Sermon: Palm Sunday

The Podcast can be found here.

The Gospel lesson for today is the Passion of Our Lord.  The complete text can be found here.

Mae West once said, “Women with ‘pasts’ interest men because men hope that history will repeat itself.”... however, I do not believe that men or women would ever wish that a preacher repeat a sermon... Today I don’t want to repeat myself, but I would like to begin with where we ended last week....

We spoke of Jonah and Jesus and how each had been given a divine purpose by God... but we did not end there, because we also understand that God has given each of us a divine purpose.  Like Jonah , we may not always agree with what is being asked of us.. we may not like.. or it may not be easy or.. like Jesus it may come with suffering.. and we may lose our life in the end... Yet, in the midst of that divine purpose we must always remember that God’s plan for each of us is not about us.. it is about Him... we are called to submit and be obedient as Jesus did.

However, I think that many - not necessarily you - are skeptical about this idea of a divine purpose ... and some disagree simply because they don’t believe a higher calling... Take Mark Twain for instance... shortly before his death he wrote... "A myriad of men are born; then labor and sweat and struggle;...they squabble and scold and fight; they scramble for little mean advantages over each other; age creeps upon them; infirmities follow; ...those they love are taken from them, and the joy of life is turned to aching grief. It .. that is - Death --comes at last--the only unpoisoned gift earth ever had for them--and they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence,...a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever."

If that were all our purpose in life amounted to.. to labor, sweat, struggle, scramble, fight and then be forgotten.. if that were our only purpose in life.. then there is no need for Hell, because we are already in it.... but that is not the case... if for no other reason, we have been called to be God’s children, to be holy, and to love... as St. Paul says to the Ephesians, “You and I belong to Christ’s family, for he himself has chosen us before the foundation of the world, to be saints, to be blameless in his sight, for love of him, having predestined us to be his adopted children through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his Will.”

If, as Paul says, we already belong to Christ’s family.. then what is it we hope to gain by fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives?  The answer is not a selfish one.. as we said, it is not about us.. it’s about God... Our purpose is about drawing others to him.  As Paul also wrote, “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”

I told you last week that our divine purpose is to be obedient and submit to God’s will.  How do you do that?  Simply by “testifying to the good news of God’s grace” under any and all circumstances... Now that word “testify” sends chills up and down the spines of almost every Episcopalian.  We hear and we think, “Dear Lord, he wants us to go out on the street corners, stand on a milk crate, wave around a floppy bible, and tell everyone they’re going to hell!”... but that is only a small aspect of what the word “testify” means... It comes from the Latin word “witness”.. so not only does it mean to proclaim, but it also means to be an example.

This is not an easy teaching… but it is a truthful one… It may be that the fulfillment of your divine purpose will end in your death after a long struggle.  If you think that God does not assign such hard purposes, I would point you to His one and only Son and the death he endured… So if the fulfillment of your divine purpose involves trials and suffering, then you can do one of two things… You can rail against God and the world.  You can become bitter and angry.  “Life’s not fair!” and all that… Or.. you can imitate Christ.  You can persevere in the face of those suffering and you can be a witness to Our Father… You can hang upon your cross along side of Jesus and cry out to God for His people.. you can teach forgiveness.. you can point them to the paradise of eternal life.. you can demonstrate the life of an apostle, what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus. 

Most of the greatest saints of the Church became saints through their sufferings – it is very easy to praise God when all is right with the world.. but if you can still reflect the joy of the Lord while enduring great trials, then that is the true sign of a disciple.  Throughout the history of the church.. these saints of endured the torments of their demons, stigmata, persecution, beheadings… Yet as Paul writes, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.”… we are given over to all sorts of trials so that the life of Jesus can be made known to others.

You may not be happy about the divine purpose that you’ve been assigned... you may not want to endure.. and no one can blame you.. it may cause suffering and hardship.. but through it you can make Christ known.  Again Paul writes, “Therefore, my dear friends… continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.  Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’  Then… then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”

Mother Theresa said, “Life is a promise; fulfill it.”… fulfill your vows to the Most High through your obedient submission to Him… and shine like a star at night so that all might see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.

Let us pray… Jesus, You endured total submission, showing us the way to refined living. Submitted to the Father until the end, You fulfilled the Celestial Plan. Teach us the meaning of meekness, our wills complying to the Heavenly Father. Remove our weaknesses of disobedience, shaping us to the Will of God Almighty. Guide us on the road of resignation, molding our souls into total submission. We walk in the path of righteousness, Hand in hand with You, Lord Jesus! Amen.

Sermon: Lent V RCL B - "Divine Purpose"

The podcast can be found here.

 

John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Boudreaux was stopped by a game warden in South Louisiana recently with two ice chests of fish, leaving a bayou well known for its fishing. The game warden asked Boudreax, “Do you have a license to catch those fish?” “Naw, ma fren, I ain’t got none of dem, no. Dese here are my pet fish.” “Pet fish?” “Ya. Avery night I take dese here fish down to de bayou and let dem swim around for a while. Den I whistle and dey jump rat back inta dis here ice chest and I take dem home.”

“That’s a bunch of hooey! Fish can’t do that!”  Boudreaux looked at the game warden for a moment and then said, “It’s de truth ma’ fren. I’ll show you. It really works.” “Okay, I’ve GOT to see this!” Boudreaux poured the fish into the bayou and stood and waited. After several minutes, the game warden turned to him and said, “Well?” “Well, what?” Said Boudreaux. “When are you going to call them back?” “Call who back?” “The FISH!” “What fish?”

The Bible has several very good fishing stories in it.  There is the miraculous catch of fish with the disciples.. there is the time that Peter caught the fish with the coin in its mouth… there’s the whole loaves and fish miracle.. and even the creation chronology when on the fifth day God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures” and the fish were created.  But the biggest fish story in scripture is the one of Jonah and the whale.. it’s a story that you hear as a kid in Sunday school, but after that it gets pushed to the side for what some would probably consider to be more intellectual teachings.. but still it is there that I want to begin.

Jonah had been called on by the Lord to go to Nineveh and to preach against the people for their wickedness, but Jonah did not want to.  He was very well aware of the wickedness of Nineveh and he would rather see the Lord destroy them as opposed to saving them.  So, instead of going to Nineveh, he fled.  Finally coming to the coast where he caught a boat in hopes of sailing away.  However, due to his disobedience they Lord caused a great storm.  All aboard were afraid for their lives and when the discovered that Jonah’s disobedience was the cause of the storm, they through him overboard.  Enter the big fish who swallowed up Jonah.. and scripture says that Jonah remained in the belly of the fish for three days, after which it vomited him up onto dry land.

Jonah got the point and went to Nineveh.  The city was large.. 120,000 people living there and taking three days to walk from one edge of the city to the other.  His message from God to the people was simple, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”… What happened next was exactly what Jonah feared – the people repented of their wickedness and God relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had promised…. The people were saved, but Jonah went away angry and pouting.  He wanted all 120,000 of them to get their due, but as the Sovereign Lord declares to Ezekiel, “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone... Repent and live!”

What is interesting is that God did not ask Jonah for his opinion of Nineveh nor did he ask Jonah to go to the great city.  The Lord didn’t say, “Jonah – buddy – if its not asking too much and if you feel like it.. and by the way I’ll really make it worth your while.. would you go to Nineveh.. and you know.. tell them to get their act together.”  No.  The Lord said in the first verse of Jonah, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it..”  The Lord had a divine purpose for Jonah and the Lord was not concerned with whether or not Jonah wanted to participate in it or endure it or like it or even be happy about it…  Why?  Because that divine purpose was not about what Jonah wanted… It was about what God wanted.  Jonah’s responsibility was limited to the submitting to and fulfillment of that purpose.

I was reminded of this story of Jonah after reading our Gospel … Jesus has made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem… Some Greeks are in the city and they want to meet this man they have heard so much about, but Jesus knows that his time is short… The days of meeting and teaching are over.. his hour has come and he says, "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'?...  YES.. let’s catch the next boat out of this two bit town and go to.. Hawaii.”… Is that how it went?  No… Jesus said, “it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.”

Like Jonah.. Jesus had a divine purpose – that purpose was the salvation of souls.  Where Jonah was to preach God’s judgment to 120,000 so that they might repent, Jesus was to die.. for the salvation of the world.  But unlike Jonah, Jesus submitted to his Father’s will without complaint.  The suffering that Jesus was to endure was not anything to be happy about, it was going to be painful spiritually, emotionally, and physically, but there was no anger in Jesus.. no pouting.. no running away… He was being obedient to the suffering to come, so that the world would be saved.. and so that the name of God would be glorified.

Jesus had a divine purpose… Jonah had a divine purpose…. You.. have a divine purpose.  Do you know what it is?  I’ll tell you… it is the same as Jesus’ and Jonah’s.. your divine purpose is to be obedient to God and to glorify His Name.  Like Jesus and Jonah the fulfillment of that purpose might not be easy.. it might not be something you enjoy or even want to do.. it may involve suffering and even death.. but we must remember that the divine purpose we have been assigned is not about us.. its about God.

Yet.. it is in the fulfillment of that purpose that we may find ourselves repeating the words of Jesus, "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'?”… How you answer is up to you.  It is truly your choice… You can say, “No.”  You can try running away.. hiding.. complaining.. pouting.. “O woe is me!”.. but like Jonah, in the end, you will fulfill God’s purpose.  Or you can say, “Yes.”.. you can submit and be obedient to God’s will and bring glory to His Name.

There are times in our lives that things are spinning out of control.. Like with Jonah the world may seem to be nothing but a storm.. and we find ourselves with him in the belly of the beast… but instead of becoming bitter and angry with God and go off pouting.. take into consideration that this storm.. what you are enduring.. might just be your divine purpose… Through that trial you, by being obedient and submitting to God.. You can bring glory to Our Father’s Name.

If in the midst of that storm.. and your obedient submission you find yourself afraid.. that’s OK.. even Jesus was distressed to the point of sweating blood.. but it is at those fearful times that we should remember the words of Jonah’s song.. the song he sang while he was in the belly of the beast… Let us close with those words as our prayer…

“In my distress I called to the LORD,

   and he answered me.

From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,

   and you listened to my cry.

You hurled me into the depths,

   into the very heart of the seas,

   and the currents swirled about me;

all your waves and breakers

   swept over me.

I said, ‘I have been banished

   from your sight;

yet I will look again

   toward your holy temple.’

The engulfing waters threatened me,

   the deep surrounded me;

   seaweed was wrapped around my head.

To the roots of the mountains I sank down;

   the earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you, LORD my God,

   brought my life up from the pit.

“When my life was ebbing away,

   I remembered you, LORD,

and my prayer rose to you,

   to your holy temple.  

Amen.

Sermon: Lent IV RCL B - "Lift High the Cro... Snake?"

The Podcast can be found here.

John 3:14-21

Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

Some rather interesting news came out of Alabama in 1992… The article says that the Rev. Glenn Summerford, the former pastor at the Church of Jesus with Signs Following is “currently a guest of the state correctional authorities. Pastor Summerford was convicted in the 1991 attempted murder of his wife, Darlene”… What did he do to his beloved?  Records indicate, “he forced [her to hold] her hand in a box full of rattlesnakes until she was bitten.”… Rev. Glenn contended that he was innocent and that the only reason his wife was bitten was because, “her faith waivered.”

Another rather interesting article came out in 1998… The Rev. John Wayne "Punkin" Brown Jr., 34, of Parrottsville, Tennessee, died while handling a four-foot timber rattlesnake during a sermon, preaching on for a quarter-hour after he was bitten. For the record.. his wife died of a snake bite three years ago”…

…FYI.. the Rev. Punkin is cousin to the Rev. Summerford who tried to kill his wife…

The article goes on to say that, “On Saturday, Brown was clutching the snake in his right hand when it bit him on the middle finger of his left, between the knuckle and first joint.

The Rev. Gene Sherbert, of Temple, Georgia, was next to Brown when this happened and reported that, "He looked at me and I knowed he was bit and I put it (the snake) back in the box." ... The Rev. Punkin died a few minutes later.

“Why?” do you ask would they be handling snakes… simple… the Bible says so, Mark 16:17-18: "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover."… Scripture also says, “thou shall not put the Lord thy God to the test.”

I believe that it was in John Grisham’s book The Last Juror that one of the characters recommends, if attending a snake handling church, to sit on the front row.  It seems that the snakes are kept on ice in a box.. and those on the first row handle it while it is still in a state of hibernation, but by the time it reaches the back of the church – wide awake!

The folks in the day of Moses had a healthier understanding of the issue of snakes.  It was best to stay away from them because the ones wandering in the desert were killers.  It happened on one particular day – as we read in our Old Testament lesson – that they had begun to complain once more against God, so God sent them a plague of snakes and many were killed.  This drove them to repent of their murmuring, but the snakes were still there, so they asked Moses to help and God told Moses to make a snake out of bronze.. to place it on a pole and lift it up.  When the people were bitten, if they would look at the bronze snake, they would be saved.

This particular bronze snake had a name, Nehushtan, and it would be carried with the people as they travelled through the desert and would later hold a place of honor in the Temple.  Trouble is.. over time.. the people no longer looked at this snake as a sign of God’s salvation.. but as a god itself.  However, when Hezekiah became king of Israel, he destroyed the now idol… Scripture says, Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.  He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)”

What does this all mean?... The people had spoken against God, so God sent the snakes as a judgment… In order to be spared the death that came from the snakes they were told to look upon the bronze snake.. they were called to look upon their judgment... Because you disobeyed God, because you spoke against Him.. you must look upon the consequence of your disobedience in order to be saved.

Today in our Gospel reading, Nicodemus – who is a Pharisee – comes to Jesus at night.. he likely comes at night because he is afraid to be seen by others visiting with this rabble-rouser Jesus… Nicodemus believes the signs that Jesus has been performing.  Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born from above in order to be saved.  Nicodemus fails to understand what Jesus is saying… so Jesus responds by saying… "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

The Israelites in the wilderness were required to look upon their judgment – the bronze serpent – in order to be saved.  Jesus is saying, in a similar manner, Nicodemus must also look upon his judgment and believe, in order to be saved.  Nicodemus must look upon his judgment for his disobedience to God.  And what is the judgment for disobedience toward God.. for sin?  Romans 6:23, “the wages of sin.. the consequence of sin.. the judgment of sin is death.”  Nicodemus must look upon death in order to be saved… but not just anybody’s death… he must look upon the death.. the judgment of the Son of God.. of Jesus in order to be saved… He must look upon Christ crucified.. and believe that it is through Jesus’ death that he will receive his salvation.

The message to us.. is no different … we too must look upon the judgment for our sins – death – and believe that it is through that judgment – in the person of Christ crucified – that we are saved.  We must recognize that our sins lead to eternal death… yet, God so loved the world – so loved us – that he gave his only Son to suffer death for us..  so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

Believe and have eternal life… sounds like foolishness to many.. and to many others it is too simple.  God wouldn’t simply give salvation away so freely.  We must earn that right to get into heaven.  We must follow the rules.  Sit, stand, kneel, bow when we are supposed to.  We must live the perfect boring Christian life.  We must be able to handle snakes without our faith failing for even a moment.  Put one toe out of line and you will be bitten.. you will be hell bound.  We apply this way of thinking to others and to ourselves – we end up echoing Paul’s question, “Who then can be saved?”.. and in our logic we answer, “No one… not even ourselves.”  To any who think in such a way I would remind them of the day that Jesus was crucified and the two thieves…

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”… But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God.. since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”  Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Did the thief follow all the rules?  Did he get all the answers right?  Did he lead a perfect life in the eyes of God?  Was he able to handle the snakes without getting bitten?  Or.. did he simply look upon his own judgment and see his salvation?

Look upon the death of Jesus and see it as your own death… and then look again, see your salvation .. and believe.

Let us pray… O Jesus, it is not the heavenly reward You have promised which impels us to love You; neither is it the threat of hell that keeps us from offending You. It is You O Lord, it is the sight of You affixed to the Cross and suffering insults; it is the sight of Your broken body, as well as Your pains and Your death. There is nothing You can give us to make us love You. For even if there were no heaven and no hell we would still love you as we do!  Amen.

March 2012 Newsletter

Sermon: Lent III RCL B - "The Space Within"

The Podcast can be found here

John 2:13-22

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

According to legend Memmius – considered to be a man-demon – was a spy in the days of the last and worst of the persecutions, that was under Diocletian. It was his work to spy out the Christians in their secret places of worship and bring them before the judges and the persecutors. Memmius was engaged in this infamous task in the catacombs under the streets of Rome, and was creeping stealthily along one of the narrow passages, when suddenly, at a turning of the passage, he came upon a little chamber where some Christians were meeting together. The candles were burning before the crucifix, and the priest was standing before the altar celebrating the Mass. For a moment a divine indulgence was granted Memmius; and if he had been capable of it, he might have bowed and received the everlasting light. But he hardened his heart, and those candles, symbols of the everlasting light, bewildered him with darkness; and the cross itself was stamped upon his heart as a sign that it should never open to conviction. Henceforth, according to Nathaniel Hawthorne in his novel the Marble Faun, Memmius – the Ghost of the Catacombs – wanders “the wide and dreary precincts of the catacomb, seeking to beguile new victims into his own misery” .. or, even better, seeks to find someone to take him by the hand and lead him from the darkness into the light, knowing that he will eventually turn on them and bring new kinds of misery on the world.

Jesus said, “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.  Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

Memmius had within him a spirit of persecution… When he saw the light of the candles and the celebration of the Holy Mass.. that spirit was driven from him and he was given the opportunity to repent and believe.  Instead, he hardened his heart.. and that spirit of persecution returned more powerful than before and forever sealed Memmius’ fate.

It is true what the Prophet Isaiah says, “Yet you, LORD, are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”  God forms us as a potter forms a pot from a lump of clay.  He forms us each to his own likings to serve his purpose.. and like any pot that is formed by a potter.. there is within us an empty place that is to be filled.  That place within you.. is the Temple of the Lord.  You are the Temple of the Lord.

Consider our Gospel reading… Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem with his disciples where he saw the money changers and sellers of sacrifices… the overwhelming physical and spiritual stench sends Jesus into a holy riot.. and he drives them all out with a whip he had made… The Jews came to him and asked, "What sign can you show us for doing this?".. by whose authority did you do this?.. They were extremely angry.  Why?  Money changing and the selling of sacrifices is big business.  I don’t know if is still true or not, but they used to say that movie theaters didn’t make their money on showing movies; instead they made their money on all the concessions they sold.  Same principle is applied here.  The Jews didn’t make money on folks coming to Temple.. they made it on the money changing and sells.  So they asked, by whose authority are you disrupting our business?  Give us a sign that you are allowed… Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?"… But Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body.

.. or consider what Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians.. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

There is within us this place.. this temple.. that must be filled.  However, there is that gift that God has given us all called free will…. Which means, you are free to choose how and with what to fill that temple that is within you.  You may choose like Memmius to fill it with those things that are in opposition or contrary to God or you may choose to fill it with the things of God.. the choice is yours.. and so are the consequences.

And remember.. the filling of this temple is not something that happens all at once.  It is a process.  There will be days of success and days of failure, but we keep moving forward.  I love a quote that I read over the weekend by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, “God has not called me to be successful.  He called me to be faithful.”  We may not always be successful in our attempts to be holy, but we are faithful in our perseverance.. in our trying.

Speaking to a large audience, D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, "How can I get the air out of this glass?" One man shouted, "Suck it out with a pump!" Moody replied, "That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass." After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. "There," he said, "all the air is now removed." He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by "sucking out a sin here and there," but by being filled with the Holy Spirit… and each day we can be filled a little bit more. 

St. Josemaria Escriva writes, “Get to know the Holy Spirit, the Great Unknown, the one who has to sanctify you.  Don’t forget that you are a temple of God.  The Paraclete – that is the Holy Spirit – is in the center of your soul: listen to him, and follow his inspirations.”

Remember.. when Jesus was led into the wilderness after his baptism.. we are told that he fasted for forty days, then the devil came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”.. but Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”… our bodies need food, but the Temple of God that is within us needs spiritual food… it needs the filling of the Holy Spirit… Persevere in  your strides towards holiness and be filled with the Holy Spirit… be filled with God.

Let us pray… this is a prayer written by St. Augustine of Hippo… Breathe into us, Holy Spirit, that our thoughts may all be holy. Move in us, Holy Spirit, that our work, too, may be holy. Attract our hearts, Holy Spirit, that we may love only what is holy. Strengthen us, Holy Spirit, that we may defend all that is holy. Protect us, Holy Spirit, that we may always be holy.  Amen.

Sermon: Lent II RCL B - "Discerning God's Will"

The Podcast can be found here.

Mark 8:31-38

Then Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

Athanasius, newly consecrated bishop of Alexandria, was determined to visit all the churches in his see, to make certain the orthodox faith was being proclaimed. On his journey he learned of three, old monks who lived alone on an island. Like the devoted bishop he was, Athanasius set sail to the island to shepherd, even if briefly, this small flock. He was greeted with great warmth and reverence by the monks. “Tell me,” Athanasius said to them after awhile, “how it is that you pray.” “Father, we are not learned men,” the monks replied. “We simply lift our hands to God and say, ‘We are three and you are three: Have mercy upon us.’”

“Ah, dear Fathers, this will never do,” said Athanasius. “I must teach you to pray as the church prays.” And for the next several days – the monks were slow learners – the new bishop taught the old monks the Lord’s Prayer. Satisfied at last that the monks knew how to pray properly, Athanasius set sail for Alexandria. That very night aboard his ship he noticed a glow in the distance, a glow getting brighter and rapidly approaching the ship. He looked and saw the three old monks running toward him on the water. When they reached the ship they simply stood on the water as on dry ground with holy light encompassing them. “Father Athanasius,” they said, “forgive our slowness, but we have forgotten again the words of the prayer you taught us. Please pray with us again.” “No, my fathers,” Athanasius said. “It is you who must pray for me.”

Being right all the time and always knowing what is best for others is quite the burden, but it is a burden that I bear with great humility…

I suppose there are times when we all know what is best for others and we don’t mind telling them.  In many cases we may be right, but I suspect that there are times when we fall far short of the mark in the “advice” department.

Athanasius believed that since the three monks did not know the Lord’s Prayer that they couldn’t possibly be praying correctly… therefore, he in his great wisdom – and innocence – proceeded to teach them how to pray properly… “Our Father, who art in Heaven…”… as it turns out the three monks were ignorant of the Lord’s Prayer, but they were in no way ignorant of the Lord – so much so that they radiated the glory of God, while walking on the water.

So often, what we want others to do is more directly related to what we want.. instead of being what they need.

Take this for example… I wasn’t really planning on a sermon series during the Season of Lent, but I keep coming back to Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness… and at one of those temptations we read… Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”…  Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

That’s a fairly easy one given the two main characters – Jesus and the Devil.  The Devil wants Jesus to renounce God’s will and follow his.. he wanted Jesus to do what he – the Devil – wanted him to do.. and not do what God had called him to.

It was the same situation in our Gospel reading today… Jesus teaching his disciples about what was to come… the rejection.. the suffering.. and his eventual death…and Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing.. it tore through him.. this will not be.. and he rebukes Jesus.. and Jesus turns and rebukes him… "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.".. and once again.. the Devil wants Jesus to renounce God’s will and follow his.. and once again Jesus rebukes him.

There is a right and a wrong.. good and evil.. and believe it or not, we know the difference.  After Adam and Eve had eaten of the fruit the Lord said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.”… and as Paul teaches to the Hebrews, we can train ourselves “to distinguish good from evil.”… However, even though we know.. and can distinguish.. unlike Jesus, we are not always certain because of sin, there will always be this gray area, so when it comes to instructing others and even discerning for ourselves.. we must remember that there are two sides that stand in complete contrast of one another… there is what the world wants and what God wants?  Darkness and Light?... and in the middle is confusion… the etymology of the word confusion means to pour-together..

Most folks know that if you pour yellow and blue together you get green.. but the confusion that comes from pouring good and evil together is not so simple.. and that is what the Devil is very good at.  Blatant evil – darkness – is easy to spot.. but this gray area.. this confusion can be quite murky… Harry Truman said it best, “If you can't convince them, confuse them.”.. and the Devil is a master of this… So how are we to respond?  How will we be able to separate the good from evil.. the darkness from light… The ways of God and the ways of Satan?... It is never simple.. but there is a wonderful story in First Kings about Elijah that will help us to begin…

Elijah is being pursued by those who will not tolerate his words.. they seek to kill him, so he flees to the mountains… While there the Lord comes and speaks to him and asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”… Elijah pours out all his problems.. you can hear the confusion.. the anxiety.. the lack of peace in his soul… So the Lord tells him to “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then the Lord asked him the exact same question… “What are you doing here, Elijah?”… and surprisingly, Elijah answers him with the exact same words that he had before.. but this time you can hear the calmness in his voice.. that lack of anxiety… you can hear the peace as he speaks with the Lord … Elijah could understand the words of God while in the whirlwind.. or the earthquake.. or the fire… He couldn’t understand the voice of the Lord while in the chaos … it was only in the peace.. that “gentle whisper” that he heard God… and it was then that God spoke very specific instructions to Elijah on what to do.

How will we be able to separate the good from evil.. the darkness from light… to be able to come out of the confusion and those gray areas? …

This is what the LORD says… from Jeremiah 6… “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

How will we know we are in God’s will?... The answer lies in the peace.  If you think you are walking in the ways of the world and not of God… if your soul is reeling from confusion and chaos.. if there is a lack of peace.. then I would suggest to you that you may not be in God’s will.

Even when we have the very best intentions, such as Athanasius wanting to teach the monks how to pray “properly”.. or when we seek to help others or ourselves in remaining in God’s will.. we must first find that peace from God.. hear that “gentle whisper”.. and then.. be obedient to what is spoken.

Let us pray… Lord, if what we seek be according to our will, then let it come to pass and let success attend the outcome. But if not, our God, let it not come to pass. Do not leave us to our own devices, for you know how unwise we can be. Keep us safe under your protection Lord our God, and in your own gentle way guide us and rule us as you know best.  Amen.