Bullying, Terrorism, & 9/11: The Way of Self-Righteousness Is the Way of Death

Brad Sullivan

Proper 19, Year C

September 11, 2016

Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

Luke 15:1-10

Bullying, Terrorism, & 9/11:

The Way of Self-Righteousness Is the Way of Death

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” and people saw life and truth in him, and people flocked to him, following him and following in his way.  Jesus’ way of life was a way of love, and forgiveness, and reconciliation, a way in which he did not shun or exclude those who were considered to be sinners.  Rather, he welcomed them and ate dinner with them, and this did not sit well with the religious leaders of the time, the Pharisees and the Scribes.  They complained about Jesus, “He eats with sinners!”  They complained about Jesus, safe in their own self-righteousness, keeping the sinners at a distance, keeping them shunned, keeping them away, so that the Pharisees and the Scribes could be righteous in their own eyes.

The way of Jesus is life.

The way of self-righteousness is the way of death.      

We suffered horrific example of the way of self righteousness 15 years ago today on September 11, 2001.  Men who wanted all non-Muslims to be killed, ended over 3000 lives on that day.  They wanted not only all non-Muslims killed, they wanted all people who didn’t practice their particular brand of Islam killed.  Their way was the way of self-righteousness, believing themselves to be righteous in God’s eyes and believing all others to be unrighteous and therefore deserving of being shunned, excluded, and even killed.  We saw in them that the way of self righteousness is the way of death.

In contrast to that, I got to spend the weekend on a youth retreat at Camp Allen called Happening.  It has been a wonderful weekend with youth and adults from around the diocese renewing their faith and commitment to Jesus and to following in his way. 

At the same time, I heard stories of youth being bullied, youth who had been excluded by other Christians for not being “Christian” enough or for not being the right type of Christian.  I heard stories from an adult who works with youth in crisis, and she told about youth who had been bullied, some because they are gay.  They were usually bullied by other Christians who told them they couldn’t be friends with them anymore because they were gay, and so they were bulled and excluded, some even bullied and excluded to the point of suicide. 

Those who did the bullying were following the path of self-righteousness, the path of death, and those who did the bullying were terrorists every bit as much as those on 9/11.  They used words as their weapons rather than planes, but self-righteousness and contempt for those whom they saw as unrighteous was still what drove them.  They killed every bit as surely as the terrorists did, they just used their victims’ own hands to do so.

The way of self-righteousness is the way of death.

We also have to realize that I’m talking about youth, teenagers and some pre-teenagers who were trying to do the right thing.  Some were just being mean, but many were trying to follow Jesus.  They were bullying and excluding to try to push the other into repentance, to try to push them to be righteous, but that was not the way of Jesus.  Jesus didn’t bully and exclude.  He welcomed sinners and ate with them. 

The only people Jesus seemed not to love being around were the self-righteous: those who would bully and exclude, and if you go far enough down that path, even kill the unrighteous.  While the terrorist and the bully, some were even well meaning, trying to do the right thing, the way of self-righteousness is the way of death. 

It is deadly and sinful, and if we’re honest, the way of self-righteousness is also a part of all of us.  There are times when I’ve felt pretty self-righteous and had to be called down.  I assume there have been times when all of us have felt fairly self-righteous. Self-righteousness is a sin which we all share every now and then.  So it’s fortunate that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them. 

As we look at those and think about those whom I heard about this weekend who did the bullying, I need to remember to look at them through the eyes of compassion, not the self-righteous eyes of judgment.  Judging their acts as harmful.  Judging them as sinners whom Jesus would welcome and eat with, because that is the way of Jesus, the way of life.  The way of love.  The way of reconciliation, forgiveness, and redemption.  Even those who have bullied others to the point of death, even those who commit atrocities and acts of terrorism because of their self-righteousness:  when they realize they have been following not the way of life but the way of death, they turn from that way, and they find Jesus welcoming them, inviting them to share a meal with him, because the way of Jesus is the way of life.  Amen.