As the season of Trinity winds down to the end of the Christian year, we are increasingly drawn by our readings into a discussion of the end times. The epistle today gives us an uncompromising view of the end as John describes greetings from the king of kings and lord of lords who is Jesus Christ, the firstborn of all creation, the head of the church and the author of our salvation . . .
“Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.”
It isn’t until this generation, our generation, the generation of information and of Ipads and Iphones that this verse has in anyway been remotely possible throughout the history of mankind . . . for in these last days it is now entirely possible for ‘every eye to see him . . . and that on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail’. For John’s vision was one of the far distant future where ominous happenings in the world would foretell the coming of the Lord from the highest heaven to reclaim his bride, who is the Church, the true church . . . the Church that has kept the faith and is waiting in prayerful expectation for the Lord’s return . . . who is the the King of Glory.
And as David, the proclaimed in Psalm 24 . . .
1The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
2for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
3Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
4The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
5They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior.
6Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.
7Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
9Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty—he is the King of glory.
And so today we celebrate the Christ – the King of Glory as we await his second coming and as the Jews await his first, for when the Jews see the marks of the nails on his hands and feet, the veil that has blinded them will be removed and they will see with second sight that which has been denied them throughout their generations, that is that Jesus Christ is in fact Yeshua Messhia, the messiah for whom they have been waiting for all of their generations.
And so the disciples’ question from last weeks gospel remains – “When will these things take place, and what are the signs that will accompany the end?”
There are today so many signs pointing to the end of the Age of Grace that we can hardly see the road upon which we are traveling as we move ever closer to Christ the King coming for his bride. I personally believe that something big is about to happen and it is going to be so spectacular that it is beyond our ability to comprehend. I can only give you in this sermon a hint of what is happening today (just from reading the newspaper last week) and what its consequences may be for the future of us all.
The earth has literally begun to groan as it longs to be free of the curse that was pronounced upon it when Adam and Eve first sinned again God. Strange unidentified sounds coming from no apparent source or direction continue to be reported all over the world today. The sounds are described as heavy scraping, to groaning, to booms or explosions, to a continuous hum.
Freakish weather has become the new “normal.” We are told by our government that we are experiencing global warming, however I can tell you unequivocally that the weather is not being caused by global warming. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that data actually shows we are now experiencing a cooling trend, and a recent report shows that global warming actually ended 16 years ago. The arctic this year saw the shortest summer in recorded history.
Rainfall in Iran has decreased by 58 percent as they continue to threaten to destroy Israel. There were 1,122, record cold temperatures recorded in the U.S. during a single week last winter. Natural disasters have displaced 34 million people since 2012 with concurrent years on track to be even worse. Last summer we experienced 34 major wildfires burning across 11 western states and staggering amounts of rainfall in 16 eastern states. Severe heat was felt across the entire nation. Dormant volcanoes throughout the world are coming back to life.
Earthquakes continue worldwide at an alarming rate and have become so common that they are seldom even reported in the news anymore. Just yesterday there were 32 earthquakes, over magnitude 2.5 in just one city in the State of Oklahoma alone.
In the Bible we are given a message of judgment in the last days. The prophet Hosea foretold how the land, itself would mourn: “Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes, along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky; and also the fish of the sea disappear” (Hosea 3:2). There have been 519 known mass animal die-offs that have occurred in 78 countries within the past three years..
Despite all of the current flooding this past year throughout the world fresh water is now becoming scarce. One-third of the world’s population has limited access to clean water. Egypt is ready to go to war with Ethiopia over the Nile. Pakistan is on the verge of a crisis over the lack of drinking water. Sub-Saharan Africa is in particularly dire need. In 20 African countries, more than 30 percent of the population does not have access to safe drinking water.
In chapter 24 of Matthew Jesus told us that there would be signs in the heavens of His Second Coming. This seems very logical since they will be visible to the entire world. There has been a huge up-tick in solar activity, especially in the southern hemisphere of the sun.
NASA tells us the sun will reverse its magnetic polarity within the next few years and the effects will be felt far beyond the orbit of Pluto, which is the farthest planet in our solar system. A high-speed solar wind buffeted the Earth’s magnetic field last summer and this is caused a G-1 geomagnetic storm around the Earth’s poles.
Jesus told us that there would be an increase of evil in the last days. We have witnessed first hand many of the horrible acts on our nightly new casts on the internet. As you know Islam continues to spread throughout the world with a rabid vengeance. The Militant Muslim world continues to demand that the rest of our planet accept Sharia Law with all of its horrors. Radical Islam hates Jews, Christians, and all other religions with a fanatical passion that can only be described as “supernatural.”
When the restraining influence of Christianity is snatched away from the world in the Rapture a single worldwide religion will form in which I believe Islam will play a very major role. Even the leaders of Islam can sense this. Leaders in Iran are, once again, loudly proclaiming that Armageddon is at hand and to prepare for war because the arrival of the Mahdi (the Anti-Christ) is imminent.
Christianity continues to spiral out of control toward extinction in the Middle East and the rest of the Muslim world. Churches, homes, and businesses of Christians in Egypt and Iraq have been stormed and burned.
Christianity is becoming an endangered species in Nigeria where over 100 Christians are murdered each month. Jihad is emptying entire towns in Syria and Iraq. Christian students in Eritrea have been beaten and imprisoned for refusing to renounce Christ. In India five women were publicly beaten for sharing the gospel.
Persecution of Christians here in the U.S. continues to grow in intensity. Ever since the June 26th pro-gay rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, religious persecution of Christians within the United States has increased dramatically. One example would include people who provide services for weddings and have been particularly targeted with horrific fines and even jail time for refusing to provide services for same-sex weddings.
A major sign that the end of the Age of Grace has to be near is the crumbling of fundamental Christian doctrines. Episcopal Church clergy are seen blessing Planned Parenthood abortion clinics and the name of Jesus has become a dirty word in politically correct America as well as the rest of the world.
President Putin of Russia has called for an end to worldwide persecution of Christians, while President Barack Obama has publicly declared that the United States is not a Christian nation and remains silent about worldwide Christian persecution. On July 31st a Muslim Imam opened a session of the United States Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. with an Islamic prayer. A few months ago I watched a story on Fox News showing a small child praying to Obama and praising him for his greatness. I also saw an article about a Facebook post titled, “the Virgin Mary Should Have Aborted.”
Wars and the rumors of wars are one of the major signs we were told to watch for as a sign of the end of the age. Russia recently held the biggest war games in decades, involving 160,000 troops. Well over 4 million people have been displaced, by the fighting in Syria, as the civil war in that nation lingers on. Chemical weapons have been used in the conflict. The fighting in Syria is becoming global as more and more nations send weapons and troops to participate in the fighting.
Last week of course Paris, France suffered immeasurably from multiple attacks on its citizens by ISIS and only yesterday Brussels, Belgium was completely shut down due to an Islamic threat against the people living there.
Signs of an imminent worldwide economic collapse also point to the Rapture occurring at any moment. All of the nations of the world are now bankrupt to one degree or another. Each nation holds the others up in a worldwide Ponzi scheme that could have only existed this long through divine intervention.
When the restraining force of our Lord is removed everything will collapse. The only solution will be a worldwide currency with a mandatory and infallible means of personal identification, such as a biometric scan or an RFID chip.
Right now over 97 percent of the money in the world exists only in the electronic memory of the worlds banking computers. Less than 3 percent of the money in the world is in the form of paper, coins, or bars of precious metal. Traders are talking about a worldwide gold conspiracy and there is evidence to back that up.
In the end times, in order to take over the world: The Antichrist will need to know as much as possible about every single individual. Our government is currently building a mega-data-base on not only all of its citizens, but all of the people of the world. You’ve probably never heard of XKeyscore, but it definitely knows you.
Jesus told us that the Great Tribulation would start at the three and a half year-point of Daniel’s 70th “week” when the Antichrist stands in the Temple and declares himself to be god. Therefore, there will have to be temple for him to stand in. The discussions on rebuilding the Temple are starting to get serious despite severe Islamic objections. The Israeli government is now funding the Temple Mount Institute and other organizations in their efforts to someday very soon rebuild the Temple.
In Revelation Jesus commanded us to watch for His return. He also warned us that if we do not watch He will come upon us as unexpectedly as a thief in the night and if we do not watch, we will not know the day or hour of His return.
Paul told the Thessalonians in his first letter to them to watch for the Lord’s return in the clouds, when the dead in Christ will rise first when the trumpet blows.
The bulk of chapter 24 of the book of Matthew deals with Jesus answer when asked what the signs of his return will be. Chapter 25 contains the parable of the 10 virgins and the importance of watching and being prepared for His return.
Over the centuries there has been much debate as to whether or not we can know the day or hour, but we can certainly know the season. We have that on the highest authority.
Never before in history has there been such an incredible number of signs that something big is about to happen, especially when all of these signs are occurring simultaneously. Many in the unbelieving world react with anger whenever the Rapture is mentioned because it is becoming increasingly impossible to deny.
All of humanity can sense it. Something really, really big is about to happen and it is going to happen very soon. Stockpiling water, food, medicine, and ammunition sounds like good advice, but it is not the answer.
The answer lays in your own heart and where you stand with God. Amen

Part of the problems encountered with our lectionary at times is that sometimes, unbeknownst to you, the listener, a portion of the story gets left out. This may be because of the need for brevity or just because whoever picks the readings decides for all of us that what he believes to be the important part of the story should be the most important to all of us.
Today we have just such an occurrence in our reading from the Book of Ruth. You may remember that in the story of Ruth, Ruth becomes a widow, along with her mother-in-law Naomi, and the two widows set off for the hometown of Naomi’s relatives. The story recounts the raw emotion of a struggle as Ruth commits herself to the unknown with her mother-in-law as they begin their journey to a foreign land. Ruth pledges her life to her friend in one of the most beautiful passages of the Bible as she begs Naomi to let her come with her and face the unknown together . . .
“Do not press me to leave you
or to turn back from following you!
Where you go, I will go;
Where you lodge, I will lodge;
your people shall be my people,
and your God my God.
Where you die, I will die–
there will I be buried.
May the LORD do thus and so to me,
and more as well,
if even death parts me from you!”
The reading this morning insinuates to us that Ruth basically gives herself to Boaz one night and then they have a child. But it is much more complicated than that, For Boaz is a very righteous man who knows that he is not the first in line for the hand of Ruth – that there is another who is involved with the deal. What the readings miss is a crucial point between the lines where Naomi helps to arrange the marriage between Ruth and Boaz so that a land deal might be worked out with Naomi’s relatives. Once the deal is made and Boaz redeems the land he is then obligated to marry the widow of his cousin – who is Ruth. And that is when they have a child together.
And for those of you who don’t know the rest of the story . . . it is to the little town of Bethlehem that Ruth and Naomi travel . . . where Ruth marries Boaz and eventually becomes the great grandmother of Israel’s greatest King . . . David . . . and later of David’s heir Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Son of God.
What makes the the Story of Ruth and Boaz so important to the Biblical narrative is that within their story is another story, not just of love, but a story of the redemption of property that mirrors yet another story in the Book of Revelation at the end of all things. For in the Revelation Story there is yet another property that must be redeemed by a kinsman, a relative of Adam . . . and there is only one who is found in all of heaven and earth who is worthy to open the scroll – which is the deed to the planet earth and it is this person – Jesus the Christ – who reclaims the world and then redeems his people and marries his bride, which is his church.
As Paul writes to day in his letter to the Hebrews “Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” And that is why we call him Lord, for he came to redeem our world and to set us free from sin by way of his own life . . . and his own precious blood.
And so that very shortly now “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
As the Church Year winds down to the end of the year, we are increasingly being drawn in by the readings to a discussion of what our religion really should mean to us. The Gospel of Christ continually begs the question . . . can your faith survive persecution? How strong is your religion in the face of evil and imminent death? Are you ready to die in your convictions to the faith? These are the questions that haunt us at the end of our church year and as well as at the end of our lives.
It has been said, there are no atheists in foxholes on the battlefield. When the bombs are dropping and bullets are flying . . . that is the time when every man finds true religion. It is when life is sweet and safe, and the outlook of the future is secure that one finds people who say “It is vain to serve God. What do we profit by keeping the God’s commandments or by going about as mourners before the Lord of Hosts?” That is . . . Why should we try to remain honest and pure when, indeed, the only ones having any success at all seem to be wicked, evil people?
I can’t think of a time when the words of the scriptures today were more appropriate to our times than now. Within this past year, hundreds and perhaps thousands of Christians throughout the world have been murdered, tortured, raped or brutalized in some way or another for their belief in thr risen Christ. We hear about this news now almost daily in the newspapers or on television.
Paul wrote to us in Colossians . . . “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
The world cannot understand this because the world is lost in error and a slave to the god of this world. It is through the cross of Christ that Christians have already conquered the worse that the world can offer and so whether we live or whether we die it does not matter, for we are, in fact, the Lord’s possession.
But many who are not quite so sure in this belief may ask how do we develop within ourselves and our friends and families this certainty of faith?
John Stott, one of the foremost evangelicals of our day explains that you must learn that. . . Belief doesn’t come first. One begins with entering in to the experience–going to church, saying the prayers, singing the hymns, meeting other believers in fellowship. If you do this, then eventually, worship will shape your believing. We go to church first and foremost to find a relationship with God. And out of that comes the shaping of belief. If indeed the preaching we hear is centered on the gospel and the worship is faithful and reverent you will begin to cultivate an abiding relationship with God and with each other and true religion will grow. . . . And as it grows you will not be able to contain it within yourself. Others will see in you a change that can only be described as joyful expectation and an inner peace that passes all understanding.
But there is another side to the story that the prophet Jeremiah decries in the prevalence of false religion promoted by false teachers . . . “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD.” Jeremiah speaks of a religion spread by false teachers that is devoid of belief and lacking in faith . . . it is indeed an empty religion.
This of course is amplified by Jesus himself in the gospel today as we read . . . “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
No book is more scathing of empty religion than the Bible. Jesus and the prophets were outspoken in their denunciation of the formalism and hypocrisy of false worship. Jesus applied their critique to the Pharisees of his day: ‘These people [he said] … honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’ (Is. 29:13; Mk. 7:6). And this indictment of religion by the Old Testament prophets and by Jesus is uncomfortably applicable to many churches in our world today. In many churches today worship has become ritual without reality, form without power, fun without fear . . . and a religion without God.
And you know what? Many people sense this and leave . . . sometimes never to return again. They are scattered as Jeremiah describes, sometimes never to have a relationship with God again. And because of this, their shepherds and leaders are damned.
So where does that leave the true church in its quest to promote true religion and abiding faith in Christ – the King of Glory? We must always be aware that in fact . . . we do not convert people . . . God does. In fact you would not be here today if God had not instilled in you the desire to be faithful. The Church is merely a participant in God’s mission of salvation. It is our primary task, as believers, to reflect Jesus in our individual and corporate lives . . . to worship and to proclaim Christ in word and deed.
Christianity is a social religion done best in community with other believers. One cannot be a virtual Christian in a virtual world . . . you need to find others and worship and pray with them – for where there is two or three, there is Christ in their midst.
All of us need to realize that Christianity is in its very essence a rescue religion. It does not seek to restrain you . . . or to subject you . . . or to enhance you in any way . . . Christ seeks only to save you and to enrich your life with true joy and a blessing that the world cannot give.
Some believe that they can worship God without including Jesus Christ in the mix. They don’t trust the gospel and believe the New Testament to be a fable made up by the early church to gain followers of the new religion. But you must know that Jesus Christ is at the center of both the Old and the New Testaments. Without the power of the cross and the blood of the Messiah sacrificed for us, there is no help for anyone . . . for without the cross we are all lost in our sins. Christianity without Christ then is a frame without a picture, a door without a handle, a body without breath. In effect Christianity without Christ is completely worthless in every respect . . . in fact Paul describes Christianity as “foolishness” in the eyes of a world that denies Christ. And so the true Church must continue to endure the hardship, insults and hatred that so many inflict on it.
Endurance is the key word for us in the reading from the Book of Ruth. Endurance to persevere under all circumstances. Endurance to run the great race and win the victory and the crown at the end of our lives. Endurance to succeed where others have fallen. Endurance to be tested to the point of breaking. You might think that love, kindness, patience and understanding are the key words in the description of a true believer, and they are important qualities. But, it is endurance against all odds that is the metal from which we are to be forged.
Amen

We begin today by recalling Saint John’s vision . . .
I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”
The lessons from the Revelation of Saint John, as I have read them throughout my life, have always reminded me of at least two things . . . one is that, through the mercies of God and his Son, Jesus Christ, a great many of us who are living today will actually make it into heaven . . . and two, it shows that the brightest crowns that are worn in heaven are the ones that have been tried, and smelted, and polished, and glorified in the furnace of hardship and tribulation.
And isn’t that what Jesus came to affirm to us . . . that one . . . we are loved by God, redeemed by God and saved by God . . . and two . . . that those who are one with God will be hated in this world, and persecuted for their belief and rejected by men.
Today of course is a day set aside for the Celebration of All Saints . . . Christians . . . believers in the messiah, the Christ . . . believers like you and like me and like the many millions who have come before us. We, who are the church militant (those living) share this one day in the Church year with the church expectant (all those who have died in the Lord) in joyful anticipation of the final glory that awaits us at the end of all things.
And why do you suppose we do this? What purpose does it serve for the living to remember the dead? Its purpose is to strengthen our resolve to fight on in the midst of great adversity . . . to give us the strength of our convictions in order to live out the gospel message in our own lives . . . To recall those who have died reminds us of their great sacrifice in a just cause, to keep true faith alive so that a people yet unborn might one day inherit the truth and gain for themselves the gift of everlasting life.
As some of you may know, I have always been interested in the lives of the saints, even since I was a kid. Many times in my life I have stopped at the Fatima Shrine in Niagara Falls for a walk among the saints depicted there in sculpture. I have favorite saints as I presume you do also. Mine are St. Francis and St. Augustine. Each month in our newsletter we provide a synopsis of a saint that we celebrate with each issue. Since doing this, I have found that the saints of yesterday were fighting much the same spiritual battles that we continue to fight in our world today. Injustice and hatred towards Christian believers is nothing new and spans pretty much all of the two thousand year history of the church. You need only pick up a newspaper today to know that this is as true today as anytime in the distant past.
So what is there about the cross of Christ which angers the world and stirs them up to persecute those who preach it? John Stott,a famous Anglican evangelist tells us . . . and it just this: Christ died on the cross for us sinners, becoming a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). So the cross tells us some very unpalatable truths about ourselves, namely that we are sinners under the righteous curse of God’s law and that we cannot save ourselves. Christ bore our sin and curse precisely because we could gain release from them in no other way. If we could have been forgiven by our own good works, by being circumcised and keeping the law, we may be quite sure that there would have been no cross. Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts each of us down to size like the cross. We all have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. Because it is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size. And of course men do not like it. They resent the humiliation of seeing themselves as God sees them and as they really are. We prefer our own comfortable illusions and naturally most steer clear of the cross. And in the end they construct a Christianity without the cross, which relies for salvation on their own works and not on Jesus Christ’s. Many do not object to Christianity so long as it is not the faith of Christ crucified. But Christ crucified they detest. And if a preacher preaches Christ crucified, they are opposed, ridiculed, persecuted. Why do you suppose that is true? It is because of the wounds which they inflict on a man’s pride.

I believe Jesus knew all this well in advance and gave us a glimpse of what the future would hold for those saints who truly sought fellowship with God the Father.
And then today is the story of the miracle of the raising of Lazarus from the dead. When we read the gospel it appears that Jesus is delayed, pretty much on purpose, so that his disciples might see the ultimate power of God in raising a person so obviously dead (three days) to life again. What Jesus was trying to show his followers, both those who were with him then as well as those of us who are with him now, is that the resurrection of the dead is not fantastical story but a real life event in the future lives of all believers. For it is the resurrection of the dead that we all await for on that final day of the Lord when he calls, not just his friend Lazarus, but all his friends everywhere and of every time throughout all of history to rise to life and be welcomed into a future and eternal world.
From the wisdom of Solomon we get an assurance of these same promises as we read . . .

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them forever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.
Finally, today marks the 498th anniversary of the beginning of the reformation when Martin Luther’s 95 theses were found nailed to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral in Germany. This one act of defiance by this one saint of God was to begin a series of events that would bring the Holy Roman Catholic Church to fight a bloody war for its very survival. It would cause the martyred deaths of hundreds of thousands of believers throughout Europe by the hand of the pope . . . and finally it would give rise to the split between the Church at Rome and the Church of England and the formation of the Anglican Church, of which we are a part. We who are alive today can now can look back with the 20-20 clarity of vision and see God’s hand in all this and how in subsequent years the Roman Catholic Church was made to look upon itself and to judge itself for so many misdeeds made in the name of Christ over the centuries. But it is to all the saints of the reformation who stood fast in their faith that we honor and give thanks today, many who were brutally tortured and murdered because they believed that the Holy Spirit of God had shown them a new direction in the worship of God . . . that being worship of God in Spirit and in Truth. Today we believe these Saints, along with all others in a long line of martyrs, now living in the presence of God, celebrate with us today the risen life of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son who along with us who are living join and continue to sing “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!
Amen.

There was once a story about a Rabbi who was distraught because he didn’t have enough money. One day he entered the synagogue and cried out ‘Lord, Lord I need to win the lottery – my daughter needs braces and my wife wants new furniture’. Nothing happened, so the next week he again went to the synagogue and cried – ‘Lord, Lord I need to win the lottery . . . my daughter needs brace, my wife wants new furniture and my car needs new tires’. Again nothing happened . . . so the third week he went into the synagogue crying out ‘Lord, Lord – I need to win the lottery – my daughter needs brace, my wife wants new furniture, my car needs new tires and my house needs a roof. Please Lord, please I need to win the lottery!’. As he got up leave, a voice came from the midst of the synagogue saying . . . “Saul, Saul” and the rabbi said ‘Yes Lord?’ “Saul” went the voice . . . “meet me half-way . . . buy a ticket”.
One of the things Barbara and I have always taught our children is, if there is a rule number one in life it is that: Life Isn’t Fair. Right or wrong, most of us who are grown-ups accept this rule as a basis of life. It is what we see borne out everyday. We see it in our neighbor’s lives, we see it in the newspapers and on television. We see it also in our own jobs and in our own households as we try to chip out for ourselves a little piece of the American Dream. And even though we have included within our society such things as Equal Opportunity, Leave No Child Behind and Americans with Disabilities equal access laws we know that for the great majority, ourselves included, life is not fair.
A child is taught from the very beginning to share his toys, to clean up his own mess and to help others. These are all altruistic traits that, if everyone actually grew up taking these on as life goals, the world would be a very different place. But, as it is, there are two ways of looking at the world around us. One is the way it ought to be; and the other is the way it actually is. These two perceptions have been at odds with each other since the fall of man.
If you didn’t know it by now, you ought to know that the universe is at odds with itself. There is a tension that exists that forces us to choose sides each and every day. Each day we choose between good and evil, between right and wrong, between our own well-being and the well being of others, between giving and getting, between helping others and helping ourselves.
We are forced, all the time, to choose on issues about war and peace, about sexuality, about smoking in public places, about prayer in schools and about abortion and euthanasia. And this is only part of the tension that we live under.
But, this tension is not the way it is supposed to be. In fact, if there were no one on earth, if man had never been created, this tension would not exist because the fall of man would never have happened. That is why Jesus came; that was his mission; to change the hearts of men to be more in line with the Father’s in heaven. Jesus tried to show us a new way of being one with the universe instead of at odds with it. He tried to teach us what we teach our children when they first start out in school . . . share your toys, help each other out and be kind. Some listen, but many do not. The teachings of Jesus do not always fit easily into the world as we know it; a world that, for the most part, accepts as rule number one: Life Isn’t Fair.
Job, of course, was probably the poster child of ‘Life isn’t Fair’ when we recount the story of how a man who has everything and then suddenly stricken with terrible misfortune and as a result loses all . . . his home, his possessions, his family and his health . . . . all because of a bet between God and Satan . . . and then to regain it all back again in today’s reading . . . a very strange story indeed. The point of course was that God wanted to prove to Satan that Job, a righteous soul, would love God no matter what happened in his life . . . no matter how rough things got. Some may ask if this was a real story or just an object lesson. To answer it I guess you would need to believe that God would actually test someone to the very limits of his life to prove a point to someone else who thoroughly hated him.
Then there is the story of Bartimaeus. In thinking about him this week I couldn’t keep my thoughts off the details of the story. A blind man in Palestine was probably considered not only useless but most likely was thought of as being punished by God for something that he might have done. He was desperately poor and begged for what little he had . . . he begged every day for his very life. His only possession was a cloak that probably kept him warm at night and protected him from the sun by day. And the people crushing around him, telling him to ‘keep quiet’ since they heard him begging every day and probably thought of him as the town nuisance.
And yet he yells out in the din of the crowd anyway “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus hears him and calls him forth and as the story goes . . . So throwing off his cloak (the only thing he owns – his only protection against the elements), Bartimaeus, a blind man, sprang up and came to Jesus.
What this story tries to instill in us is how to pray when we really, desperately need something and how God responds to us when we pray. I am no expert on this subject but as a guy with a lot of gray hair and a few years on me, I’ll tell you what I think. I think God is quite different from us in many ways. We may have been created in God’s image but because of the fall I doubt very much we think in quite the same way. Jesus gives us a lot of clues as to the way God thinks in his stories.
You may remember the story of the unrighteous judge, who after finally getting tired of hearing the complaint of the woman day after day, finally grants her request, just to be rid of her. Not a very nice story . . . but a story with a point.
Or the story about the man who finds a pearl in a field and then goes and sells everything he owns to buy that field . . .
Or how about the untrustworthy manager who make deals with his employer’s creditors before he is fired so that someone might hire him after his job loss.
These stories and the story of Bartimaeus this morning show us that it takes more than just asking to have prayers answered . . . it really takes three things – faith, hope and charity.
God rewards faith without limit. He also rewards charity, as much as ten fold. And he especially rewards hope as we struggle against all the obstacles we encounter in the world, in the flesh, and from the devil.
But you may ask . . . what if I am lacking in faith? Or what if I lack charity? And what if I am a coward at heart and lack hope? Then find someone who has the traits that God respects . . . someone who you know loves God and ask his help to pray for you. And if you can’t find some one like that in particular, then find a group, a community that shares a common conviction and have them pray for you. This works . . . I know it does because it has happened in my life.
We all know deep down what our lives should be like . . . that we are supposed to be fair. It’s one of the reasons we patiently wait in lines at the bank, at the market check out and at the airport. It is one of the reasons traffic lights are timed and ordered and we all agree to drive on the same side of the road. It is one of the reasons we keep schedules in our work and school life and we all agree to the same standards of measurement and time. If things were not somewhat ordered, life would be far more chaotic than it already is.
But on the same token, we know that Utopia is only a pleasant thought for philosophers and that communism will not work in this world. There is always someone or some group who will desire power and assume control over the masses, and there is always the tendency of the masses to relinquish the power they hold to a false hope or an unrealized dream.
The universe is well ordered and set into motion like a gigantic clockwork. But within the rules of universal order there is always the possibility of collision and of chaos. But upon collision, even though it may be devastating, the rules of order (gravitation, thermodynamics and physics) continue to take precedence until equilibrium is again achieved.
Faith, hope and Charity are the unchangeable rules in the spiritual world. God has set them as the standard for our existence. In our own lives, collision with others will occur and chaos may rule temporarily making life seem terribly unfair. But through our troubles the laws of the spirit continue to bring order out of the chaos, to bring light out of darkness and to bring life out of death.
The reason for the existence of the Universal Church of Jesus Christ is to bring order into the lives of people within the chaos and hardship they experience in their earthly walk. The church holds the greatest gift to mankind, for within it resides the salt of the earth. And as long as we as a church continue to resist the world; yet remain in the world, we will remain salt and will retain great value as the agent of God’s will. But as Jesus warns, once the saltiness is lost (i.e. should the church succumb to the world) its value will be diminished and its continued existence will be in doubt.
The number one rule of life that we, as Americans, have all come to believe and accept in this world is that Life is Not Fair; but the number one rule that Jesus came to teach us about everlasting life is: Do unto others as we would have them do unto us. These two statements are at odds with each other, just as we may at times be at odds with each other through random collisions between us in life. One person, Winston Churchill, resolves this with a statement that I think is profound when he said . . .

We make a living by what we get,
we make a life by what we give.

Amen.

When I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, the Episcopal Church used the 1928 prayer book which, as it turns out, we also are using here today at Saint Nicholas. One of the words in the Holy Communion service is the word ‘propitiation’. For years I wondered what it meant – and perhaps you have wondered as well. So as a young guy growing up I decided to see if propitiation was actually a word, and sure enough, it is in the dictionary right next to propitiator and to propitiate. Propitiation means sacrifice but more accurately it means ‘atonement’. In the Holy Communion service, Christ is stated to be the propitiation (sacrifice or atonement) for our sins. Sacrifice and atonement are the flavor of today’s readings.
In our Bible the prophet Isaiah describes a Messiah destined to be abused and stricken with grief so that his followers might not have to endure a deserved punishment. In this way the Messiah would step in as an atonement, or sacrifice and die a death that was meant for us. The New Testament reading from Hebrews is an exhortation to keep ones faith by practicing a sacrificial life through obedience and overt moral intentions of the heart. It is also a warning that we will, in the end, be judged by the word of God, and that all will be required to render an account to a judge who knows us better than we know ourselves. And finally, the Gospel today relates the story of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, disciples of Jesus, who through, it seems to me, pure arrogance or stupidity, ask to be seated on the right and left hand of the King of Kings. Their lack of tact and humility were recorded for all time by Mark. I wonder what we can learn from them about sacrifice and obedience?
There were three items that were in the news that fit very well with today’s scripture readings.
Perhaps you will recall that last week marked the twenty-eighth anniversary of the rescue of the little girl known as Baby Jessica. Some of you may remember this story when back in 1987 an infant fell down an eight inch pipe and how rescuers worked fourteen hours digging through solid rock in order to free the little baby girl. I can still picture the day that Baby Jessica was brought out of that hole in the ground, and seeing it over again on the news this week brought back the same shivers I felt when I saw it the first time. Here was an act of kindness, of sacrifice and of courage against what seemed like impossible odds; and yet the rescuers succeeded and the baby survived. Somehow, through television, all of us became a part of that drama that unfolded hour after hour. We all prayed, we all cried, we all hoped and we all feared for that little girl in Midland, Texas. Her story became somehow intertwined with our own story. Her life became somehow important to our life. And when she was rescued we all felt somehow a part of it all.
What was demonstrated in this story was a supreme act of love and sacrifice for one of our own. We as a people were unified and strengthened in that one act of kindness to a point that many of us still remember it vividly, many years later. What struck me most about the story was that no one weighed the cost against the odds. No one dared give up, nor could they have lived with themselves if they had. Through the news media, if the rescuers needed something, it was almost instantly provided through a few of the millions of us watching the drama unfold on television.
This week also was the anniversary of the million man march in Washington D.C. Our black neighbors were once given a challenge by Louis Farrakan to take off on a Thursday as a Day of Atonement, a day of reflection. I want you to know that I don’t agree with nearly everything that Louis Farrakan stands for. But the idea of a Day of Reflection or a Day of Atonement, at least to me, sounds like something all people ought to do at least once a year, if not more. Louis Farrakan may come across to us as objectionable, but sometimes listening to him, I get the feeling he has the best of intentions for his people at heart. And we can’t fault him for that. Yes, he is manipulative and hateful, but if even one person came any closer to God, then we are all somehow better off today. Sacrifice and prayerful reflection is always acceptable in the eyes of God regardless of who suggests it.
Finally, this week marked the anniversay of the death of a prolific writer, a favorite of mine, named James Michner. In an interview I once heard, Mr. Michner was asked to comment on, as he looked back on his life, how pleased he must have been with all his success. His answer was curious. He said that as he looked back on his life what stood out for him most were his failures and his shortcomings. He pondered his failure wondering why he had failed and how he might have lived a better life had it not been where he fell short of the mark. He was visibly remorseful and not at all what I would have expected of a “success” in life.
Success in life has little to do with how the world defines it . It is said that money and fame cannot buy happiness, but why do we all long to be rich, famous, (though perhaps unhappy), people? The Bible says that Jesus is the key to our success as Christians. His life demonstrated for us that a life of self sacrifice and humility is deemed of far greater importance in the Kingdom of God than earthly goods and treasure. And though it is a very good thing to be rich or famous, it is a far better thing to be happy and loved and accepted for who you are.
God loves us for who we are, he is the one person able to look past our faults and value who we are as a people. He values our courage in the face of insurmountable obstacles. He values our unity in the face of adversity and how we will sacrifice everything, even our lives to save another. He values our candor and our humor and our uncontrollable urge to spiritually prosecute ourselves for our mistakes and failures. He loves our creativity and our skill and our ability to love.
Our God is a sacrificial God and creation has inherited His sacrificial nature. His need is for us to take on this sacrificial nature full time. To live a sacrificial life worthy of his calling. To rejoice when things are right with our lives and to be reflective and change our course when things go awry. To be willing and able to lend a hand when one is needed. To give of our talents and our time to causes worthy of his call to us. To do our work and to live our lives as if everything depended on it. In this way we will live in the shelter of the Most High.
You may suggest that what God asks of us is too hard, that it just isn’t natural to be sacrificial. Was it natural for those rescuers to work day and night digging through rock? Is it natural that a people, on their own, to take a day off without pay to reflect on where they’ve been and where they’re going? Is it natural for a successful person to ponder his failures at the expense of his success. No, it isn’t natural. In every case there is the Holy Spirit, the Source of all life, providing the impetus, giving us the courage and will to continue.
At my son’s school there was once a poster that read:

Theater is Life
Film is Art
Television is Furniture

What we all need to do, is to spiritually turn off the television and go out and do something. Get into the world and do something about it rather than sitting at home and watching it happen without us. The Holy Spirit can give us the strength and courage to do just that. We need only ask for help and he will come.
Jesus came into the world to save us because he loved us. Through his sacrifice we have been saved just like the baby Jessica in the well. Through thoughtful prayer and reflection, our lives can change from where they are to where we would like them to be. And through our failures we can learn and grow into a better people. A successful life has little to do with money or power. If you have loved God and have loved others as yourself, then you are success in the Kingdom of God. And in the end, that’s all that really matters. Amen.

Today from the book of Job we hear of the rich man, Job’s lament as he sits in pain, having lost everything he ever held dear in his life . . his family, his home, his wealth and his health and finally, his God in whom he trusts . . . all of them gone because of a test between God and Satan to see if Job would give up on God and curse him to his face if faced with hardship and loss. And finally Job laments the loss of fellowship with God in whom he trusted saying . . .

“If I go forward, he is not there;
or backward, I cannot perceive him;
on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him;
I turn to the right, but I cannot see him.
God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
If only I could vanish in darkness,
and thick darkness would cover my face!”

How different these verses are compared to the verses given to us in St. Patrick’s Breastplate of a man so enveloped by God’s mercy that he cannot contain himself as we read . . .

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

And so in these two writings we see in one, the rich man Job, at his very lowest point in his life when he feels abandoned by God and then we see another man, Patrick at the very high point of his life when he feels the utter envelopment of God in Christ round about him.
These two men, both believers, show us how important it is to stay the course in terrible adversity. We all know the story of Job of course . . . a rich and blessed man tested by Satan to lose everything only to be eventually restored tenfold on a dare that God himself designs for him. But what about Saint Patrick? What’s his story? We know about the snakes in Ireland, but do we really know the story of the man Patrick?
Several months ago we celebrated Saint Patrick in our monthly newsletter. At the time I may have mentioned that Patrick was born in Roman Britain. Calpurnius, his father, was a deacon, his grandfather Potitus a priest. Patrick, however, like many ‘PKs’ (priest kids) was not an active believer. According to the Confession of St. Patrick, at the age of just sixteen Patrick was captured by a group of Irish pirates. The raiders brought Patrick to Ireland where he was enslaved and held captive for six years. Patrick wrote in his Confession that the time he spent in captivity was actually critical to his spiritual development. He explained that the Lord had mercy on his youth and his ignorance, and afforded him the opportunity to be forgiven of his sins and he converted to Christianity. While in captivity as a slave, Saint Patrick worked as a shepherd and strengthened his relationship with God through prayer, eventually leading him to convert to Christianity.
After six years of captivity he heard a voice telling him that he would soon go home, and then that his ship was ready. Fleeing his master, he traveled to a port, two hundred miles away, where he found a ship and with some difficulty persuaded the captain to take him. After three days sailing they landed, in Britain, and apparently all left the ship, walking for 28 days in a “wilderness”, becoming faint from hunger before encountering a herd of wild boar; since this was shortly after Patrick had urged the men with him to put their faith in God, the men became quite impressed that this God whom Patrick proclaimed would save them from starvation in such a miraculous way..
Acting on another vision, Patrick returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. Tradition has it that St Patrick was not welcomed by the locals and was forced to leave to seek a more welcoming landing place. Patrick eventually became a deacon in the church, then a priest and finally was made the Bishop of Ireland. Here was a man, a slave, who started with less than nothing, overcame all obstacles and was rewarded with everything because God was with him.
Then there is Psalm 22 which may seem familiar to you because we say it every Good Friday. It is the prayer and prophetic vision of a man dying on a cross. A man somehow abandoned by God and a man who has lost everything for the sake of those who stand taunting and mocking him all around him. It is of course the prophetic vision of Jesus, a king who came to earth willingly . . . leaving his glory behind him to become the slave and servant of all . . . and for what reason you might ask? Jesus came to set men free from the slavery of sin in which they find themselves. By giving up his glory, Jesus shows us what we must also do in order to inherit eternal life – that is by giving up ourselves to his service and by walking in holiness all the days of our lives – by picking up our own cross and following him.
And although Pslam 22 begins with a man’s utter abandonment of God, it ends in a song of victory – for it ends like this . . .

I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you[f] I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.

So here in this Psalm is a story of one who losses everything only to be paid back for his faith not just ten fold, or a hundred fold but a thousand -thousand fold for what he has done for the Father in faith.

So it is within the backdrop of these stories that our Gospel is proclaimed to us today of a rich young ruler who is decidedly welcomed in the eyes of Jesus because he has done everything according to the law and is innocent in his eyes . . . but Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
The meaning of this saying by Jesus . . . about a camel going through the eye needle, has over the years, been taught in many different ways. For several hundred years there has been an accepted teaching that there was in Jerusalem a man gate called the eye of a needle, a gate where a camel could not pass through fully loaded with goods . . . but this may or may not be true since it was written in a book and accepted as fact only from the 9th century.
It is far more believable that Jesus here was using an exaggeration, an hyperbole, to make a point . . . a way of talking that many Hebrew scholars used in those days using certain sayings popular at the time.
Ancient Jewish writings use the “eye of the needle” as a picture of a very small place as in the saying “A needle’s eye is not too narrow for two friends, but the world is not wide enough for two enemies.” The ludicrous contrast between the small size of the needle’s eye and the largest indigenous animal in Israel is truly meant by Jesus to illustrate its very improbability.
Jesus’ hearers believed that wealth and prosperity were a sign of God’s blessing (cf. Leviticus and Deuteronomy). So their incredulity is more along the lines that, “if the rich, who must be seen as righteous by God by dint of their evident blessing, can’t be saved, then who can be?” Later, Christians turned this around to portray wealth as a hindrance to salvation . . . which it can be – but no more so than many other things, when the message is actually that salvation is in fact, impossible for all men (rich or poor) for it comes from God alone. But, Jesus goes on to say that things beyond the impossible are truly possible with God for, elsewhere, a Jewish midrash records:

“The Holy One said, open for me a door as big as a needle’s eye and I will open for you a door through which may enter tents and camels”
In other words God only needs a sinner to open up just a crack for him and God will come pouring in and set up room for an oasis. God only needs a ‘foot in the door’, so to speak or faith the grain of a mustard seed to grow . . . and that is really the message that Jesus was trying to impart.
All of us, whether rich or poor, young or old, good or bad have fallen short of the glory of God. None of us are saved by good works or by what we have done or have not done in this life. Salvation comes to us all only as a gift . . a free gift that is bestowed on the undeserving through faith in the blood that Jesus sacrificed for us all on the cross at Calvary. You and I are made whole only through faith in that sacrifice and in our acceptance that everything we have is not really ours at all, but belongs to the God who saved us. When you eventually come to realize that you are only the caretakers of the things you have . . . whether it be your house, your job, your family, your body or your life you will have grown into the full knowledge of what God means for you in this life and willingly and with gladness be able, to give up any of these things to become one with God as the Lord of your life. Amen

600 years before Jesus came into the world there was a philosophy developed in China that eventually became known as The Tao. Taoist philosophy explained the existence of good and evil as a struggle in the spiritual realm of light and darkness. The eastern yin-yang symbol seen in our pop culture depicts this struggle as two swirls. One of light, and one of darkness, pursuing each other in an infinite circular cycle of motion. It was believed that all people are consumed in this struggle and that both the light and the darkness seek to tip the scales of our thoughts and actions by influencing our choices and circumstances as human beings.
Two months ago there was an unveiling of this struggle in the news as one particular story came out. It was revealed in the intentional harm of nine black Christians in a Charleston, S.C. Church by a man obviously oppressed by evil. I doubt there is anyone whose heart did not go out that week to the Emmanuel AME church community at their heartbreak and sorrow in losing their beloved friends and relatives. This tragedy was for all of us totally incomprehensible in its scope and shock.
But, even as it played out over the day’s news, it was reported that there were no bitter words from the Christians who were left to pick up the pieces, no calls for who was to blame, no demands for justice, no law suits planned . . . only forgiveness from that community for the man who caused so much heartbreak and only words and deeds of comfort for the man’s family. It was through their faith that the community remained strong, convinced of the redeeming work of God in their lives. They knew their loved ones were in paradise and that they would one day see them again. They knew that darkness can not win over light . . . that evil will never prevail.
The struggle of darkness to overcome light is more insidious in our current world than it has ever been. Through television and the internet we are bombarded with every kind of temptation. From commercialism and manufacturer’s propaganda that tell us we need everything there is to buy even to our own state selling us lottery tickets, with that one time quip . . . all you need is “dollar and a dream”.
But God is hardly about a dollar and a dream . . . He is more about a ‘promise and a possibility’ – the promise of salvation and the possibility of a redeemed life wrought through faith and servanthood. Where darkness takes our time and money and exploits our dreams and fantasies, God only gives . . . our life, our talents, our resources and our ability to love on another.
From the very beginning God has tried to show us through his word and his example what it takes to lead a happy and fulfilled life. And we, as humanity, have often laughed at the simplicity of the truth that God has in mind for us. The truth is, relationships take work and they take care. Whether you are talking about a relationship with a child, a spouse, a friend or with God himself, they all require an abundance of giving and very little taking. That is the way of an enlightened person and the way of God, always striving to give of one’s self and one’s love in a relationship. The greatest example we have is in the relationship of marriage.
Today’s readings offer some insight into how God views the institution of marriage in particular and relationships in general. We read throughout the Bible about the marriage relationship between one man and one woman and how this relationship mirrors the relationship between God and Israel . . . and Jesus and His Church.
In today’s world marriage has taken quite a few hits due to many factors, the most prevalent of which is a ME FIRST attitude which has permeated much of our society. The feeling that “I want what I want and that’s what I want”, and “What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine too”, brings about with it a prevalence of greed, apathy, pride, neglect, and ambivalence resulting in the highest divorce rate ever recorded. Humankind seems to be on a collision course with something yet unseen, something that is tearing us apart before we even get a chance to really know each other. With a divorce rate currently at 45% and rising, it is no wonder that many people are content to remain single.
But what happened to marriage? In a little more than one generation, married life has gone from the norm of American life to only one option among many. 60% of our children are growing up in households with only one parent who is an actual blood relative.
I can remember as I was growing up, how Television depicted the normal family. You might remember shows like ‘Leave it to Beaver’ or ‘Lassie’ or ‘Ozzie and Harriet’. These demonstrated to us what the quote ‘Perfect Life’ was all about. My own family and the families’ of my childhood friends mirrored this main stream way of life shown on television. Each family that I can remember had a devoted mother who stayed at home to be a homemaker, a father who worked all day to support his family of about two or three children. Although I don’t remember if my mother wore pearls while vacuuming the living room rug like Helen Cleaver, I do remember a very ordered and happy life back in the fifties. Although, I am sure divorce must have occurred at that time, it was one of those things that was rare, done usually for reasons of marital infidelity or abandonment and usually under the watchful eye of the local parish priest.
But times have changed. What is depicted today on television as the American norm in our present day has little resemblance to the life of the fifties. Today, more women work outside the home than ever before. They hold down jobs, usually out of necessity, in order to meet the bills and payments of an increasingly expensive way of life. In today’s world, a family like my own, represented by a father who works, a mother who stays at home represent less than 20% of American families. That’s only 1 family in 5. The rest are either working married couples with children, single working mothers with children, single working fathers with no children, or working singles living together with possible children, or working singles living alone, or retired couples with no children or just plain singles trying to get by. Holy Matrimony! What happened?
It seems pretty obvious from today’s readings that Jesus is not in favor of divorce, yet the Pharisees wanted to test him because in those days, all a man had to do to be rid of his wife was to get a scribe to write her a letter of dismissal. (In other words….. He fired her!) Even in today’s world this would be considered cruel. Jesus explains why this law was on the books. He said that Moses gave them that law because of their ‘hardness of heart’. Moses probably figured it was better than having men ordering their wives assassinated. You have to remember that here was a paternalistic society where women were considered property and nothing else. I don’t think any of us would have wanted to live under that system.
The real system, the one that Jesus quotes from the book of Genesis was the one where God joins two people in order that they become one flesh, one organism, if you will, in order to provide mutual love, affection and help in difficult situations. Marriage started out as an extremely good thing for the man and the woman. It provided protection and security for the woman, love and companionship for the man. Meanwhile, the institution of marriage perpetuated, through a promise, the possibility of a human species producing off-spring who would also grow and take on for themselves the marriage promises that their parents had taken, thus establishing the basis for community and government, the family unit. And so it worked pretty well for the last million years or so.
But, in today’s world, that basis for community has been eroded to a point that community and government have had to change in order to keep up with the current family unit. Divorce among married couples has prompted a complete change in the way government does business. The gay rights movement has created a whole new family unit that didn’t even exist 50 years ago, (at least not out in the open) and family discord remains at an all time high. The arguments about who is in control (i.e. who is getting more out of a relationship) continues to be the defining battle in all relationships.
But that is where God comes in, because within the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, (that is a marriage ordained by God and sustained by God), control is not an issue, because it is God who is in control and we need no longer to see ourselves as power brokers, but as servants, doing the will of him who put us together, to love and to cherish each other. It is when the world outside our homes breaks into our marriage through power, control, and abuse that our marriage falters because there is no longer room for God in our lives. God becomes relegated to some small corner in the back of our minds, and we feel a tremendous need to fight for control, if only for own emotional survival, in a love story gone bad.
The prophetic book of Hosea is about just such a love story gone very bad. In a way it mirrors God’s relationship with man.
In the story, God tells Hosea to go out and marry a prostitute. I am sure Hosea probably wouldn’t have chosen this for himself, but being a man of faith, he does what God asks. He marries Gomer, a prostitute, and he as three children with her, and supports and loves his wife and family and all seems very well, until his wife starts to long for the money and excitement of her past life. For the lure of licentiousness and extravagant living, she leaves her husband Hosea and her children behind to become once again, a prostitute for hire. But things don’t go well for her. She becomes abused and decrepit through riotess living and finally ends up as a slave. Hosea, meanwhile, still loves her and goes out looking for her everywhere. Upon his final search, he finds his wife for sale in a slave market. He buys her back for fifteen pieces of silver and a bushel and a half of barley. He brings her home to her children and promises to remain ever faithful to her and asks her to do the same. In a word, he forgives her and shows more mercy than most of us given the same situation. This is a story of abiding love and of great mercy and is the story about God’s relationship to his people.
Hosea is God in the story and Gomer is Israel, but it could just as well be any one of us. You and I were created in the image of God but we were born into sin through Adam’s fall. We have been held captive by sin all of our lives – in effect we are slaves to our sin, just as Gomer was a slave to hers. Jesus came looking for us and bought us back, not with money, but by giving up his own life. We need only believe this to be true in order to be set free. And if we believe this to be true, we need only confess our sin with a renewed commitment and amendment to life and all will be forgiven (just as Hosea forgave his harlot wife). This is the way of God to his people and it should be the way of all of us towards each other.
Jesus picked his disciples, not because they were pure and without shame, but because they were responsive to his word and ready and willing to confess their fault and be restored into the Father’s love.
Our job, and I have said this in many sermons over the years, is from the prophet Micah . . . “and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” And that’s it. You don’t need a black belt in religion. You need not wear a collar or a stole or pray out in the streets. You don’t need an icon or crucifix hanging around your neck to show that you are Christian because you are already the icon of Christ in the world. If you are doing your job right, people will instantly recognize you for what you are. And what is your job? Your job is to do the work Christ has given to you to do (i.e. to love and serve the lord in all people and in every situation of life).
God made us man and woman for our benefit and for the good of all humankind. We are made the way we are for each others companionship, affection, and security. Though different in many ways, I am sure you would agree that our lives would be exceedingly boring if we all thought the same way and if we all viewed life in the same way. If we truly see God as the strength and control in our relationships, we will be most blessed, because we will become one with our God as we become one with each other. A dollar and a dream . . . or a promise and a possibility, the choice is yours. Jesus gave us a promise and asks us to choose life.
Amen

I happen to be one those few who listen to a lot of talk radio each day as I travel to and from work and at lunch time. During a few of these sessions I am always surprised when the topic of religion comes up, because invariably the host tells his listeners that he is in fact not a Christian or a believer of any one religion . . . even though apparently he is a believer in ghosts, the supernatural, and angels. He is always up front to mention that he has a problem with the resurrection of Jesus and seems to insinuate that the apostles made the whole thing up.
But far from being offended by this, I myself find it a bit refreshing to hear a person explain with some candor why he is not a believer in Jesus even though he has great respect for those who do believe . . . and not only for Christian believers, but believers of all faiths. One cannot help but recognize that this is just the kind of person that God can appreciate – not because of his unbelief, but because of his openness to the heart of the gospel and to the existence of God.
Wasn’t it Jesus who told the unbelieving Jews who approached him “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”
I believe this statement is the key to helping any unbeliever find his faith, for Jesus always pointed to the Father as the source of his power to do the works he did and the miracles he performed. But just like the miracles that we as Christians accept without reservation, many of us would rather not think of the other, unseen ones described in the Bible as angels or demons or other beings who occupy the heavens and the earth with us here and with God. For many, these are just fanciful legends made up for children at story book time . . . but for the prophets and those who have experienced them and seen them firsthand, these other beings are truly real and a force to be considered.
Today is the Feast of Saint Michael and all Angels and we celebrate and give God thanks for these ‘others’ who are with us at all times and in all seasons who perform the will of God by protecting us from those spiritual forces who would most like to do us harm.
In my first thoughts about the angelic realm so many years ago, I wondered why God would need an army of Angels at all. Certainly heaven must have been secure in the beginning and so an army to protect it or to defend it just didn’t fit my vision of heaven as a place of everlasting peace and joy.
But in our lesson today John writes something rather cryptic in that . . . “War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world– he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
And so it seems that the Seraph Lucifer (or Satan) and his angelic followers were thrown out of heaven and made to reside with us, here on earth . . . which according to the book of Genesis, was where all the trouble began with Adam and Eve and the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil . . . and where there has been trouble ever since.
So just who or what are angels and why should we believe they exist?
One of the most important of the angels, we are taught, is the Angel Michael who is almost always depicted with the wings of a seraph trampling on the head of Satan, the devil (as in the famous painting by Guido Reni). Michael has been said to be in charge of the defense of the Nation Israel and of the Church of Christ until the return of Jesus. Michael has at his command hundreds of thousands if not millions of angels of every rank (of which we know there are nine)
A few years ago, our friend Shirley Lawrenson was here at St. Nicholas Church from Israel. She told the story that in the most recent war between Hamas and Israel, it was reported by the Palestinians that rockets shot into Israel were simply being swept out to sea or into the desert to explode harmlessly. Others were exploded with the use of the Iron Dome that had a 95% success rate. These were all thought to be miracles by the Jewish people . . . but these are the kinds of happenings that are caused by the angels of God. In fact, the president of Israel told the news reporters that in order to live in Israel today, you have to believe in miracles such as these . . . because there is no other explanation.
There are of course hundreds of other stories about angels on the internet and how they interact with human beings in our world, but in order to prove their existence to the unbelievers in our midst we need to look very closely at the biblical references that the prophets provide . . . and not only the prophets, but to Jesus Christ himself . . .
Remember in the garden of Gethsemane when Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant . . . “And behold, one of those who were with Jesus reached and drew out his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
Can you imagine what it was like to be the angelic contingent that was guarding Jesus his whole time on earth, and how they had to watch as he was flogged and crucified on that fateful day . . . ordered, we have to assume, not to interfere. I have often thought it was an angel who may have, in anger, torn the gold tabernacle curtain in two when Jesus died. What other explanation could there have been?
The New Testament includes many interactions and conversations between angels and humans. For instance, three separate cases of angelic interaction deal with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. In Luke 1:11, an angel appears to Zechariah to inform him that he will have a child despite his old age, thus proclaiming the birth of John the Baptist. And in Luke 1:26 the archangel Gabriel visits the Virgin Mary in the Annunciation to foretell the birth of Jesus Christ. Angels then proclaim the birth of Jesus in the Adoration of the shepherds in Luke 2:10. And today we continue to proclaim the same song of the angelic host each week at the end of mass in the Gloria in Excelsis . . . Glory to God in the Highest.
Angels also appear later in the New Testament. According to Matthew 4:11, after Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, “…the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.” In Luke 22:43 an angel comforts Jesus Christ during the Agony in the Garden. In Matthew 28:5 an angel speaks at the empty tomb, following the Resurrection of Jesus and the rolling back of the stone by angels. Further on in the New Testament, it is Paul and Barnabus, his companion, who are released from prison by an angel. Hebrews 13:2 reminds readers that anyone may “entertain angels unaware” at anytime and anywhere.
As recently as the 20th century, visionaries and mystics have reported interactions with angels. In a biography of Saint Gemma Galgani written by Venerable Germanus Ruoppolo, Galgani stated that she had spoken with her own guardian angel.
I too, at least until the day of my ordination to the diaconate, had conversations with my guardian angel whose job I believe it was to see me trained and ordained into the service of God’s church. At the end of his/her role, she bid me farewell as she was to be assigned to the people of China. A week later Tienanmen Square became the subject of a pro-democracy uprising of students, thousands of whom were murdered or imprisoned.
Finally, A few years before my mother died I was driving to work one morning, and I had the thought that I should get off the thruway and head towards my mother’s house because something was very wrong. At the time I was in the middle of the airport project and I had a meeting that couldn’t wait so I proceeded on to Niagara Falls. When I got to work, what started as a suggestion became an overwhelming insistence and I found I had to leave . . . the thought was ‘forget the appointment – leave NOW!’ . . . and so I did. When I got to my mother’s house, she was in the midst of a stroke and couldn’t talk. I didn’t know what to do so I called my daughter Becky, who you know is an RN. She called 911 and my mom was sent to the hospital just in the nick of time. She made a full recovery and I can tell you now that it was her own guardian angel that saved her life.
I guess the bottom line here is that God asks us all the time to accept things on faith. He asks us to accept that we are saved even though we know we don’t deserve it. He asks us to believe in the sacraments of baptism and the body and blood of Christ that they have been given to us as a means of grace. Though we see only water and bread and wine . . . because we have faith we know these things to be for us the instruments God uses to give us grace. And so . . . though most of us do not see them, nor hear them, we all can take notice of the influence that God’s angels have on our world and in our lives. We know that angels are real because Jesus taught us that they are real.
And whether newly baptized or not, every Christian is ultimately a pupil in the school of Jesus Christ. We sit at the feet of our Master. We want to bring our minds and our wills, our beliefs and our standards, under his yoke. In the Upper Room Jesus said to the apostles: ‘You call me “Teacher” and “Lord”, and rightly so, for that is what I am’ (Jn. 13:13). That is, ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’ were no mere courtesy titles; they bore witness to a reality. Jesus Christ is our Teacher to instruct us . . . and our Lord to command us. All Christians are under the instruction and the discipline of Jesus Christ and It should be inconceivable for a Christian ever to disagree with, or to even disobey, him. Whenever we do, the credibility of our claim to be converted Christians will become clearly in doubt. For we are only truly converted if we are intellectually and morally converted . . . and we are not intellectually and morally converted if we have not subjected our minds and our wills to the yoke of Jesus Christ.
Amen.

Many years ago when I was in sixth grade, my mom made a costume for me to wear in the school play. The play was The Pied Piper of Hamlet and I was given the part of the Town Miller – kind of a bit part, with only one line line . . . a line that to this day I cannot remember. But what I do remember about the day after the play was an incident that happened to me that has haunted me my whole life.
You see, being a twelve year old is like being between a child and an adult . . a child who has yet to fit in with the teens in his life but desperately wanting to. The costume that my mother made me was that of an alpine worker with a hat, a white shirt, shorts with colored suspenders and green knee socks. In the eyes of a twelve year old, this – at least at the time was – for me the ‘cat’s meow’ and I decided to wear the costume the next day, a Saturday, and to show all my friends how I looked in the play.
Now there was a girl, the older sister of my best friend, Jeffrey, who I particularly liked at the time but was much to shy to talk to. If you can think of Charlie Brown and his nemesis, the little red haired girl, then you’ll get the picture. This girl also had red hair and was probably about sixteen at the time and quite beautiful, especially in the mind of twelve year old boy – if you get my drift.
So it was with a bit of courage, I guess, that I decided to walk over to Jeffrey’s house to show him my costume, with the actual intent of running into Debbie, his sister to see what she thought. And much to my surprise she was there and told me exactly what she thought because she started laughing uncontrollably about my silly little get up and especially about “my little knobby knees” hanging out of my pants that were way to short.
Well, like anyone who has just been verbally skewered, I was pretty much mortified by this and ran home crying. I took off the costume and threw it into the waste can. Then I promised myself that I would never again wear shorts for as long as I lived . . . and I didn’t (except for an occasional swim in the pool) ever show my ‘little knobby knees’ ever again.
Now fast forward thirty years from that time and I was now a happily married adult with a wife and child, Becky, age 6 and I was accepted as an intern into the process of becoming a deacon. I was assigned to Trinity Church on Delaware Avenue and my sponsor there was a wonderful woman named Nan Clarkson. Nan was also in charge of the annual Christmas Pageant at Trinity and asked if I would take on one of the roles in the play – one that had no lines fortunately, because if was a pantomime sketch. But little did I know that their pageant would be an almost Hollywood production . .. with stage lights, costumes and scenery.
So when it came to hand out parts . . . as always it went to the leaders of the church to take on the primary parts of Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and all. And it was left to the draw of straws for the other supporting parts. And the part I picked was for one of two Roman soldiers . . . and my costume was . . . you guessed it a Roman Soldier helmet, spear, sandals and a short orange pleated skirt . . . at which I froze . . . thinking back to those words that still haunted me from thirty years ago.
As I sat there looking at this costume and panicking as to what to do . . . should I decline? . . . should I quit the program? . . . should I go home and forget everything about becoming a deacon? . . . that a voice in my head told me straight out “This will be the hardest thing I will ever ask you to do . . . but you need to do it” And so I did. And when the spot light came on, I stood there holding my spear awaiting the Holy Family to enter Bethlehem . . . it was the first of many times I have had to overcome my fear in thirty-odd years in ministry.
And as my wife Barbara, can attest, I still to this day will never wear shorts . . . all because of some careless words spoken to a little kid of 12 over fifty years ago.
Today in the epistle, James warns us about the use of our tongue and how it can cause great calamity if it is not controlled . . . How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no one can tame the tongue– a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
And so it is that from the heart and by way of tongue “that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. As Jesus warned us a few weeks back . . . All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Growing up, my family drilled into me a proverb that you probably were taught as well . . . that being. . . “If you cannot find something nice to say, you are better off saying nothing at all” Too often today though, we see just the opposite happening, especially in social media where people are able to hide behind pseudo-names and spill out all kinds of evil against everyone and everything. And once out . . . there is no way to retract it or hide it and so people are publicly humiliated and skewered verbally which continues to escalate until tempers become so unmanageable that killings and murders are planned and executed . . . all because someone somewhere could not control their tongue.
As much as the internet has become the cradle of human knowledge, it has its flaws, and its biggest flaws are in the hearts of those who use it in the wrong way. God gave us each free will and that will extends from the very best of intentions to the very worse pit to where a human can sink. In the end of course he will give up on those who cannot control there lives or their tongues. This is written, no less in the proverb that we read this morning . . .

Wisdom cries out in the street;
in the squares she raises her voice.
At the busiest corner she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
Give heed to my reproof;
I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused,
have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,
and because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you,
when panic strikes you like a storm,
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
would have none of my counsel,
and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
and be sated with their own devices.
For waywardness kills the simple,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
but those who listen to me will be secure
and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”
It is a simple rule that all should know and follow . . . that those who turn to God and accept his commandments as a rule of life, will live in the gracious presence of the Lord forever. Those who cannot accept the commandments of God and would rather to live by their own rules are given the freedom to live without God and without hope forever.
This is such a frightening prospect that how do we know it to be true? It is written everywhere in the scripture for eyes to see if they have a mind to see . . . that we must strive to set our mind on Christ and the life he offers us and not on our lives in this world, for they will all come to end . . .
Today, Jesus asks his disciples . . . “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.
Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Amen

Several years ago I came down with a cold that I could not shake. I was home-bound for about a week and it wasn’t getting any better . . . in fact it was getting worse. I lay on the living room couch without the strength to even get up for glass of water. I didn’t eat for days. As my temperature began to soar past a hundred degrees, it appeared I was destined for the hospital. I had never really been sick in a very long time so I didn’t have a doctor to turn to. When finally I got to Mercy Hospital I remember literally having to crawl on my hands and knees to get up the steps at the front door.
The ER people took one look at me and called in an emergency internist who began to diagnose my problem. It turned out that I had a life threatening form of pneumonia that was resistant to the normal routine drugs. Over the next two weeks, my doctor would try a number of combinations of antibiotics to try to counter the disease. After about ten trials and twenty three different drugs, he hit on the right combination; but not before nearly losing me completely to the disease. During those final hours I was delirious with pain due to lack of oxygen as my lungs were nearly completely filled with fluid and my body was screaming for air.
I knew that I was at the point of death and begged for God to relieve me of the burden of my life by calling me home. That night I was given an extraordinary gift; one that I have remembered in great detail even to today.
We often read about near death experiences, but seldom do we encounter many who actually have had one. Well this was for me a second experience, far more vivid than the first one, back when I was eighteen. In this experience I was ushered somehow through a tunnel of light and was met on the other side by one who I can only describe as a being of light. I didn’t know if it Jesus or an angel but I knew that it was a being, clothed in light and exuding great love for me and for everyone there. In an instant I was shown my past – where things had gone right and where they had gone wrong. I was also shown a probable future if I decided not to go back. But the future I was shown would not be a pleasant one for my family or for those I would leave behind. I felt an intense desire to stay where I was but was ridden with guilt by the thought of leaving those I loved behind. And so I was given the choice to give up my life and be welcomed into paradise and be forever surrounded in love –or- go back to save my family from a dismal future and . . . to begin a second life’s work – to be literally born again. In either case I was assured that I would be forever welcome into the arms of mercy regardless of the choice I made. And so reluctantly, I chose to return. I woke that morning in my hospital bed. My temperature was now normal and I was finally able to breathe. Whether it was a dream, the medication or a miracle I am not able to tell you. But I know it was an experience so intense that it has stayed with me all these years and I have been thankful for every minute of every day since. I was healed of pneumonia and was literally given a new lease on life; but more importantly I was given the blessed assurance that all is exactly as how we all have been taught.
Today’s gospel story relays to us the story of two healings by Jesus. One is the healing of a man, born deaf from birth . . . they brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.
The other is the story of a small girl with a demon, born to a woman of Syria, a foreigner and not a Jew, who begs Jesus to help her daughter. Jesus at first refuses but then changes his mind when the mother quotes a bit of scripture that we should all be very familiar with . . . Jesus said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But [the woman] answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
It was from this particular discourse that Thomas Cramner wrote the prayer of humble access that is in our Holy Communion liturgy . . ‘We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy’:
In both of these stories Jesus meets people that only he can cure. One who was deaf and did not know the Messiah and yet was healed; and the other was a girl possessed who also did not know Jesus, and in fact was not a believer and yet she also was healed through the faith and prayer of her mother.
The key question that can be asked in these stories and in so many others was when the disciples asked Jesus, upon the healing of a blind man in a different gospel story, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” And so it can be inferred that all these miracles happened so that you yourselves might come to believe . . . as the deaf hear, as the lame walk, and as those with demons are made whole . . . all for one purpose and one purpose only – so that you also will believe.
And so one man’s mission in life was to be born blind, another to be born deaf, and yet both are healed for the sole purpose to illustrate for those would believe that Jesus Christ came down from heaven in order that all people might be saved from what afflicts them. All the recorded stories of healing in the new testament are meant to illustrate for us that there will be those who cannot believe or will not believe and who are blinded by pride and arrogance that may be lost forever in their sins.
Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see . . . may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, `’We see,’ your sin remains.”
There can be no doubt that the blind man, the deaf man, and even the girl afflicted with a demon in these stories desired to go to heaven. I think most everyone holds in their hearts, to some degree or another, a general expectation of what heaven or the life hereafter is like.
I also believe that there is not one person outside these doors, however false may be their views, however unscriptural the ground of their hope, however worldly-minded they may be . . . who does not wish there to be a heaven to go to when they die. But Jesus tells us that many in this world . . . without a change of heart . . . will never get there. He tells us that many desire to wear the crown – but most are ashamed of the cross. Many would like the glory–but few can stomach grace. All would like the happiness–but very few buy into holiness in their lives. All would like the peace that believing brings–but very few will seek after truth. We all would like the victory–but none of us wants to fight. We all would like the reward–but not the labor. We all would like the harvest–but not the plowing. We all would like the reaping–but not the sowing. And so the way to heaven is fraught with difficulty for those who have little faith and it is nearly impossible for those who have none at all.
So yo might ask . . . why is it so difficult for even those of us who actually believe? I think it’s difficult because we hear the stories of God’s workings and of his healings, as in today’s readings, but few of us are healed. We see earthquakes in Nepal and droughts and recent wildfires in California and disasters all around the world and we wonder where is God in all this? We see stories on the news of fellow Christians murdered for their belief in the messiah and their churches destroyed and we wonder what is our faith all about if God allows atrocities against innocent people to be committed?
If God is not sending earthquakes, destroying economies and inflicting pain upon human beings, then we might ask, what is He doing? I believe scripture shows us clearly, that God works through people like you and me, calling them to help their neighbors in need. God comforts his people, walking with them even through the valley of the shadow of death as we read in the Psalms. God bends or forces suffering, tragedy and evil that occur to bring about good in all things. God redeems the suffering and heals the broken hearted. Those who are believers in God find strength from their faith in the face of terrible suffering. We are compelled to give sacrificially to help those in need. And we have the hope that comes from knowing that, with God by our side, the tragedy we witness in others, or are facing tragedy ourselves, is never the final word. I believe we are called, like Christ himself, to be “wounded healers” in a broken world.
You and I were each born for a purpose; we each have a mission in life. We may not all be aware of exactly what it is but like the deaf man and the young girl in the Gospel story, you were chosen just as you are (perhaps in ways broken, confused, blind or deaf) so that God’s works might be revealed in you. Remember always that you did not choose God, no one can . . . God chose you for this time and in this place.
If you go away with any thought from this homily today, remember that there’s nothing more precious to your life than your time. You probably feel you have a measureless supply of it, but I would tell today, that you do not. Wasted hours will destroy a life just as surely at the beginning of life as at the end, only at the end it becomes much more obvious.
Saint Paul wrote to us once . . . Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light . . . for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Amen