I felt led this
week to tackle the gospel reading. It’s not an easy reading, but it’s very relevant
to the question of discipleship, which each and every one of us needs to
consider as we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ and reach out to the
community around us who don’t know such a relationship.
As the writer of psalm 36 begins, I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: there is no fear of God before their eyes. In other words, they have no sense of God’s holiness, his awesome power and love, and his sovereignty over all that exists.
The other week my wife and I were sitting in Werribee Plaza shopping centre eating lunch while watching the crowds passing by, and I commented that those people look like they have everything they need. They have money in their wallets, their shopping bags are full, and they look very content with that. Australia is a country of plenty. We have a welfare system that looks after you from cradle to grave; a publicly funded health system in Medicare; an extremely stable political system that enjoys democratic choice with a peaceful transition of power each time a new government is chosen. It’s a land of plenty that many people in other countries can only dream of. And yet the crowds of shoppers in Werribee Plaza seemed to take it all in their stride for granted. Why would they need God?
Let me unpack this morning’s readings which I think shed some light on this question. They are examples illustrating the second half of last week’s gospel reading about the law.
If you recall, Jesus is teaching his listeners that he has not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it. In fact, not one letter of the law will pass away until everything is accomplished, and anyone who breaks them will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. And further still he says that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, we will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s very forcefully put. Then he goes on to give several examples of how tight the requirements of the law really are. And yet, along comes St Paul, who writes that a person is brought into a right relationship with God by faith and grace, and not by the law. Is there a contradiction between what Jesus teaches and what St Paul writes about? Well, no there isn’t. And we see that in St Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Let me explain.
Paul (or Saul as he was known up to that point) was confronted by the most holy and perfect divine Christ, Son of God, who said to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? To which Saul could do nothing but collapse to the ground and cry out, Lord who are you? In that moment, Saul saw himself in the light of the divine presence as the Pharisee that he was, full of his own righteousness which he obtained through legalistic obedience to the law. He looked into the eyes of the divine one and faced the question that everyone must face: what do I look like in the light of the law; and if I must see myself like that (even for a moment), what do I look like in God’s eyes?
The same kind of confrontation with the divine presence was experienced by St Peter when he witnessed the miraculous catch of fish in Luke chapter 5. He said, go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man. And again, the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet in Luke chapter 7. She approached Jesus, weeping with sorrow over her past life.
In other words, by making clear the demands of the law, Jesus is saying this is what the person who turns away from God, who rejects him, who says to God, no thankyou I don’t want you, looks like in God’s eyes. To that person, the law applies in the strictest way. Why? Because God is holy in the most perfect way, and sin has no place whatsoever in his eyes. And so the crowds of shoppers pass by totally oblivious to their need of God’s mercy and forgiveness so that they can enter into a right relationship with him by his righteousness, not their own. What they most likely want is a god who is loving and forgiving (and yes God is a god of love and forgiveness), but they don’t want a god who is also holy and transcendent, which God is.
However, suppose one of those shoppers has an experience of God’s presence in whatever way, shape or form that may take. It is almost certain that shopper will recognize themselves for what their old selves are. They will look into those perfect eyes and instantly understand their own unworthiness and uncleanness. Just as Peter did when he saw Jesus’ miracle; just as the sinful woman did when she anointed Jesus’ feet; just as Paul did when he collapsed on the ground in front of the risen and glorified Lord. That is when a person reaches their turning point, to leave their old ways behind and walk towards the new. That is the point when Jesus can step out of the shadows and obscurity of one’s old life and into the broad sunlight of a new life. Rise repentant one, your faith has saved you.
Without this encounter and the recognition it brings of what one’s old life looks like in God’s eyes, there is no peace for the worldling, only anxiety and fear and the constant search for a narcotic to dull that, like shopping sprees for example, or long nights out with the boys or girls, or workaholism. But when a person reaches out to God in genuine sorrow and repentance, the peace of God which passes all understanding sets that person free like nothing else can. That’s why Jesus said come to me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
You see ladies and gentlemen, it may well be that God has to show you to be a slave to whatever your own righteousness is in your eyes, until you recognize yourself as such. Only then can the eyes of your heart open to his wonderful saving grace. Rise up, your faith has saved you.
How is this so? Because God loves the broken hearted and the poor in spirit who have no illusions about their poor state as they stand before the face of God. Just like the tax collector in the story Jesus told. Remember? In the temple he couldn’t lift his eyes to heaven, but said with eyes cast down, God be merciful to me a sinner. And he was the one who went home justified, a new friend of God. Unlike the Pharisee who gave thanks that he wasn’t like the poor wretched tax collector.
You see, there is a danger of being too sure of forgiveness before a person has seen what their old selves, that say no to God, are. We might say, God will pardon me because it is his trade, thinking we can be quite assured that at the right moment God will do his duty to our satisfaction. Then we are taking grace for granted. You can’t have it cheap.
But when we reach our turning point and we see ourselves in the light of God’s holy presence, and we cry out for him to be merciful to us, then our hearts of sorrow become our accuser and the mercy of God becomes our defender. What a tremendous thing this is! What God does is to take me into his protective custody by setting me down at the foot of the cross. There I am secure. Fear and anxiety need not assail me. I am set free from the guilt of past things done and not done, and whatever my past has been, I have a spotless future. It is a whole new ball game. This is the reason we need God. This is the spark that will light us up to say to God, yes please.
Because God reaches out to me with his love in this way, because his heart beats for me as he comes to meet me at the foot of the cross, that’s why (and the only reason why) I can love him in return. Now I can fulfil the whole law, every dot of it. For after all, is not love the fulfillment of the law? As Jesus said when he was asked which of the comments is the most important, the whole law is summed up by loving God first, and then loving neighbour.
Philip Starks
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for reading these short sermons on my blog. I can see hits coming in from all over the world. Please feel free to leave a comment on any of the posts.