The 5th Sunday of Lent - Conflict and Transformation

First comes the downside of change:  “How many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb?  Three:  One to call the electrician; one to pour the drinks; and one who says, 'Change [horrified tone], change . . . no . . . don't you know that my great-grandfather gave the church that light bulb?'”

Is there an upside?  Br. Mark Brown, a member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (an Episcopalian monastic order) posted this observation about change in a daily e-mail sent by SSJE called, “Brother, give us a word.”  He entitled his posting “Tradition.”  This is what he wrote:  “The Church, the Body of Christ, is essentially progressive.  Rooted in the past, grounded in the Eternal, but always renewing, always renovating.”  How positive does that sound to you?

I've spent all of last week—32 hours of sitting, listening, and role playing—attempting to understand and to learn how to deal with conflict using mediation skills—skills rooted in family systems theory.  This class, offered by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, took place at Grace Church on Concord Pike.

Both resisting change or renewal and promoting change or renewal often lead to conflict in the church—think Protestant Reformation.  However, according to the curriculum for my week of study, conflict should be approached as positive for the church.  Why? Because conflict, properly handled, can become of a time of transformation—and because conflict has always been a part of the life of the church—think of the conflict between Peter and Paul about the full inclusion of Gentile Christians without their having to obey the laws contained in Torah (the first five books of our Old Testament).

So if conflict is a normal and expected part of the life of the church, how can it become something positive when it feels so uncomfortable?  Because, the Mennonite Peace Center claims, properly handled conflict can result in positive transformation.

Positive transformation can be seen clearly in two of our readings today.  In the reading from Jeremiah God declares divine action will transform humanity's relationship with God.  No longer will God's covenant with them be external, written on stone tablets, but “I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts . . . for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. . .”  Torah, the law or instruction about how to live, had been difficult to understand and keep.  Now God, through Jeremiah's prophecy, announced a transformed relationship with God's people.

Knowing God—the path to a close relationship with God's self—would be placed within every one of God's people. And the result of that new covenant was forgiveness of sins—what we call “grace”—God was no longer condemning human beings for our sins.  God had acted to transform our resistance to accepting God's will—to transform our conflict with God's way—into a new relationship.  Indeed, that's what the Mennonite Peace Center maintains can happen when we face conflict honestly and we open our hearts to God's transforming love and power.  Our instructor called this “being hard on issues and soft on people.”

“Soft on people” means being able to make statements of regret to someone with whom you have been in conflict and to accept statements of regret from them.  Then after this exchange both people should be able move on without continuing to hold a grudge about the conflict.  God's assurance of “softness” toward humanity, given through Jeremiah's prophecy said, “for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.”  Can we open our hearts to this assurance?  Can we listen carefully and offer the same assurance when someone expresses regret to us?

Positive transformation can also be found in the reading from John's gospel.  Jesus uses a mini parable to explain the transformation that will happen through his death and resurrection.  He said: “Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”  But the image of a single, dormant grain becoming an abundance of wheat surely applies to our lives.  Jesus calls it “hating” one's life in this world. 

“Hating” is such a strong term—but like the grain we have to give up our lives as they are and allow ourselves to be transformed in the fertile ground of God's love and forgiveness.  But doesn't this happen when we are baptized, and we are never the same again?  True enough, but we continue to have free will and we continue to make choices that can push us away from God.  Reacting to a conflict with another person by allowing our pain to fester will indeed push us away from God.

Through expressing ourselves with a humble and generous spirit, we can “be soft” both on ourselves and on anyone with whom we have a conflict.  This attitude will allow God to transform us and transform the situation in positive ways. Even in role-plays this week we witnessed God's spirit moving as the person in the role of the mediator coached and encouraged the two people in the role of disputants to find common ground and move past the conflict they had.

As the church—as the Body of Christ—we have a vocation to seek renewal through our openness to the transforming power of God.  Whether we experience God through a heart on which God has written or as the fertile soil that will give us new life, we can find ourselves renewed.  So we need not fear change.  We need not fear ending conflict by making peace with someone else in the Body of Christ. For as Br. Mark explained, “The Church, the Body of Christ, is essentially progressive.  Rooted in the past, grounded in the Eternal, but always renewing, always renovating.”  So as members of the Body of Christ, let us be renewed!