Monday, October 7, 2013

God's Holy Servants


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.