Sermon
Rev. Clelia P. Garrity
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church –
October 6, 3013
Luke 17:5-10
In his series of essays “No Man is an Island”
Thomas Merton, the Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic wrote, “For each one of us, there is only one thing
necessary: to fulfill our own destiny, according to God's will, to be what God
wants us to be.”
Merton believed without question that God was
at the very center of our being. He had experienced that God within us in the
flash of a moment while standing on the corner of Fourth and Walnut in
Louisville, Kentucky in 1958. In his book, “Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander”
he wrote of that experience,
“Yesterday,
in Louisville, at the corner of 4th and Walnut, I suddenly realized that I
loved all the people and that none of them were, or, could be totally alien to
me. It was as if waking from a dream — the dream of separateness, of the
“special” vocation to be different. My vocation does not really make me different
from the rest of men or put me in a special category, except artificially. I am
still a member of the human race — and what more glorious destiny is there for
man, since the Word was made flesh and became, too, a member of the Human Race!
Thank God! Thank God! I am only another member of the human
race, like all the rest of them. I have the immense joy of being a man!
Then it was as if I
suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts
where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their
reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see
themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the
time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more
greed…I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship
each other. But this cannot be seen, only believed and “understood” by a
peculiar gift.”
This
moment of awareness, a moment that came out of nowhere and was gone in an
instant, transformed Merton from an isolated soul living in a rigid monastic
community to a compassionate and passionate advocate of social justice.
In
his epiphany at Fourth and Walnut, Merton understood, in a flash, that we are all
created in the image of God and that,
“At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which
is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark
which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God
disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our mind or
the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of
absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is so to speak His name
written in us, as our poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our
sonship. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in
everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billion points of light
coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness
and cruelty of life vanish completely….I have no program for this seeing. It is
only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere.”
“The pure glory of God in us…like a pure diamond
blazing with the invisible light of heaven…the gate of heaven everywhere”
St. Peter quoting Leviticus in The First Letter of
Peter describes the same concept of God within us in different, but no less
powerful words. “Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline
yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you
when he is revealed. Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires
that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called you is holy, be
holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy for
I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:13-16)
“You shall be holy, for I am holy…”
The pure glory of God in us, in all of us – shining
like pure diamonds in all of us – making us holy, all of us, holy.
My friends, I don’t know about you, but, for me,
these are powerful words – powerful concepts. Powerful words and powerful concepts
that lead to powerful responsibility. We, with the pure glory of God in us, are
sacred beings. As sacred beings, we have an obligation to serve each other and
all of God’s creation, also sacred, with humility, compassion, patience,
courage, endurance and perhaps most of all, with love. We have an obligation to
serve God as Christ served us.
In his book “Many Witnesses, One Lord,” theologian
William Barclay writes, “The pervading
characteristic of the First Letter of Peter is its tremendous sense of the
obligation which the work of Christ has laid upon the Christian. Peter hardly
ever mentions a gift that the Christian has received without insisting on the
responsibility and the obligation which goes with it…It was the conviction of
Peter that the Christian by his patience, his suffering and his activity in
life should mould society into closer conformity with the will of God.”
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus himself reminds us that,
“whoever
would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among
you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark
10: 43-45)
Today’s
reading from Luke can be pretty obscure without these background reflections
that focus on our role as God’s sacred children here on earth and our servant responsibilities
as disciples of Christ in a war torn and fragmented world, that at times,
appears to be crumbling before our very eyes.
Jesus’
disciples in today’s Gospel plead, “Increase our faith!” They want to be
assured of a place in God’s Kingdom. Jesus chides the disciples pointing out
that faith, even the smallest amount of it, can work miracles. The smallest of
seeds can perform the mightiest of deeds!!
God
isn’t concerned amount the amount of faith that we have – just about whether it
is present in us or not – and whether or not we put that faith to work. Jesus
advises the disciples - don’t get bogged down worrying about the status of your
faith, just put whatever faith you have to work and watch it grow! Trust God –
have faith!
Jesus
also reminds his disciples that no matter how much, or how hard, they work, no
one is special – no one is owed more than the other – no one is exempt from the
humble role as God’s servant. No work of faith is greater than any other work
of faith. Everyday work that is carried out in faith, through faith, and with
faith– no matter how hard or how easy - is an obligation, a responsibility. We are all
accountable for our status as “holy.” Everyone needs to have the same attitude,
“We are worthless slaves; we have done
only what we ought to have done.”
And,
no bargaining please. We need to be content with the reality that our work in
faith is never done; it is unceasing. One big work done in faith does not
exempt us for the everyday small works done faith. We need to accept the
reality that no particular work in faith gains us a special place in God’s
eternal kingdom.
Paul
hit the nail on the head when he wrote to Timothy saying,
“Do not be ashamed, then,
of the testimony about the Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in
suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own
purpose and grace….But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put
my trust, and I am sure he is able to guard until that day what I have
entrusted to him…Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the Help of the
Holy Spirit.”
(2
Timothy: 1:6-14)
From
Genesis to Merton and beyond we read, and experience, in one way or another,
that we are all created in the image of God; that God dwells within us all – at
the very center of our beings; that we are all holy, because God, the God
within us, is holy; that we are all sacred beings called to servant hood – servant
hood to God and to all God’s creation; that our ultimate duty is to do right
and trust in God.
In
this challenging time of violence, terrorism, political unrest, and economic
uncertainly, let us, more fervently and prayerfully than ever, seek the holy
within us; put on the armor of God; and go forth in faith in seeking ways to
bring God’s creation back into right relationship with him. Remember: even the
smallest of seeds can do the mightiest of deeds.
