TODAY, ON THE
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY, THE EPISTLE LESSON OFFERS US A KIND OF
SUMMARY OF WHAT THE CHRISTIAN YEAR HAS BEEN ABOUT UP TO THIS POINT. THE
MESSAGE IS SIMPLE AND DIRECT: "IN THIS WAS MANIFESTED THE LOVE OF GOD
TOWARDS US, BECAUSE THAT GOD SENT HIS ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON INTO THE WORLD,
THAT WE MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM." THAT REALLY SUMS UP ALL WE HAVE BEEN
CELEBRATING THROUGHOUT THE FIRST HALF OF THE CHURCH YEAR, FROM ADVENT
TO TRINITY SUNDAY: THE SHOWING FORTH OF GOD'S LOVE IN THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. WE HAVE CELEBRATED THE LOVE THAT TAKES OUR HUMAN NATURE,
TRANSFORMS IT, AND ELEVATES IT TO A NEW SPIRITUAL LIFE, MAKING US SONS
OF GOD BY ADOPTION AND GRACE. "HEREIN
IS LOVE, WRITES THE APOSTLE WHOM JESUS LOVED, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD,
BUT THAT HE LOVED US, AND SENT HIS SON TO BE THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR
SINS."
AND THESE WORDS FIND MAGNIFICENT EXPRESSION IN A PASSAGE FROM THIS
MORNING’S SERMON HYMN:
O
LOVE, HOW DEEP, HOW
BROAD, HOW HIGH HOW PASSING THOUGHT AND FANTASY THAT GOD, THE SON OF
GOD, SHOULD TAKE OUR MORTAL FORM FOR MORTAL'S SAKE.
(15TH CENTURY
LATIN HYMN TRANS. BY BENJAMIN WEBB)
THIS, YOU SEE, HAS BEEN THE POINT OF ALL OUR CELEBRATIONS: THAT WE
SHOULD SEE, THAT WE SHOULD CATCH A GLIMPSE OF THE MANIFEST LOVE OF GOD,
AND BE REFRESHED ELEVATED, AND "REBORN," BY THAT WONDROUS
VISION
OF WHAT GOD, IN CHRIST, HAS DONE, OUT OF LOVE FOR US MISERABLE SINNERS.
ST. JOHN TELLS US THAT "NO ONE HAS
SEEN GOD AT ANY TIME."
FOR THE NATURAL MAN, GOD IS THE GREAT UNKNOWN, THE GREAT BEYOND, THE
MYSTERIOUS, PRINCIPLE OF ALL EXISTENCE, WHICH FINDS SOME SORT OF
RECOGNITION IN ALL THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS. TO KNOW GOD IN THAT WAY, AS
THE INFINITE, POWER RULING THE COSMOS, IS A NOBLE KNOWLEDGE, CERTAINLY.
BUT TO KNOW GOD AS THE PERSONAL SOURCE OF LOVE, AS LOVE ITSELF, IS
SOMETHING MUCH GREATER, AND FAR DIFFERENT. TO KNOW THAT THE ALL
POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING CREATOR AND SUSTAINER OF THE UNIVERSE, WHO
GOVERNS ALL THINGS, IS THE DIVINE LOVE IS A TRANSFORMING KNOWLEDGE. TO
KNOW THAT GOD IS LOVE IS TO SEE EVERYTHING WITH NEW EYES. IT IS TO SEE "A NEW HEAVEN AND NEW
EARTH." (REVELATION
21.1) IT IS TO BE SPIRITUALLY
"REBORN," AS JESUS SAID TO
NICODEMUS IN LAST SUNDAY'S GOSPEL LESSON. (JOHN3.7) IT IS TO BE SAVED
FROM FEAR AND HOPELESSNESS.
THAT BELIEF, THAT RECOGNITION OF GOD'S INFINITE, ALL-ENCOMPASSING LOVE,
IS THE VERY GROUND OF OUR SALVATION. "HEREBY
WE KNOW LOVE, BECAUSE HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR US."
(1 JOHN
3.16) THE FACT THAT WE KNOW LOVE IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR SALVATION. IN
LOVE, CHRIST GAVE HIMSELF FOR US. AND IT IS OUR DESTINY AND VOCATION TO
BE TRANSFORMED BY THAT LOVE, TO REALIZE IT AND FULFIL IT IN OUR LIVES.
AND THAT IS ST. JOHN'S SECOND POINT IN TODAY'S EPISTLE LESSON: "BELOVED, IF GOD SO LOVED
US, WE OUGHT ALSO
TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER." THIS IS
OUR INTRODUCTION TO THE LONG
SEASON OF SUNDAYS AFTER TRINITY. THE SCRIPTURE LESSONS FOR TODAY AND
FOR THE FOLLOWING SUNDAYS ARE TO BE A KIND OF EDUCATION IN THE PRACTICE
OF CHRISTIAN LOVE. THE LOVE OF GOD IN US IS MANIFEST IN OUR LOVE FOR
ONE ANOTHER, IN OUR ACTIVE GOOD WILL. IT IS LOVE WHICH IS NOT JUST
FEELING OR SUPERFICIAL EMOTION, NOT JUST "IN WORD AND IN
TONGUE,"
BUT RATHER IT IS LOVE WHICH IS "IN DEED AND IN TRUTH." (1 JOHN 3.18)
WITHOUT THAT ACTIVE GOOD WILL, WITHOUT THE DEEDS OF CHARITY, OUR LOVE
OF GOD IS CLEARLY FALSE: "IF A MAN
SAY, I LOVE GOD, AND HATETH HIS BROTHER, HE IS A LIAR."
THE STORY OF LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN, IN TODAY'S GOSPEL LESSON,
ILLUSTRATES EXACTLY THAT POINT. WHY IS IT THAT THE RICH MAN IS IN HELL?
CERTAINLY IT IS NOT DUE TO SOME ARBITRARY PUNISHMENT VISITED UPON HIM
FROM OUTSIDE. LAZARUS WASN’T RECEIEVED INTO PARADISE MERELY
BECAUSE HE WAS IMPOVERISHED. THUS THE FACT THAT THE RICH MAN WAS
BLESSED WITH MATERIAL AFFLUENCE CANNOT BE THE CAUSE OF HIS
DAMNATION. THE REASON WHY HE IS THERE IS HIS OWN PARCHED,
SELF-ABSORBED SOUL WHICH, IN TURNING A BLIND EYE TO THE MISERY OF
LAZARUS, REJECTED THE LOVE OF GOD. THE UNIMAGINABLY AWFUL CONDITIONS OF
LAZARUS’ EXISTENCE WERE THERE FOR ALL TO SEE. AND BY REFUSING
TO
HAVE ANY PITY UPON HIM, BY FAILING TO SHOW THE LEAST BIT OF KINDNESS
TOWARD LAZARUS BY RELIEVING HIM JUST A LITTLE OF HIS WRETCHEDNESS, THE
RICH MAN LOST ANY CLAIM, IF INDEED HE EVER HAD IT, OF BEING A FAITHFUL
JEW WHO LOVED THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISSAC AND JACOB, WITH ALL HIS
“HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH.” AS ST. JOHN
REMINDS
US, NO MAN SHOULD BOAST OF LOVING GOD, WHOM HE HAS NOT SEEN,
WHEN
HE DOES NOT LOVE HIS BROTHER, WHOM HE CAN SEE. WHAT WE BELIEVE AND,
JUST AS CRUCIALLY, WHAT WE DO ABOUT WHAT WE BELIEVE, AFFECTS OUR
ETERNAL DESTINY. IN THIS PARABLE, OUR LORD TEACHES US THAT WE WILL
CONTINUE IN ETERNITY IN THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION IN WHICH WE HAVE SPENT
THE YEARS OF OUR BRIEF LIFE ON THIS EARTH. THE RICH MAN’S
DESTINY
WAS SEALED LONG BEFORE HE DIED BY THE GULF WHICH EXISTED IN HIS
CALLOUSED HEART. HE NOT ONLY NEGLECTED THE REQUIRED RITES AND RITUALS
OF HEBRAIC WORSHIP ( REMEMBER, THE TEXT SAYS THAT “HE FARED
SUMPTUOUSLY EVERYDAY” ), BUT HE HAD CONTEMPT FOR THE COMMANDS
AND
WARNINGS GIVEN IN THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS CONCERNING CARING FOR THE
POOR AND NEEDY, HE WAS SO UTTERLY CENTERED UPON GRATIFYING HIS EVERY
WHIM THAT HE NO LONGER EVEN SAW THE BEGGAR LAZARUS LANGUISHING AT HIS
GATE. HE HAD TRULY SHUT UP HIS BOWELS OF COMPASSION FROM HIM.
TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER, IN THE SENSE IN WHICH THE SCRIPTURE SPEAKS, IS TO
WILL THE ETERNAL AND TEMPORAL GOOD OF ONE ANOTHER, AND TO ACT
PRACTICALLY IN TERMS OF THAT WILL. BUT HOW CAN WE DO IT? OUR OWN NEEDS,
AFFECTIONS AND PREFERENCES, OUR OWN FEARS, KEEP GETTING IN THE WAY. SO
NEEDFUL WE ARE OF GOOD OURSELVES, THAT WE CAN BARELY PERCIEVE OUR
NEIGHBOUR’S GOOD, LET ALONE WILL IT. BUT "PERFECT LOVE," SAYS
ST.
JOHN, "CASTETH OUT FEAR." 'THE BASIS, THE STARTING POINT OF LOVING OUR
NEIGHBOR IS GOD'S LOVE FOR US. "WE
HAVE KNOWN AND BELIEVED THE LOVE THAT GOD HATH TO US."
"HEREIN
IS OUR LOVE MADE PERFECT." IT IS OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD'S LOVE FOR US
THAT ENABLES US TO LOVE, THAT IS, TO WILL AND TO WORK FOR THE GOOD OF
ONE ANOTHER. IT IS THE KNOWLEDGE THAT WE OURSELVES ARE LOVED, HOWEVER
UNWORTHY WE MAY BE, AT THE VERY HEART OF OUR BEING, WHICH FREES US FROM
OUR OWN NEEDS AND FEARS. AND SO WE MUST GROW IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THAT
ASTOUNDING LOVE, WHICH PASSES THOUGHT AND FANTASY.
FINALLY, ST. JOHN SPEAKS OF LOVE IN TERMS OF COMMANDMENT; AND THIS,
PERHAPS, IS THE MOST DIFFICULT CONCEPT FOR US MODERNS. HOW CAN LOVE BE
COMMANDED?
AFTER ALL, WE'RE USED TO THINKING OF LOVE IN TERMS OF SPONTANEITY;
IT’S ONE OF THOSE MYSTERIOUS THINGS THAT SOMEHOW JUST
HAPPENS:
ONE SIMPLY "FALLS IN LOVE", AND NOTHING ELSE NEEDS TO BE SAID. LOVE
CANNOT BE COMPELLED. WHAT SENSE DOES IT MAKE TO COMMAND IT?
WELL, ST. JOHN'S APPROACH IS MORE REALISTIC THAN CONVENTIONAL NOTIONS
ABOUT LOVE’S SPONTANEITY. OUR LOVES DO NOT "JUST HAPPEN."
THEY
BELONG, RATHER, TO A CHARACTER FORMED BY A LONG PROCESS OF TRAINING AND
HABIT-MAKING, OF LIVING INTO THE REALITY OF WHAT WE TRULY ARE: MEN
WOMEN AND CHILDREN, BORN FROM ABOVE BY WATER AND THE SPIRIT.
AND
THAT PROCESS ALWAYS BEGINS WITH THE DIVINE COMMANDMENT AND ISSUES IN
FILIAL OBEDIENCE. JUST AS OUR NATURAL LIFE BEGINS WITH OBEDIENCE TO OUR
PARENTS AND TEACHERS, SO OUR LIFE IN CHRIST BEGINS WITH OBEDIENCE TO
GOD'S COMMANDMENTS IN SACRED SCRIPTURE. THERE IS, CERTAINLY, A
SPIRITUAL MATURITY, WHEN OUR LOVES ARE SPONTANEOUSLY RIGHT. THAT IS THE
CONDITION WE CALL "SANCTITY" OR HOLINESS. BUT OUR BEGINNING AND OUR
GROWTH ARE IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S COMMANDMENT, QUITE APART
FROM
HOW WE FEEL. "AND THIS COMMANDMENT HAVE WE FROM HIM, THAT HE WHO LOVETH
GOD LOVE HIS BROTHER ALSO." THIS GETS RIGHT TO THE HEART OF
ALL
THE SUNDAYS THAT REMAIN IN TRINITY SEASON. AS THE 17TH-CENTURY ENGLISH
PRIEST, ANTHONY SPARROW, PUT IT; BY OBSERVING THE
FEASTS
AND SEASONS OF THE CHURCH YEAR, FROM ADVENT THROUGH TRINITY SUNDAY, WE
HAVE “RUN THROUGH A GREAT PART OF THE CREED”, WHICH
REVEALS
THE LOVE OF GOD FOR US, IN “THE HIGHEST MYSTERIES OF OUR
REDEMPTION BY CHRIST ON EARTH, TIL…THE SENDING DOWN OF THE
HOLY
GHOST AT PENTECOST.” BUT BEGINNING WITH THE 1ST SUNDAY AFTER
TRINITY, OUR FOCUS SHIFTS FROM GOD’S LOVE FOR US TO OUR HOLY
CALLING AND VOCATION, “…BEING FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST,
AND
REPLENISHED WITH THAT SPIRIT WHICH HE BOTH PROMISED AND
SENT…FOR
TO BE CHARITABLE, HEAVENLY-MINDED, REPENTANT, MERCIFUL, HUMBLE,
PEACABLE, RELIGIOUS, COMPASSIONATE, AND…TO EMPLOY THAT POWER
AND
ABILITY WE HAVE IN WORKS OF MERCY AND GOODNESS.”
AND, THUS, THE CONCLUDING VERSE OF OUR EPISTLE LESSON ENDS WITH THE
COMMANDMENT WHICH “WE HAVE FROM HIM”, THE COMMAND
TO LOVE
OUR BROTHER IN DEED AND TRUTH. DO YOU SEE WHAT ST. JOHN IS DOING? IN
TYING TOGTHER THE NECESSITY OF LOVING THE BRETHREN WITH LOVING GOD, HE
IS ECHOING THE WORDS OF OUR LORD, RECITED AT EVERY CELEBRATION OF THE
HOLY COMMUNION:
“THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND
WITH
ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND. THIS IS THE FIRST AND GREAT
COMMANDMENT, AND THE SECOND IS LIKE UNTO IT. THOU SHALT LOVE THY
NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE
PROPHETS.”
OF COURSE, ALL THIS IS PREDICATED UPON THE CRUCIAL FACT OF
GOD’S
LOVE. FOR IF IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SIMILTANEOUSLY LOVE GOD AND HAVE
CONTEMPT FOR OUR BROTHER, THEN, IN A VERY REAL SENSE, OUR LOVE OF GOD
DEPENDS UPON MANIFESTING LOVING KINDNESS TOWARDS THE BRETHREN;
OTHERWISE, OUR LOVE FOR GOD IS ILLUSORY. THUS WE MUST NEVER LOSE SIGHT
OF THE FACT THAT WE CAN ONLY LOVE GOD ‘BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED
US.” DIVINE LOVE IS THE ANIMATING PRINCIPLE, THAT
MAKES IT
POSSIBLE FOR US TO KEEP THOSE TWO COMMANDMENTS, WHICH UNDERGIRDS THE
LAW AND THE PROPHETS.
LET US THEN ENDEAVOR BY GOD’S GRACE TO FULFILL OUR CALLING TO
LOVE GOD AND NEIGHBOR IN SINCERITY AND IN TRUTH, AS A PEOPLE WHO ARE
LOVED BEYOND MEASURE WITH A DIVINE LOVE, SURPASSING THE REALM OF HUMAN
THOUGHT AND FANTASY. AND LET US NOT BECOME WEARY IN LOVING, KNOWING
THIS: THAT LOVING GOD IS A MATTER OF KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS. BUT FOR
THE ONE WHO IS LOVED, HIS COMMANDMENTS ARE NOT GRIEVOUS.
LET US PRAY.
O GOD THE STRENGTH OF ALL THOSE THAT PUT THEIR TRUST IN THEE;
MERCIFULLY ACCEPT OUR PRAYERS; AND BECAUSE THROUGH THE WEAKNESS OF OUR
MORTAL NATURE, WE CAN DO NO GOOD THING WITHOUT THEE, GRANT US THE HELP
OF THY GRACE, THAT IN KEEPING THY COMMANDMENTS, WE MAY PLEASE THEE,
BOTH IN WILL AND IN DEED; THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN.
