Sermon for the Fourth Sunday After Easter
May 10, 2009
by
The Right Reverend Royal Grote

There is great uneasiness all around us… there is constant change: Governments and regimes rise and fall; the economy soars and then plummets; employment expands and then, just as quickly, it recedes.

It seems like every time you get a raise in pay there is also a raise in bills and debt. It seems that as soon as one trial or challenge is dealt with a greater one becomes your new focus. When one enemy has been quelled, a newer and fiercer one rises up.

And on it goes, with one major conflict following another and you find that the testimony from the opposing sides commands and demands sympathy. So much so that we are strongly tempted to forget there is such a thing as objective truth… so much so that, at times, we may be tempted to think that adultery is alright in some instances… that murder is acceptable when a person is oppressed or sorely inconvenienced… that homosexual activity is a legitimate expression of love… that lust is something commendable… that, in certain circumstances, theft is O.K –especially if it’s a rich person or an impersonal corporation that is being ripped-off.

The whole mess is one big tangled web… and it is all the consequence of sin. Whether the issue is Peace in the Middle East or abuses in the Roman Priesthood… they all have sin at the heart. Individuals… groups… mankind as a whole… all trying to conduct their lives as if they know better than God. This fallen world, in which we move and breathe, offers us no anchor. What it does offer is a concrete block tied around your ankle, keeping you mired in the abyss of sin. And that does you absolutely no good.

Nevertheless, I come to you with exceedingly good news God, out of the abundance of His mercy, has provided an anchor for us, an anchor that is an unshakeable foundation upon which to stand, admidst the chaos that swirls about us, as we fight against the world, the flesh and the devil … and that anchor is Christ Himself, the eternal Word made flesh for our salvation. One of the depictions of the Cross in the early church had an anchor at the bottom of it. In the catacombs you can find these crosses symbolizing man’s only hope in a dreadfully fallen and sinful world. And make no mistake, my brethren; the Christians of that day had a far more turbulent, instable and brutal culture to deal with than we do… Some days brought them a measure of favor and promotion; others persecution, torture and death. Emperors were assasinated and bloody rivals for the title “Augustus” jockeyed for the position… they would stop at nothing to achieve their ends. They would kill their own families… their own children to assimilate power. Finally, wars and civil wars were waged almost without ceasing, creating havoc. But, all the while, Christ the Lord was that sure anchor, that rock-solid foundation, which kept the Church from being dashed on the rocks of destruction and hopelessness.

Our Scripture lessons this morning address these very concerns. The Epistle of St. James has been called New Testament wisdom literature… the New Testament’s version of the Book of Proverbs… precisely because it is jam-packed with godly wisdom. This Epistle wasn’t intended to be an abstract, theological treatise… its purpose was to provide practical instruction from a godly Christian bishop for perplexed believers in times of great duress

James says in chapter one:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of Lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James uses this celestial language to make the supremely important point that God, unlike the inconstant heavens, is entirely trustworthy and unchanging. When man observes the skies, what he sees is a continual state of flux… the sun goes up and the sun goes down; the moon gets full and then it becomes a sliver; the clouds gather, bringing rain and storms, and then they dissipate, leaving blue skies. The seasons change from intense heat to bitter cold.

Now, in the midst of these changes, there were some things that appeared to remain constant. The sun, moon and stars, though they have motion, were at least always there. And, so, they became objects of worship. People bent the knee before creatures that possessed a stability and power which man lacked…nevertheless, they are nothing more than impersonal objects, which, despite their apparent constancy, change in relationship to this earth… but the “Father of Lights” does not change. The One who created these good creatures and hung them in the sky is the same one who unfailingly provides for us every day of our lives.

This is the same God who directed Abraham to observe the stars as a testimony to his covenant. God would provide, he would be faithful to His covenant promises, and Abraham would be the father of many nations… as numerous as the stars in the heavens… and the salvation of the world would come through Him.

This is the same Father that has determined what is good and what is evil. He has called forth His judgment on sin in the prophets and the Book of Revelation. And for the transgressing nations, the sun will be darkened… the moon will not shed its light and the stars will fall from the heavens. For those who reject Christ, the sky will plummet into free-fall and time will run out.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” It is in Him that we see the source of gifts which are truly good. Some might take this to mean that God is the one who helps us win the lottery, or that God is the one who enables us to get a nicer car, or go on a fun vacation, or get the perfect job. And, of course, there is a measure of truth to this; St. Paul declares that God gives us all things “richly to enjoy”, but that is not what St. James is talking about. These, in the end, are not perfect gifts; though people spend much of their life trying to get them. If I just had this job… I could be happy. If only I could make another 10,000 a year… my problems would be over. If I could just find the right spouse… I would be content forever. Yes, these things can bring great blessings… but they are not enough-not by a long shot.

But, what are these good and perfect gifts? Some commentators say the gifts are beauty, wisdom, honor… even faith. And, indeed,, God gives these things too, but they are not perfect as they pertain to what we need most.
The context will tell us what the gifts are: St. James says, “Of His own will begat He us with the Word of Truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” Who Begets us?… Who is the Word of Truth?… Who is good and perfect and makes us “firstfruits”? The Word of Truth, brethren, is Jesus Christ and the one who begets us is the Holy Spirit. We profess in the Creeds that the Father has sent the Son and the Holy Ghost to work out our salvation… to work out our restoration from death… to work out our participation in eternal life with God… They are perfect gifts precisely because they are uniquely perfect… they are divine… they do not disappoint and they abide forever, because they are very God of very God. In other words, the Good and Perfect gift is none other than God Himself.

The Word became flesh and gave us the gift of Himself. In perfect obedience, perfect worship, and perfect love… the Lord Jesus offered Himself up to the Father on our behalf. Because by our selves, in our sin… we are not acceptable. If we have Him, we have God’s perfect gift for us.

And how do we receive this perfect gift? … through God’s perfect gift of the Holy Spirit, who begets us again unto everlasting life. He brings us to Christ and Christ to us. He applies that new life in Christ to us. He abides in us and works in us to make the gift of Christ good and perfect for us. He comes in the midst of the raging world and engrafts us, by faith through baptism, into Christ, Who is the Word of Truth. We receive these gifts through the working of the Spirit in the preaching and hearing of the Holy Scriptures and in the Sacraments.

In the Gospel text of St. John, the disciples were fretting because the Lord told them that He must leave them. He must ascend to His Father in heaven and send the Holy Spirit to the Church. And they were depressed because they didn’t understand that this had to be done… they couldn’t see that this was for the very best.

We too might ask, “Why is the Lord in heaven instead of down here? If He were here, He could straighten out all the problems in the world. There would be no more war, strifes and divisions because the Lord would tell us what’s right and what’s not.” He could unify the world and put an end to sin… He could make the world perfect now.

Remember when the Lord came the first time? Did people listen to Him then? What saith the Scriptures?
“He came to His own and His own received Him not”… they didn’t believe Him. Not at all; instead, they crucified him, “through the hands of wicked men.”

It is not that He can’t make us do what we should… He could… and at the end He will come to judge the quick and the dead… but now He calls us to be faithful and trust Him. He calls us to obey and He sends the Paraclete to help us do this. The Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete, and this word means “comforter”. He comforts us as He reminds us that Jesus Christ died for us and that our Hope will yet be fulfilled. No matter how bad things are now, they won’t be that way forever for those who are in Christ. Time passes… the world changes but, thanks be to God, “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.”

The Holy Spirit is here to convert the lost through the labor of the Church. The word that St. John uses of the work of the Spirit is translated “reprove” in the King James. It is also translated by some versions as “convince” and by some as “convict.” And it is used for the cross-examination of a witness, or a man on trial, or an opponent in an argument. It has the idea of cross-examining a man until he sees and admits his errors, or acknowledges the force of some argument which before he had not yet seen. Such cross-examination can do two things--it can convict a man of the crime he has committed or the wrong that he has done; or it can convince a man of the weakness of his own case and the strength of the case which he has opposed. In this passage it has both meanings: both convict and convince. It is in the convicting and convincing that we have eternal life in Christ as we turn from self and sin.

The witness of the Holy Spirit is also the witness of the Church. It is up to the Church, animated by the Holy Spirit, to convict the world now about sin, about justice, and about condemnation. By our very lives as members of Christ’s Body, you and I are committed to show the world that sin results in destruction. It is the witness of the Church, individually and collectively, and a witness that must needs be made. This witness tells the world that they are looking for bad and imperfect gifts… gifts that cannot save or sustain in this life or the life to come.
And so, my brethren, let us receive our good and perfect gifts with joy and gladness. Let us be grateful for these gifts. Let us give these gifts freely to others and pray for God’s working in this uneasy world, unto His glory, and the salvation of innumerable souls, who need that solid anchor which is Christ, as much as we do.