St Luke's Chapel in the Hills

 
Septmeber 28th, 2008
Sermon: Our Ladder to Heaven

And he saith unto him, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.’” [St. John 1:51]

There has been a lot of controversy lately as to what it means to be a Christian. Some churches have actually created a litmus test. For some, you are not a Christian if you vote Republican; others accuse you of not being a Christian if you vote Democrat. Some state that you are not Christian if you are Pro-Choice; others, if you are pro-death penalty. And the list goes on and on.

But, according to the Bible, these are NOT the litmus test. According to the Gospel, there is but one test. That test is whether we believe in Christ. Now, true, to see if someone is genuinely a believer, one has to look at the “fruit” he produces. A true Christian, a true believer will produce “good fruit.” But this is for us to see if we are fearful that we are being misled. The true test is whether we believe in Christ.

As Christians, as soon as we accept Christ as our personal savior, our choices narrow to only one. As soon as we believe in Christ, we necessarily can ONLY believe that He is the sole way to salvation. And the reason for this is that He, Himself has told us so:

Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”

Yet, this great truth creates a great stumbling block for many, especially in our country. Our national belief is that all faiths should be tolerated; in fact, it is stronger than this now. We believe that all beliefs should be respected. And this IS a very Christian belief, as well. Love for our neighbors necessitates honoring their faiths. However, what happens too often is that respect and honor turns into something else.

There are many who say they are Christian but believe that Christ is A way and not THE way. And this belief seems to stem from some sense of ‘fairness’ or entitlement.

As I understand it, there is basically only one argument coming from two different vantage points. The first is a hypothetical: what if someone were really, really, really good, but not a Christian, will he go to hell? The usual example is Mahatma Gandhi. The second is that our friends are not Christian, but we ‘know’ they are good. How come they don’t get to go to heaven? The first vantage point is from a sense of justice. The other from entitlement, that we are all entitled to heaven unless we do something really bad, and even then maybe still we should be entitled. But both of these arguments miss an important point: free choice.

Yesterday, I spoke with a lady who is a very devout Christian and very grounded in the Bible. And, no, she is not a parishioner. Anyway, being an election year, our conversation drifted into politics and then abortion. She then said something that was totally unexpected.

We were talking about free will and she said, “Isn’t it funny that China mandates abortion, and there are those in our country who want to mandate that no one be allowed to have an abortion. One requires the abortion without choice; the other requires the birth of the child without choice. Both seem to me to be trying to take away free choice,” she said. Now, I bring this up not to say I agree with her statement, but rather I bring it up because the notion of “free choice” has somehow gotten lost in our post-modern world.

Our world has tried to scientifically dismiss free choice. They talk about humans as being genetically predisposed to certain things as if they believe in pre-destination. Although it is true that things we thought to be a matter of choice, such as being left-handed, or being an alcoholic, has been shown to have biological bases. But these scientists tout a gene for faith, or a gene that causes us to lie, to cheat, or to steal. They also make these claims with very little, if any evidence, just to further their own personal agendas. There is a systematic need for some people to eliminate the notion of free choice, reducing us to neurological impulses and hormones.

But free choice is a reality. I know individuals who were raised in our society who supposedly understand Christianity, yet choose to be Hindu, or Buddhist, or Wiccan, or even Druid. We choose whether we will worship God or not. And we choose to believe in Christ or not.

Now, one corollary to the belief that Christ is only one of many ways is the question of what would become of a hypothetical person that never knew about Christ, and who never heard the Gospel proclaimed. First, in our world, this is becoming increasingly rare. But second, the Church fathers and the Church in general has always proclaimed that God is just. And here is where ALL the arguments fall apart. We do not have to worry about ANY given hypothesis because we know God IS just. In Psalm 103, we read:

6 The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment * for all them that are oppressed with wrong.

And:

8 The LORD is full of compassion and mercy, * longsuffering, and of great goodness.

And also:

17 But the merciful goodness of the LORD endureth for ever and ever upon them that fear him; * and his righteousness upon children's children;

God knows all. He knows what is in our hearts and in our souls. He will do the right thing. To not trust God on this matter is truly the act of prideful man. To think we can do a better job judging than God is to fall into the same sin as Satan and Adam and Eve.

This reminds me of the story of two boys who were walking home from Sunday school. Both were pretty shook up after hearing a strong lesson on the devil. One boy said to the other, “What do you think about all this Satan stuff?” The second boy shook his head and replied, “Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It’s probably just your Dad.”

When I was at Georgetown, I took a course in Bio-Ethics with all my pre-med friends. The nun who taught the course was very interesting. One of the things she taught us is that moral decisions should not be made on the “hard” choices. Thus, the case of the severely deformed fetus should not be the basis for deciding the issue of abortion, especially since ninety percent of the cases involve only normal fetuses.

Likewise, to decide that Christ is a way instead of the way based on the hardest hypothetical is not sound. It should be based on the average situation. And the average situation in our society is that people have heard of Christ and rejected that choice. They have made a free choice not to believe. But ultimately, we can rest assured that God WILL be just, and fair, and we need not worry.

Our lessons for today make it clear that Christ is the only way to heaven and to God. In our Old Testament lesson, Jacob has a dream. In the dream, Angels are ascending to God and descending to Earth on a ladder:

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

Christ, when speaking to Nathaniel, alludes to this passage when He says:

And he saith unto him, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, ‘Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.’”

What Christ is attempting to make clear is that He is truly the ONLY way to reach God. He IS the Ladder; He is THE way. He is THE truth. And He is THE life. No other method, no other prophet, no other faith can bridge heaven and earth.

Now, as I have said several times before, whether a non-Christian will be let into heaven is not for us to know. Consequently, we are never to judge as if we DO know. But for us who believe in Jesus and believe that He is, not only the Christ, but God incarnate, we MUST believe that Christ IS the only way. If we do not, then we truly do not believe in Christ; for He tells us emphatically with little variance or wiggle room that He is the ONLY way. If we do not believe His word, then how can we believe in HIM?

For each of us, we must make a choice – a FREE choice. We must choose either to believe Christ or to reject His word. If we reject His word, we reject God. If we believe His word, then we believe in Him. And if we believe in Him, we must do what Christ asks us to do. We must love God with all our heart, soul, and mind; and we must love our neighbor as ourselves. And finally, we must spread the Gospel. We must share with others our belief that Christ is the way, the truth and the life. And we must do so respectfully understanding that others may not comprehend, yet. We must do it with love, with respect, and with understanding. For isn’t that what Christ did? And if we do these things, we too will help to share our Ladder to heaven.

Amen.

September 21st. 2008
Sermon: Follow Me.

“AND as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, “Follow me.” And he arose, and followed him.” [St. Matthew 9:9]

Today, we are celebrating the feast of St. Matthew, and it struck me how Jesus chose some of the most “unusual” disciples to be Apostles. Jesus did not select His disciples from those who were famous amongst the Jewish people for being allegedly the most “holy.” In fact, many of the Apostles were of humble origins. They were unknown, and most likely would not have been considered the most “worthy.” But some were actually outcasts. In fact, Saint Matthew was one of the worst outcasts. He was a publican, which is another name for a tax collector.

No one likes taxes. Arthur Godfrey once said, “I am proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is – I could be just as proud for half the money.” But, as bad as paying taxes may seem, there are many who hate those charged with its collection.

Steve Forbes tried to obtain the Republican nomination on the issue of the adoption of a flat income tax. His promise was that, if we adopted a flat tax, then we could dismantle the Internal Revenue Service. Archeologists uncovered a 3,000-year-old tablet in Iraq. The inscription on it said, “You can have a Lord, you can have a King, but the man to fear is the tax collector.”

Now, hatred of the tax collector in ancient times was not unreasonable. The tax collector was a paid extortionist who traveled with soldiers. He had the power to rough up and even kill those who did not pay. Additionally, he was given authority to take a cut over the tax he was to collect. The result was that the tax collector often took a lot, leaving people almost destitute. And Saint Matthew was a tax collector.

I read a statement once which seems to apply to Saint Matthew very well. It said, “Every Saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” This seems truly apropos and should give each of us some comfort.

But we all know that Jesus consorted with the “untouchables” of His society. He dined with well known sinners. And this fact is celebrated often and regularly in our modern churches. However, what is often left out is Christ’s explanation that He gives the Pharisees:

But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, ‘I will have mercy, and not sacrifice;’ for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The modern church will say, and rightly so, that everyone is welcomed at church because Jesus welcomed everyone. After all, a church without sinners is an empty church. However, what the modern church fails to include is that Jesus was calling the sinner to repentance. Sinners gravitated to Christ because He embodies God’s grace and forgiveness. The sinners could feel God’s love and the call to come back to God. But there is a need to repent. Christ makes it clear that sinners must repent of their sins and turn to God. And sinners still need to repent.

There is no doubt that we are all sinners. There is no doubt that we have to repent of our sins and try to amend our lives. Will we never sin again? Hardly. It would be a fantasy to believe that we will never sin again. But that does not mean we are not to repent and try to change. And this need to repent; the need to try to change to bring us in alignment with God is what is missing in many of our modern churches.

Please note how Christ called Saint Matthew to repentance. It was simple, and it was direct:

AND as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, “Follow me.”

What was Saint Matthew’s reaction? He followed. To me, this is one of the most powerful statements. It is as powerful as the statement that Jesus wept. And what makes this statement so powerful is that, Jesus says the SAME thing to EACH of us. He has called all of us with one simple command: “Follow me.”

But what does it mean to follow Christ? Is it really as simple as it sounds?

First, Christ uses the command “Follow me” with each of his Apostles, starting with St. Peter and St. Andrew. The same phrase is used several more times in the Gospels, and we can learn from what they indicate.

When a disciple asked if he could bury his father first, Christ’s response seems cruel. Christ said let the dead bury themselves. He needs to follow Christ immediately. Later, Christ tells His disciples:

“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Finally, when asked by a young man what he must do to obtain eternal life, Christ quotes the law and says for him to keep the commandments. When the young man says that he is keeping all the laws, but wants to know what he is lacking, the response is telling:

Jesus said unto him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me.”

Of course the young man is downcast because he has a lot of money. Then Christ says something we have all heard before, but probably do not fully understand. Christ says that it is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter heaven.

This saying has often been misunderstood. There is a gate into Jerusalem that was called the “Eye of a Needle.” It is very narrow and low. In order for a camel to enter through this gate, it must be fully unpacked. Then, once on the other side, it must be re-packed. Basically it seems clear that Christ was alluding to the baggage a wealthy person carries. If they are not willing to let go, they cannot enter.

So, what does Christ want us to do when He calls us to follow Him? Must we carry a cross? Must we sell all that we have? The answer is not so simple.

The first thing we must do is take a good, long look at ourselves. This is hard to do. None of us truly wants to be honest with ourselves. But we must. We must know ourselves well enough that we can acknowledge, first, that we are sinners, and second, that we need Christ. If we do not acknowledge our failings, we can never see why we need Christ. But, if we do, then we must realize that we cannot gain heaven on our own.

Any alcoholic can tell you that the first thing they must admit is that they have a problem. The second is that they cannot lick this problem on their own. This is also true for each of us. We must acknowledge this and accept Christ if we hope to follow Him.

Next, we need to let go! So many of us hold on to things so tightly that we become owned by the very thing we seek to possess. As one who became a lawyer because I wanted the money and prestige, I can tell you, it is a trap. Following a calling is one thing, but prizing something as a possession is another. In time the thing we want to possess becomes our god. And then, we become possessed by them. The pursuit of things can easily drive us further away from God. But it doesn’t have to be.

And here again, we must know ourselves. For some, wealth becomes a stumbling block. For others, it is power. And for others still, it is vanity. And for even others, it is physical pleasures. We must know what is our own particular weakness. We must recognize what can drive a wedge between us and God. And we must resist or even eliminate this temptation.

Finally, we must realize that following Christ has a cost. As Christians, we need to recognize that some will discount our opinions just because we are Christians. Others may avoid us. Still, in other parts of the world, we may be persecuted or even killed for our beliefs. It may be less costly for us in this country. It may be just missing a ball game in order to go to church. But there is a cost. And this cost is our Cross. If we are not willing to bear the cross we are given, then are we really prepared to follow Christ? I think not.

All of us are called by Christ to follow Him. This means several things. It means admitting our sins and recognizing that we need Christ. It also means letting go of anything and everything that would prevent us from following. For each of us, this is a different thing – a different temptation. But, in the end, the result is the same. If we cannot let go, it will eventually possess us, and drive a wedge between us and Christ. Finally, we must be willing to pay the price for our faith no matter how minor or how severe.

Yet, what we gain from following Christ is immeasurable. Being loved by God, feeling that incredible love, and living in that love is amazing. Knowing that all our sins are forgiven is immensely liberating. And knowing that in Heaven an incomprehensible reward is waiting is worth whatever pain we may suffer in this life. This is what is meant by that simple phrase “Follow me.” And it is to what we have all committed.
Amen.

September 14th. 2008
Sermon: Being Authentic Christians.

“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” [St. Matthew 18:20]

There is a book called Mistreated written by Ron Lee Davis. In that book, Mr. Davis recounts the bizarre story of a millionaire who owned a lot in an exclusive residential area of a large city. The lot was only a couple of yards wide by a hundred feet long. There was nothing he could practically do with such an oddly proportioned piece of property but sell it to one of his two neighbors.

He first approached his neighbor on his east side to see if the neighbor was interested, but the neighbor offered a ridiculously low price. So, he then approached the neighbor on the west. But that neighbor only offered a few dollars more than the first. The millionaire exploded. “That’s not even one-tenth of what the lot is worth!” But the neighbor answered smugly, “Look. I’ve got you over a barrel. You can’t sell that lot to anyone else and you can’t build on it. So there is my offer. Take it or leave it.”

The millionaire was so incensed that he hired an architect and a contractor to build one of the strangest houses ever built. Only five feet wide, but running the full length of the property, it is a burrow of tiny rooms, each barely able to accommodate a stick of furniture. When it was finished, the millionaire moved into this impractical, uncomfortable house. And he stayed there until he died. The house is known as the “Spite House,” and stands as a monument to one man’s hatred and vengeance.

I tell this story because it is typically human. It is what we mean when we say someone has cut off their nose to spite their face. And yet it is the antithesis of our lesson for today.

In our Gospel lesson, Saint Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive someone. The question is typically human and legalistic. He wants to know if it should be seven times. That is a legitimate question and number given the Mosaic Law. But Christ’s response is and would be surprising to His audience:

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

To any of us, this response seems to mean that we are to forgive 490 times, but this is wrong. Back in the ancient Roman Empire where the zero had not yet been invented by the Arabs and that they were using notation like Roman numerals, 7 times 70 was considered an irrational number. Like pi, it was believed in Judea at the time of Christ that if you multiplied these numbers, the answer would go on forever.

So, what Christ is saying here is that we are to ALWAYS forgive. There is no set number. In fact, the amount is infinite. That would have shocked anyone at that time, and I dare say shocks people today – IF they really pay attention to the message.

My fear is that many of us have heard this so many times and have heard or read so many sermons on this that it no longer has any impact. But let us stop and think.

Deacon Vogel’s sermon last week spoke eloquently on this issue. He said that one of the hardest and most demanding words in the Bible is “as.” We are to be forgiven our trespasses “as” we forgive others their trespass against us. That IS our lesson for today, as well!

The parable of the debtor being forgiven a huge debt just to turn around and throw someone else in jail because they owe him a little is precisely about what we are talking.

Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.

As many of you know, I am half Sicilian, and as you may imagine, I know of many good grudges. I had one great Aunt who had a fight with her best friend and swore never to speak to her again. Her friend was her next door neighbor. And my aunt kept that grudge for over forty years until the neighbor died, never speaking to her again even as the woman was on her death bed.

That reminds me of the story of John and George who both were in their seventies. They had been friends since their high school days, but both were opinionated and stubborn. Because of this, they often got into fights and wouldn’t speak to each other for months. Such a fight occurred recently, and currently, John and George weren’t speaking to each other. But then George became critically ill. He asked for John to come to the hospital to make amends before George died. He took John’s hand in his and whispered, “John, I forgive you. Will you forgive me?” John was deeply moved and was about to respond when George bellowed, “But remember, if I don’t die, if I get well again, this doesn’t count!”

As Christians, we believe that Jesus is, not only the Messiah, but God incarnate. This is extremely important. This means that what Christ tells us about God is absolutely, positively the way He thinks, and feels, and judges! This message from Christ is therefore not just nice or pleasant. It is IMPERITIVE!

In Monty Python’s “Life of Brian,” Jesus is giving His Sermon on the Mount. There are a group of people so far away that they don’t hear Christ correctly. Thus they think Jesus is saying, “Blessed are the cheese makers,” instead of “peace makers.” And blessed are the “Greek,” instead of the “meek.” But, in the latter case, someone finally hears and says in a somewhat Cockney accent, “Oh isn’t that nice.”

I do not want you to listen to this message and think, “Oh isn’t that nice.” Or, “Sure we should strive for this, but it’s really not going to happen. It’s unrealistic.” I want you to accept this as the word of God that this IS TRULY how it is. IF we do NOT forgive, we will NOT be forgiven! If this doesn’t put the fear of God in you, I am not sure if anything will. But we must forgive. This IS our commandment!

Last week, I went to the Antiochian Orthodox Church which has been rebuilt since an arsonist burned it down. One of the few things remaining was their processional Bible. All the pages were burnt and unreadable except for one excerpt to which, in the middle of all the burnt rubble, the book was opened. It read:

“but I say unto you, ‘That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.’”

I heard their rector give a sermon about how they must forgive the person who burnt down their church. It was powerful, and moving. But it was also essential for them to hear this message. It was necessary for their souls’ health. This IS the essence of being a Christian. This IS the essence of living the Gospel.

This week, we had a minor vandalism occur at the church. It wasn’t as dramatic as our sanctuary being burnt down. But, even this minor vandalism we need to forgive.

Today, we also remember the victims of 9/11. This was a horrific act by evil men against the innocent. But we must forgive this too.

This does not mean, however, that we do not seek justice if it is available to us. As Christians, it is also our duty to protect the innocent and promote justice. Yet, we still must learn a way to forgive our enemies in our hearts.

Is this easy? Hardly. Even as I say this I know how incredibly hard this is and how often I fail at it. But we need to learn to forgive our trespassers, for, in doing so, we are forgiven our trespasses. We must not seek revenge or live in our own house of spite.

Only when we have learned how to honestly, in our hearts, forgive our enemies will we understand what it means to be truly and authentically Christian.



Amen.
- posted by Rev. Michael Penfield @ 11:07 AM

 
Sermon: August 10th, 2008
Stepping Out in Faith.

“And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” [Matthew 14:31]

Two weeks ago, I spoke with you about the concept of wisdom. This week, I would like to speak with you about ‘faith.’

In our lessons for today, we must deal with faith on two different levels. Both Jonah and Christ literally talk about faith. They speak as to the issue of faith. But there is another level to faith in our lessons. Jonah was swallowed by a giant fish. Christ and Saint Peter walked on water. Both of these events are fantastic and, for many modern people, may challenge our faith. After all, we ‘know’ that Jonah couldn’t have possibly been swallowed by a fish, and we ‘know’ that even IF Christ could walk on water, Saint Peter couldn’t. Both events to the modern mind are impossible, but are they?

‘Faith’ is defined in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as a “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” Is this truly what we have? Or is our faith something a little different than this definition? Hold on to these two questions and I promise I will address them. But, for now, I would like to look at these stories more closely.

The Book of Jonah is one of my favorite Old Testament books for several reasons. First, God calls Jonah to a difficult mission. He must tell the people of Nineveh to repent or they will be destroyed. Jonah is convinced that if he does this, he will be killed. This is a dilemma that all good pastor’s face. Sometimes the lesson we are to teach is not the one that most people want to hear. And there is a fear of castigation.

This reminds me of the story of the visiting preacher who delivered a carefully prepared sermon. As people filed out of the church, they all told him how wonderful it was. Finally, one man came up to him and said, “That was a terrible sermon.” This threw the preacher a bit, but he was able to keep his composure even though he saw the man get back in line. When the parishioner came up again to the preacher, he said, “The stories you told in your sermon were dull and boring. I’ve been hearing them since I was a little boy.” Just then another parishioner came up to the visiting pastor and said, “Pay no mind to that man. He’s not very bright. He just repeats what he hears everyone else saying.”

Jonah was so scared of being abused or even martyred that he disobeyed God. He tried to run away by sailing on a ship away from Nineveh. But God stopped him. Between the storm and the giant fish, Jonah was stopped. While in the fish, he was able to repent:

When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
And my prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.

He went to Nineveh and preached repentance. What happens next is truly telling. The people of Nineveh repented! They listen to Jonah and changed. But that is not the end. Was Jonah happy when the people repented of their sins? No! He was angry at God that God doesn’t destroy them; he was angry that God is willing to show mercy to those who listen.

This strikes me as being incredibly accurate in capturing human nature. How many of us have seen someone who is religious but who would rather see justice than mercy in certain situations? After all, this is what Christ warns us about in so many parables.

Remember the parable of the workers who all get paid the same amount no matter how late in the day they started? What was the reaction of some of the workers? Wasn’t it that it was “unfair?” Jonah wanted mercy for himself, but justice for others. He wanted the people in Nineveh punished even though God showed HIM, Jonah, mercy. This is the double-standard into which ALL of us fall. And this is a powerful lesson for all of us to remember.

Likewise, I love Saint Peter. He is the quintessential opposite of what we would expect of a disciple of Christ. That is why I believe the Gospels to be true. No one except Christ is perfect. In fact, if anything, the Apostles are severely flawed. Saint Peter is asleep in two critical times; once at the Transfiguration, and once in the Garden of Gethsemane just before Christ was arrested. Then we have Saint Peter stating that he would “never” betray Christ, just to be told that he would betray Him, and he does – THREE TIMES! Finally, in our lesson for today, we have Saint Peter walking on water until he gets to the middle of the lake and realizes he shouldn’t be able to do it. The wind is blustery, and the waves are choppy. Saint Peter gets scared, loses faith, and starts to sink. I really love him!

There is no doubt in my mind that both of these stories are accurate. We are such proud creatures that we tend to think what we know now is complete. There is nothing more that will be discovered. WE and we alone have the complete sum of all knowledge. It is the vanity of modern man to think this way. But it is wrong!

As many of you may know, Marconi invented the wireless. He invented what we now call the radio. When he started sending wireless messages, it was only over short distances. As Marconi increased the power and efficiency of his equipment, he found that he could send wireless waves over longer and longer distances. Finally, he became bold enough to think about transmitting a signal across the Atlantic Ocean.

But the experts laughed at this idea. They assured him that because wireless waves, like light, traveled in straight lines, and because the world is round, the wireless waves would not follow the curvature of the earth, but would rather go out into space. Logically, based on what they knew at the time, the experts were right. But Marconi tried, persisted and succeeded in sending a signal across the Atlantic. Neither Marconi nor the experts knew about the ionosphere, an electrically charged layer in the upper atmosphere, which bounced back the wireless waves that would otherwise have streamed off into space. By not listening to the experts Marconi was able to prove them wrong.

We do not know whether there is a fish large enough to swallow a man. We do not know if God created it for this purpose and this purpose alone. We also do not know for a fact if Christ or Saint Peter walked on water, but consider this, why would these tales be included if not true? It is not like they would convince people that the stories are accurate. Rather, they are more likely to convince people that the Bible is fiction. However, I submit that there was a need for the writers of Scripture to report things accurately. Although the modern concept of history did not exist at this time, nevertheless, because these stories were seen as Holy, the writers probably felt a need to report them truthfully.

So let us return to my questions. Is our faith a firm belief in something for which there is no proof? Or is our faith something a little different than this? Clearly it is different. We DO have proof! We have eye witness accounts. We have miracles and visions. We have fulfilled prophesies and prophesies waiting to be fulfilled. And we have the martyrdom of these eye witnesses who would rather die than recant what they say they saw. These are powerful pieces of evidence that support our faith.

But let’s look at one last thing. In our Gospel lesson, we have the Apostles in a boat, scared that they see a ghost when they see Christ walking on the water. Christ realizes this, and calls out for them to relax, because it is He. Then Saint Peter responds:

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

Now, many people have written on the failed faith of Saint Peter, how he believed and then became frightened. As long as he believed, his faith buoyed him up and prevented him from sinking. Once Saint Peter realized that the waves were treacherous, he became frightened, lost his faith, and started to sink. This is all well and good, but I want you not to think of Saint Peter. Rather, think about the eleven other Apostles who had so little faith that they never even stepped out of the boat! They didn’t want to take a chance. They KNEW that the waves were dangerous. They KNEW they were going to drown. ONLY Peter had enough faith to step out of that boat and start walking on water toward Jesus.

Here is our lesson; here is where we must look into our hearts. Would we be like Saint Peter? Or would we be in the boat with Saint John and Saint Thomas and Judas? Are we fearless when it comes to our faith like Saint Peter or are we one of the frightened pups in the boat?

Faith is NOT an easy thing. Being a Christian can be down right dangerous. But, in order to be good Christians, we MUST be willing and able to put our fears aside. We must be able to proclaim our faith, no matter what the “reality” of the situation may be, and no matter what the consequences.

Being able to defend our faith demands that we know of which we speak. We must know the Bible and what it means. But we also must be willing to take the plunge. We have to be willing to fly without a safety net; we must be willing to proclaim the Gospel every chance we get; and we must be willing to say, “Yes, I AM a Christian; I DO believe everything in the Nicene Creed; and I DO believe that Christ is the only way.”

In other words, like Saint Peter, we must be willing to step out of the boat in faith. And if we are willing to do so, we will be able to join Jonah in proclaiming:

“I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord.”


Amen.


Sermon: July 27th, 2008
What Is Wisdom?

“Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.” [1 Kings 3:9]

The concept of wisdom, I suspect, is a concept that many modern people really do not understand. I am afraid that many people equate wisdom with knowledge, or with instinct or intuition, or with cleverness or cunning. But wisdom is not really any of these things.

And, for us Christians, knowing what wisdom is, is essential in understanding what the Bible says. If we do not know what wisdom truly is, we cannot understand what the Bible means when it speaks of “wisdom.” Therefore, we need to understand this important concept, and our lessons for today address this issue very well.

However, before we look at our lessons for today, let us start where the Bible tells us is the start of wisdom. In Psalm 111, verse 10, we have this very powerful statement:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

Modern man does not like to hear words “fear of the Lord.” They will say, “Why should I fear the Lord. Fear is an emotion that makes God out to be a bully. Fearing God is an old superstition and is indicative of primitive man. God should not be feared.” However, almost all Bible translations have “fear of the Lord” in this passage. One has translated this passage as “Reverence for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This seems to me to be a bow to modernity or a reluctance to say that fear in fact may be healthy.

There are people in the world who are born without the ability to feel pain. We may think this is a great benefit, but in fact, it is a great handicap. They cannot feel the pain of a burn or a broken bone, and as a result the life expectancy of these people is VERY short. I would liken a lack of a healthy fear of the Lord to someone born unable to feel pain. Without a healthy understanding of and respect for God’s authority and power, we are likely to err greatly.

Much of what we grow to learn about God is not readily apparent. But a healthy, do I dare say, “fear” may prevent us from harming ourselves before we gain the necessary wisdom to understand. After all, God’s anger and displeasure has resulted in actions that should be viewed with awe AND fear. Fear in this case is an appreciation of God’s power and authority, and it is the beginning of wisdom, but not its end.

In our Old Testament lesson, we have Solomon praying to God. He is worried. He is King; he needs to be a good ruler. And he asks God for a discerning heart. God’s response is VERY revealing:

Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.”

God valued Solomon’s request for several reasons. The first is that it was not a selfish request. He did not ask for long life, perpetual youth, or incredible wealth. He asked for a discerning heart in order to be a good and just ruler. God appreciated this understanding on Solomon’s part. This is another aspect of wisdom. It is an understanding that we have duties; we have responsibilities that go with our station in life.

A mother who acts like she is a single teenager or a father who ignores his responsibility to his family would never be seen as wise. But a parent who recognizes his or her role and self-sacrifices for the betterment of their children would be considered wise. Therefore, wisdom is also the ability to look beyond oneself and one’s own self interest. A wise person chooses what is best, not what is best for him or herself.

Second, Solomon humbled himself. He acknowledged his limitations and knew he needed God’s help. He was willing to ask. This is also wisdom. Knowing ones limitation is wisdom, but knowing that we need to depend on God is even a greater wisdom. As Americans, we are taught that self-reliance is a virtue; being a rugged individual is a goal. But this is not necessarily wise. Knowing that we need God and being able to humble ourselves is wise. It rejects pride and acknowledges our need for help from God.

But let us also look at our New Testament lesson for today. We have five parables stringed together telling us what the “kingdom of heaven’ is like. Two of the parables deal with the strength and the growth of the faith. These are the mustard seed and the leavening of bread. It starts out small, but grows mighty and changes everything all around it. One parable deals with the final judgment, separating the good from the bad. But the other two parables deal with the VALUE of faith – the value of the kingdom of God. These two deal with wisdom:

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Here is where wisdom gets confused with knowledge and cunning. Wisdom gives us the ability to perceive the intrinsic value of something. In fact, we may try to teach others or even to warn, but if the person being taught or warned does not have the wisdom to understand, he will reject what is being offered. Wisdom is NOT the ability to see what others do not, but it IS the ability to understand what is being seen.

In The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare explored this aspect of wisdom. Portia’s father set up a test for her suitors which exposed their worthiness. The would-be suitor had to choose between three caskets, each of which had an inscription. The first was gold with the inscription: “Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.” The second was silver, with the inscription, “Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.” The final casket was lead with the inscription “Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.”

Now, for any of us who have seen enough plays, we may rightly guess that the lead casket is the correct one just because “we know how these things work.” But, let’s face it, this devise in Shakespeare speaks volumes as to wisdom.

Many in the world chase after gold. They want either material wealth or notoriety. They want fame or fortune, or both! But this is illusory. Fortunes can evaporate, and fame is fickle. Others chase after silver. How many of us have heard someone lament that something is “unfair?” They will say that they should not have had a particular tragedy befall them. Accidents and illnesses for these people are unfair and should never happen. And they bemoan anything that inconveniences them and their pursuit of happiness.

However, to be wise, to be a true Christian, we must be like the lead casket. We must be willing to give and hazard all. We must be willing to sell everything to buy one pearl of great price – our faith.

Wisdom is not knowledge. Many people who know a lot are not wise. Although a wise person knows how to use what they know, wisdom is NOT the same as knowledge. Wisdom is also not instinct or intuition. Gut reactions are often guesses or superstitions. Intuition is often just self-preservation reduced to emotion. Wisdom, however, often means going against self-preservation. It means doing what is best for others and not just our self. Therefore, like knowledge, a wise person knows when to listen to his intuition and when not to listen. Finally, wisdom is not cleverness or cunning. Although we all may remember the story of Solomon and the women battling over a baby, the wisdom was not in the cleverness of his actions, though it was clearly clever. No, the wisdom lay in Solomon’s understanding.

Wisdom is something much more than knowledge, or intuition, or cleverness. Wisdom is a discerning heart. It is a deep understanding of God, of people, and of things. And wisdom starts with understanding that a healthy fear, a healthy reverence of God is essential. Without this start, without a proper reverence and appreciation of God, none of us can truly be wise.

So let us all take our queue from Solomon. Let us all pray to God, every chance we get, that He will send us the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom. And let us ask for this wisdom, not for some selfish reason like fame or fortune, but rather so that others can see God in our wisdom and be brought out of darkness and into the light of God’s great Love.


Amen.
- posted by Rev. Michael Penfield @ 11:32 AM

 
Sermon: June 29th, 2008
What Kind of Love Do We Have?

“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’” [John 21:15]

Have you ever listened in on a young teenage girl’s conversation regarding love? I am not sure I would recommend it. But one thing you will hear when she is talking to a friend about a boy she likes is this, “Does he like me, or does he LIKE ME like me?” Boys go through the same thing; they just tend to be less articulate. This expression came to my mind when reading our Gospel lesson for today, not because Christ asks Peter the same question three times, but rather for a much deeper reason.

The human language is a remarkable thing. Through it, we can convey to another human being exactly what we think. Some people are more gifted than others in conveying their ideas, but still we all share this profound gift which removes our isolation from one another. That is why, in the book 1984, one of the main objectives of the totalitarian regime was to destroy the precision of language. They created “double-speak” in which one word would contain two, mutually exclusive meanings at the same time. They also started eliminating precise words in favor of more general words. However, we don’t need to read fiction to see “double-speak” in action. All we need do is listen to politicians or some religious leaders.

Additionally, the English language has more words than any other language, giving us a greater ability to be precise. And yet, we still have great difficulty communicating how we feel to someone else. Some times the words are not precise enough; some times the words have different and unknown connotations for the other person; and some times, even with the wealth of words in the English language, there ISN’T a word that is adequate for conveying our feelings.

In our Gospel lesson, we have a conversation which loses some of its meaning in its translation.

There was an old parishioner who was dismayed that a modern translation of the Bible was going to be used instead of the King James Version. He pronounced, “If King James English is good enough for Christ, it’s good enough for me!”

But as we all know, the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and then translated into Greek. Jesus probably spoke in Aramaic, the language spoken in Judea at that time, though He could have spoken Greek. However, the Gospels and Epistles WERE written in Greek. And the Greek gives a slightly different flavor to this exchange between Christ and Saint Peter in our lesson for today.

Two Greek words for “love” are played against each other in the original Greek passage from Saint John’s Gospel. Agapaō, generally means “love.” But when used in juxtaposition with the synonym phileō, it specifically means love as an emotion of deep appreciation based upon careful consideration. It means to recognize the worth of someone and esteem him highly. The synonym phileō, also loses the general meaning of “love” when used in conjunction with agapaō and connotes the more specific meaning of “love” as a pure, intense “feeling of love.” It is a personal, warm, intimate relationship like that between family members. It is a love that is more spontaneous than philosophical, and more emotional than intellectual.

Before we look at this word play, we must remember that this passage takes place after Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is the risen Lord who is speaking to Saint Peter. And it is the risen Lord that knows that Saint Peter has denied Christ three times. So, the three questions from Christ make sense when keeping in mind Peter’s three denials.

The first time Christ asks Saint Peter if he loves Him, Christ uses the word, agapaō, and Saint Peter answers with the word phileō. In other words, Christ asks Peter if he understands who Christ is, and does he esteem Christ. Saint Peter, being the emotional one of the Apostles says that he loves Christ emotionally like one loves a brother. Christ asks again and again Saint Peter answers the word agapaō with the word phileō. Finally, Christ asks Saint Peter if Peter loves Him in the phileō sense of the word, and of course Saint Peter says that he does using the same word phileō.

To me, this exchange is very telling. Like the young teenage girl who uses the word “like” twice to denote a deeper feeling than just liking someone, Jesus tries to get Saint Peter to confess what type of love he has for Christ. And the answer is not good.

To truly love something or someone, we have to KNOW and LOVE his nature. It is easy to fall “in love” with someone when we know nothing about them. Then they do something or say something, and the love ends as suddenly as it begins. We say appropriately that they “Burst our bubble.” This is the more phileō type of love.

But agape love has been called the holy type of love. It requires an intellectual understanding that grows into love and into adoration. Saint Peter loves Christ, but he really still doesn’t understand. In fact, none of the Apostles understood until Pentecost. It is with the descent of the Holy Spirit that Saint Peter’s phileō love is transformed into his agapaō love for Christ. And with that, we have the transformation of Saint Peter from an emotional but weak follower into the dynamic founder of the Church, who eventually died for Christ a martyr’s death stretched out upon a cross:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God.

The question that is before all of us now is, what kind of love do WE possess? Are we infatuated with Christ, or do we love Him for what He truly is? Do we have a phileō love for Christ or do we have an agapaō love? This is not an easy question to answer for any of us. It is not easy if we do not know who Christ really is. And we may not, unless we do two things.

The first thing that we must all do is attend church. It is in our communion of prayers and in Holy Eucharist that we get to love Christ on a personal level. It is in the lessons for the day and, hopefully, in the sermons that we learn about Christ and get to love Him on an intellectual level. Through both, we develop our agape feelings of love.

The second thing that we must all do is to get to know Christ through our personal, private prayers and study of the Bible. Through this, we gain greater understanding of Jesus and why He is the Christ.

The final charge is to me, to Deacon Vogel, and to all the clergy. What did Christ command of Saint Peter? Feed my lambs; feed my sheep. We are charged with feeding our flocks. We are to teach both the young (the lambs) and the old (the sheep). If we do not, then we fail as shepherds, and a terrible price will be paid by us. So, here is my lesson for today; here is my feeding for you: God truly loves us and forgives us all our failings if we truly love and believe in Him.

Look at Peter. He denies Christ three times, aggravates Christ to the point that Jesus calls Peter “Satan,” and is so emotional that he jumps into the fray constantly. Peter doesn’t even get it when Christ asks him if he has an agape type of love for Christ. Yet, Jesus loves him, forgives him, and welcomes him back constantly, over and over again. And Peter becomes the founder of the Church.

Look at Paul. He’s a Pharisee. He actively and violently persecutes Christians. Yet, Jesus loves him. Christ, through blindness, gives Paul the ability to see. And Paul becomes the great Apostle to the Gentiles, welcoming everyone back into God’s family.

God IS love; Christ IS love. Therefore, we as Christians are to be love, as well. Everyone is welcomed at our church. No matter what the sin; no matter what the flaw. If Christ can see worth in a man who denied Him and can see worth in a man who persecuted Him, then how can we not see worth in everyone who walks through our doors?

Remember, Christ asks each of us what kind of love we have for Him. Is it an emotional love that will vanish at the first challenge, or is it a love that will not be denied, even if it means our death? That is something that we must ask of ourselves. But I would also ask each of us what kind of love do we have for our neighbors. Is it Christ-like; is it a love that looks only at the outside of each of us or does it look beyond the sins and failings to the soul that is beneath – a soul always worth loving and saving! This is our goal; this is our mission as Christians.


Amen.


Sermon: June 15th, 2008
Being Called by God.

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” [Matthew 9:37-38]

Every second Monday of the month, I get together with one Episcopal priest and one Anglican Deacon. It is supposed to be more than just the three of us, but it has never been more than we three. Anyway, at our last meeting, the Episcopal priest, Father Ed, brought up an issue regarding Ephesians 4:11-13.

He said that the King James Version has an unfortunate typo – an extra comma where there shouldn’t be one. As a result, many people feel that it is the role of the priest to do the works of ministry. But, without the comma, it would seem that the priest’s role is to equip the people for THEIR role as minister, so that they can do the work of ministry for the building up of the body of Christ.

Whether this typographical error exists or not, to my way of thinking, is unimportant. There are a host of references in Scripture which make it clear that we are all called to be ministers for Christ. And some of these passages are in our lesson for today.

One of the few times that the word for priest is used in the New Testament is used by Saint Peter in his First Epistle. In this Epistle, we have this great declaration:

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

This passage of St. Peter’s is a direct reference to our Old Testament passage for today:

‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

God’s original plan for the nation of Israel was for it to be a nation of priests to minister to the world. They would be unique, serving God and being mediators between God and mankind for everyone. But this was not to be. The nation hardened their hearts to this notion, and so a tribe within the nation, the tribe of Levi, became the priestly tribe. Not only this, but the clan that traced its line to Aaron was to be the high priests. But this was not God’s original plan.

What is more, instead of ministering to the world, the Levites only ministered to the nation of Israel. The great vision that God had for Israel and the world basically imploded. Everything turned inward, and although they were still God’s chosen people, they did not look outward but rather turned increasingly inward to themselves.

With the birth of Christianity, however, God’s plan once again was brought into the world. Again God’s saving grace would be extended to all mankind, not just Jewish people. And what is more, God once again called a group of people to be a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.” These people were not of one lineage, or one nation. These people were from every race and every nation. These chosen people are the Christians. And they are made one through Christ.

I have often said that there are really four, not three offices within the Church. There are the offices of Deacon, Priest, and Bishop. But there is the fourth office: the office of the Laity. All of us belong to this last office. This is the office of priesthood of which Saint Peter wrote. And it is the office most of us do not understand.

Just like any person called to an order, such as priest, monk or nun, every lay person is called to a ministry. We are called to serve God as His priest in the world, to mediate between heaven and earth, showing the people on earth an image of God. This is an awesome responsibility, but it should also be a great joy. Serving God is a joy unmatched by anything of this world. Yet, many of us still do not understand.

Like the Israelites, we too have a tendency to turn inward to ourselves. Because we live in a supposedly Christian country, we tend to put our faith on the shelf after going to church on Sunday. It fulfills us. But we do not share it with others. And there are basically two reasons for this. The first is a reaction to what we perceive to be excesses; the second is not knowing how we are to serve.

I remember seeing someone in Los Gatos yelling at the tops of his lungs that all would perish in hell if they did not repent and come back to the Lord. We have all been accosted at our home or on the streets by someone like the Jehovah Witnesses. I remember being approached at home by two young ladies who wanted me to come to their Baptist Church. Now, they were very pleasant, and I believe very strongly that all Christians are part of the invisible Church which truly is the body of Christ, but these two didn’t quite seem to get it. You would think that after telling them I was an Anglican priest and had a parish, they would let me be, but no. They still needed to “save” me. And this is sometimes our unfortunate image of Evangelism. But this is not a true image.

The truth is that there is something much deeper that we, as Christians, are called to do:

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

There are many people in our society who are weary. There are many Christians who are scattered, alone and lost. And we are to reach out to these people. We are to reach out to the un-churched and the disenfranchised. But yelling will not reach these people, nor will badgering them at their doorstep. We need to take our lesson from God, Himself.

In the first Book of Kings, we have the account of God appearing to Elijah

“And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave.”

God was not in the mighty wind, the earthquake, or the fire. He was in the still, small voice. When God became Man, He did not enter the world as a mighty deity, as royalty, or as a general. He came as a weak infant, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. He was a carpenter’s stepson. But when He spoke, those with ears to hear, heard Him.

Everything we do, and everything we say is to present an image of Christ. As His priests, we are all called to be images of Christ. It therefore is critical that we live good Christian lives that will help others to see, not us, but Christ.

Remember, we ARE to evangelize. We ARE to spread the Gospel of Christ, and that means that we are not to be silent. But let us remember this passage from Kings. Let us NOT be mighty winds, or earthquakes, or fires. Let us be used by God to be His still, small voice. And if we do, then God will reach the hearts of all those lost, weary souls hungry for a Shepherd.

But this is only the first step. The second is that we are all called to ministries. The problem often is that we do not know which one! And, being human, we are prone to inertia. We do not know, so we do nothing. But this is not correct. Before studying for the priesthood, I became a lay reader. That helped me see where I needed to go. Before I became a school teacher, all the tests I took, such as Myers-Briggs, indicated teaching, especially at the elementary level, was not where I should be, but eventually I had to just bite the bullet and try it. And this is what we all must do.

Until we know where God wants us to serve, we are to try different ministries. None of us are fit for all ministries. Some are great with children; others are good with the sick or the old. But each of us are given a God-given ministry or calling that we are to do. And it is up to each of us to find that ministry and explore it fully.

Every one of us in this church is a priest of God’s. We all have one ministry in common: we are all called to spread the Gospel, not by being bombastic or belligerent, but by allowing God to use us to be His still, small voice. But each of us have a unique ministry as well. And it is our duty to find out what that calling is, and then to pursue it. And when we do, then we will truly be part of the priesthood of God. We WILL be laborers going forth as harvesters for Christ.

Amen.



Sermon: June 8th, 2008
God’s Call for Mercy.

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” [Matthew 9:13]

In the passage that I am quoting from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Christ asks the Pharisees to go and learn what is meant by a passage from the Book of the Prophet Hosea. However, I would venture to guess that we should all search out what God meant when He said, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

For me, this passage from Hosea is somewhat enigmatic. But, when viewed through the Gospel, it starts to make a lot of sense.

The Old Testament is full of references and requests for sacrifices and burnt offerings. We have Cain and Abel sacrificing; we have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sacrificing; and we have Moses codifying the law surrounding sacrifices and requiring their sacrifices in very specific ways and at very specific times. In fact, in some passages, as an offering of thanksgiving, thousands of bulls and he-goats are sacrificed at one time. So, if the Bible is replete both with the necessity of sacrifice and the recordation of some of the sacrifices, why would God desire something more? Why wouldn’t sacrifices be the pinnacle of what God wants man to do when worshipping Him?

And yet, God desired something much deeper. In our lesson from Hosea, we have the passage that I just quoted. But, in our selection from the Psalter and in fact in many of the psalms, we have a similar statement:

Thinkest thou that I will eat bulls' flesh, * and drink the blood of goats?

Offer unto God thanksgiving, * and pay thy vows unto the Most Highest.

And call upon me in the time of trouble; * so will I hear thee, and thou shalt praise me.

If God prefers thanksgiving and prayers for help, then why did He require the sacrifices to be committed? There is only one answer.

When God demanded sacrifices, He did so as a foreshadow of the ultimate sacrifice. He did it so the world would understand as best we can what was happening when Christ sacrificed Himself on the Cross. It is equally interesting that soon after Christ’s death, the sacrifices ended, never to be resuscitated again by the Jewish faith.

So if God values acts of mercy over acts of sacrifice, and knowledge of God over burnt offerings, then what does this mean for us Christians? How are we to act? And what are we to do?

It is clear that we are called to two things: mercy and knowledge of God. And clearly in our Gospel lesson for today, the Pharisees were lacking in both even though they thought they were very knowledgeable.

In our Gospel lesson, the Pharisees are appalled that this great Man, this Prophet of God would associate with sinners. For these Pharisees, the proper response to sinners was to stone them or to shun them, and they had a legitimate reason to do so.

The Law is very strict, and the Old Testament has passages which would support the idea that we should shun sinners. Even Saint Paul cautions against associating with the sinner in his first Epistle to the Corinthians:

“I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one know not to eat.” [Chap. 5]

And it is true that as humans we are easily influenced by the sinful. Lot was affected by his time in Sodom, and we are affected by those whose sins are attractive to us. But Christ is different from the rest of us. And what Christ was pointing out to the Pharisees was the hypocrisy endemic with them:

And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

Christ calls all of us to reach out to the sinner, to show him mercy as God shows us mercy, to show the sinner the love of God by our actions. We are to keep ourselves separate from the world but still in the world. This is not an easy task. In fact, it is impossible for us and our fallen nature. I can guarantee that we will all sin. But what we do with that situation is almost as important as the sin itself.

Years at the gym has given me insight into human nature. There are basically three peek periods when people rush to join the gym. They are right after New Year, right after the weather starts turning nice and summer is fast approaching, and in the fall, just before the start of school. The first two times are self-evident as to why people decide to start going to the gym, but the last one I suspect is a reflection of our society. Being for years conditioned that the start of the school year is in the fall, many of us view it as a second New Years. And many find, with the return of their children to school and a routine, an opportunity to get back to the gym.

However, very few stick with the new program. The fall off rate is very quick, especially at 5 a.m. which is when I get to the gym. And what separates the few that stick with the program and those that give up is when they have their first slip. Those who never return are those who give up and give in at this first slip. Those who stick with it, take it in stride, deal with the interruptions and the set-backs, but continue to start up again. In other words, they “get back up onto the horse” after they fall.

This is a perfect analogy to us and sin. God knows we will sin; He knows that we may have great intentions, but we are weak and fail fairly regularly. Rather, what God wants to see is two things. First, He wants to see that we do NOT give up. We must get back up, onto the horse and try again. But the second is as important as the first. God expects us to be empathetic with those who are still in sin. We are to realize that we are as sinful and should not be casting stones. We are to say to them, “Hey, I am no better than you. In fact, I may even be worse.”

This is the mercy that God seeks in us. This is what is more precious than sacrifice. It is an act of grace. It is an act of charity. It is an act of love. It is an act of mercy. And every one of us Christians is called to do this.

I was once told that a church without sinners is an empty church. And I believe this is absolutely correct. Every Christian church should be a place where sinners are welcomed and loved. The old Catholic saying credited to Thomas Aquinas rings true. We are to hate the sin, but love the sinner. We expect everyone to try their best to amend their lives, but we are also to show mercy and forgiveness.

This is a tall order for us. To be merciful is not as easy as being judgmental. Being loving is not as easy as being suspicious. But if we are truly God’s people, if we truly want to demonstrate to the world that we are Christians, then we MUST show mercy to all sinners, and welcome them back home with God in our church.

Amen.



Sermon: June 1st, 2008
Following the Spirit of the Law.

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” [Romans 3:28]

In Ancient Israel, after the reign of Solomon, the Kingdom of Israel was split in two. The Northern Kingdom of Israel which consisted of ten tribes, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah, which consisted of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, as well as the priestly tribe of Levi. The Northern Kingdom fell into apostasy first and was destroyed. These tribes are still referred to as the Ten Lost Tribes. The Southern Kingdom later fell into apostasy and was taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Eventually, these three tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi were allowed to return and rebuild Jerusalem.

The Jewish people while still in Babylon credited the destruction of the two kingdoms to their disobedience to God’s Law:

“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.”

When the Jewish people returned from exile, they vowed to never again bring God's wrath upon themselves for disobeying His Law. The problem was that, not only did they try to follow all 613 laws contained in the first Five Books of the Bible, they started adding new laws.

The Torah is the first Five books of Moses. There are 365 negative laws and 248 positive laws. The Talmud, which was developed in Babylon, is ostensibly the interpretation of these laws in every conceivable situation. Although the Talmud was an oral tradition until after the birth of Christ, as new situations arose, new interpretations were added. Today, the Talmud is a multivolume encyclopedia of rules and regulations.

As the Jewish people returned to Judea and rebuilt their civilization, they adopted an absolute adherence to the letter of the Law. Legalism became rampant. And one of the oddest developments was the use of phylacteries. Phylacteries are little boxes containing passages from the Torah that are tied to the forehead. These developed directly from the Old Testament passage for today:

“Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.”

On its face, this passage is clear. God was not calling for phylacteries. Rather, He wanted His people to constantly remember and follow His Laws. Yet, even with this commitment to the Law, Judah was invaded and occupied again, first by the Greeks and then by the Romans. And under the Roman Empire, the Second Temple was destroyed. The Law did not save Israel.

What is clear is that the law cannot save. There is something much deeper and much more important. It is something that the original Kingdoms failed to do, and it is something that the descendants of the Babylonian conquest failed to see. And it is Saint Paul, a well-educated Pharisee who started out as an avid persecutor of the early Christians, that saw and revealed to us what these early Jewish people did not see. St. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans:

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

I submit that there is basically one reason why the Kingdom of Israel divided and was destroyed and why the legalism fostered by the returning tribes didn’t save. The reason is that both groups were worshipping other gods. With the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the people were worshipping idols. With the returning captives, eventually they started to worship the letter of the Law and not the God behind it. In other words, they obliterated the spirit of the Law, and God was lost in the minutia of the details.

Worshipping other gods is something that is clearly against God’s commandment. Yet, we see humankind constantly falling into this trap. We have people pulled to other religions because of the promise of self-fulfillment or self-control. I remember talking to a friend whose family came from Korea. She told me that she really didn’t believe in God, but that if she were to ever join a religion, she would probably become Buddhist. And the reason for this choice? She felt it was a guiltless religion.

People do not want to know their failings. They do not want to know that they are sinful. They want to believe that, by and large, they are pretty good. The other thing is that people want to be in charge. They want to be in control of their destinies. They want to achieve their own salvation. That is why many people are attracted to eastern mysticism, Gnosticism, and witchcraft. It gives them a sense that they are in control and that they can save themselves.

We too can fall into this same trap. We sometimes feel that we are saving ourselves by some of our actions. We may believe that if we do enough charity, fast enough or pray enough, we will be saved. But these actions do not save. Only our faith in Christ can save us. Rather, these other things are acts of love; acts to show our love of God to God. But they cannot save.

And we too can worship false idols. An idol can be anything that we place above God. It may be power; it may be success; it may be the Laws and regulations of the Church. It may even be a loved one. Remember that Abraham had to prove his love for God by being willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Are we prepared to do the same? I doubt if God will ever ask us to do so, but are we willing to put God above everything and everyone else?

Becoming legalistic is a particular sin to which most orthodox Christians are more susceptible. It is easy to take something that is to help us and turn it into something with which we worship or use to condemn others.

Look at phylacteries. Christ never condemned the use of these devises. And let’s face it, if you want to be constantly reminded that you are to follow God’s commandments, wouldn’t tying a box to your forehead be a great reminder? But the problem with this is two-fold. The first is that some people may think that just by tying a box to their head they are laying up God’s words in their heart and soul, that they are binding them to their hands, and that they are ever in front of their eyes. Christ’s condemnation of the Pharisees was that they were hypocritical with this issue:

“But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues"

The Pharisees used these devises to prove that they were better than anyone else. They did not follow the Law, but they made all the appearances that they were very holy and very devoted to the Law. And they would criticize anyone who did not follow the letter of the Law. The Pharisees had all the appearance but none of the substance of faith. They knew the Law but did not understand the spirit behind the Law:

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

No wonder the Pharisees wanted to condemn Christ for violating the law when he healed someone on the Sabbath day. We must constantly be on the guard that we do not substitute the letter of the law for the spirit.

The second problem is that, after a while, a devise like a phylactery either becomes a superstition or it loses it’s effectiveness to remind. When it becomes a superstition, then we worship the thing and forget what it represents. It becomes a talisman, a good-luck charm.

If it doesn’t become a charm, it soon loses its effectiveness. On my truck I have a bumper sticker regarding the Anglican Province of America. I am a terrible driver, and I placed the sticker on my truck with great trepidation. I did not want, by my driving, to give people cause to hate the APA. BUT, I thought, maybe knowing the sticker was on my truck would keep me from doing foolish things. And, initially it did. But the effectiveness wore out quickly. It is time to remove the bumper sticker!

For us Christians, it is important to remember that the Law just condemns; it does not save. What saves is our belief in Christ. Therefore, we are not subject to the Law. Let me repeat, we are not subject to the Old Testament Law. Rather, we use the Law to help us to understand what God wants. And the only way we can understand God’s desire for us is to go BEYOND the Law to the Spirit behind the Law.

Every first Sunday we recite the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. It gives us a framework. But more important than the Decalogue is the Summary of the Law that comes after it. Here we begin to see the spirit of the Law. To honor our parents is not enough. We are to love all our neighbors as ourselves. And to have no other idols is not enough, we are to love God with ALL our heart, soul, mind, AND body.

Christ gives us in our Gospel lesson for today a hard lesson:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”

It is not enough to say we believe in Jesus, we must truly believe. It is not enough to say the Nicene Creed, we must believe what it contains. And it is not enough to say we follow God’s Laws, we must understand the Spirit of those Laws, realize that we can never truly follow them and throw ourselves on the mercy of the Lord. We MUST have faith, and we MUST show mercy to all of those whom we believe may be astray – not because we are better than they, but because we know we are equally sinful.

I pray that everyone will agree that we are all sinners, and that we are all brothers. Let us welcome everyone who comes to worship God at our church. Let us respect the various opinions that may be at our church, and let us pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us all to the Truth. And above all, let us ask that God send us the Holy Spirit so that we may love God with all our being and that we may love one another as Christ loves us.


Amen.
- posted by Rev. Michael Penfield @ 10:09 AM

 
Sermon: May 18th, 2008
Being Created in God’s Image

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” [Genesis 1:26a]

Today is Trinity Sunday, a time when we recite the Creed of St. Athanasius, and a time we remember one of our fundamental beliefs as Christians: our belief that God, though one, is also three persons. This is what we call the Blessed Trinity; and this belief distinguishes us as orthodox Christians from those who are not.

Now, Jesus made it perfectly clear that God is a Triune God, when Christ gave His disciples the great commission:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

But, it is also interesting how many of the Old Testament lessons reveal this very unusual nature of God. And no where is this concept hinted at as in our Genesis lesson for today. It is revealed in a very subtle way in the fact that mankind is created in God’s image. And as we discuss this issue, we will also be verifying why our belief in the Blessed Trinity makes sense.

Although Man is a fallen creature and everything he does and thinks is corrupted by this nature, the divine in man shines through in many instances and in many ways. And we can gleam from some of this an imperfect image of God. And yet as imperfect as our image of God is in each of US, let us not forget Jesus. In Him, we see most clearly the divine for He is both God and Man.

Let us start with God’s creation of mankind:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Later on in Genesis, we have the specific account of Adam and Eve, and the very important revelation that mankind fell into sin by our free choice. We also have the account of Eve being created from Adam’s rib.

At Sunday School, they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Timmy seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam’s ribs. Later in the week, his mother noticed him lying down as though he were ill. She said, “Timmy, what is the matter?” Little Timmy responded, “I have a pain in my side. I think I’m going to have a wife.”

The first thing we can note in our passage for today is that God is referred to in the plural. We read, “Let Us” and “in Our image.” In this passage, God starts to reveal His nature. He is One, and yet He is three Persons. He is singular, and yet He is plural. We may not fully grasp the concept, but that does not mean it is not true. It just means that we are not ready to fully understand it yet.

But the second thing we should note is this very important but brief line:

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

When I do marriage counseling or when I give a brief sermon at weddings, I mention this phrase. It is crucial in understanding how two people become one during marriage, and it also explains how we humans are created in the image of God. In this passage is revealed that, when God created mankind, He created it in His image; but then it says that He created THEM male and female. What is revealed here is that God’s image is split between the man and the woman. Although both are created in God’s image, neither is a complete image. The men have one aspect of God and the women have another. This image is not made whole until a man and a woman are wed.

Now, I know what most of you must be thinking. You are probably thinking of that married couple who are more sparring partners than helpmates, those whose relationships are more toxic than healthy, and those who seem to create there own hell on earth. But remember, when we read this passage of Genesis, it is before the fall. The ideal marriage would create a true image of God if we were not fallen creatures. But because of the fall, even the most ideal marriage falls short of this perfect image.

However, I submit, in a loving marriage where God is an intimate part of the relationship, we see most closely the nature of our God as a Triune God.

If both men and women have aspects of the divine, complimentary aspects, but different aspects, then when they are married, they become one. The halves are united by love. Love thus becomes an important component. It IS what makes two people one. Without it, you still have two separate entities. And this too reveals something very crucial as to the nature of God that also supports our belief in the Holy Trinity.

We say that God is love, but love cannot exist unless there is someone TO love. Let me repeat, there must be another to love in order to have love. Without that other, then love cannot exist. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that God, though One, is made up of Three Persons. Each Person eternally loves each other Person. Only in this way could God be love.

Likewise, a marriage cannot contain love without two people. Thus one person cannot marry himself because, no matter how narcissistic he may be, it is not true love unless it is with another person.

And there is one more aspect of marriage that makes it truly a complete image of God. In a marriage, as oppose to a civil union which incorrectly has been given the same name of “marriage” by our society, in marriage, God is invited into the relationship. Both the husband and wife want God to be in their marriage and specifically ask Him to be there. When this is done, two things happen. First, the husband and wife truly become one flesh.

As you all know, I am half Italian. The Italians took this notion that, when a couple was married they became one, very literally. I remember that my great aunt and uncle did not have separate plates and glasses when they ate. They had one plate that was like a small platter and one glass that was more of a goblet. They would eat from the same plate and drink from the same glass because they WERE one flesh. Thus, anyone who marries, though they may no longer eat from the same plate, nonetheless BECOMES one.

The second thing that happens when a couple invites God into their marriage is that they become a trinity of sorts. There are three in this one flesh: there is the husband; there is the wife; and there is God.

In the nature of our being is planted the revelation of God’s nature. That nature was made more clear and concrete through His Son, Jesus, but those same seeds of revelation still exist within us. We ARE created in God’s image, but only partially. When we join with someone, that image of God becomes more complete. But when we marry, when we invite God into our union, then that image is as complete as we can ever hope to achieve in this very imperfect, fallen world.

Amen.



Sermon: May 4th, 2008
Being Shameless Christians

“Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” [John 17:11]

We Christians who live in this country are very blessed. Unlike our brothers and sisters in the Sudan or in Nigeria or in China, we do not feel the persecutions that they feel. We worship and observe our faith comfortably without real fear of retribution. But, as a Christian, we also know that this may change, and I would submit IS changing. And we must always be prepared to accept our persecutions with grace, and without compromise.

In our Baptismal service, when the priest blesses the person and receives him or her in the congregation, he prays:

WE receive this Child (Person) into the congregation of Christ's flock; and do sign him with the sign of the Cross, in token that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end. Amen.

This blessing does not exist in this form in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. Instead, it is broken into two parts. And the part of the prayer that asks that he not be “ashamed” to confess Christ crucified or to “manfully” fight against sin, the world, and the devil has been removed. Now the pertinent part of the prayers read:

WE receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.

In part, these changes were made because of a belief that the term “manfully” is sexist. In part, these changes were made because there was a thought that the other terms were too war-like. But, whether you like the changes or not, in truth, these changes have had an unforeseen consequence. These changes serve to neuter our faith.

I submit that in our society “shame” has become a powerful tool used against those who believe in Christ. Some of this has been self-inflicted. Those who have proclaimed themselves Christian have done some outrageous things, being intolerant of other Christians, and being intolerant of others in our society.

I have told this story before, but there was a man high up on the Golden Gate Bridge, contemplating suicide. A man walking by noticed and tried to talk him down. He asked the jumper, “Are you a Christian?” The man said, “Yes.” “Me too! What kind of Christian? Are you Orthodox, Catholic or Protestant?” The jumper answered, “Protestant.” “Me too! What kind of Protestant? Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostal?” The man who was thinking of jumping answered “Pentecostal.” The other man got more excited, “Me too!” Are you an initial evidence or a third wave Pentecostal?” “Initial evidence.” “Me too! What kind of evidence? Are you an AOG, CRC, COC, CCC?” “AOG” was the man’s response. “Me too! Are you Premillenial, Post Millenial, or Amillenial?” The guy on the bridge said, “Amillenial,” and with that, the passer-by, becoming very angry, screamed, “Die heretic!” and pushed him off the bridge.

Many Christians forget what St. Augustine is credited with saying, “In essentials, conformity; in non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.” But, as bad as this type of Christian may be, and as justified as this shame may be, this type of person, fortunately is actually very rare.

However, there are many in our society that have turned this type of Christian into a stereotype. Many of those who are the first to cry out against other stereotypes will perpetuate this one. Writers use this stereotype to further their plots in books, in plays, and in movies as Elizabethans used Jewish stereotypes to further their plots back then. And, as a result, we have two problems. We have some new Christians that think this is appropriate behavior. And we have other Christians that have become ashamed to profess their belief for fear that they will be seen as this bigoted stereotype.

If shame is the worse that our society can do to us because of our faith, then we are truly blessed. But let us NOT underestimate the power of shame. It can destroy our faith as surely as the lion’s den or the gallows can destroy our bodies. And it is twice as insidious, and three times as effective.

Because of shame, there are those in Seminaries teaching their students that such beliefs as the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, and the Ascension are superstitions. They also teach that, to believe that Christ is the only way, is the height of arrogance and perpetuates the stereotypical image of the Christian. These professors do not want to be seen as ignorant or unsophisticated. They are ASHAMED of their faith. And as a result, they are destroying it through their teaching.

Likewise, when a new Christian adopts this stereotype because they know no better, they help to make the stereotype a reality. These people do this out of ignorance. But they must heed what Saint Peter tells us in his Epistle for today:

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.

Look at one of the chief crimes about which St. Peter speaks: Murderer, thief, evildoer, or busybody! If all Christians keep this in mind, the stereotype will die. If we think twice before we do evil or butt into other people’s lives, many of the hypocrisies that we see among Christians would be greatly reduced.

Then St. Peter makes this very important statement:

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

Finally, there are all of us. We feel shame at times and in ways that is hard to explain. Some feel shame if we tell our child that they cannot participate in a game because it is on Sunday. Some feel shame at work when they appear with a smudge of ash on their forehead. Some feel shame if they take off a day of work to attend Good Friday services. And yet, we should not.

When I was a boy, Roman Catholics felt some persecutions. Before I was born, when a Roman Catholic went to college, they had to declare their faith. As a result, some were excluded from the school, a fraternity, or a sorority just because they were RC. I remember being told that we worshipped statues or that we worshipped Mary instead of Jesus. And I remember being the butt of jokes because we did not eat meat on Friday, or because we said the Rosary, or because we did not wash our faces properly on Ash Wednesday. Those of you who are my age or older will even remember that Kennedy almost was NOT elected because of fears that many had about having a Roman Catholic in the White House.

But Roman Catholics were not the only ones persecuted. Jewish people, Protestants, and Muslims have all felt these attacks. And notice all these persecutions have one thing in common. They are all aimed to create shame in those who believe. And they are most effective on the young.

Our lessons for today are to teach us a great lesson. We are NEVER to be ashamed of being a Christian. And we should not be ashamed of the particular branch of faith that we belong. This does not mean we ridicule those of other Christian faiths. In fact, it is the exact opposite. If they subscribe to the orthodox tenets of the faith, specifically those things contained in the three great Creeds, then we are to have great charity toward them. We are to have great love for them. But, if this is the particular and peculiar way we worship, then it is a fact worth stating.

But primarily let us remember that we are to teach our children these great lessons. They are the ones most affected. They are the ones who feel the peer pressure. They are the ones usually in the front lines. And this is hard for any adult to handle, especially parents. We are more than happy to sustain the ridicule, but we do not want to see our children hurt or ridiculed. We want to protect them. And here is our weak link, our chink in our armor of faith.

Let us not give in to this pressure of shame. Instead, we need to arm our children. We must let them know that the pressure placed on them to conform is wrong and evil. And we should let them know that Christ Himself gives us great assurance that we are truly loved:

“Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”

And please know that these great traumas in childhood actually help to make these children stronger, not only in their personal integrity and character, but also in their faith.

Let me repeat, let us commit right now not to give in the pressure of shame. We must remember that as Christians, we are to love, not only our fellow Christians, but also those who do NOT believe. We are to show respect. And we are even to love our persecutors, our detractors, and our enemies. But, let us also stand tall and proud in our faith. Let us not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and let us manfully fight under Christ’s banner, against sin, the world, and the devil.
Amen.
- posted by Rev. Michael Penfield @ 7:54 AM

 
Sermon: April 20th, 2008
Being Authentic Christians

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” [St. John 14:1]

Our lesson for today continues with the theme we started last week, namely how do we show to the world our confidence in our Faith. In our lesson for today, we deal with how we show that we are truly Christian, and not some false image.

When my sister was in high school, air conditioned cars were a real status symbol. So she and her friends decided on this particular hot summer day in D.C. to role up their windows and pretend they had air conditioning. Needless to say, the red faces and the perspiration rolling down probably gave them away. When cellular phones first came out, it also was a status symbol. There was an article in the paper at this time advertising a fake cellular antenna. It cost nineteen dollars, but looked just like the real thing and could be stuck on a car’s rear window. Do you know that two hundred thousand people bought these fake antennas?

In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus does not mince words. His words are powerful and straightforward. There is no way to skirt what is contained in this Gospel lesson short of denying that it was ever said:

Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

And later in the same passage, Christ says:

“Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

What is equally interesting is our Lesson from the Acts of the Apostles. Here we see something very important. Saint Paul was an effective evangelist, not because he appealed to emotions or feelings, but rather because he could prove the legitimacy of his claims regarding Christ:

And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

Some people in Thessalonica and many in Berea came to believe, not because of some emotionalism or some “feel good” message, but rather through reasoned discussion surrounding Holy Scripture. Through Scripture, Saint Paul was able to convince those in the synagogue that Jesus was the Christ and that He had to die and rise again.

There is no doubt – Christ is God Incarnate. He is part of God in what we call the Holy Trinity. And equally there is no doubt that Christ is the way, the truth and the life. If we truly believe this, it becomes imperative that we become true Christians, and not some reasonable facsimile thereof. But then we must ask ourselves, what does it mean to be authentic Christians?

To be authentic Christians, we must, first, keep God’s commandments – not the letter of the law, but rather the spirit of the law. And that spirit is summarized by Christ when He told us:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Then to these commandments, Christ added a “new” commandment. This commandment comes from Christ and therefore comes directly from God. We may even call it the Eleventh Commandment:

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

In other words, all the laws and all the commandments can be summarized by one word: LOVE. We are to love God, and we are to love one another. It seems simple, but is it?

As I have grown older, I have grown leery of the person who constantly talks of love. I have found that in most cases, these people talk a good talk but poorly practice what they preach. I have also grown cynical of the churches that do the same, which is a real shame. Love is an essential component of our Christianity. It is an important part in all that we do. And yet, the talk seems to have gone too far. So much talk with little action makes us weary of the whole thing, and even jaded. I fear that our children have heard so much talk about love that they no longer believe it.

But notice what Christ said. He did not say talk of nothing but love until all are nauseated by it. He said, “As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

The commandment is not to talk about love but to actually love one another. We are to show our love by our actions, not our words.

The problem with most of us is that we are so concerned with justice that we forget love. Here is the constant tension between the letter of the law and the spirit. Many of us do not want to love unless we are loved. We want to love back in precisely the same amount and to the same degree as we are loved. If we are not loved, we do not want to love. If we are loved, then we still do not want to be the “chump” who loves more than the other person.

But Christ wants us to move beyond justice. He wants us not only to love those who love us, but also to love those who do not. In fact, He wants us to love even those who abuse us; He wants us to love our enemies.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I find this very hard to do. How do we love those who care less about us, let alone those who hate us, and yet not be hypocrites? I do not know exactly how, but I also know there are those who have done precisely this. There are those who have loved and forgiven the most heinous of acts. Many of those who survived Auschwitz and the other concentration camps learned to forgive because, if they didn’t, they would never move beyond their hatred.

Many Christian missionaries and saints have also learned to love their enemies. In our lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, we have Saint Paul and the others being abused by those who wanted to stop them. But as Saint Paul knew, the best way to show their faith is to do what Christ would do. Loving their enemies IS a very powerful way to demonstrate Christ in their actions.

And here is the rub; here is the reason why Christ commands us to love instead of just requesting it:

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Love is our primary witness to the world that we are Christians. People may or may not know how often we go to church or to which charities we have given or whether our faith is important to us. And people will not assume that we are good Christians just because we go to church, or know the Bible, or wear a cross around our necks. What they will look for is how we love.

If we cannot love our families and our neighbors, if we cannot love people of every shape and size and color and background, our Christian faith will be seen as a fraud. We will be seen as hypocrites, and we will serve as a misrepresentation of Christ.

So how are we to foster this incredible love? Well, the truth is that our ability to love is derived precisely from our relationship with Christ. We can love because He first loves us:

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”

This is critical for our understanding. Love cannot exist outside of others. There must be two in order to love properly. Love is something that is passed from one person to another. Fathers and Mothers pass their love to their children. And the children pass their love to their spouses and their children. And we as Christian feel the love of God through Christ. We therefore have a duty to pass God’s love on to others in this world.

But in order to become authentic Christians, we must also have confidence IN this love. We must have confidence that God DOES love us. We must be able to be so confident in this fact that our hearts ARE at peace. And we must have confidence that what we do is right, that we are not foolish in loving our enemies, but that we are doing what God wants us to do.

Christianity is not an instantaneous thing. We are not non-Christians one moment and Christians the next. Our faith is a journey of constant growth, one where sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail, but always we learn. It is also one of great love. If we truly love God and are confident in His love for us, we too will be able to love. And in time, we will be able to show that we are authentic Christians by how well we love one another.

Amen.


Sermon: April 13th, 2008
Being Confident Vessels.

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. [Acts 6:7]

Often, from our Gospel Lesson for today, I will speak about the necessity for us to believe in Christ. But today, I do not want to speak regarding our faith. I assume that everyone who is here IS here precisely because they DO believe. The belief may be in various capacities and at different stages of development, but it is here. Rather, what I wish to address is our confidence in our faith.

There are two things that virtually all historians agree upon with regards to the Apostles. The first is that all the Apostles absolutely believed that Jesus had been raised from the dead. The historians may dispute if this belief was based on fact or delusion, but it is clear that the Apostles did believe in the Resurrection.

The second thing that virtually all historians believe is that something dramatic occurred on Pentecost that changed the Apostles and the other disciples. Very few historians give credence to the belief that it was the Holy Spirit, but all believe something happened. For us who do believe, however, it is clear that when the Holy Ghost descended, all who were there were filled with His presence and filled with confidence.

Remember that, when the Apostles first found out that Christ had risen, they lacked confidence. They knew the truth of what had happened on that first Easter morning, but they were also very much afraid. What would others think? Would others think they had stolen the body? Would others think they were just plain crazy? Would the others have them arrested or even executed? We know from our Gospel accounts that all these things were going through their minds, and as a result, they were hiding.

But the Holy Ghost gave these men the confidence that they needed to proclaim the Gospel, to claim that Jesus was the Christ, God’s only begotten Son, that He died for our sins, and that the ONLY way to obtain eternal life was through belief in Him. Let me repeat: ONLY through our faith in Christ can we have eternal life!

Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

The message from our lessons for today for each of us is that we also must have confidence in our beliefs.

I had a professor in Law School who gave our commencement speech. It was the best I have ever heard. He told the story of two men, one with little confidence and one with great confidence. The first was his father, an inventor who came up with a formula he called “No Eczema.” His father had such little confidence in his invention that he sold it for $50. That invention became Noxzema and made millions.

The other was a young man writing his paper for his MBA. He wrote about a scheme where he would have a fleet of planes for over-night delivery. The professor gave him a C+ with the comment written on it that the scheme was unworkable. This young man did not believe his professor. He had confidence in his idea, and he went on to create Federal Express.

The only difference between these two men was the confidence that they had in themselves and in their ideas. Without that confidence, one man ended in failure; with confidence another ended up proving others wrong. And like the man who founded Federal Express, we too need to develop real confidence, not in ourselves but in our faith:

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.

There are some who will say that, if we say Christ is the only way, we are being judgmental or arrogant. First, as I have said before, we are NEVER to judge others. We have no idea who God will accept into heaven and who He will reject. Only God knows our hearts. But this does NOT mean we abandon our belief in the unique role of Christ in history.

He Himself has told us on several occasions and in several ways that He is the Way, the Truth, the Life and that no one reaches the Father but through Him. We either believe that or not. If we do, then it is our duty to spread that truth. If we do not, then we are on the slippery slope of picking and choosing what we believe and what we reject solely because it is less uncomfortable.

We are to express our belief. We are to express our faith not only in how we act, but also in how we speak. And we are to let others know how we believe, not with arrogance or in a demeaning manner, but with humble confidence. We are not to speak timidly or shamefully, but with absolute confidence that our beliefs are true, not just for us, but for everyone everywhere and always.

One of the few Christian faiths that have been quite successful in their ecumenical discussions has been the Eastern Orthodox Churches. When asked, one of their prelates who had participated in the discussions stated that he never started with an apology. He never shied away from his beliefs. But rather, he stated them respectfully, but without compromise. He said that, for true dialogue, this truthful statement of faith was essential. And because of this, the Orthodox faith has gained respect from non-Christian faiths.

There are still others who will point to the Biblical passages regarding Pentecost and say that it was unique – which is true. They will say that these Apostles and disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, and given extraordinary powers – which is also true. But then they will conclude that it is therefore different for us, and this is NOT true.

The truth is that we receive the Holy Ghost at least once and often twice in our lifetimes. The first is during Baptism. The second is during Confirmation. Then, we are constantly strengthened by the Holy Ghost each and every time we receive Holy Communion. To claim that we are not bestowed with the same gifts is self-evident. But gifts are bestowed upon us, none the less. And one of the gifts is confidence.

In our society where everything is pronounced as being relative, it is hard to stand for something. If one person’s truth is not the same as another’s, if one person’s view of the world is as valid as any one else’s, it is hard to proclaim the Gospel. It is hard to say that there is an objective truth as absolute as the truth anyone would find stepping in front of a speeding bus or car. But this truth is not ascertainable empirically. It is through revelation. But if we truly believe it to be true, we must state it. And we must state it with confidence – confidence in the knowledge that it IS true.

It is in our confidence that others will start seeing the truth. It is in our confidence that others will come to Christ. We must have confidence in our faith and practice it accordingly, loving our enemies, helping the stranger among us, worshipping God, and proclaiming that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah to a lost world. And in the end, it will be God who will convert those who come to Christ, not us. But without a confident vessel, the message will be lost. Let us not lose the message. Let us BE confident vessels of God’s Grace.

Amen.

Sermon: March 30th, 2008
Having a Faith That Is Not Blind.

Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” [John 20:29]

As many of you know, I came to Christ when I was about 21 years old. I had been an avowed atheist, and made fun of those who did believe. When I came to believe in the Lord, the conversion was very dramatic. It was the classic “born again” scenario. But some of my friends never went through that experience. They seemed to never question their faith, never challenged their belief. It almost looked as though they were just following habits without choosing their faith – without truly choosing Christ. Soon, one of my concerns involved the people I had known who were not technically “born again.”

I began to wonder whether people who do not go through a “born again” experience like me were really saved or were they just fooling themselves by going through the motions of faith. In time, I realized I had made a huge mistake.

I began to understand that not all people go through great crises of faith, but that does not mean that their faith has never been challenged. I began to understand that not all people have to make a dramatic profession of faith, but that does not mean they don’t make any profession. And finally I began to understand that not all people have to make a radical change in their life, but that does not mean their faith hasn’t changed their lives.

When I look at our Gospel Lesson of Doubting Thomas, it is clear that the message is one regarding the necessity for faith. But it is also clear that the other ten Apostles are not hallmarks OF faith:

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

“THEN the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” This is a powerful statement. It is clear that Christ had to show his hands and side in order to convince the disciples who He was. They needed this evidence to believe He is Christ. But isn’t this exactly what Thomas required? The disciples seem to be no better than Thomas, yet Thomas gets chastised. The reason may be because Thomas’ doubt was more of a challenge than a need for evidence:

Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

This reminds me of the story of Isaac Asimov, the science fiction writer. Dr. Asimov was an atheist, even though he tried not to advertise this fact. Asimov was a man of great wit and intelligence, but once on national television, he was caught off guard. David Frost asked him point blank about his views on God. Reluctant to admit his atheism to a large television audience, he stalled by asking, “Whose [God]?” Frost would not be put off. He said, “I mean the Judeo-Christian God of Western tradition. You know that very well, Dr. Asimov.” Asimov stalled again. “I haven’t given it much thought.” But Frost still would not relent. He responded, “I don’t believe that. I’m sure a person of your wide knowledge and attainments would have sought to find God.” Whereupon Asimov replied, “God is smarter than I am. Let Him try to find me.” In the ensuing laughter, the subject was dropped, but this is not the end of the story.

Asimov believed that God, if He existed, would not mind an honest atheist, but would probably object to an atheist who was a wise guy. The interview with Frost had been taped. Asimov began to wonder what would happen when his wise crack was aired. He found out. For twenty-one years Asimov had suffered occasionally from the pain associated with having kidney stones. The day his interview appeared on television, Asimov had his worst attack. He wrote later, “There’s no use trying to describe the bitter, unrelenting pain one experiences in such an attack. All I could do was clutch my abdomen, stagger about, and gasp, ‘All right, God. You’ve found me. Now let me go.’”

This seemed to be the same type of situation with Thomas. It wasn’t that it was an honest doubt, but rather that Thomas was being a wise guy. However, to Thomas’ great credit, when his doubts were discredited, he believed absolutely:

Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

Getting back to my friends who never went through as dramatic a conversion as I, although there may be some people who just go through the motions, I really believe that there comes a time for each of us to make a choice. We choose to believe. It may be as dramatic as my conversion, or it may be as forthright as Christian’s choice last week to be Baptized, or it may be as simple as one day realizing that what we said we believed, we really DO believe. Each of these is a real choice to follow Christ, and, I would submit, as valid as any “born-again’s” choice.

So what does this mean to us? What does the lesson of doubting Thomas teach? Does it teach us that faith never means questioning? Absolutely not. God gave us intellect to use it. He even warned us about wolves in sheep clothing precisely because He wants us to use our intellect. But “intellectual” is not synonymous with “sophisticated.” Those who write off God do so, not because of their use of intellect – even though that is what they want you to believe – but rather based on the sophisticated belief that “no one using their brain could possibly believe in a God.”

I said it once and I will say it again – it takes a lot of faith to be an atheist. To be an atheist, one has to have absolute faith in probability, that if you have enough monkeys in front of enough typewriters, one WILL produce “Gone With the Wind.” One has to believe that, with enough planets, one WILL produce living organisms. And with enough planets with living organisms, one WILL produce intelligent life. And one can NEVER ask, “What came before the Big Bang?”

But belief in God is NOT a blind faith. Let me repeat this: belief in God is NOT a blind faith. It is based on the life, the miracles, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. It is based on the first-hand testimony of people who would rather die than disavow what they saw. It is based on their objective evidence. In the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Peter tells us:

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it…This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.”

Those who do not believe have nothing that refutes this testimony. Rather, they use something quite sophisticated but not very logical or intellectual. They argue that it cannot happen because it is impossible. This is a bad, circular argument. The argument is this, since it cannot happen, it did not happen, because it has to be ‘possible’ for it to occur. In other words, they start out by defining the act as impo