{"id":512055,"date":"2017-06-25T20:18:54","date_gmt":"2017-06-25T20:18:54","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-08-09T11:40:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T15:40:41","slug":"preparing-for-eternal-glory-proper-7-a-2017","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/sermons\/preparing-for-eternal-glory-proper-7-a-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for Eternal Glory, Proper 7 (A) – 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s gospel, Jesus instructs his apostles about the cost of discipleship. Christianity just is not an easy life, he seems to say. In fact, you may be handed over to councils who will flog you, dragged before governors and kings, betrayed by your family, and hated by all because of the very name of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who wants that, we wonder? Seriously, what kind of Sunday message is it to hear \u201cchildren will rise against parents and have them put to death\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that Jesus has their attention\u2014and ours\u2014he goes on to say some things that have more comfort value. Do not fear death, for the forces of evil may kill the mortal body but they cannot kill the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that beautiful, poetic image: the sparrow, worth half a cent, is cared for and loved by God. Every sparrow. And every hair on your head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this bizarrely contrasting narrative, Jesus lays out two fundamental principles of Christianity: First, we are not spared from suffering, and, second, when we suffer God suffers along with us. Let\u2019s examine those two basic tenets of the Christian life, shall we?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, suffering: we may not be flogged before governors or hated by everyone\u2014but we do struggle, right? We contract diseases, grieve the death of loved ones, lose jobs, and undergo a myriad of nasty experiences\u2014some trivial, and some catastrophic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And part of what Jesus seems to be saying in this passage\u2014in his own exaggerated manner of polemical hyperbole\u2014is that we will most probably continue to suffer. The Christian life is not a magic fix to the woes of this mortal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it were, we would not have the manifestation of any evil or hate in the world. Instead, everything would just be lovely.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine: No mass murder of Coptic Christian children in Egypt. No Manchester bombing. No killings in Paris, Ferguson, Orlando, Boston, Charleston, or Newtown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as beautiful a picture as that might be, it is a picture of the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God, what we hope and pray for, what Jesus came to earth to proclaim was coming, and\u2014let\u2019s face it\u2014what is not yet here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how are we to live in this world where hate and violence are so rampant?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need the help of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s the second point: our God is with us. \u201cHe shall be called Emmanuel, God with us\u201d\u2014remember that from Christmas? The promise made by Jesus is that we are not<\/em> alone in our struggles. God is here, to comfort us, to help us through the difficult times, to show us the way when we don\u2019t know where to turn, to help us when we cannot help ourselves\u2014and certainly to rejoice with us in good times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will sometimes suffer in this mortal life, but God is with us\u2014to comfort and guide us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps we might think of these two things when we consider the many current controversies that we seem to be entwined in\u2014in the church, in our nation, maybe even in our families and communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voices on both sides of every issue want resolution<\/em>\u2014they want to be out<\/em> of the struggle. And they seek to do this by legislative action, human edict, and having one winner\u2014all based on contradictory interpretations of the same text or tenet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But could it be that no less than our Lord and Savior, that God-made-human, Jesus Christ is calling us not to make an end<\/em> to our struggle, but to be in the midst<\/em> of it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And could it be that, once we accept our place in the very midst of it, the Holy Spirit could show us the way forward?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s, at least, how Jesus seems to imagine it. Oh, we all have opinions of our own\u2014make no mistake about that. But we must be interested in opposing views\u2014hearing them and<\/em> respecting them. We must not dare to presume that our view is the right<\/em> view\u2014or the only<\/em> view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time was when we Episcopalians lived like that. We were respectful and polite. We listened to each other. Sure, we didn\u2019t agree on every issue, but we agreed to continue in conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, we in the church sometimes take ourselves too seriously. We imagine and presume that our debates and legislative actions will somehow bring about\u2014or perhaps even prevent<\/em>\u2014the salvation of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s really odd, when you think about it. God-fearing people of every political stripe and theological persuasion\u2014faithful, caring, loving people\u2014presume to know the mind of God, in painful detail and with absolute certainty. Or, worse yet, they have decided to take over sovereignty from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not our calling as Christian people, dear friends. Oh, we will have struggles and issues\u2014every age has its own set of these. And the God-made-human we worship calls us to be in the midst<\/em> of the struggles of this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our struggles, we are called not to engage in a fight to the finish, in which one group winds up the victorious insiders and other the dejected outsiders. But to proclaim to everyone on God\u2019s green earth that God is here, in the midst of us. And to share with every human being\u2014our fellow pilgrims on the journey\u2014the love that we have known in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because every human heart has the capacity to love and<\/em> the capacity to hate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what helps keep us on the path of righteousness? What will help tip the balance for good over evil? What can we do to overcome the negative instincts we all have to some extent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listen for the still, small voice of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The God who was with the infant Isaac, who grew into a great patriarch for God\u2019s chosen people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The God who keeps watch over our lives, as the Psalmist tells us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The God who will reunite us all in a resurrection like his, as we read in the letter to the Romans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the God-made-human who came to earth to proclaim that love is stronger than death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered. These spiritual truths will be revealed to all <\/em>in God\u2019s good time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops:<\/p>\n\n\n\n