An Issue Of Heaven or Hell

November 10, 2013 –– Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Maccabees 7:1–2, 9–14 / 2 Thessalonians 2:16–3:5 / Luke 20:27–38

An Issue Of Heaven or Hell

Sometimes we need to be reminded that faithfulness to God is worth dying for. When the Scripture reading gives explicit reference, “sometimes” is now. Faithfulness is an attitude of heart that becomes the difference between heaven and hell. The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. They were the aristocrats of Jewish society and collaborated with Rome (the power of the day)––not an unusual response for the wealthy of any time or place. They did not wish to lose their wealth, their comfort, and their “place.” The Sadducees were focused with the here and now. They accepted only the Torah (first five OT books) and rejected the Prophets and Writings. The Old Testament gives progressive revelation, so the covenant blessings of the Torah were indeed focused on temporal good. But limiting faithfulness to the here and now has an inherent danger. Comfort and convenience can suffocate spiritual life. Who feels a need for God if it seems everything is going great? Heaven can seem like a nice fairy tale. Life in this world becomes more important than being accountable to God.

Contrast the Sadducees with the seven brothers and their mother in the Maccabees story. Life certainly was not comfortable and convenient for them. Alexander the Great’s empire had extended into Judea and there was a tyrannical demand that everyone be totally unified in their allegiance to the state. There was no place for a religious commitment that conflicted with the unification of the whole society. What do God’s people do when they are forced to choose between allegiance to the state and allegiance to God? Even after being tortured one of the brothers said, It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him....

Some people want to believe that making God a part of one's life is like investing in an insurance policy that will provide an escape from hard and painful things in life. Prayer is made out to be a direct line to a heavenly Santa Claus. This Thessalonian letter written by St Paul almost 2000 years ago an ongoing reminder to Christians everywhere that the world is a hard place––especially for those who give total allegiance to Jesus.

Do you know what kind of prayers God always answers? It's those which are aligned with his will. It is a natural tendency to focus our prayers on things which affect our own convenience.  The Sadducees would have prayed like that. We need to learn to pray for what God wants. Here is the Apostle Paul––the great missionary, a man who knew the power of the Holy Spirit––and his request to the Thessalonian Christians is for them to pray for him and other believers. Prayer is critical for all Christians because all of us are in a spiritual war and we need God's power and protection. So St Paul identifies three things people committed to the Lord should pray for.

First, Paul says, pray.... that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified (v1). Christians are to be witnesses (the root meaning of “martyr”). If we seriously embrace our profession of faith, we are saying that we believe that Jesus Christ is the one way to escape eternal banishment from God and punishment in hell, and thus we will live as if hell is something to be seriously avoided. One common slogan I used to hear at missions conferences was This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of lost people. When Paul asks for prayer that the Gospel will spread, he is calling us to give attention to what is eternally important to God and us.

The next thing to pray is that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have faith (v2). When people give Jesus total allegiance––when Christians have a passion for the Gospel to extend to the whole earth––there will be obstacles to keep it from happening. It is not happenstance that so much of the world is closed to Christian witness today. Think of the millions of people under totalitarian governments who are hindered from hearing the gospel. Think of false religions. We are in a spiritual war. 

It’s not only human opposition, though. There is also direct opposition from Satan himself. There is a promise here here that implies a prayer: he (the Lord) will strengthen and guard you from the evil one (v3). I wonder how many Christians take Satan seriously as a spiritual foe. It seems that Satan has been reduced to a joke: "the devil made me do it." Satan wants us to be distracted. Satan is happy when we think the most important things are being comfortable and entertained. Or if Satan can bring God's people into shame and ridicule and disrepute, then the spiritual war is going his way. Think about the many priests and other ministers whose failures have been nationally publicized so that Christian Faith itself is ridiculed and dismissed.

When Satan cannot distract or discourage Christians, or keep the Church in scandal, he pours all the power of hell, literally, into the fight. One way he does that is by manipulating wicked people to oppose Christians––even to the point of persecution and death. It’s been that way throughout history. God’s people have sometimes paid for their faith with their lives. More Christians died for their faith in the 20th Century than all previous centuries combined! It is estimated that in the two millennia of Christian history, 70 million faithful have died for the Faith, and 45.5 million––65%––were in the last century. Satan is real. He does not want the love of the Lord to prevail in Christians’ lives. We are in a spiritual war.

In such a world, what can keep us faithful? How can we not succumb to the numbing effects of seduction like the Sadducees? Well, we have examples of faith like the seven brothers and their mother, and we have the martyrs of the Church. Most of all we have Jesus affirming a life that goes beyond this world because the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is not God of the dead, but of the living. And Paul tells the Thessalonians that the Lord is faithful (v3).

The one thing that remains is for us to live in true faithfulness––to give total allegiance to Jesus. Paul's final exhortation is for the Thessalonians to do two things––two things we need to do as well. The first is to direct [our] hearts to the love of God. That's what Christian living and witness is all about. We're not called to witness to something we don't live, and we're not called to live something God hasn't provided. If we know Jesus Christ today it is because we have come to know God's love. And knowing that love, we are to show love the same way....  to our wife or husband.... to our children.... to our neighbors.... to the people at work. We are to give witness to the love of Christ everywhere we go. When we do that, we are being witnesses of the gospel. When we witness to the love of God, we show that there is something more important than our own desires––our own comfort and convenience.

When Christians live like that, there will inevitably be opposition of some kind, so there's a second thing here. We must always be prepared to direct [our] hearts to the endurance of Christ––to share in Christ's sufferings. Luke sets this Gospel reading with Jesus on the way to the cross (starting in 9:51). Maccabees tells the story of faithful people who paid the ultimate price. We are all called to “martyrdom”––laying down our lives in selfless love. Sometimes it’s “red martyrdom”––laying down our physical lives for Jesus’ sake. More often it’s what the Church calls “white martyrdom”––dying daily to our selfish desires so that the life of Christ in us can grow. We do that through total allegiance to Jesus Christ. We are to pray for that. We are to give our time and our money and remember, if necessary, our physical lives for Jesus Christ. It’s an issue of heaven or hell.

All Things Work For Good

Wednesday: 30 October, 2013 –– 30th Week in Ordinary Time

Romans 8: 26–30

All Things Work For Good

All things work for good. That is one of the more popular biblical verses that people quote, although I wouldn’t be surprised if many think it comes from Poor Richard’s Almanac or some such source. Whether or not the true source is known, what is usually quoted is not by itself true.

“Things” are not animate so that they are able to “work for good.” And in no way are all things good––there are horrible and evil events and circumstances. What is St Paul saying?

First, a better translation of the verse would be, In all things God works for good.... The focus here is on God, not on our circumstances. Second, it is crucial to recognize the qualifiers. For whom does God work in all things for good? It is in the lives of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

What is God’s purpose? It is not what is idolized and pursued by our culture. We live in a society in which the ultimate concern is being happy. God’s purpose for us is to be holy––conformed to the image of his Son....

How can we hope that in our lives all things work for good? We need to love God, and we love God by loving what God loves and desires. The fullness of God is shown to us in Jesus Christ. When we truly want to be like Jesus, then God does indeed make all things work for good.

A great picture of this is shown in the life of the Old Testament Joseph. His brothers hated him and sold him into slavery. After long and terrible years in Egypt, Joseph was eventually elevated to a position second only to Pharaoh. It was then that Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt seeking relief from famine, and Joseph was in charge of all the food. When the brothers realized who Joseph was, they were afraid. Then Joseph modeled what it means to love God and to know this makes all things work for good. He told his brothers, “You meant it for evil, but God used it for good.”

Yes, St Paul invites us to know that all things work for good. But even more he wants us to know that this hope is for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Is the desire of our heart to be happy.... or to be holy? It is when we want to be holy that all things work for good.

Suffering Unto Salvation

Tuesday: 29 October, 2013 –– 30th Week in Ordinary Time

Romans 8: 18–25

Suffering Unto Salvation

Do you know what suffering does in a Christian?  It drives a Christian to prayer.  When we are pulled into the heart of the reality that something is wrong in this world — when the wrongs of this world touch us so that we hurt so deeply that it seems all we can do is groan — we find that God is there. The word “groan” appears three times here in short succession (and only six other times in the New Testament).  Sin is so bad and so pervasive that creation groans (8:22).  On top of that, Christians groan (we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly (8:23). But we do not groan alone: the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express (8:26).

There is a popular stereotype that the ministry of the Holy Spirit always produces joy and victory in Christians.  Or the Holy Spirit always makes worship alive and thrilling.  Both of those things are partly true, but that is not entirely. The Holy Spirit also meets us in the depths of our despair. 

It is in those times that we come to a deeper understanding of God. We get drawn into what he has already done; that is why we have hope and that is why we pray. We also become aware of what God has yet promised to do. He has promised full salvation, but it is not yet full reality: hope that is seen is no hope at all — who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently (8:24b,25).  Waiting patiently is so hard.  I am terrible at it.  Do you know one reason we can be patient?  God is working his Spirit into those who belong to him.

But in the meantime....  And that is where we are right now, “in the meantime” — living in two worlds:  this seen world that is passing away, but also in an unseen world that promised (yet already here to those who have faith).  If we have this faith it is because the Father is working his Spirit into our life. Can you see this in what Paul says as reading begins? I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (8:18). God is working his Spirit into all who belong to him.... even in the midst of this world and all its suffering.  And God’s Spirit is life.... a salvation that is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Prayer God Honors

October 27, 2013 –– Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 18:9–14

The Prayer God Honors

No matter where we are in our relationship with God, the first prayer of our heart needs to be Lord, have mercy. “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner” is the one prayer God always honors when it is prayed in sincerity.

If we are not aware of our need for God’s mercy––if our attitude is “I’m pretty good”––then we are too far from God for our soul’s good. No matter what our accomplishments, we need the mercy of God.

Let’s live each day with the honesty to say, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

The Measure Of True Christian Faith

October 20, 2013 –– Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Timothy 3:14–4:2

The Measure Of True Christian Faith

How do we know what it really means to be a Christian? Who are we to trust and follow? Is the smooth-talking “good-life” preacher on TV telling the truth? Do all religious paths take us to a god who, in the end, accepts any and everything? What is the measure of true Christian Faith? This is the focus of Paul’s letter to his young son-in-the-faith Timothy. And now, almost 2000 years later, this question is just as important. What is the measure of true Christian Faith? The Epistle today emphasizes Scripture.

I have been blessed to be part of a heritage that believes the Scriptures to be everything as described in this passage. And yet, the Bible by itself is no guarantee of Christian truth. Christian history is full of people who choose their own “interpretation” of Scripture and become false teachers. Even as Paul gives this special exaltation of the Scriptures, he commends them to Timothy in the context of a believing community that lives the Faith. This is to say there is no Scripture apart from the Church, and no Church apart from Scripture. It is a mystery and a paradox similar to the Incarnation.

Scripture was written by human beings, but it was inspired―God-breathed―by the Holy Spirit. The Bible was written by many authors and yet by one Author. It is a paradox. Because Scripture is the Word of God it is always read in corporate worship. This is a practice that goes back through Church history and into the Old Testament. When we hear Scripture, we are hearing the voice of God. It is not the person doing the reading that is the focus; in the Liturgy of the Word the reader becomes the physical voice of God.

The Epistle reading begins with the context of understanding: remain faithful to what you have learned and believed, because you know from whom you learned it... (3:14). This is the importance of the faith community––the corporate nature of the Church. This is where Paul finds wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (3:15).

Then Paul tells Timothy that Scripture is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness.... (3:16). This means that what we believe is based on Scripture––what God has said. This is the standard for our teaching. This means that when something is wrong in our lives, we should not be surprised that Scripture uncovers it and convicts us; it has an authority to rebuke errant belief and behavior. If Scripture and sermons sometime seem “negative” perhaps it is an indication that something in our life is more important to us than being holy. Faith responds to rebuke with repentance―a “turning around.” When Scripture points to something in us that needs changing, we are to obey; this is the “correction” that the Lord does in his people. This is training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work (3:17).

Early in my Christian commitment I wrote this quote on the fly-leaf of my Bible: Either this Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book. It is a devilish temptation to believe there is no use to read the Scriptures when we do not enjoy them. It's like thinking there is no use to pray when we do not feel like it. The truth is, in order to enjoy Scripture we need to continue to read it, just as the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read Scripture the less we desire to read it (and the less we pray the less we desire to pray). Each time the Scriptures are read and proclaimed a window is being opened to the light of heaven. In our world of sensational videos and flashy sound-bites, we need to slow down and listen to the Word of God.

In our complex world, what is the measure of true Christian Faith? Paul told Timothy: remain faithful to what you have learned and believed. When we hear the Scriptures week after week in the community of the Church, we can have confidence that we are being given wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

How To Grow In Faith

October 6, 2013 –– 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Habakkuk 1:2–3, 2:2–4 / Luke 17:5-10

How To Grow In Faith

The kingdom of Judah was in big trouble. Babylon was invading and even Jerusalem was feeling the effect. Everywhere people looked there was threat and disintegration. When things get bad, people start praying. But this only caused more consternation. Habakkuk’s prophecy expresses a common attitude about prayer: I cry for help, but you do not listen! I cry out to you, “Violence,” but you do not intervene. Why....? Violence and destruction, ruin and misery.... it’s part of a long cycle: we cry out to God and seem to get no answers.

Yet God does give the prophet an answer: The vision still has its time –– in other words, “the answer is coming.” If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late –– in other words, “God moves in his way and time.” We often think God is “late” but faith knows that God is always on time. That is the climax of the Habakkuk reading: the just one, because of his faith, shall live.

This verse is quoted three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38). Faith makes a difference. Faith is what opens us to the reality of God––and his salvation. Faith enables us to “see” differently. People of faith see things people without faith dismiss or even ridicule. Faith is the foundation for living distinctively in the world for Jesus’ sake.

In the Gospel reading we find the disciples saying to Jesus: Increase our faith. (This comes right after a very sobering lesson about forgiveness that evidently caused the disciples to say, “Whoa, you’ve got to help us with this one!” –– which came out as, Increase our faith.) Jesus’ response is the point here. Is the issue really how much faith we have? Jesus says the smallest amount of real faith can do amazing things. So, what is the issue here?

We can be like the disciples. They felt that if they could have more faith, they could be better disciples. We often think like this, too. We look at our life and maybe we are not pleased at what we see. We know that we could be doing better. We wish our prayers were answered more to our desires. So, we say to ourselves, "If only I had more faith. Then I could be a better Christian." Maybe we pray the same thing the disciples said: Increase my faith!

Jesus told the disciples: If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you. This was not the answer the disciples were looking for. It seems that Jesus would have commended their desire or even laid hands on them so their faith would suddenly swell like a balloon, but Jesus’ answer implies something else: "You do have faith. And even if it is small, you can still do great things!" –– in other words, "You already have faith.... you just aren't using it!"

The disciples didn't need to ask to increase their faith; they needed to increase their faithfulness. There is a big difference. Faith is a gift from God. He gives us each the faith we need and it is sufficient because it is the gift of God. Faithfulness, on the other hand, is our response to the gift of faith. It's what we do with our faith, and that is up to us. Faith is like a muscle –– use it or lose it! The one way to “increase” faith is to exercise it! We “exercise” our faith by being faithful.

Think of the gyms and fitness centers that have grown in such number over recent years. What if the popularity of physical fitness was matched by a passion for spiritual development? We would have saints all over the place!

When we have faith, we know that God is there. We may not understand. We may wonder “how long?” when we are hurting or things around us are falling apart. We may be tempted to think that what is asked of us is ridiculous. But when we know God is there (that’s faith), then when God says, "Okay, here's what I want you to do...." we need to do it. Then it's not a matter of faith; it's a matter of faithfulness.

There is not one person in this world who is not troubled by something. There is not one of us in the Church who has no worries, no pains, no threats looming on the horizon. Finances, health, relationships, responsibilities.... all these things hover over us, and sometimes rush at us faster than we know what to do. Faith knows that God is here.... but faithfulness has to exercise what we are going to do about it. Are we going to trust? Are we willing to wait? Are we ready to obey?  Trusting.... waiting.... obeying.... these can be some of the hardest things in the world. Faith is always a risk. Scripture tells us that faith is acting on what cannot be proven; our hope in God is to take priority over what is right before our eyes (hope that is seen is not hope....for who hopes for what he sees? –Romans 8:24). An unbelieving world tells us we’re crazy. But when we trust and wait and obey, we exercise our faith.

When we as Christians get the feeling that something is not quite right in our walk with God, it's not that something is wrong with the faith we have been given. The Holy Spirit dwells within us to give us faith. We are to let faith do its work. When hard things threaten.... when it seems our world is falling apart.... when doing the right thing is not easy.... we learn to be faithful. God’s presence invites us to exercise the risk of trusting, waiting and obeying. Then our faith will increase.

Passion for Living

September 22, 2013: The Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Luke 16:1-13

Passion for Living

Jesus is making the point that his hearers are in the same position as this steward who saw his imminent dismissal threatening him with ruin. Yet, the crisis which threatens Jesus' hearers (including us today) is even more serious. As Christians, we believe there are two worlds: the unseen world as well as the one that is visible––the world which is eternal as well as the one that is passing away. Some people live as though this world is all there is and ever will be. That means all their values, all their energies and all their hopes are focused on the here and now. Living that way is the essence of unbelief.  To live that way is to leave God and his kingdom out of the picture. It is an attitude which thinks that being “happy” right now is the most important thing––and “security” is the top priority in having happiness.

The man in this story acted "prudently" (v.8). [The Greek word is phronimos, sometimes translated “wisely” (KVJ) or “shrewdly” (NIV, emphasizing the devious side of being “wise”).] He had foresight and recognized the critical nature of his situation. Jesus is not commending his character or what he did; Jesus respects the intensity of the man’s perception and motivation. So he says: For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

In other words, people who live for the here and now know how to go after what they want. Worldly people know how to be worldly. They are shrewd. They know how to get their way. They know how to take care of Number One. A shrewd businessman knows how to manipulate situations to his own advantage. A playboy knows how to seduce. A “shark” knows how to cheat people; their kind goes after their goal with abandon. People consumed with this world know what they want and they know what they have to do to get it. That is how they can be a model to us for how to live with passion for the kingdom of God. The dedication it takes to achieve advancement and pleasure in the here-and-now is the kind of dedication Jesus calls his disciples to have.

We live in a world where most people get things backwards. Beginning with the first disobedience in the Garden, people have always tried to rationalize away God's laws. The Pharisees did it  (see v14). Many “religious” people do it today. God calls for his people to look at life in an upside-down kind of way.

One way to think about our priorities and motivations is through our children (I “borrowed” this example from Msgr Charles Pope; he has a wonderful homiletical blog from the Archdiocese of Washington). Almost all the focus with our children is on worldly success. Little Johnny might know little or nothing about God, Scripture, or Sacraments, but let Johnny bring home a bad report card, and the reaction is quick. Here is a problem to get to the bottom of, because if Johnny doesn’t get better grades, he might not get into the best college, and then he won’t be able to make a killing––I mean.... a living.

Or, more likely, the kids are taught that sports is the most important thing. Weekly church attendance is not so easy, but daily practice is certainly accommodated. Parents can feel that an hour sitting in church is next to eternity, but most of a Saturday or Sunday (or both) watching games and going to meets is no big deal. Meanwhile Johnny and Susie, who can kick a soccer ball or shoot baskets for hours, barely know the Our Father, have no clue at Mass, and all they know about Adam and Eve is that they were “in the Bible or something.” But those things haven’t been important to Mom or Dad, so maybe they’re not important at all.

One day the father proudly says to his pastor, “Great news! John has gotten a full scholarship to Princeton.” The pastor says “Great!” What he should say to the father is “That’s fine, but how will he get his spiritual nurture there? You know what it will be (like most college campuses)––a moral cesspool of fornication and drinking. If we’re not serious about John’s spiritual life, he may go in there, come out with a great career, and yet be heading straight for Hell. What’s the plan for his spiritual welfare and growth?”

And it’s not just families with kids and young adults. “Mature adults” can spend a lot of hours worrying and strategizing to make sure their retirement income enables them to “live life at the standard they have come to expect” (that line was in a commercial). Retirees can passionately give themselves to the pleasures “we worked for so long to enjoy,” and that’s supposedly the crowning glory of life.

It is so easy for all of us––parents, pastors, families and parishes––not to be responsible in what matters most to God. Our children hear that they should study hard, get good grades etc., to make it in this world. Of itself, this is not wrong––but their souls are more important. We allow our heroes and models to be sports superstars and entertainers who make it big in this world. What is our focus? Where are our plans and dreams directed?

We all have a God-given capacity to go after what we want.... with abandonment. People around us do it all the time. “Go-getters" usually have the admiration of a lot of people. One exception to that is people who are super-motivated about Jesus.... they are usually looked upon as "fanatics." Think of the most compulsive thing in your life. What holds your nose to the grindstone when almost nothing else will?

Jesus is calling us here to be disciples who are willing to live for his kingdom with the same intensity with which worldly people pursue their own self interests. An unbelieving world cannot easily hear the Church’s moral teachings if Christians are not modeling distinctiveness in their values and commitments. May our Lord have mercy on us all. May he give us, who claim the name of Jesus, the desire and the strength to serve him with passion.