The Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, preaches Sunday in the Amphitheater.
“I was raised an Episcopalian, but my grandma was a Baptist and there was a hymn that she loved,” said the Most Rev. Michael Curry. He shared a verse and the chorus of “Love Lifted Me,” a hymn inspired by Peter’s attempt to walk on water with Jesus.
“I was sinking deep in sin / Far from the peaceful shore / Very deeply stained within / Sinking to rise no more/ But the master of the sea / Heard my despairing cry, / From the waters lifted me/ Now safe am I. / Love lifted me! Love lifted me! / When nothing else could help / Love lifted me / Love lifted me! Love lifted me! / When nothing else could help / Love lifted me.”
Curry lifted his index finger and waved it back and forth. “My grandma used to sing this song and do this with her hand,” he said. Many in the congregation sang along and waved their fingers.
The story of the Good Samaritan is “deeply embedded in God’s vision for the entire world,” said Curry. “The song and the parable point the way to God’s deep wisdom to raise humanity to where we are meant to be.”
He preached at the 9:15 a.m. morning worship service Wednesday in the Amphitheater. His sermon title was “Love: The Only Way to Beloved Community,” and the scripture lesson was Luke 10: 25-37, the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus had a lot of interactions with lawyers, Curry reminded the congregation. “He could have preached to the American Bar Association. But the lawyer had a very personal and theological question — what do I need to do to inherit eternal life?”
He continued: “What do I have to do to get to heaven, what do I have to do now so my life matters? How do I live with dignity and integrity so the force of death can’t take away the meaning that extends into eternity?”
Jesus asked the lawyer what Moses had said, and the lawyer responded by recalling the Shema from Deuteronomy — “to love God with all your heart, strength and mind” — and Leviticus — to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus told him he had answered correctly and to go and live that truth.
“This is the key to the good life — to love God, your neighbor and yourself,” said Curry. “This is the key to dignity and vitality, to work for the good of yourself and the other.”
The lawyer wanted to define “who is my neighbor.” He wanted to define it more narrowly so that it might not apply to some. Jesus did not respond didactically, Curry said, but with a story.
In retelling the story, Curry noted that the road between Jerusalem and Jericho was dangerous and a Jewish man, walking along the road, was robbed, beaten and left for dead. A priest, like the song by Dionne Warwick and Isaac Hayes, “walked on by.” A Levite walked by and said: “You’re on your own.”
“Now, Jews and Samaritans would not be best friends, like Republicans and Democrats today,” Curry said. “But the Samaritan sees the dude and fixes him up, carries him and pays his hotel bill. So Jesus asks, ‘Who was the neighbor to this guy?’ The lawyer answered, ‘The one who showed mercy.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ ”
Curry continued, “I was sinking deep in sin / Far from the peaceful shore / Very deeply stained within / Sinking to rise no more/ But the master of the sea / Heard my despairing cry, / From the waters lifted me/ Now safe am I. / Love lifted me! Love lifted me! / When nothing else could help / Love lifted me / Love lifted me! Love lifted me! / When nothing else could help / Love lifted me.”
Asking the congregation to imagine this text for the 21st century, during this election year, Curry said: “What if the presumed Democratic nominee was on the side of the road and the presumed Republican nominee came by and helped her out? Now flip it.”
He continued, “What about a progressive liberal who sees a traditional conservative or flip that, and the conservative comes up with a health care plan? What about a Ukrainian and a Russian, a Palestinian and an Israeli, a Muslim and a Christian?”
The result, Curry said, “is that our willingness to love our neighbor creates the possibility for a new world to come into being.”
He reminded the congregation of his explanation of how the United States got “E Pluribus Unum” as its motto — from Cicero, who got it from Virgil’s recipe for pesto. There was a great debate in Congress, Curry said, over what kind of animal would be on the seal. “Ben Franklin wanted the turkey, but they adopted the eagle.”
Cicero was not writing about politics when he adopted the phrase “E Pluribus Unum,” but about the Roman family. Curry quoted Cicero: “When one person loves another as much as the self, then e pluribus unum becomes possible.”
Curry said, “Love is the key to make ‘E Pluribus Unum’ into a reality so we lay down our swords and shields and study war no more.”
He closed his sermon, saying, “ ‘We were sinking deep in sin / Far from the peaceful shore / Very deeply stained within / Sinking to rise no more/ But the master of the sea / Heard our despairing cry, / From the waters lifted us Now safe are we. / Love lifted us! Love lifted us! / When nothing else could help / Love lifted us / Love lifted us! Love lifted us / When nothing else could help / Love lifted us.’
“Dare to be people of love.”
Tom Goss, a lay leader at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ellicott City, Maryland, presided. Rowland Bennet, a member of the Motet Choir, read the scripture. There was no prelude and no anthem. The Motet Choir sang at the graduation of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Class of 2024 in the Hall of Philosophy. The postlude was “Toccata on Omne quod requiris amor est,” (All You Need is Love) by Paul Ayres, played by Joshua Stafford, director of sacred music and the Jared Jacobsen Chair for the Organist. Support for this week’s services and chaplaincy are provided by the Samuel M. and Mary E. Hazlett Memorial Fund.
