Favoritism

Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a world where there was no favoritism? Where no one was favored over anyone else? Would you like to live in that world, a world without favoritism?

I use the word favoritism intentionally. Issues of discrimination and prejudice are different sides of the same coin, and I’m a little wary of opening up such a large and complex issue. So I hope, at least today, to try to focus on favoritism—the feeling inside of us that favors some people over others. It doesn’t necessarily mean you actively dislike the others. But we grant favor to some. We value some more than others. We choose our favorites.

All of this morning’s Scripture readings are about overcoming favoritism. Both Proverbs and James challenge us, as God’s people, to not favor the rich over the poor.

In the Gospel, even Jesus works to overcome the favoritism of his time. The story of the Syrophoenician woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon is an odd one. I don’t know if Jesus actually perceived her to be less than human when he called her a "dog." We should remember that he had deliberately gone into her part of town; he had chosen to be among "her kind." There is no doubt that Jewish society or culture at the time viewed a Gentile woman of Syrophoenician heritage as not worthy of their favor, as a human being of little value. But Jesus healed her daughter. Jesus bestowed upon her the fullness of God’s healing power and love. Jesus’ actions held nothing back. His healing act overcame the social favoritism of the time.

The very existence of all of these readings illustrates the presence of favoritism in human communities across the centuries. Showing favoritism is part of our human nature. All of the readings also speak to God’s desire and God’s action to get rid of favoritism.

Would you like to live in a world where favoritism did not exist? Where no people were favored or valued over any others?

As hesitant as I am to venture into any political issues, I cannot avoid mentioning clout. A familiar topic for us in Illinois. In particular the recent publicity about the role of political clout in the admission process at the University of Illinois. I do not condone what has happened, but I think we need to look in the mirror before we criticize too loudly. Think about it. We expect universities to favor some students over others in the admission process. We accept and participate in that world—where some people are deemed more favorable, more valuable than others. The problem with clout is that we think of it as the "wrong" criterion to use for assigning value to one applicant over another. We accept a world where some are valued more highly than others, but we want to control the criteria for evaluation. In university admissions, we believe the criteria should be intelligence, or a well-rounded breadth of activities, or singular athletic prowess, or being the child of an alumnus. Legacy admissions have been around forever, but those haven’t made the headlines in the Tribune. Which mostly says something about the murky motives of the Tribune.

We accept and participate in a world where favoritism exists. We say we do not want political connectivity to be the way favor or value is bestowed. We say we do not want skin color to be a criterion for determining personal value. But deep down most of us would find it very difficult to eliminate intelligence or charm or wealth as measures of personal value. We use these measures to define our own sense of personal value and to differentiate the value or favor we feel towards others.

Would you really like to live in a world without favoritism? Part of what that means is giving up our own aspirations to be the favored one. But God calls us into a world without favoritism. God’s kingdom is such a world. A world where God’s favor is bestowed upon everyone in equal and limitless abundance. Where each and every person is valued beyond any kind of measure.

I think such a world is worth seeking, worth giving a try. Even if it means giving up my own hard-earned sense of personal value. There are some wondrous benefits from living in a world without favoritism. One of them is lack of anxiety. Just think about how much of the anxiety in life is wrapped up in trying to earn our own sense of value or earn the favor of others. So much of our anxiety comes from trying to become favorable in the eyes of others or in our own eyes. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be free from that anxiety?

Another thing. In a world without favoritism, sharing blessing becomes the coinage of our relationships with one another. Our interactions with one another are no longer dominated by need or envy. We can share and celebrate God’s presence and blessing. Relationships are an opportunity to share blessing, not the context for measuring personal value.

A world completely free from favoritism awaits us all on the other side of the Jordan. But we can get a glimpse, at least a partial experience of that world, right here. Within the Body of Christ, as people who participate in the worship and fellowship of the church. One reason to actually come to church, to be a participant in the Body of Christ, is to be a part of a world without favoritism… to experience freedom from anxiety, to be the recipient and purveyor of shared blessings. Right here.

At least at its best, the church is a community where people who may feel less favored elsewhere are fully and joyfully welcomed. A place where all are valued and relationships are free from envy and anxiety. Worship is the model. Absolutely every baptism is absolutely the same. Nobody gets a "special" version. Every baptism is full, incontrovertible initiation into the Body of Christ. Every one baptized is "sealed and marked as Christ’s own forever." Every single burial is exactly the same. One reason the Episcopal Church doesn’t do grand eulogies or allow memorial floral tributes in the church at funerals is because we refuse to be a part of counting who gets the most! Every casket is covered with the same white Easter pall, and we celebrate God’s unconditional gift of eternal life to all sorts and conditions of men and women.

We kneel together in common prayer. We lift our voices in shared song. And, perhaps most importantly of all, we all gather at the same table to eat exactly the same meal. Nobody has to take the crumbs; nobody gets the prime cut; nobody has to sit at a different table or in the other room. Christ invites every single one of us to sit together at his table to receive the heavenly banquet of his own body and blood. No one gets favored treatment. Everyone is offered the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation.

I find Frederick Buechner highly quotable. Here is a bit of what he has to say about the Lord’s Supper. We call this meal "Holy Communion because when feeding at this implausible table Christians believe that they are communing with the Holy One himself, his spirit enlivening their spirits…."

"They are also, of course, communing with each other. To eat any meal together is to meet at the level…" on the LEVEL… "of our most basic need. It is hard to preserve your dignity"—or maintain favoritism—"with butter on your chin or to keep your distance when asking for the tomato ketchup."

"To eat this particular meal together is to meet at the level of our most basic humanness, which involves our need not just for food but for each other. I need you to help fill my emptiness just as you need me to help fill yours." Blessing shared through relationship.

"The next time you walk down the street, take a good look at every face you pass and in your mind say: Christ died for [you]. That girl. That slob. That phony. That crook. That saint. That damned fool. Christ died for [you]. Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for [you] [Wishful Thinking].

Try it on the sidewalk. Each face. Christ died for you. Try it here. As you watch your fellow parishioners walking to and from the Lord’s table, look at each face, remember each name, and in your mind say, Christ died for you. Christ died for you. Christ died for you.

To the extent that we are able to experience God’s kingdom here within the Body of Christ… to the extent that we are able to experience a world without favoritism here, we will be empowered and inspired to spread that world beyond these walls and beyond this community… to help others come to know that, in God’s eyes, they are favored and valued beyond measure.  Amen.