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Only three days after the notorious day of “love,”
Valentine’s day, 21 year old Poitr Rog killed 3 members of the Crawford family
and himself travelling over 100 miles an hour down a quiet Suburban street in
Des Plaines, Illinois. His Mercedes flew
recklessly down Northwest Highway near Mount Prospect Road around 9pm on
February 17th, 2017 crashing head-on with the Crawford’s Chevy
Impala, as it was attempting to turn into a parking lot. They were planning on
seeing their daughter’s performance in a school function. Their car was then
pushed across Northwest Highway into a Toyota Highlander. Thankfully the
elderly couple inside the Highlander, suffered only minor injuries.
A few days, hours and weeks later it was soon discovered
that young Piotr, the son of a wealthy family had a mile long record of
previous convictions, violations and marks against him for reckless and often drunken
driving. No one however suspended or
took away his license since each and every time he managed to find convenient
legal loopholes or persuasion, via his family’s deep pockets, to keep him out
of trouble. Meanwhile the Crawford
family is survived by a remaining 15 year old daughter and a 10 year old son.
And young Piotr, himself, is dead as well.
Here is just a speck, microdot within the story of
humanity’s struggles with sin. Sort of
like the Beatles’ song, ‘A Day in the Life,’ this was just a flash in the pan,
amidst millions of stories, struggles and victories of sin, death and evil
breaking into our world. Sin, death and evil begin within that microcosm of the
world of the self—the ego. Living a life curved inward does not produce fruit… What it does create, however, is much akin to
the growth of cancer. The consequences are, that the building blocks of a solid
foundation in the heart of faith, compassion and responsibility are either torn
down, marred or disfigured by the empty promises of willfulness, desires
justified and lived purely for the self.
This young man willfully wanted to “have his cake,” as
they say, and “eat it too.” Where was
the initial sin, you may ask? My own theory on what “creates” sin not only
comes from what we have Biblically just read in both Genesis and St. Paul’s letter
to the Romans—a turned heart, will against God; I truly believe all sin begins
with greed and indifference. The “Existentialist” in me, (Yes, there’s that $20
word again), sees the daily unnatural battle between the ego and aspiring
selflessness to be an issue of greed.
Greed is more or less, wantonness, willfulness. Indifference is the ugly partner to greed
since a world curved inward and lived towards the self cannot see, yet alone, think
or care about the consequences of their actions. Indifference is the opposite of compassion.
Indifference is aided by the false promises of Satan to
be a “tool” of control and “agenda-oriented” personal politics. We see it in
today’s Gospel. This fantastically surreal encounter between Jesus and Satan in
the “wilderness” of the world to make choices.
It’s very cut and dry honestly, Satan continues to try to bait Jesus
with making a selfish choice. If anything the perfect stoic response of Christ
should truly amaze us! Sin itself
however, returning to that cancer metaphor, grows in layers and becomes that spiritual
malignancy to a soul that needs to reconcile with God for the sake of others’
well-being. For the sake of the whole of creation, honestly.
Everything we think we’ve “intellectually” progressed in,
“advanced” in, has more or less chiseled away the tuck-pointing to that firm
foundation of faith, trust and love, in the heart, for God and neighbor. This
past Ash Wednesday is not about feeling “guilt” for sins but being inspired to
get back down to work, spiritually, within ourselves, to not accept God’s Grace
in vain but seek restoration—for we are very broken. It’s not just a turn of
phrase in theology or something you’ve already heard… It is VERY real. Our trust has been broken, by the empty
promises from the ruler of this world, who has done nothing but to seek to lure
us into adopting. We become faithless cynics operating a personal politic of
advantageousness and reckless, lawless abandon!
This isn’t going to be a fire and brimstone sermon but it
is one that is supposed to open the eyes of your heart to have you truly see
where you spiritually ARE. Where are you
in this wilderness of the world? Who has
been the evil influence to your heart to justify any kind of sin you have
committed on your life-time’s discipleship journey? Outside of all the
scriptures which have been spiritually chewed upon this week from Ash Wednesday
onward, things in the world, have been weaving these thoughts together that I
now share with you as your guiding, spiritual leader.
Of all things, the other day in caring for the elderly
man who is jointly being cared for by his wayward son, we both wound up
watching something like 6 episodes of the first season of Law and Order, Special
Victims Unit. I’m normally not a fan of gratuitously
violent or grizzly detective type shows, but it was fascinating to say the
least. Each and every story begin with
an initial “crime” or grave sin.
Motivations for all parties involved in these grizzly stories became as
intricate as a spider’s web. From
breaking a law to steal or rob… to eventually murder and heinous crimes against
humanity. Like that initial cancerous
growth, each and every plot would thicken in an almost surreal way. “Justice,”
in the end, may or may not be the final outcome.
The Lenten season isn’t something to see as merely a
complete, dark reminder of the reality, nature of sin. The Lenten season should help us to realize
that we are as that old Reformation statement declares: “simul justus peccator”
or in English—“we are simultaneously both saint and sinner.” Let’s unpack that some more. Perhaps the best way to hear that as a “works-in-progress”
disciple of Jesus, is that we are constantly aspiring towards righteousness—turning
our hearts back to God as well as we are constantly tempted to the willful
empty, self-absorbed treasures that the lure of sin promises us constantly (and
justifies constantly!) Is it fair to say that perhaps God is in a struggle with
Satan daily, for our well-being?
The mission of the cross to free us from sin, death and
the Devil is Easter’s victory. It is
also a discipleship calling to each and every one of us to live into being as
St. Paul said on Ash Wednesday, ambassadors of Christ. We are to work prayerfully together as
stewards not only of creation, but stewards of the Gospel. Why has this message
been seemingly lost in our current mindset? Trust me, being a steward of
creation and the Gospel, is something LIVED, and INCORPORATED outside of the
church’s walls… Hear this spiritually—the
first church, the heart must strive willingly to discipline itself to God’s
mission and purpose for the world and together as the Body—our voices, hands
and feet.
When you think about the image of the cross, when you see
Jesus’ hands stretched wide… does your heart, for a moment, feel that twinge of
seeing a parent reaching out to you in a great gesture of Love and forgiveness? Our sins were those nails holding the freedom
He has to offer, down… It wasn’t till,
as we know, with the Resurrection, that Grace would become a profound reality. Right now, humanity is wandering that very
same wilderness, where the efforts of the Evil One have become quite complex
and our Lenten journey to restoration and renewal, a greater spiritual burden,
task…
Maintaining that spiritual building within the heart of
the believer, and even future believer—takes good tuck-pointing… I think it is an interesting fact that in
America, spiritual care seems to fall off to the sides in the professional
world of serving as a chaplain.
Hospitals, specialized doctors and so forth, merely “fix” up the body
like a Band-Aid—medications, counseling… only looking to outward physical,
earthly facts, but not really ever addressing those deeper needs. Many hospitals for instance, have
predominantly Catholic priests and lay ministers to address the legal
fulfillments of living the Catholic faith.
They are more or less financially indifferent towards the possible needs
of spiritually serving many different faiths.
The bigger picture to see here is that we cannot and
should not avoid the reality of maintaining and growing in a positive way—turning
to God… If we were at that scene in
today’s Gospel where Jesus refuses to turn the stones to bread, and we realized
we were spiritually starving, we would definitely fall, fail. Faith is something
Satan can’t control… but it is truly up to us to reinforce that once firm
foundation in our hearts with the Good News.
This Good News doesn’t come from our own Gospel, it comes from Christ
Jesus alone! The battle can never be completely won till Christ returns, but it
doesn’t mean we stop trying! Willingness
is opening our arms like Christ and embracing our mission in the world for the
sake of God and neighbor. The lifestyle
and blessing of Grace is our treasure to pursue, become obedient to. Out of the lips of Jesus, He teaches us in saying:
“19“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20but store
up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and
where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure
is, there your heart will be also.”
With that said, what is treasure to you? What does it
mean to your spiritual formation journey as a disciple of Jesus?
Let us Pray,
Gracious Lord Jesus,
Your walk in the wilderness with the Evil One
Needs to make our hearts aware of where we are
Are we losing the battle by justifying sin over Your
Gospel’s call?
Please create in us, clean hearts and a righteous spirit
That will motivate us to reconcile truthfully in our relationship
with You.
May we strive to become restored, renewed and truly Free
in Your precious Grace!
AMEN
March 5th, 2017
First Sunday in Lent; Year A; SOLA Lectionary
Sermon By:
Reverend Nicole A.M. Collins
Psalm 32:1-7;
Genesis 3:1-21; Romans 5:12-19 &
Matthew 4:1-11
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