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It
can perhaps roll off the tongue these days that our faith is under serious attack. Just try spending a few minutes watching the “real”
news on TV then you can daily hear about Christians being persecuted because of
their faith. These persecutions range from the Iranian American pastor held
captive to the deaths of hundreds of Coptic and middle-eastern Christians abroad…
to most subtly hidden or “avoided here” at home in America! The persecutions in America, have been moved
to the sidelines like everything in this world to focus all our energies
instead, upon our idolatry of our own little world’s materialism and its ramifications.
One
of the more ironic as well as somewhat disturbingly humorous news items I heard
the other day, was that a new part of the government shutdown included military
chaplain services… Any priest or pastor
seen presiding over a liturgy or “daring to commune” anyone in the military
would be arrested! Yikes~ Are they
serious? Since when did the separation
of church and state seem to “conveniently disappear” in the cloud of financial
warfare? A financial war puffed up beyond imagination by those in our
government that seem to frankly “enjoy” wasting the peoples’ time being utterly
cold and indifferent in coming to a compromise for the sake of others? When
you engage however, in Marxist ideologies you unknowingly entertain ‘atheistic’
control to the detriment and annihilation of spiritually growing to know GRACE.
That
took a lot of guts to say that… but then when you take a good look into today’s
texts you hear people of faith boldly saying it like it is, as it needs to BE
SAID. These people of faith are boldly
speaking the truth in love because they deeply hear God’s commandment, urgency
for our stewardship, witness and demonstration of the Gospel of Grace—the unwavering
Gospel of love, compassion, the totality of Christ Jesus. All week long we’ve been hearing about
veterans cutting tapes blocking the WWII memorial to see what they have every
right to see or hearing about the closing of the Grand Canyon as if the beauty
of nature itself can be closed down by our command…
The
bigger picture or concept here is when we seek to control or eliminate “Faith”
as we currently seem to be doing in the world these days—we grow further and
further away from exhibiting gracious behavior, from being or aspiring to
become beautiful witnesses through a transformed heart. A transformed heart that is a humble heart
encouraging others, EMPOWERING others to be lights in the world! There’s an allusive thought that Satan has
perhaps most successfully distorted in our idolatry to the self: What’s the
difference between “power” and empower? We
want control also known as power… Jesus
in today’s Gospel talks about a different kind of power however. Jesus talks about the power of faith to
empower: “6…“If
you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!” Jesus had said this to the disciples who
basically say to Jesus, “gimme more faith!”
Faith is a gift that is grown, it is grown through awareness living into
the light of God’s GRACE.
GRACE like faith is one of those
words we have a hard time understanding…
For instance, it took 774 pages of dialoguing upon the subject and life
of GRACE for the Book of Concord to be considered finished. When Martin Luther was on trial to recant in
the face of the government of the time, his faith and all he had done as a bold
witness to the Gospel… he said these famous words: “I cannot choose but adhere
to the Word of God, which has possession of my conscience; nor can I possibly,
nor will I even make any recantation, since it is neither safe nor honest to
act contrary to conscience! Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me
God! Amen.” God Bless his honesty and
commitment! He made the decision to BE a
bold voice and eventually empower a movement of Christians to challenge the
world to live in the light of GRACE!
St. Paul speaking to Timothy in this
week’s texts not only encourages his protégé in the faith but outlines his life
as how the GRACE of God empowered him beyond his own expectations to be a
wonderful “7b… spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” St. Paul instructs Timothy to focus his heart’s
lens to the Gospel. St. Paul says this
right after he ordains Timothy to the task of ministry. He also beckons Timothy through faith, to: “8b…
join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, 9who
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but
according to his own purpose and GRACE. This GRACE was given to us in Christ
Jesus before the ages began, 10but it has now been revealed
through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11For
this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, 12and
for this reason I suffer as I do.”
Wow, what a fantastic testimony of
the powerful and empowering faith of St. Paul!
In personally hearing this deeply, it is still a year or so before the
prospect of being ordained yet alone finishing seminary; but in just thinking
about the confession of commitment I will be making in front of the world for
the sake of answering God’s call is being a bold voice of faith! It is amazing GRACE justified through
faith! That once mustard seed of faith
planted within me, now has planted many trees which are bearing fruit for the
sake of the Gospel for the purpose of new life…
The beginning of this sermon with
its negativity, politics and sad darkness seems to play towards that seemingly unsolvable
problem of theodicy: Why does God let evil things happen? Well actually he doesn’t, with the strange
exception of Job however… but in today’s
OT text from the Prophet Habakkuk; we can hear ourselves saying this while the
world caves into sin around us: “2O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not
listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? 3Why
do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence
are before me; strife and contention arise. 4So the law becomes
slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous— therefore
judgment comes forth perverted. 1I will stand at my watch post, and
station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what he will answer concerning my complaint.” Well apparently Habakkuk had to wait a long
time… but since when has human nature ever learned to be patient and wait for
God or accepted with a humble heart, God’s sense of time as well as God at work
in our lives transformation?
We live according to our own sense
of time as well as to the detriment of hearing God’s voice clearly and
profoundly leading us to live in the light of eternal hope, into a life of
GRACE. Getting back into the ugliness of
current world news once again, how will surpressing ministry, the beauty of mother
nature and the overall surpression of free will solve the consequences of the
sins of the idolatry of money and of the world of the self? It will serve NO purpose. Serving no purpose is sitting on the
sidelines of life, puffed up without deliverance, without honor… for there is
no anchor, no fortress of refuge—this is frankly “hell and death…,” plain and
simple—our destruction.
Jesus in today’s Gospel tells the
apostles to pay attention to themselves, as we should take in light of , as
well, today: “1…Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe
to anyone by whom they come! 3Be on your guard! If another
disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you
must forgive. 4And if the same person sins against you seven
times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must
forgive.” If you ask me, “you must” doesn’t sound like, “take your
time and weigh the options, then give me your decision…” There’s a sense of urgency here! Urgency for the Kingdom of God is waiting to
be revealed through our humbled, lives of Faith growing and “going” in the
Light of God’s GRACE!
The life of the disciple will always
be in tension; this is a part of the cost of discipleship. The Spiritual battle
is ongoing as Satan finds more ways to indenture us… We will always be living
as if walking on the fine line between saint and sinner. Living in the Light of GRACE is being
conformed and transformed to Christ Alone.
For it is through GRACE Alone we are saved, Through Christ Alone rests
my deliverance for he is my mighty rock, my refuge and my God!
AMEN
October 6th, 2013;
Lectionary 27; 20th Sunday After Pentecost; Year C; Proper 22; SOLA
Lectionary Psalm 62; Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4;
2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:1-10
Nicole
Collins
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