Exalted humiliation

Sermon for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity

Two men went up

into the temple to pray;

the one a Pharisee,

the other a Publican.

The Pharisee stood

and prayed thus with himself.

"God, 

I thank Thee that

I have not fallen into the temptations

to extort

to be unjust

or commit adultery.

I thank Thee

that I am able to fast twice

in the week

and give tithes of all that I possess."

And the Publican,

standing afar off,

would not so much as lift 

his eyes to heaven,

but smote his breast,

saying,

"God be merciful unto me

a sinner like everyone else."

Who goes home justified?

[PAUSE]

What is different from

the real story?

The Pharisee seems thankful.

The Publican seems to be

playing down his sinfulness.

The real difference between

the two situations is subtle

but devastating.

[PAUSE]

In the original situation,

the First Pharisee exalts himself

and compares himself with others.

In the new situation,

the Second Pharisee is 

simply giving thanks

but makes no reference to others.

In the original situation,

the First Publican grieves for his own sin

and begs for mercy.

In the new situation,

the Second Publican 

compares himself

with others

as if safety in numbers will

somehow make his sins

less awful.

Both are forms of self-exaltation.

[PAUSE]

Exaltation can only work

by being compared with others.

It's about how we see ourselves

with others

and use that comparison 

to our advantage.

The Second Pharisee comes across

as having a better relationship with God.

He appears humbler;

he recognises that 

he could fall into temptation

and sin;

he recognises that 

he is lucky enough 

to be able to fast and pay tithes.

But he does not compare himself

with the Publican.

He compares himself

with who he might have been.

And he is thankful.

That is more honest

because the Pharisee

knows himself better

than he does the Publican.

Every form of self-exaltation

happens after we make

a judgement

- an incomplete judgement -

about someone else

and see ourselves as better

or at least no worse.

If our justice system

worked the same way,

using incomplete information

to judge cases,

we would be outraged

at the miscarriages of justice.

Our legal system

works by gathering

all available and relevant evidence

in order to make a clear judgement

within reasonable doubt.

That's how we keep order

in society.

But self-exaltation

is not for the good of society

but our own selfishness.

It arises from 

a lack of information

about others

and about ourselves.

And the information we seek

about others

we have no right to 

whatsoever.

[PAUSE]

Both Pharisees and both Publicans

go to pray.

They recognise the need to pray,

or at least to be seen to pray.

But prayer must be rooted in truth,

because God is the truth.

If we come before God

with deceit in our hearts

how could we hope to be heard?

And self-exaltation is deceit

because it is based on information

about others

which we cannot possess.

[PAUSE]

The antidote to self-exaltation

is humility.

It is being honest with God 

in prayer:

evaluating critically our own actions

against God's word;

confessing and repenting sins;

being thankful

when we could have taken

a darker path but didn't;

remembering that we are loved

completely by God

Who wants our perfection.

Then we shall go home

justified truly

and truly blessed.

The horrible joy of Bart

 

What is so joyful about dying horribly?

Out of control Christianity

Sermon for the tenth Sunday after Trinity

Let's be clear.

Contrary to some 

conspiracy theorists,

Christianity is not about

brainwashing.

You are not being 

controlled by the Holy Ghost.

You can still do 

what you want to do

but you have to bear 

the consequences of what you do.

This is true

wherever you are.

St Paul states the facts.

Those who curse Jesus

are separate from the Spirit of God.

Those who bless Jesus

and call Him Lord,

sincerely and willingly,

are united in that Holy Spirit.

Indeed,

the point of a sermon

is to present you 

with the truth

and you are free to criticize it,

accept it or reject it.

But if a sermon 

presents Jesus as our Lord and King

and encourages you to worship Him

then you can be sure

that the Holy Ghost is at work

in both you and the preacher.

It's your job, then,

to listen out for what the Holy Ghost

is saying to you

which may not necessarily

be the words spoken to you 

by the preacher.

If you love God,

then you must keep 

His commandments

because His commandments

will give you precisely

what you want.

But you have to do it.

You can't lean back 

and let the Holy Ghost

do all the work,

otherwise there is no you

involved in your life.

God has created you

to be a free agent,

reflecting His own freedom

in your life.

So you are not controlled.

[PAUSE]

And you can be whatever

God has created you to be.

The point St Paul is making

is that whatever gifts 

or abilities God has given us

be it in administration or teaching, preaching or prophesying,

they come from the same Spirit.

It means that 

whatever lies behind

our ability

is linked by the Holy Ghost

to every other member

of the Church.

It is the Holy Ghost

that threads us all together

and knits us into one Church

not just regardless of who we are

but because of who we are

and because of Who God Is.

So, 

to curse Jesus,

to reject His death

to reject His commandments to love

to call good evil and evil good

cuts the thread

that links us to the Church

to each other

and to God.

[PAUSE]

By the choices we make

we can be cut off from the Spirit

and we can be rejoined to the Spirit

but the Spirit never leaves us

while we bear the image of God Himself.

It means we need to be critical

of what we hear in our pulpits

in order to hear how Christ is 

proclaimed Lord

and how that truth is

to be lived truly in our lives 

with sincerity.

We are free to become perfect,

the best version of ourselves

we could ever wish or hope to be.

The Way to that perfection is Christ.

And our travelling companion

is the Holy Ghost in Whom

the whole Church cries out 

in one voice saying,

"Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

Condoning embezzlement?

Sermon for the ninth Sunday after Trinity 

Is the Lord telling us

to make friends 

with those who have

earthly possessions?

Is He asking us 

to defraud our bosses

just so that we can have 

a bed for the night?

Is He actually  condoning sin?

[PAUSE]

The parable of the unjust steward

confuses us

because it does sound

as if Our Lord

is happy with

embezzling from the boss

in order to win friends 

for somewhere to stay 

that's safe.

But this cannot be just:

this is stealing

and the Lord hates stealing.

So what, then?

What does the Lord mean

by making friends of the Mammon 

of unrighteousness?

[PAUSE]

There are lots of questions here.

What we need to see

is the fact that it will be

these children of 

the Mammon of Unrighteousness

who will actually welcome us into

everlasting habitations.

It will be these children

who recognise us 

and welcome us in heaven.

Remember who will go first

into everlasting habitations.

It will be the poor,

the needy, the prostitutes

the sinners.

It will be those who,

in their degradation

repent,

and return to the Lord.

In fact, 

immediately before St Luke

records the parable 

of the Unjust Steward,

he records the parable

of the Prodigal Son.

It is those who 

recognise their spiritual poverty

and repent

and return to God

who find open arms

of love and utter joy.

These go into Heaven first.

Now look at what

the Unjust Steward is doing.

He is trying to ease

the debts of those

who owe lots.

He can't cancel the debts

completely,

but he can make life easier

for those who are in debt.

In his actions,

the Steward is making

friends with sinners

by making their debts easier to bear.

He is showing kindness,

knowing that his time is short,

and knowing that he can make

a difference in the lives

of those who could do 

with a kind word,

a bit of a hand,

the benefit of the doubt.

And we can do the same.

[PAUSE]

Our time is short

and death is coming

and we, too, must render 

before God

an account of

our every act,

our every word,

our every thought.

And we own nothing.

We have only what God

has given us.

But what we can do

is love.

What we can do 

is forgive.

What we can do,

rather than hate 

the fallen,

the misguided,

the deviant,

is love them

and show them 

kindness, warmth, generosity

and the benefit of the doubt

in full knowledge that,

in our own ways,

we are the fallen,

we are the misguided,

we are the deviant.

Rather than claw back

the exact amount

of the sins of others

thinking that

we do so

on behalf of God,

let us behave

how we would want 

Him to behave with us

and become humble

and repentant

and loving.

[PAUSE]

The people we show kindness to

will enter Heaven before us.

Won't it be wonderful

to feel their hands together 

with those of the saints

pulling us in before

the Divine Smile of God?

Definer labels

 

Why self-definition is a life-long struggle.

Mirroring away the debt

For the feast of the Holy Name, click here.

Sermon for the eighth Sunday after Trinity

We owe the flesh nothing.

Nihil, nada, zip, nothing.

St Paul is forthright about that.

We are not in debt to the flesh, 

but what does he mean?

What is this "flesh"?

What claim might it have on us?

[PAUSE]

Be clear on this.

God created you.

You are a body and a soul,

together,

inseparable,

each incomplete

without the other.

You do not have a body.

You do not have a soul.

They are not possessions.

Without either,

you are not you.

You are body and soul together.

So your body is not evil.

But you are not meant to be

a thing of earth alone.

Indeed,

you were created 

in the likeness of God,

to reflect His

face in the world around.

But we are all fallen,

and this means 

that we cannot perceive

God with us 

without His direct help.

It means that,

without God's grace

we cannot see the face of God

in our fellow human beings

or in ourselves.

It means that we can 

forget that we are

body and soul,

and look after the things that we can see

at the expense of

the things that we can't.

[PAUSE]

With God invisible to us

we treat only the desires

that come from our earth.

If we get the urge to eat

then we eat and,

unable to see the face of God

in ourselves

nor in others,

we eat and eat and eat

until there is nothing left to eat

for anyone.

Unable to see 

the face of God,

we make gods

out of the desires 

that we call "natural"

and satisfy them.

The need for food 

gets turned into

the god of gluttony.

If food is all we value

above all else,

we worship it.

The need to reproduce

gets turned into 

the god of lust.

If sex becomes 

the only way to express

our deepest love for another

then we value sex

above true love 

and we worship lust

rather than

the God that is love.

In making gods

of our desires

we allow them to claim rights

over us.

By investing our worship

in the gods of lust

we rely on them

to fulfill our needs.

And then we fall into their debt.

[PAUSE]

But there is only one God.

So in worshipping

these gods of lust

we find that we owe 

everything

to nothingness.

Our true worship

is for the God Who is Love.

True love bleeds and dies

to serve God

rather than 

allow biological needs

to become gods.

So St Paul says,

discipline your body,

kill the desires

that seek to become idols

in your life.

Focus on 

what will help you 

recover the face of God

in the people around you

and in your mirror.

Then your imaginary debts

will evaporate.

[PAUSE]

God is a spirit

and we must worship Him

in spirit and in truth.

That does not mean

hating the body

- quite the reverse -

we must live in the Grace of God

to give the body

the greatest privilege of all.

We give our bodies

the privilege 

of reflecting the face of God Himself.

Transfiguration in retreat

 How what is ruined need not be so.