A Lesson From St. Antony
The follow passage is an excerpt from a book called The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks translated by Benedicta Ward and published by Penguin Books in 2003.
Once a brother in the community of Elias fell when he was tempted. He was expelled from the community, and went to the mountain to Antony. When he had been with him for some time, Antony sent him back to his community, but when they saw him, hey sent him away again. So he went back to Antony and said, "They won't have me, abba." So Antony sent a message to them saying, "A ship was wrecked in the ocean and lost its cargo, and with great difficulty the empty ship was brought to land. Do you ant to run the ship that has been rescued onto the rocks and sink it?" The realized that Antony had sent him back, and at once accepted him. (pg. 84)
I read this saying for an assignment in my Early Church History class as we studied Egyptian Christian monasticism during the fourth century. Many of the sayings and parables of these Desert Fathers are quite cryptic and often make very little sense. I had to read this passage a couple of times before I understood what it could mean for me as a twenty-first-century Christian seminarian.
What does it mean to fall when one is tempted? What does it take for a faith community to "expel" one of their members? How does it feel to be expelled from one's faith community? Obviously, as a human being I have fallen into temptation. Some of my falls are harder than others to recover from, but I have never been in the position where I was shunned from my community or where I knowingly took part in shunning a member of my community. Notice how I qualified that statement as "knowingly took part." The organization and the rules of living in these desert monastic communities are quite different from most of the mainline Christian denominations we see today. Aside from the Amish practice of shunning and the Catholic practice of excommunication (of which the occurrences are very rare), we do not think a lot about people being forcibly removed from their church's membership. However, most denominations do have a system in place to strip a person of his or her membership in that church. This is something that probably makes a lot of us uncomfortable. Church is supposed to be the one place where everyone and anyone is welcomed, right? In theory, the answer to this question is yes; but in reality we know this is not always the case.
Previously, I qualified my statement "knowingly took part in shunning a member of my community," because I am aware that there are two different types of shunning: active and passive. Active shunning is pretty much what it sounds like - verbally or physically denying a person full inclusion into the membership of a community. We see this in the story of the monk who fell to temptation and his community's reaction. Passive shunning is a little more complex, and we do not have a clear cut example in this story. However, you can see it in every church on Sunday mornings, in any grocery store, on any sidewalk, or any place where two or more people gather. Passive shunning can take many forms: turning a blind eye to the person in a wheelchair who has a visible physical deformation, the unwelcoming glares of contempt shot across a sanctuary to a newcomer who is not dressed "appropriately," or the self-righteous sighs of "bless their heart" when we encounter a person who is not quite up to snuff. Passive shunning is rooted in a mindset of I am better than you. I will be the first one to shoot my hand up to protest that I hold an arrogant or self-important world view... I think all of us want to think we are not those kind of people.
I believe every single person, no matter how well intentioned he or she is, falls into the temptation to think we are better than other people. It is easy to fall into this worldview if we assume another person cannot offer us something of value. This reminds me of the word "Ubuntu." Ubuntu means "I am because you are." It is a philosophy that recognizes our common humanity with another person, and how we are inextricably connected together with each other. If we fall to the temptation of dismissing someone as "other" or not in a position to teach me or offer me anything, then we take the first steps of active and passive shunning.
This excerpt about St. Antony's response to the shunning community is not a novel response. Jesus addresses this very issue time and time again in the Gospels. We cannot judge another person for his or her sins, because we too are sinners. We are all broken people who have the messy parts of our lives we would rather not reveal to our neighbors. If we deny fellowship with a sister or brother because of that person's sinfulness or otherness, then we are spitting into Jesus' face. The only way to avoid passive or active shunning is to actively love, welcome, and accept people just as they are. Jesus ate with tax collectors, drank water at a well with a woman with five husbands, walked around with fishermen, and died for every single human being on this earth. We must follow Jesus' example, lest we be like the community St. Antony rebukes. If we are not actively extending loving hospitality to the "fallen" among us, we are sinking a wrecked ship.
Once a brother in the community of Elias fell when he was tempted. He was expelled from the community, and went to the mountain to Antony. When he had been with him for some time, Antony sent him back to his community, but when they saw him, hey sent him away again. So he went back to Antony and said, "They won't have me, abba." So Antony sent a message to them saying, "A ship was wrecked in the ocean and lost its cargo, and with great difficulty the empty ship was brought to land. Do you ant to run the ship that has been rescued onto the rocks and sink it?" The realized that Antony had sent him back, and at once accepted him. (pg. 84)
I read this saying for an assignment in my Early Church History class as we studied Egyptian Christian monasticism during the fourth century. Many of the sayings and parables of these Desert Fathers are quite cryptic and often make very little sense. I had to read this passage a couple of times before I understood what it could mean for me as a twenty-first-century Christian seminarian.
What does it mean to fall when one is tempted? What does it take for a faith community to "expel" one of their members? How does it feel to be expelled from one's faith community? Obviously, as a human being I have fallen into temptation. Some of my falls are harder than others to recover from, but I have never been in the position where I was shunned from my community or where I knowingly took part in shunning a member of my community. Notice how I qualified that statement as "knowingly took part." The organization and the rules of living in these desert monastic communities are quite different from most of the mainline Christian denominations we see today. Aside from the Amish practice of shunning and the Catholic practice of excommunication (of which the occurrences are very rare), we do not think a lot about people being forcibly removed from their church's membership. However, most denominations do have a system in place to strip a person of his or her membership in that church. This is something that probably makes a lot of us uncomfortable. Church is supposed to be the one place where everyone and anyone is welcomed, right? In theory, the answer to this question is yes; but in reality we know this is not always the case.
Previously, I qualified my statement "knowingly took part in shunning a member of my community," because I am aware that there are two different types of shunning: active and passive. Active shunning is pretty much what it sounds like - verbally or physically denying a person full inclusion into the membership of a community. We see this in the story of the monk who fell to temptation and his community's reaction. Passive shunning is a little more complex, and we do not have a clear cut example in this story. However, you can see it in every church on Sunday mornings, in any grocery store, on any sidewalk, or any place where two or more people gather. Passive shunning can take many forms: turning a blind eye to the person in a wheelchair who has a visible physical deformation, the unwelcoming glares of contempt shot across a sanctuary to a newcomer who is not dressed "appropriately," or the self-righteous sighs of "bless their heart" when we encounter a person who is not quite up to snuff. Passive shunning is rooted in a mindset of I am better than you. I will be the first one to shoot my hand up to protest that I hold an arrogant or self-important world view... I think all of us want to think we are not those kind of people.
I believe every single person, no matter how well intentioned he or she is, falls into the temptation to think we are better than other people. It is easy to fall into this worldview if we assume another person cannot offer us something of value. This reminds me of the word "Ubuntu." Ubuntu means "I am because you are." It is a philosophy that recognizes our common humanity with another person, and how we are inextricably connected together with each other. If we fall to the temptation of dismissing someone as "other" or not in a position to teach me or offer me anything, then we take the first steps of active and passive shunning.
This excerpt about St. Antony's response to the shunning community is not a novel response. Jesus addresses this very issue time and time again in the Gospels. We cannot judge another person for his or her sins, because we too are sinners. We are all broken people who have the messy parts of our lives we would rather not reveal to our neighbors. If we deny fellowship with a sister or brother because of that person's sinfulness or otherness, then we are spitting into Jesus' face. The only way to avoid passive or active shunning is to actively love, welcome, and accept people just as they are. Jesus ate with tax collectors, drank water at a well with a woman with five husbands, walked around with fishermen, and died for every single human being on this earth. We must follow Jesus' example, lest we be like the community St. Antony rebukes. If we are not actively extending loving hospitality to the "fallen" among us, we are sinking a wrecked ship.
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