SERMON FOR THE 4th SUNDAY
AFTER TRINITY
JULY 04, 2004
OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM MISSION CHURCH, CORONA, CALIFORNIA
Rev. Fr. Richard L. Stapp
The Independence Day Gospel and the Gospel appointed
for this Fourth Sunday after Trinity should be read and understood in
consonance with our Lord's teaching on how we should love our neighbor
that immediately precedes our Lord's caution about judging others in
this chapter of Luke.
St. Matthew's Gospel lesson for Independence Day
introduces the jarring concept of loving one's enemies.
Loving one's neighbor and the judgment of others are
related ideas but must be carefully distinguished. It is easy to
distort our Lord's teaching about refraining from the judgment of
others to moral relativism which requires us to refrain from all
judgment of the morally repugnant behaviors of others in society.
Love is a volatile word. It generally refers to a
highly charged state of being with a strong emotional element or
context that invokes a response independent of rational analysis or
intellectual control. There is romantic love, its cousin, the love of
friendship, and the love between family members. All of these forms of
attachment have something to do with human emotions that resonate in
generous attitudes between those affected as well as good feelings when
jealousy is not afoot.
Our Lord Jesus, however, is addressing a concept of
regard called love that does not have anything to do with an emotional
state of being; or whether one actually likes the other person or not.
The love of neighbor in the mind of God bespeaks an
attitude of regard that desires the good of others not dependent upon
and irrespective of good feelings; or the anticipation of getting an
echo of warmth in return.
Luke introduces the idea of loving one's neighbor in
the opening sentence of our Gospel which says "Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful." The English word "mercy" is
derived from the Latin word “merces, mercedis,” meaning the price paid
as, for example, the cost of something one might purchase in the
market. The inadequate Latin word “merces” was used to represent the
ideas embodied in the Greek word charis (from which the word charity is
derived); a concept that included the idea of compassion, for example,
of one who is in debt or has an obligation that he cannot meet, some
irreducible need, or some helpless distress. Mercy, therefore means
unending and uncircumscribed compassion and forgiveness and giving and
good will - or as Luke says "as your father also is merciful."
God forgives us for our disobedience in the same
manner. We cannot, ourselves, pay God anything to compensate for our
deviancy which all of us have inherited from Adam and Eve. But, we are
forgiven and our obligation is dissolved by the grace of God through
the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross.
But, what does it mean to desire the good of another
person who is an emotional stranger to you and for whom you have no
warm regard or, as is usually the case, no regard at all. It would be a
bit much if loving our neighbor meant a desire to transform him into
our own image or even some other reflection equally appealing.
The summary of the law commands us to love our
neighbor as ourselves and this is not a prescription for being
narcissistic or self absorbed. If you love yourself you will seek the
best possible outcome for yourself in life. Rightly understood, that
outcome is a spiritual well being that recognizes as the highest good
the worship and service of God.
God created this world and everything in it. He
called his own creation good. But the good that is the objective of
loving your neighbor does not mean the material things or comforts of
this world. Many people, especially in Orange County, have all the
material things that they desire, but are otherwise spiritual paupers.
It does not mean physical beauty or athletic prowess or any of the
usual list of human earthly values. Good, therefore, in our Lord's mind
is the best possible spiritual health for your neighbor.
Moreover, doing good to them that are nasty to you
and even sock you in the jaw means praying and striving for their
spiritual reform after the pattern just described. That is what it
means to turn one's cheek. It does not mean that you should stand there
and allow yourself to be punched senseless. Likewise, you are not
required to impoverish yourself by giving the substance of your living
to layabouts and other scoundrels who demand from you your money and
valuables. You are required to love them by gi g them the most valuable
thing of all which is the spiritual key to the salvation of their
souls. Manifestly, part of that giving may well include your coat and
your money and other things you hold dear if he needs it for his
spiritual health. But the attitude of desiring this kind of good for
one's neighbor comes first and then the coat or whatever else will flow
from that righteousness.
Now, lets get to the judgment part in our gospel
lesson as seen through the prism of the kind of love our Lord is
commanding. The kind of judgment Jesus condemns is that criticism or
fault-finding that is comparative or arises from sinful motives such as
jealousy, envy, anger and the like. Moreover we are not digressing into
criminal justice which is spiritually related but has more to do with
mans justice and the world than with God. Jesus makes fun of human
fault finding by comparing the critic with a person who has an entire
log sticking out of his eye while complaining about the speck of dust
in the eye of the person being criticized.
It would be profitable to ask, at this juncture, why
the identification of some serious moral error in another person will
risk divine judgment for the person or persons who give the alarm. The
answer has everything to do with the motive for the criticism or
judgment. It is the motive that determines the righteousness of the
judgment. One illustration comes from the parable of the Pharisee and
the Publican who went in the Temple together to pray. The Pharisee
thanks God for the fact that he isn't like that reprobate Publican and
goes on to recite his own numerous meritorious achievements which he
supposes elevate him far above the Publican. The Publican on the other
hand, is in deep contemplation of his own sin and not trying to obscure
his flaws by expressing shock and disgust at those of another. But
rather going through the painful self analysis that leads to spiritual
reform.
Jesus is not advocating oral paralysis forbidding
righteous judgment ore is s leading to the spiritual correction of your
neighbor or society. He is certainly not advocating the moral paralysis
that is the companion of moral relativism. Moral relativism is
the attitude that says whatever one's neighbor does is above
condemnation because there is a kind of moral stand-off between you and
him. There are no moral absolutes and human behavior is not
circumscribed by divine command; or if it is so circumscribed what you
hear may be different from the commands received by your neighbor, and
so on. The resulting moral confusion and social squalor is the same.
The full message is comprehended in removing the log
from your eye in true humility before you attempt to announce
righteousness to others. In some cases this 'Il indeed lead to a
certain paralysis of the tongue; and it rightly should because the
motivation must be from the desire for the good of the person. That
good, rightly understood, is the ability to discern what it is that
leads to the salvation of the soul. If that understanding is achieved
then all of the subsidiary human desires will conform accordingly.
To that end, Jesus urges us to become like him, the
teacher. Some bible exegists say that Jesus uses the simile of student
and teacher because in those days there were no libraries and the
teacher was the sole source of the knowledge. But this analysis is less
than the message. The more Christ-like we become the clearer our moral
vision.
Jesus is the embodiment of righteous judgment in
that he seeks the good of all humanity. Becoming like our Master will
leave us with the clarity of vision that will enable us to discern the
moral fault of another and to love him enough to lead him out of the
ditch rather than fall into it with him.
Divine Mercy embraces the virtue of giving as in the
parable about good measure; that in the same measure you give it shall
be again measured to you. This does not mean some kind of material
reciprocity but rather the spiritual good that you seek for another
without expectation of reward or some kind of salvation by merit. It
means that you ill realize an equal spi tual benefit. On the other
hand, if you remain blind to your own sins while presuming to correct
others, both of you will remain n error and subject to judgment.
Our Lord called some of the Pharisees and Scribes
blind guides because they had tossed out the spiritual substance of
righteousness with God in favor of the useless external forms of piety
and righteousness. As I have often said from this pulpit, there is a
certai ubris or pride that has
been afoot in our own society for several decades coincident with the
rise of secularism and apostasy. This is the idea that the human
condition itself can be morally and spiritually improved by science.
And it is certainly possible to tinker with the
genes of living things, including human beings. But the use of science
to improve or purify the genetic bank of mankind is the siren song of
satanic mischief.
As an example, as soon as it became possible to
determine the sex of the fetus shortly after conception certain
ocieties that have a cultural preference for males as the first born
aborted female fetuses. The results of this application of science will
be social chaos in those societies in the years to come.
It is abundantly obvious that it is not the science
itself that contains the evil. There may be some medical usefulness in
certain pre-birth determinations or pre-dispositions. The problem is
that human willfulness and pride untamed by the guidance and influence
of the Holy Spirit will inevitably lead to chaos and moral degradation.
There is no genuine meritorious or rational purpose to human life that
is not begun, continued, and ended in the worship and service of God.
The most satisfying human life that can ever be achieved is that
spiritual state that follows upon the building of one's personal house
upon the rock of our Lord. That does not mean perfection of
construction. It does mean a long spi tual journey from darkness into
light as we struggle to remake our fallen human nature into the image
of our Lord. This struggle will be brought into perfection by Jesus
through his sacrifice on the cross; but the spiritual strength and
satisfaction that derives from engaging the effort itself will sustain
us against all misfortune and give us that good sight with which to
help our neighbor remove his speck.
Two and a quarter centuries ago, our forefathers
brought forth on this continent a remarkable republic founded on
principles derived from the Christian ethos ofloving one's neighbor by
respecting his right to live in freedom to worship God and build ajust
society. We, as Christians, must resolve anew to contin e that journey
as our faith gives us the light and strength to persevere; keeping in
mind that, as the psalmist says:
Except the Lord build the house, their
labor is but lost that build it.
Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
It is but lost labor that ye haste to rise up early, and so late take
rest,
and eat the bread of carefulness: for so he giveth his beloved
sleep . . .