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Sunday, August 28, 2022

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.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

The horrible joy of Bart

 


What is so joyful about dying horribly?

Sunday, August 21, 2022

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."

Sunday, August 14, 2022

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?

Saturday, August 13, 2022

Definer labels

 


Why self-definition is a life-long struggle.

Sunday, August 07, 2022

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.

Saturday, August 06, 2022