanity of children—has always been the occasion of tremendous evil. This has always been one of the most powerful things about Christianity. This is a major reason why Christianity grabbed people’s hearts and imaginations throughout the world. The Light of Jesus Christ helped the world to see the humanity of people that beforehand the world had struggled to see.
St. Laurence is one of my favorite examples--and offered only as an example--of how the Gospel can shine a light on people. Laurence was a deacon in the Church in Rome in the mid-200s. Being a deacon, Laurence was responsible for the Church’s money, being careful to help people who were in need. A persecution broke out against the Church. A local official had Laurence arrested and brought before him, and he demanded that Laurence hand over the Church’s treasury. So Laurence went out as commanded. He went and found all of those destitute and struggling people that were so familiar to him—people who were poor and homeless, orphans, people with disabilities—and Laurence brought this group back with him before the prefect. “Here you are. These are the treasures of the Church.” Laurence was sentenced to death and killed for his defiance. And at the cost of his own life, he opened eyes to recognize people that were previously overlooked.
It’s worth saying: there is a group of people whose humanity the world has often struggled to see and appreciate, and the Light of Christ shining in the Church helped to reveal these people’s humanity. These are women. That’s something we should really celebrate. From the very beginning, Jesus invited women to share in his ministry. Importantly, the first witnesses of Jesus’s resurrection were all women. Mary Magdalene is the Apostle to the Apostles! Very early on in the history of the Church, something strange started happening. When persecutions broke out, they weren’t just directed at men, which is how persecutions normally happened. Very early on, female Christians were killed alongside male Christians. It was often the incredible grace revealed in female martyrs that the Church, even the early Church, especially celebrated. That gives you a sense for the important role that woman had in the Church from its beginning. And of course there is our own patron saint, St. Mary. Mary is the Queen of Heaven and Earth. A peasant girl from Galilee reigns alongside Jesus over his Kingdom, even over St. Peter.
Jesus died on the cross for women as much as for men. He died for women not just so that their sins can be forgiven and they can go to heaven. He opens up to them the Kingdom of Heaven, which means that he invites women to share in the life of his Kingdom, in the work of his Kingdom, in the responsibility of his Kingdom. For every little baby girl that gets baptized, Jesus has a destiny in store. And his destiny for all our sisters is absolutely glorious. The Light of Christ shines in the Church and reveals the humanity of women to a world that has often been blind to it.
All human life is sacred. Hence, it is sacred from its inception until death. The Church takes seriously its obligation to help form the consciences of its members concerning this sacredness. Human life, therefore, should be initiated only advisedly and in full accord with this understanding of the power to conceive and give birth which is bestowed by God.
Similarly to women, the light of the Gospel teaches us about children, too. God bestows on us the power to conceive human life. Be fruitful, and multiply. It’s incredible.
Did you know that we celebrate Jesus’s conception? (As always, I try to bring it back to Jesus.) It’s called the feast of the Annunciation, celebrated on March 25. You may notice that March 25 is nine months before Christmas. This is when the Archangel Gabriel appears to Mary with big promises, the Holy Spirit overshadows her, and a child is conceived in her womb. The Word becomes flesh. God comes among us as a human being. It’s just remarkable that the Almighty God who holds all things in existence would become so tiny, so helpless, for our sake. The Lord created us in his image, but then we made a mess of it. Even as a zygote, God is with us, quietly restoring his image.
All human life is sacred. Hence, it is sacred from its inception until death. The Church takes seriously its obligation to help form the consciences of its members concerning this sacredness.
It seems providential to me that the Supreme Court gave its decision this past Friday, June 24. June 24 is the Feast of St. John the Baptist, which we celebrate on his birthday. One reason for celebrating him on his birthday is that he fulfills some Old Testament promises, one of which I think is especially poignant. He is a New Elijah for God’s people, and through him the Lord promises to turn the hearts of parents toward their children and the hearts of children toward their parents. Ultimately, John does this by pointing us to Jesus.
When I said Evening Prayer last night in the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, I especially enjoyed saying the Magnificat, the Song of Mary. This is an important prayer in the life of our congregation, on page 65 in the Prayer Book. The occasion when Mary first says this prayer is an occasion when the Light of the Holy Spirit shone particularly bright. I’ve pointed out that the God’s Light reveals our humanity. Here that happens in a special way because our humanity is revealed together, all at once.
Mary has just had her encounter with the Archangel Gabriel, and the Lord has been conceived within her by the power of the Holy Spirit. She doesn’t necessarily know this, though. This is all pretty disorienting for young Mary, so she rushes off to see her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who is herself miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist. It takes a few days to walk from Galilee to Judea, so she arrives at Elizabeth’s house just a few days after the Lord first visits his people. Right when Mary shows up, though, John the Baptist, who is still just a baby in Elizabeth’s womb, leaps for joy at the presence of Christ. When this happens, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Lord unleashes gifts in her life, and she shares those gifts boldly. Women were not always allowed to share their gifts boldly, but here Elizabeth is filled with Holy Spirit and she speaks out in the Spirit of Prophecy. And this woman is the first person to proclaim that, even in these first days of Jesus’s earthly existence, God has come among us a human being. And he did this to rescue us, every single one of us. Amen.