sermons directory St. Mychal Judge Church (Dallas, TX)
The Liberal Catholic Church

Fellowship of the Ring

A homily delivered January, 2004
St Clement Liberal Catholic Mission; Frisco, TX
Rev. Wynn Wagner A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him. When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave. They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, "He deserves to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed. For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

--Luke 7:2-10

INTENT: fellowship

Let's talk about fellowship. So we're all thinking about the same thing, here's what Fellowship means according to the American Heritage Dictionary: The condition of sharing similar interests, ideals, or experiences. The companionship of individuals in a congenial atmosphere and on equal terms. Friendship. Comradeship. Sometimes we are our brother's keeper. In today's gospel, a Roman military commander went out of his way to tend to a sick servant. He did so in a way that respected the servant's own religion and culture.

On the surface, it looks like fellowship is just a nice thing to do.
In reality, it is fundamental to mystical and spiritual growth.
On the surface, it looks like fellowship is all about helping others.
In reality, that help is a by-product. It isn't what is at the core of fellowship.

Let's not be trapped by the notion that fellowship is merely "goody two-shoe" stuff. It is deep. When you help others, you are mainly helping yourself.

Deep and sometimes tough. We don't always like the other person or want to go have coffee with him. We may even think we are somehow better, but that just doesn't matter.

I've known a hundred people who have died of AIDS. At first only gay people and people in Haiti were the only ones with the disease. There was a joke in the 1980s that went something like this:

Q:	You know the hardest thing about getting AIDS?
A:	Convincing your mama that you're a Haitian immigrant.

It is sometimes hard to have fellowship with someone dying of AIDS. I was at a conference of the Texas Commission on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. That is the commission that grants licenses to drug abuse counselors. It is also the lead agency in charge of HIV prevention... not as weird as it might seem at first because being drunk or high on drugs can increase a person's odds of doing something stupid enough to get HIV. Anyway... a speaker at this official state conference opened the session on HIV by saying, "HIV. I know these are not the kinds of people you really want to be working with, so I will move through this material as fast as I can."

That isn't fellowship.

The first book and the first movie from The Lord of the Rings trilogy is called "The Fellowship of the Ring." Frodo, the main character, has to carry an evil ring to a far-off land to save the world. Between Frodo and his destination are some really scary people who want the ring. And the ring itself doesn't want Frodo to succeed. At one point, Frodo himself says "I wish the ring had never come to me." But he is not on the journey alone. He has Legolas (the elf), Gimli (the Dwarf), Aragorn (the prince), Gandalf (the wizard), and some Hobbits (Merry, Pippin, and Samwise). They are creatures who ordinarily wouldn't mix, but they all pitch in to help Frodo. It's a fellowship. No single creature can protect Frodo, but the Fellowship can and does.

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous are the first to help other drunks. Ask them why, and they'll say it is because it helps them. It isn't because of altruism. AA members are not awarded toasters or bonus points for helping an alcoholic who is still drinking. The action of working with another alcoholic is in-and-of-itself helpful to the helper.

That's fellowship. Remember our marching orders as Christians: love God, love yourself, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Working with others: that's fellowship. And with that selfless giving, we receive back thrice-fold what we give. For it is in the very act of giving that we receive. It is in loving -- even those we wouldn't want to socialize with -- that we are loved.