Homily for 31 August 2014, the 12th Sunday after Pentecost--Are We Possessed by Our Possessions?

Homily for 31 August 2014:  Are We Possessed by Our Possessions?

12^th Sunday after Pentecost (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)                    (Matthew 19:16-26)

 

When we hear the parable of the rich young man, we often concentrate on the last verses, in which Jesus says it will be “hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” and that it will be “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.”

Maybe this is because everyone is rich, or thinks they’re rich, or dreams of being rich—and they don’t want to be condemned or punished for what they’ve achieved or their success in business or in their professions.

One way to deal with this anxiety is to decide that only people with more money than I have are rich, so this saying of Jesus doesn’t apply to me:  I’m safe!

Or we could actually look carefully at the whole story and discover what Jesus is actually telling us.  Maybe this story isn’t necessarily about how evil rich people are.

A rich young man asks Jesus, “What good works must I do to have eternal life?”  He seems to be sincere, not a show-off trying to trick Jesus.  He seems to understand that salvation to eternal life depends on how you live—on “good works”—not just on obeying the letter of the Law.

Jesus’s first response might strike us as strange:  “Why do you ask me about what is good?  There is only One who is good.”  Is Jesus denying that He is God, the One who is good?  Is He saying that He doesn’t know what is good?

In fact, I think Jesus is telling the young man that he doesn’t even need to ask this question, because God, the One who is all-good, has already provided the answer?:  “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”  At that time, the Jews to whom Jesus was preaching would have been very familiar with the commandments—God’s instructions to God’s people, telling them how to live in a way pleasing to God.

When the young man then asks, “Which commandments?” he’s not being a smart-aleck.  Considering all the different commandments and explanations in the whole Jewish Law, he wants to know which ones are essential.  So Jesus tells him, and sums them up with “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If we do that, we will also obey all the rest.

But the young man still has a sense that there’s something more he needs to know:  “I’ve kept all those commandments; what do I still lack?”  He follows all the rules, but he knows that’s not enough—at least for him.

So Jesus moves the discussion to the next level:  “If you wish to be perfect, sell your possessions, give to the poor, then come follow me.”  And the young man goes away sad, because he has many possessions.

Like many of us, the young man feels that he cannot make the ultimate complete commitment to Christ.  We want to be perfect—don’t we?—but then we don’t want to give up everything we have in order to follow Christ.

As the young man somehow realized, it all comes down to what is essential:  1)  What good works are necessary for eternal life?  2)  Which commandments are necessary to follow?  3)  Do you want to be perfect?

So this Gospel lesson isn’t about the evil of being rich; it’s about the potential evil of possessions.  (Being rich isn’t evil in itself—it means that you have more money to give to the church and to help others.)  If we have possessions, we are in control of them; we can sell them or give them away or use them for good works or walk away from them.  They are not essential.

But if, instead, our possessions take possession of us—if we are possessed—then we’re not in control; we can’t get free from them.  They have become essential to our lives.  And if possessions are essential, then God is non-essential.  And it will be exceedingly difficult for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

If we wish to be perfect, we have to understand that only God is essential.  Only God is truly good—and our goodness comes from doing God’s will.  As St Paul says, “I am what I am by the grace of God.”

If we wish to be perfect, understanding this is a lifelong process.  It is a journey from where we are—sinful, but hopeful—towards the perfection of God’s love and mercy and justice.

If we wish to be perfect, we have to keep the commandments—especially the spirit of the commandments, summed up in “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

And, finally, if we wish to be perfect, we have to clear out all the non-essential things from our lives—all those possessions that threaten to possess us.  And we have to focus on what’s truly important—beyond just doing good works.  As St Paul says, “what is of first importance,” which he handed on after receiving it:  the truth of God’s love expressed in the voluntary death and triumphant resurrection to life of Jesus Christ, our Lord, God, and Savior.

To Him, and to His Almighty Father, and to His All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit,  be thanks and praise and glory, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 24 August 2014, the 11th Sunday after Pentecost--If We Want Forgiveness We Have to Forgive

Homily for 24 August 2014:  If We Want Forgiveness We Have to Forgive

11^th Sunday after Pentecost (1 Corinthians 9:2-12)                    (Matthew 18:23-35)

 

The message of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ in today’s Gospel reading is clear and simple.  It shouldn’t take very many words to talk about it:  if we want God to forgive us for our sins, we must forgive people who sin against us.  If we want forgiveness, we have to forgive.

That’s it.

I would like to stop talking here.  The word of the Lord should be enough.

But I know from personal experience that it is not enough to convince us and change us without a lot of reinforcement.  Forgiving can be very hard.  When someone sins against us—by physically or emotionally hurting us or someone we love or something we value—usually we want to hurt them in return.  And then we expect God to forgive us because we feel that our feelings and actions are justified.

But Jesus’s point in the parable of the unforgiving servant is that we can’t have this kind of double standard that says “I’m OK but you’re not.”  If we want forgiveness, we have to forgive.

We usually try again to justify ourselves.  We say that the person who offended us acted unreasonably, irrationally, selfishly, pridefully—while we acted in a reasonable, thoughtful, objective way.

However, we cannot actually make that judgement.  We don’t know what is going on inside the other person’s brain and heart.  We don’t know all the circumstances of that person’s life that may have caused him or her to act as he or she did.  And if we judge and condemn that person anyway, we are the ones whose pride and love of self has taken control.

Sometimes we also need to remember that cultural differences can make people act in ways that are offensive or unexplainable to us.  We think that all Christians share basic values and so should always understand each other and never hurt each other.  But it is clear from experience that Christian values are influenced bu the cultural values of society at large.

An American Christian once told me that my job as a clergyman was to pray for the defeat of the “enemies” of his political organization.  A Middle-Eastern Christian once told me that Christian values required him to kill his son if that son disgraced the family.  I have a hard time accepting those ideas as Christian values.  But I must understand how they are influenced by cultural values.  And that helps me to forgive.

Ultimately, forgiving is something we must do in faith.  It doesn’t depend on the other person’s being sorry or apologizing or even realizing that he or she did something wrong.  It doesn’t depend on the other person at all.  It’s not a trade.  It simply is what we must do if we love God and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world.  Our salvation depends on it.

Unless each one of us forgives our brothers and sisters from our heart, our heavenly Father will not forgive us.  And all of us, without exceptions, need God’s forgiveness.

And so, knowing what we must do and that God will give us the strength to do it, we give thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 17 August 2014, the 10th Sunday after Pentecost--Prayer and Fasting

Homily for 17 August 2014:  Prayer and Fasting

10^th Sunday after Pentecost (1 Corinthians 4:9-16)                    (Matthew 17:14-23)

 

The Gospels don’t contain many examples of Jesus’s getting angry, and His outburst in today’s reading seems especially surprising because it’s hard to understand why He suddenly calls his disciples a “faithless and perverse generation” and asks how long He will have to endure them.

It’s as though He suddenly snaps and asks them, “Haven’t you learned anything, following me around?  This poor man asked you to heal his son’s mental illness and you couldn’t even do that!  Do I have to do everything myself?”

Then, after Jesus has driven out the demon that is tormenting the boy, curing his madness, the disciples ask, “Why couldn’t we do that?”

Jesus has calmed down, but He still tells them bluntly, “You couldn’t do it because your faith is too small.”  When He says, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move a mountain,” Jesus is telling the disciples how tiny and weak their faith is—it’s not even as big as a mustard seed.

Then He tells them, “This kind of demon can be driven out only by prayer and fasting.”  Again, He seems to be saying, “You didn’t succeed because you didn’t have enough faith even to do the most basic things—prayer and fasting.”

How does this apply to us?

First, we are all disciples of Jesus Christ.  Being disciples didn’t end with those few who actually knew and listened to and hung out with Jesus.  We have been baptized into Christ; we have been sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit; we have been nourished by the true Body and Blood of Christ-God; we come to church and sing the Liturgy and listen to the readings from the Holy Bible.  Many of us pray at home and study the Bible at home.  So, like Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the other disciples, we are following Jesus and should be learning from him.

Second, like the original disciples we often fail to heal spiritual and physical problems—our own or those that other people ask us to pray for.

So this must mean that we also don’t have strong enough faith, and that we don’t pray and fast enough.

Of course, in this modern age we realize that mental illness is not literally caused by demons.  But if we think of the suffering that mental illness causes, we can’t help thinking that somehow it is demonic or Satanic.  Maybe prayer alone cannot magically cure it or other diseases and suffering, but prayer can change attitudes, give comfort, and bring strength.  Prayer can help us to overcome pride and stubbornness and fear so that we can ask for and find help.  An atmosphere of calm and love and caring that comes from faith will make any sick person feel better.

What Jesus doesn’t directly say is that our prayer and fasting changes us more than it changes a sick person.  When we have stronger faith and live in love rather than in anger or despair, when we learn to control our passions, when we learn to seek what God wants instead of what we want, then we can help to heal others who are suffering.

So, even if our faith is smaller than a mustard seed (and whose isn’t, compared to Christ’s?), we don’t have to be “faithless and perverse.”  We can simply pray, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.”  We can fast without complaining, appreciating God’s goodness and being thankful that we have enough so that we can easily give up some of it.  And we can pray for each other, knowing that even if we cannot cure someone’s illness, God will provide what we lack and will provide what we need.

And so we give thanks and praise and glory to the Eternal Father, the Son, and the All-Holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 10 August 2014, the 9th Sunday after Pentecost--Walking on Water

Homily for 10 August 2014:  Walking on Water

9^th Sunday after Pentecost (1 Corinthians 3:9-17)                    (Matthew 14:22-34)

 

We usually read this Gospel story as proof of Jesus’ divine power.

But what if we look at it from the disciples’ point of view, especially Peter’s—and then see how it applies to us?

The disciples have been trying all night to get across the sea of Galilee.  It’s stormy, with high winds and waves, and they can’t get to the shore.  They’re tired, for sure, and probably scared.  Nothing they do seems to accomplish anything to reach their goal, to bring them to safety and security.

Then they see Jesus coming to them, walking on the water.  Of course they are terrified; they’re not sure who it is—doing what is impossible—but they are hopeful.  And He says to them, “Don’t be afraid.”

Peter, always the impulsive one, always ready to act before he thinks, challenges Jesus:  “If it really is you, command me to walk to you on the water.”

And Jesus simply tells him, “Come.”

And what happens?  PETER WALKS ON THE WATER . . .

Until he realizes what he’s doing, and notices the wind and the waves and the darkness.  Then he’s scared.  He begins to sink.  All he can do is beg Jesus, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus catches him and saves him—and scolds him:  “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

When Jesus and Peter are safe in the boat, everybody says, “Truly You are the Son of God.”  Why do they say this?  Is it because He rescued Peter or because He empowered Peter to something impossible?

More likely it was because He rescued Peter, but the second action is more important.

We look at what happened and see that the central point is that Jesus gave Peter the power, the ability to something “impossible,” something that ordinarily he would not be able to do.

When Peter—in faith—asks Jesus to demonstrate that He is truly Himself, and—in faith—obeys Jesus’ command to “Come!”, in faith Peter becomes able to do what no one can do:  walk on water.  But when his faith gets weak and he thinks about how he can’t do what he’s doing, he begins to sink.  At that point, he has only enough faith to call on Jesus to save him.

A lot of times, we are like Peter.  Something happens—a powerful liturgy, a deep prayer experience, someone we meet, even a really good sermon—that fires up our faith.  We make a new commitment to Christ and swear that we will do whatever He wants.  And we begin to walk on water:  we begin to live a truly Christian life—free, loving, brave; helping the poor, loving our enemies, becoming humble, not quarrelling or gossiping.

But then we notice the strong wind and the waves—the pressures of work and family and society; the sarcasm and ridicule, the criticism, the negativity, the pessimism, sometimes even from our friends—and we get scared.  We begin to wonder, “What if I can’t really do this?  What if God isn’t really there to help me?  What if I’m fooling myself?  What will people say if I fail?  What if I’m not smart enough or strong enough or good enough?”

That’s when we start sinking—when we begin to lose faith.

This is true not only of individuals, but also of groups—families, parishes, cities, even countries.

So each one of us, and our parish all together, must focus on Jesus Christ, the One who says, “Take courage; I’m here; don’t be afraid.”  We must build our faith by prayer and study.  We must encourage each other.  We must use our gifts.  We must love one another.

Even if we are tired and discouraged and it seems like our boat will not reach the security and safety of the land, we have to believe that the Lord is with us, and we have to get out and walk on the water—in faith—to Him.  He will not let us sink, because He is our loving and good God, and we give thanks and praise and glory to Him, and to His Eternal Father, and to His All-Holy, Good, and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 3 August 2014, the 8th Sunday after Pentecost--"The Miracle of Sharing is not Magic"

Homily for 3 August 2014:  The Miracle of Sharing is not Magic

8^th Sunday after Pentecost (1 Corinthians 1:10-17)                    (Matthew 14:14-22)

 

The Gospel story we read today is often called “The Miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes.”  In it, we hear how Jesus turned five loaves of bread and two fishes into enough food so that 5000 men, plus women and children, could eat and still have leftovers.

That sounds like magic!

But does Jesus do magic?  No.  He shows mercy and compassion, He heals, He teaches.  But He’s not a magician.  He is the Son of God and He uses God’s power of love to help God’s people.

So, let’s look more closely at what happens in this story.  The disciples say to Jesus, “Send the people into the town to get food,” but Jesus says to them, “There’s no need for that:  you feed them.”  And they reply, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fishes.”  They were probably thinking to themselves, “And that’s hardly enough for our supper.”  Still, Jesus tells them, “Bring your loaves and fishes to me,” and He blesses and thanks God for the food, breaks the bread, and gives it back to the disciples to distribute.  Then, St Matthew writes, “All ate and were filled.”  And there were twelve baskets of leftovers.

That wasn’t magic!  It doesn’t say Jesus turned five loaves into 5000, does it?

So what did happen?

Maybe the great miracle here is that Jesus got people to use what they had for the good of all, instead of keeping it for themselves.  Have you ever heard of Middle Eastern people not having enough food to share?  Probably everybody there listening to Jesus had brought something to eat:  some bread, some cheese, fruit, dried fish, almonds, and so on—like the disciples did.

And Jesus told them to take what you have, give thanks to God, and share it, in faith that there will be enough and more than enough.

This is a good lesson for us in our small community.  We’re not rich; we don’t have a big new church building; we don’t have a parish staff; we don’t have a lot of kids in Sunday school; we don’t have a lot of families.  We need a new roof; we need more parking.  We probably think that we can’t stretch what little we have—our “loaves and fishes”—to take care of our needs and still have leftovers, to help others or to save for emergencies.

But the miracle of the loaves and fishes is that Jesus used the resources that the people had—even if they were not abundant, and even though the people didn’t think they had enough to do anything with.

We can’t come empty-handed and expect God to give us a handout.  We can’t expect magic.  But when we come together, united in faith and purpose, as St Paul tells the Christians of Corinth, God will take what we have and increase it and use it to provide what we need.

Of course, we’re not just talking about food and other material needs.  There’s also spiritual and physical healing.  And everything else the church community needs:  leadership, talents for ministry (singing, reading, serving at the altar), hospitality, teaching, works of charity, evangelization and outreach, repairs, cleaning, gardening.  And, of course, the parish also needs money—contributions and fundraising.

We might not think we have anything to contribute.  Sometimes someone else has to see what we have to offer—what we can bring—and show us how it can be used, just as Jesus did with the disciples’ five loaves and two fishes.

And we need to give generously.  Jesus didn’t say, “Keep some bread and fish for yourself, then share the rest.”  We should give what we have, in faith, for the good of all—and God will ensure that we still have enough and more.

When we bring to the Lord the resources that we have and share them freely for the benefit of the whole community, Jesus will work the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes here too!

So let us always give thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 27 July 2014, the 7th Sunday after Pentecost--Cooperate to Build up the Community

Homily for 27 July 2014:  Cooperate to Build Up the Community

7^th Sunday after Pentecost (Romans 15:1-7)                    (Matthew 9:27-35)

 

St Paul was the first Christian theologian, trying to explain the meaning of Christ’s life and teaching in letters to newly-established churches all around the Mediterranean.  But he didn’t do that in an academic or purely intellectual way.  He did it in a pastoral way.  He was a theologian because he was trying to help people believe, and understand what they believed, and figure out how what they believed should shape their lives.

That’s why reading the letters of St Paul is still so valuable for us, almost 2000 years later.  For example, today’s reading from the Letter to the Romans is full of practical advice, based on faith in Jesus Christ.

St Paul knew that communities are made up of people who don’t always get along.  He knew that some people have very strong ideas and are always sure that their ideas are right.  He knew that other people are less sure about things, or have confused ideas, or just need more time to think about things.  And he knew that the strong, decisive people often get impatient with those who are less sure or less strong.  He even recognized himself as one of the impatient ones.

So he advises:  “We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”  He’s saying that the strong people should not insist on getting their way just for their own satisfaction.

He goes on to say, “Let each of us please our neighbor for the good, for building up.”  We don’t insist on having our own way, but neither do we just give in.  We have to work out among ourselves what will be best for building up the whole community, then get together to work on it.

We all know that we face this kind of problem sometimes here in St Joseph parish.  People come up with good ideas, but sometimes getting “my” idea accepted becomes more important than uniting behind the idea that’s best for the whole parish.

Neither priests nor lay people can put their personal, individual goals or needs or pride above the good of the whole community.  In fact, it is especially the priest’s job to focus on the good of the whole community.  He has to keep that always in mind and try to lead the whole community in the right direction, whether he enjoys it or not, whether it’s easy or not, whether it makes him look good or not.

As St Paul points out, Christian communities really have only one goal:  to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Whatever we do—choir practice, coffee hour, parties, picnics, food festivals, collections, council meetings, youth group, ladies society, house blessings, baptisms, weddings, funerals—is all for the glory of God.  Having a nice church building, pulling weeds, paving the parking lot, fixing the roof, paying the bills—we do all these things so that we can come together in unity to give glory to God.

So St Paul prays that God will let us “think in harmony with one another” and Jesus Christ, and he urges us to “welcome one another, as Christ welcomed” us.  He wants us to remember that Christ welcomed us as His brothers and sisters, all loved by the same Heavenly Father.

So, beloved sisters and brothers, let us always work together in unity, cooperating to do what is best to build up our community and giving thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for Sunday 20 July 2014, the Feast of the Prophet Elias--"The Prayer of the Righteous is Powerful and Effective"

Homily for 20 July 2014:  The Holy Prophet Elias the Thesbite

(James 5:10-20)                    (Luke 4:22-30)

 

Today is the feast day of the Holy Prophet Elias.  He is called the “Thesbite” or the “Tishbite” from the place he came from.  Sometimes he is called St Elias “the Living” because he was taken into heaven in a fiery chariot, apparently without dying.  After Moses, we consider him the greatest of the prophets.

Both of today’s readings mention Elias.  The Letter of St James says, “The prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective.”  And James uses Elias as an example of this truth.  Elias was a human being like us, but he prayed to God to stop the rain from falling in Israel, and it stopped for three and a half years.  He prayed again and the rain came back.

The Bible (in the First and Second Books of Kings) gives us many other examples of the power of St Elias’ prayers.  He prayed that the widow’s son would return to life—and he did.  He prayed that God would send fire from heaven upon the altar of sacrifice to demonstrate the He is the True God—and God did.  He went into the desert to escape from the Lord, but an angel brought him food and water so that he could continue to Mt Horeb to encounter the Lord.  There God revealed God’s self to Elias in a “still, small voice,” not in wind or earth­quake or fire.

We enjoy these stories of what Elias did, and we honor him as a wonderworker and a protector of the people.  But we need to remember that it’s not his “miracles,” not his mighty deeds, that are important.

What is important is that Elias was a righteous man, and he prayed.

So his prayer was “powerful and effective.”

But the mighty deeds were done by God’s power and accomplished God’s will.  By himself, Elias had no power.  Speaking to God in the desert, he said, “I am no better than my ancestors.”  And even though he was doing God’s will, he was always harassed and chased and attacked by the soldiers of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.  Even the widow of Sarepta, who was kept alive because God sent Elias for her to care for, accused him of bringing judgement on her and letting her son die.

And when Elias tried to do what he wanted instead of what God wanted, he didn’t succeed.  He ran away into the desert and prayed for death, but God sent the angel to feed him and get him moving.  His work for God wasn’t finished.

St James’ point is that we Christians face many temptations and hardships in life, but if we have faith God provides what we need to persevere and to strengthen our relationship with God.  He says that the suffering should pray, the cheerful should sing songs of praise, the sick should call the priests to anoint them and pray for them, and we should confess our sins and pray for one another.

If we do these things, we will be righteous—not in our own eyes, but according to our relationship with God.  We will be in right relationship with God.

And then our prayer will be powerful and effective—like Elias’ prayers—because “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.”

God called ordinary people—like Elias, like us—to be prophets and they accomplished mighty works of power by their prayers because they were righteous:  they were doing what God wanted, not what they wanted.

God has also called us to be prophets.  God has called us, ordinary people, to stand up and show others by our actions and teach others by our words that God is our Creator and Father, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Savior of the world, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father to lead us into all truth.

When we live what we believe, we are righteous and our prayers are powerful and effective.  For this, and for everything, we give thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 13 July 2014, the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Six Ecumenical Councils--Are We Being the Light of the World?

Homily for 13 July 2014:  The Holy Fathers of the 1^st Six Ecumenical Councils

(Titus 3:8-15)                    (Matthew 5:14-19)

 

Today the Church remembers and honors all the Holy Fathers who participated in the first six Ecumenical Councils.  At these councils, held between 325 and 681, all of the essential, fundamental teachings of the Christian faith were examined, discussed, explained, and authorized.

The readings for today, from St Paul’s Letter to Titus and the Gospel according to St Matthew, obviously apply to the Holy Fathers and their job of teaching, protecting, and exemplifying Christian faith.

And it would be easy to say that these readings and their lessons apply only to the Holy Fathers and to their successors, our bishops.  And maybe also to priests, who share the job of keeping and teaching the faith, and living it in a way that shows a good example to the people.

But it would be wrong—totally wrong—to limit the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and of St Paul so that they would apply only to our Holy Fathers and our bishops and our priests.  It would be completely wrong to think that they apply only to “professionals.”

It’s wrong, first of all, because Jesus wasn’t talking only to His Twelve Apostles in this passage from the Gospel of Matthew.  The words of Jesus that we hear today—“You are the light of the world . . . your light must shine before others . . . whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven”—these words are part of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus preached to crowds of people about how to live in a way pleasing to God.  So these words apply to all followers of Jesus—all Christians.

Second, although St Paul was writing to his younger friend and assistant, Titus, who was assigned to be bishop in charge of the developing Christian community in Crete, his teaching is for all the Christian believers.  He tells Titus that he must “insist that those who have believed in God should be careful to devote themselves to good works [and] avoid foolish arguments, genealogies, rivalries, and quarrels about the Law.”  He continues, at the very end of the letter, “Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works to supply urgent needs.”

So, both Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who gave His life on the Cross to take away our sins and rose from the dead to give us eternal life, and St Paul, the Apostle chosen by Christ to carry the Gospel to those who were not Jews, teach all believers to hold on to the true faith and to teach not only by words but also by the example of our lives.

We have to ask ourselves—Are we being the light of the world?  Are we showing people who encounter us how believing in Jesus Christ makes us act differently from those who don’t believe?  Are we letting the light of our faith shine—individually and as a community of Christians—so that others see our good works and give glory to God?  Are we obeying and teaching God’s commandments?  Are we devoting ourselves to good works and helping those who are in need?

Or are we still getting involved in foolish arguments, worrying about what country or town people come from, taking offense at other people for what they do or say—or what they don’t do or say, and quarreling about the Old Testament laws?

St Paul says that all these things are useless and futile.  They don’t accomplish anything, and they separate us from God and from our brothers and sisters.  They are sins, and when we act this way, we are sinning and condemning ourselves.

So we have to try—all the time, consciously and intentionally—to live in a way that demonstrates our faith and gives glory to our God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 6 July 2014, the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost--Christians Can't be Normal

Homily for 6 July 2014:  4^th Sunday after Pentecost

(Romans 6:18-23)                    (Matthew 8:5-13)

 

Today’s reading from the Gospel of St Matthew shows us once again how Jesus upsets ordinary expectations of how things should be.  What Jesus does in this short incident is not normal; in fact, it is far from normal.

First, the centurion who comes to Jesus is a Roman, or at least an officer in the Roman Army.  He is not a Jews and he belongs to a force that is occupying the Jews’ country—the country that God gave them.  So this centurion is doubly not one of Jesus’ people.  The “normal” thing for Jesus to do would be to say, “I don’t have anything to do with you, you stinking foreigner and unbeliever!”  But Jesus doesn’t do what is normal; He says, “I will come and cure your slave.”

Second, the centurion doesn’t ask for help for himself, but for his slave.  This is highly unusual—slaves were usually treated like animals; they would be killed if they got too sick to work.  But this centurion evidently cares deeply about his slave; he has recognized him and accepted him as a fellow human person.  Surely this attitude catches Jesus’ attention.  It is what Jesus has been preaching and practicing himself, not caring about the distinctions of race, class, religion, nationality, or physical handicap, but accepting people as children of God and therefore his brothers and sisters.

The third surprise is the centurion’s reaction.  He has such strong faith that he believes just the word of the Lord will cure his slave’s illness.  And he has a sense of his unworthiness, which is very unusual for a Roman officer dealing with a wandering Jewish rabbi.  Still, he tells Jesus, “I’m not worthy to have you in my home.  Just say that my slave is healed, and I believe that he will be healed.”  He says that’s the way things work in the army, and he shows his respect for Jesus by trusting that Jesus will do what He says.  And that is exactly what happens, though Jesus makes it clear that the slave will be healed because of his master’s faith.

The fourth and final upset in this story comes in the lesson Jesus draws from the centurion’s faith.  Basically, Jesus tells his fellow Jews that “this foreigner, this Gentile, this invader and oppressor of our country, who doesn’t observe the Law that God gave our ancestor Moses, has more faith than you or anyone else in Israel.”  The point is clear:  they ought to be ashamed.  Jesus carries the point further by saying that in the future the Kingdom of heaven will be open to anyone who believes, not just those born in the right place to the right parents.  Once again, this is radically not normal.

And how does all of this apply to us?  We are the descendants of the outsiders to whom Jesus opened the Kingdom, yet we often think of ourselves as deserving salvation, as the rightful heirs of the Kingdom, simply because we were born into Christian families, and were baptized and raised Christian.  It’s easy for us to become like the complacent Jews of Jesus’ time.

But we really have to be like the centurion, full of faith and humility and respect and trust.  We have to decide every day to have faith in our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, and to be humble, and to live as Christians, so that Jesus will also say to us, “Go in peace; let it be done for you according to your faith.”

Christian life can never be normal.  Christians are called to be different from and apart from the world around us.  And for this we give thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 22 June 2014, the Second Sunday after Pentecost--God Shows No Partiality

Homily for 22 June 2014:  2^nd Sunday after Pentecost

(Romans 2:10-16)                    (Matthew 4:18-23)

 

St Paul writes to the Christian community in Rome that “God shows no partiality.”  In a world where everyone believed that the God of the Jews and all of the pagan gods always showed partiality, this was a remarkable change.

The Jews believed that God had chosen them for His specially-favored people, above all other nations.  And they worshipped God and kept the Law—the Torah—so that God would continue to favor them.

The Greeks and the Romans, the Persians and the Egyptians, and all the other people of the Roman Empire believed that the gods had to be pleased and flattered and kept happy by sacrifices and offerings and prayers, so that they would show partiality—that is, so that they would take care of the people with good weather, abundant crops, victory in battle, and so on.

But Jesus Christ changed all that.  As God, He established a new kind of relationship with people.  A relationship of love and willing cooperation, instead of a relationship of fear and enforced service.

In today’s Gospel reading, we see an example of this—Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee when He sees four fishermen—Andrew and Peter and James and John.  And He calls to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  He doesn’t force them or threaten them.  He invites them, and He promises to make them something more than they are.  He promises to make them His co-workers in the work of salvation—not servants or slaves, but brothers.

And his ministry of healing and proclamation also shows no partiality—Jesus goes all over the country healing “every disease and sickness among the people.”  Not just certain diseases, and not just the sicknesses of a certain class of people.  This is truly a new relationship—a New Covenant—between God and people.

When St Paul says, “God shows no partiality,” he means that God doesn’t judge us on the basis of who we are by birth, or nationality, or social class; wealth or poverty, skin color or language.  God judges us on the basis of what we do—how we act in relationship with God and with other people.

St Paul explains that God’s law is the same for everyone, Jews and Gentiles, but it is given differently.  The Jews must obey and be judged according to the written Law of Moses, but Gentiles must obey and be judged according to the law revealed by God in the human conscience.

This is harder, actually, because it means we must always try to understand God’s will and figure out for ourselves how to live it in our everyday decisions and actions.  We can’t just point to the written law and say, “Well, according to the rule-book this is OK.”  We must willingly choose, freely decide, to do what is right according to the will of God—as revealed to us in the Holy Bible and explained in the teachings of the Church.

God shows no partiality.  God loves all his children and wants us all to be saved.  God shows no partiality, but God imposes different kinds of responsibility on different people, all with the same purpose—so that all who follow God’s law and do God’s will may be justified and saved, to the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for Sunday of All Saints, 15 June 2014--A Great Cloud of Witnesses

Homily for 15 June 2014:  Sunday of All Saints

(Hebrews 11:33-12:2)                    (Matthew 10:32-38, 19:27-30)

 

Today is the Sunday of All Saints.

Of course we remember and honor certain saints by name every day of the year—some are famous, some are not.  We remember and honor certain saints by name in the prayers and services of the Church.  And we have our personal devotions to certain saints—maybe those for whom we are named, maybe according to family or village traditions, maybe because of personal experience or inspiration.

But today the Church reminds us that all Christians—all of us, and all of those who have gone before us, and all those who will come after us—are called to be saints:  the “Holy Ones” of God.

St Paul reminds us of this when he calls the saints a “great cloud of witnesses.”  He also reminds us of what we have to do in order to join that great cloud of witnesses.  And in today’s Gospel reading, our Lord Jesus Christ gives us some very clear—and also pretty difficult—advice on how to live holy lives.

When St Paul calls the saints “a great cloud of witnesses,” he’s telling us two very important things.

First, like a cloud, the saints are sort of above us and around us.  Sometimes they are closer and heavier; sometimes more distant and fluffy (if we can imagine fluffy saints!).  Sometimes they storm; sometimes they provide shade.  Like the droplets of moisture that form a cloud, the individual saints form this great cloud of witnesses.

Second, the saints are a cloud of witnesses:  they have a function, to be examples to the world and to us—examples of Christian faith and life.  Like the people of the Old Testament that St Paul describes, different saints have different talents, different experiences, different ways of witnessing.  But all their words and actions and trials and sufferings and deaths are meaningless unless they are connected to faith.

This is true for us, too.  Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father,” but “whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

We can’t call ourselves Christians unless we live as Christians.  We have to live in a way that joins us to that “great cloud of witnesses”—God’s holy ones.  This takes determination and effort.  It’s not going to happen unless we work at it all the time, every day.

First, according to St Paul, we “must rid ourselves of every burden and sin” that holds on to us and holds us back from living holy lives.  This means we have to look honestly at ourselves, discover and admit our shortcomings and failures, and repent—turn ourselves around in the right direction.

Second, that right direction is following the lead of Jesus Christ.  We have to “persevere in running the race, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.”  He has done it; He is showing us how; He wants us to succeed.

Third, we have to follow Jesus openly, not secretly.  We should never be afraid to thank and praise Him for creating us, loving us, guiding us, saving us—in whatever situation or company.

Fourth, we have to put Jesus first in our lives.  It’s kind of hard to hear Jesus say, “Whoever loves father or mother, or son or daughter, more than me is not worthy of me.”  But our family is not God; we must not worship them.  They are gifts from God, so we must treasure them.  The best way to do this is by living holy lives and setting a good example.  Parents have to be witnesses to their children, showing them how to put Christ first, ahead of selfish desires.  Let your children see you pray, teach them to enjoy coming to church, share with them the goodness of helping others.

Finally, we can’t expect rewards in this life.  Being Christian is not easy or comfortable or profitable in worldly terms.  The only reward that counts is the joy of eternal life in God’s love.  That is the reward that awaits us when, by God’s grace, we join all the saints in that “great cloud of witnesses,” giving thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for Pentecost Sunday, 8 June 2014--The Holy Spirit Makes us Witnesses for Christ

Homily for 8 June 2014:  Holy and Glorious Pentecost Sunday

(Acts 2:1-11)                    (John 7:37-8:12)

 

Today is the great feast of Pentecost—the 50^th day after the Resurrection of Christ and the 10^th day after His Ascension to the Father.

Imagine how the disciples must have been feeling.  When the Lord was crucified, died, and was buried, they were devastated.  When He rose from the dead on the third day, they couldn’t believe it at first, then they were overjoyed to have Him with them again.  But when He ascended, once again they were left alone, although He told them to wait for the Holy Spirit, whom He would ask the Father to send.

So, ten days after that, they were probably confused and scared, maybe even angry.  They must have been full of questions:  What’s going to happen to us?  What is this “Holy Spirit” that’s supposed to be coming?  What will we have to do when it comes?  How can we do anything without Jesus, our Master and Teacher?  Why did He have to leave us?

Maybe—probably—we often feel the same way and have the same kinds of questions?  What do we really know about the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives?  What are we supposed to do with the gift of the Holy Spirit that we received in Baptism and that was sealed in Chrismation?

We get a clue from what Jesus told His disciples at the time of His Ascension:  “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So the power of the Holy Spirit enables us to become witnesses for Jesus Christ “to the ends of the earth”—that is, in the whole world.  But how can we do that?

In his First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 12:3-13), St Paul writes that there are many different varieties of gifts of the Spirit, and that different ones are given to different people to be used for the good of all.  These are the gifts of the Holy Spirit:  wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles or mighty deeds, prophecy (calling people to follow God’s will), discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

And on Pentecost, as we read today, the disciples received these gifts and used them to preach the Gospel in many languages.  All those hard names in today’s reading from the Book of Acts—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Phrygia, Pamphylia—represent “the whole world” known in the Roman Empire at the time.  All those people from all those places, gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast of Shavuot (the giving of the Law on Mt Sinai), understood the disciples’ message as if it was spoken in their own languages, which is a sign of unity in God, just as the disciples were unified.  That’s why Acts says, “they were all together in one place.”

What happened at Pentecost shows the Holy Trinity at work:  the Father, at the Son’s request, sends the Holy Spirit.  And it shows that the way to accomplish God’s will is to seek the unity of Christians—all languages, nations, cultures, people.  The Father creates us all, the Son saves us all, and the Holy Spirit gives life to all and guides all.

So we can be Christ’s witnesses to the ends of the earth by using whatever gifts we have for the good of all.  Some use wisdom to raise their families, teach their children, show good example.  Others show their faith, and share their faith, in everyday life.  Some use God’s healing power as doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals; others use it in words and actions that heal anxiety, confusion, and depression.  Still others are called to preaching and public actions.

We just have to certain, when we use our gifts, that we’re doing it for God, not for personal glory or profit.  And we have to remember that it’s not our power, but the working of the Holy Spirit.  Then we can truly be witnesses for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.

Homily for 1 June 2014--The Spirit Guides the Leaders of the Church

Homily for 1 June 2014:  7^th Sunday of Pascha (Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council)

(Acts 20:16-18, 27-36)                    (John 17:1-13)

 

Every year, on this sixth Sunday after Pascha—the Sunday between the feast of the Ascension of the Lord and the feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples—the Church honors the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council.  That Council, called by the Emperor Constantine in the year 325, brought together all the bishops of the Christian Church in the world.  That’s why it was called “ecumenical”—it involved the whole oecumene—the whole world.

Those bishops had the job of agreeing on a statement of Christian belief in order to settle the fights among Christians that were disturbing the peace of the Roman Empire—which stretched from Britain to Germany to Northern Africa and almost to India.  To do this, the bishops prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, studied the Holy Bible, and considered the teachings of philosophers and earlier Christian theologians.

With much discussion and argument, they composed the Creed, which we still recite as he statement of essential Christian belief.  They made sure not to put any words in the Creed that were not in the Bible. So if anyone tells you the Creed is just a man-made statement, you can point out that it is completely based on the Bible.

All of this information is interesting, but that First Ecumenical Council happened 1689 years ago.  Why should we still have a Sunday remembering it?  Isn’t this one way in which the Church is kind of stuck in the past and not really connected with the modern world?

As the readings for this Sunday show, remembering the Holy Fathers of that ancient council teaches us lessons that remain extremely important and valuable today.  Today’s readings from the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of John lay out some basic duties of bishops as the leaders of the Church, and, by extension, duties of priests as leaders of the local churches, and also essential truths for the People of God, who are the Church.

In John’s Gospel, we read the words that Jesus addresses to His Heavenly Father while He is still at supper with His disciples before His betrayal and Passion.  Because the disciples are listening, in a way these words are also addressed to them.  They will be the teachers and builders and leaders of the Christian community.

Jesus makes four main points:

1.  That His followers must know the One True God and Jesus the Christ whom God sent into the world.
2. That we belong to the Father and to Jesus.
3. That we must be one unified people, as Jesus and the Father are one.
4. That we must be joyful in Jesus our Lord.
   In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that St Paul is meeting with the leaders of the Church in Ephesus, on the coast south of Byzantium in what is now Turkey.  He gives them advice on how to continue the work of the Lord.
   St Paul makes five main points:

1.  They must keep watch over themselves and all the flock, because the Holy Spirit has appointed them as overseers.
2. They must be alert and guard against people inside the church who will distort the truth to get people to follow them.
3. They must preach and teach the message of God’s grace that builds up the community and leads to salvation.
4. They must not seek to get rich off the community.
5. They must work to support the weak.
   We can see that these words of Jesus and St Paul provide sure guidance for the whole Church—bishops, priests, and people.  Jesus sets forth the spiritual truths; Paul gives practical methods for achieving them.  The leaders of the Church in 2014, like the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council in 325, have to live by these words, teach them to the people, and so build up the Body of Christ.
   The decision of Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew, at their recent meeting in Jerusalem, to meet in 2025 on the 1700^th anniversary of that first Council, shows that the Holy Spirit is still at work, guiding our leaders towards Christian unity.  We don’t know what form that meeting will take, or who will be involved, or even if the Pope and the Patriarch will be alive then, but we rejoice at this sign that Christians are once again trying to overcome their differences, and we give thanks and praise and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.