Sermon for the 2 nd Sunday after Easter, April 18, 2010
“ Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life. ”
HOW do you measure up? What grade would your life be given, if this were a test and your performance since you were a baby was evaluated, given points off for wrong answers, bad behavior, failed opportunities, broken relations, broken hearts? Would you pass or fail the test? And on what kind of scale would your life be graded: A, B, C, D or F?
Ever wonder where E went? It's too easy to read ‘ excellent' for a grade worse than a D, which I believe stands for ‘ dummy' or ‘ delinquent' .
Tests used to terrify me. “Everybody put your books on the floor, get out a pencil, eyes forward, no talking. Pass these down and take one for each of you. Read it carefully before you begin. You have 15 minutes. Go.” I used to dream of going to school unprepared for tests, like those kid nightmares we all had of finding ourselves on the playground in our pajamas.
My worst day in college was the day of the Final Exam for my third class in physics, which I think was mostly about atomic particles and magnetic pulses, forces that used the Greek alphabet twice over—all of it way beyond Pete Hansen—for which I'd crammed and tried to force the knowledge into this coconut and just couldn't stop falling asleep on my textbook. I tried to contact the professor to get an incomplete and his office was locked and his phone just rang. I appeared at the site of the Final Exam, a ragged, tired and condemned 19 year old on death row, and opened the test papers to the first question: “For 25 points write your name.” I got a D in that class, which stands for Didn't Understand a Dang Thing.
Tests are evaluations of what we've learned, how we process information, how much we understand and can use the knowledge we've taken on. In my days at Cal , we were on the quarter system, a ten week scramble to learn an entire course of study, write a few papers, speed through mid-terms and end up in finals week, a semi-psychotic teenager thriving on coffee and nicotine and no sleep. The day after our finals, we'd forget all that we'd learned in order to return to sanity. The quarter system went away after I did in 1972.
So we go through school and can measure our achievements by an overall grade point average. I think I ended up with a 3.2 after 5 years in Architecture school. My diploma was signed by Ronald Reagan.
What is the measure of one's life? If this is all a test, how are we to be graded? It would appear that it's a pass or fail kind of course. You pass and go to heaven, or you fail and suffer eternity in hell, but is that really the case? One scripture testifies that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That's an F. We've all failed. That's why some people believe in reincarnation; they've had to take courses over—and think life's like that. It's not. Some people object that they've lived good lives, never hurt anyone, been generous to a fault and suffered at the hands of others: why don't they qualify for clemency? If God grades on a curve, can't all good people get in, at least by scoring a C?
There was one successful man. Just one. And He had a lot to overcome, being in a school of juvenile delinquents and petty criminals. His teachers didn't know anything. The tests put to Him were all the wrong questions. When He displayed His own miraculous powers and deep wisdom, some were impressed while others plotted to kill Him after school. Can't have a student around like that. Finally they succeeded in setting Him up, and had foreign troops kill Him under false charges. His life was without flaw; His character spotless; His example given for us to examine and follow in. He is our Standard.
I've heard that my role model should be Jesus Christ. It was hard for me to hear that because: 1). He is God the Son and I'm not; 2). He is perfect and I'm far from perfect; 3). He knows everything innately and is by nature identified with the professor Himself. How could He fail? And how could I do what He did? He was also not married. He did miracles. He lived a shorter life than mine. He lived in simpler times. All these arguments I've offered for not letting Jesus be my measuring rod, my standard, the canon upon which my life should be evaluated. And I've been wrong in doing so. D for doofuss .
We speak of Jesus correctly when we call Him God and Savior and Lord , the one who obtains for us eternal life, not by our achievements or successful tests, but through forgiveness and by our faith in Him. As such, it's objected that we don't live by His example, nor can anyone live the life He did. Jesus the teacher and Jesus the example are parts of His wonderful life that Evangelicals often don't want to hear about, fearing these engender pride in the believer and devalue Christ's divinity. But we must include Christ's humanity in order to fully apprehend the lessons of His life and fully obey Him. It was a man who died on the Cross. How did that man live His life? And what does that mean to me in my own?
We fight sin in our lives daily. Beating down the temptations that so often beset us, we seem to be fighting our own nature, losing and gaining ground in a dark war with our own flesh, the world and fallen angels. Jesus didn't have the handicap of original sin, but we must allow that the world and the devil worked overtime to bring Him down. How did He fight pride, envy, anger, covetousness, gluttony, lust and sloth? He was tempted by these things. And His answer to them was positive. There are positive attributes we may adopt, as He did, to stem the tide of these sins in our lives.
Against pride Jesus poses humility . He said to His apostles, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matt 23:11-12 His brother James wrote: “God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:6-10 If you can tackle pride, the gateway to good living is an attainable goal, in His grace. Fail this test, and pride will redefine everything you do as necessary evils and examples of your own worthy character.
Envy is dissolved in the universal solvent of love . Christ gave a new commandment to His apostles, “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:33-35 That love is a gift from heaven, but we must seek it and live it out. And the greatest love is to lay down your life, your desires and all your proud achievements for another.
Anger is a bleeding wound that is only staunched with peace . Jesus said, “ Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 If we cease to fear, we'll probably stop being angry also.
Covetousness or greed usually stems from a low valuation of oneself. Getting things seems to satisfy a craving for significance, but only as long as the new smell of something lasts, sometimes not even that long. Jesus had a very unpopular antidote to such cravings: “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupts. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:33-34 It's a decision we make, where our value and treasure is—in our own hands, or in God's.
Gluttony just lacks self control . We all know how much we should eat or drink. He said, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.. Watch ye therefore, and pray always…” Luke 21:34-36
Lust is such an easy trick of the unholy three—the world, the flesh and the devil—but the payout is uncomfortable and distasteful. We need to learn the lesson, and not fool ourselves. Jesus said, “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” Matt 5:27-29 We need to gain self-control , and pray God gives it so we don't fall to this obvious temptation.
And finally Sloth , laziness, doing less than we ought to may be the mark of a generation of spoiled Americans who over work then over relax . Jesus gave a parable about various servants who were to keep their master's money. The ones who invested it and increase it were commended and the guy who did nothing but bury it and return it was judged. Laziness is an attitude that reflects back on our assumptions about God, His character, and whether we have anything to add to the Kingdom of God, because Jesus did it all and faith alone is our answer. That's a false dichotomy. Faith should lead us into action . He was ever active and He is our example.
St. Peter wrote that Jesus left us an example , steps we ought to follow in. He never sinned, and we should endeavor not to fall again. He didn't lie. He wasn't argumentative or threatening. He suffered for others and by His stripes He healed us. As a shepherd, He gives us His life. We are sheep, certainly, but the sheep are to follow the shepherd, obey Him and stay with the flock. His voice is unique to them, and they will come when they hear it. We are those sheep, but unlike this parable, we are to become more and more like the shepherd, for we are humans too. And He gives us His own dual nature sacramentally, and His Holy Spirit lives in us. We have no excuse but to try and live like Jesus. He is our standard. Our lives will be measured by the yardstick of the Perfect Man.
Thankfully, although we will all be significantly short of that, He is ready to make up the difference Himself, not just ignore our deficiencies , but add to us what is lacking until we ourselves reflect His nature, His own likeness back to Him. Our being like sons and daughters to God was His plan from the first chapter. His likeness and image will be found in us again because of Jesus Christ.
PFH+