Sermon

Jesus entered a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city. And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee…

“Jesus… own city,” referred to in the text, was Capernaum. He moved there early in his ministry and made it his hub of operation after the people of Nazareth tried to kill him. The first piece of information is an account of a sick man whose friends cared enough for him to bring him to Jesus. The home referred to in the text was probably Peter’s and Andrew’s home where he healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Friendship is a wonderful thing.

Every week we are reminded that, “love of neighbor” is so high a matter for Jesus that we have it repeated over and over again in the Church. Along with loving God with our whole being, love of neighbor is the fulfillment of all the Law. Yes, God is our happiness and only God himself is sufficient for the human heart. But it is not the case that nothing short of God awakens our love, our reverence, and our trust. Friends do that. Friends may open our hearts and it is sweet indeed when friendship meets at the foot of the Cross. But our hearts require, indeed our hearts long for, a permanence no man can promise. And friends know this to be true. True friends will not promise more to one another, will not seek more from one another than Jesus has made us to be. We are created for embodied fellowship with one another and we are better for that fellowship. A true friend in Christ is a soothing comfort all because that friendship finds its end in Christ and his Kingdom. 

Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee…

We see this sort of event repeated over and over again throughout the Gospels as well as our own lives and the lives of our friends. It is a blessing and a comfort to have friends; it is especially a blessing to have friends who love us and who love Jesus. It is a mark of the importance of this sort of event, of this great consolation, in the life of the Church, that they are multiplied in our liturgical calendar throughout the Christian year. This poor man had intercessors who brought him to Jesus and that made all the difference in the world for him. 

and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee…

Another upshot is the comfort, the blessing, and the necessity of intercessory prayer in God’s order for our life in the Body of Christ. But this is what I want you to see: Intercessory prayer is a manifestation of a way of life. We are all called to intercede for one another and for the life of the whole world. When someone asks you to pray for them they are asking you to take up the role of these friends who brought the sick man to Jesus. Jesus honors intercessory prayer, yes — but there is more to it — the very order of the Body of Christ may be described as intercessory prayer –- this is how we most authentically live together as Christians. It is not merely that intercessory prayer works (which it does), but it is not a tool we pull out of our spiritual tool box when it is needed. It is not like a power drill. It is not instrumental, pragmatic, or utilitarian. God has ordained intercessory prayer to be the way we are, the way we live together. God has ordained intercessory prayer to be for the good life of the world, as well as, for the good of heaven. It is not that God needs our prayers, it is that God has ordered our life such that prayer is our finality. 

Baptism is the archetype, the spot on example of intercessory prayer: every little baby who is baptized into Christ has this beginning through the intercession of others who love him or her. She can only smile or cry or sleep as her parents and godparents not only intercede for her, but also speak what she cannot speak for herself. At the moment of baptism the priest does not ask the parents and godparents if they wish to have the baby baptized. The questions of faith are posed, as it were, to the baby and the godparents answer in his name:

Wilt thou be baptized in the Faith

That is my desire.

Wilt thou then obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the day’s of thy life?

I will by God’s help.

Intercession, friendship, fellowship, common prayer, and common life. Listen to me: the same thing that effects our participation in the Life of Christ, effects our participation in one another’s life. By virtue of our baptism into Christ we are baptized into one body and we are from then on “members of Christ and members one of another.” “Members one of another.” We are not merely individual persons. Love of neighbor is the natural state of being in the Body of Christ. Friendship, fellowship, community in the Body of Christ is sacramental — it is the really real of life.  Intercession, friendship, fellowship, common prayer, and common life.

And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee…

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

This passage of Scripture begins with the Pharisees trying to trick Jesus into saying something that would be politically inflammatory — “Is it appropriate to pay tribute to Caesar?” After that they tried to get him to say something say something that would be divisive for the Pharisees and the Sadducees concerning the nature of marriage, at which time he stated that neither of them understood marriage. After that we finally get around to the question of the greatest commandment. Here Jesus makes the Law of Love the greatest of the commandments:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all they soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.

Jesus combined two commandments to make the greatest commandment and that has exercised authority over subsequent formulations in the Church ever since. St. Paul did not pluck his well know triad of theological virtues (Faith, Hope and Love) from thin air. Jesus’ moral authority over the Church has led his disciples from the beginning to focus our ethical life around this single theme of love — “the greatest of these,” Paul reminds us, “is love.” The primacy love in virtually all early texts, sermons, narratives, and theological papers, from Paul to Peter, to John, to the Fathers would not have been possible had the Church not received “this primacy from the mouth of the one Teacher who united them.” Love unites worship, doctrine, and life. Love is the greatest of all virtues and Christ has made love, as a behavior, our most accurate way to identify a Christian. And the truth is, we may live lives of love because the heavenly virtues of faith, hope, and love have been infused into our soul through the grace of Holy Baptism. Because we really and truly participate in the life of the Shepherd of Love through the grace of baptism and the sacrament of the Altar, we really and truly can live a life of love in the Church and in the world. 

Jesus uses three modifying phrases to the love of God. We are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind; that is with all our being, with all that we have and all that we are. Our love for neighbor is to be equivalent to our own self-love. The rich, the poor, the hungry, the blind, those we love and those we cannot stand, the other person whoever he or she may be is a person Jesus loves and died for and we are to remind ourselves of that fundamental fact of the universe:

“So God loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…”

The Law of Love brings a godly perspective to the first two questions. Our heavenly citizenship conditions all other citizenships; the authority of the King of Kings actually establishes the reality of any authority, and our heavenly Spouse conditions our participation in the temporal institution of Holy Matrimony; and the God of Love, the divine Messiah not only calls his spouse, the Church, to live according to the Law of Love with all our heart, soul and mind, but he has enable her so to do.

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

The Gospel today answers the question “How are God’s people supposed to live here and now?” The answer is that God’s people are to live with humility and generosity. A life of true humility and generosity will move his disciples to share their talents and treasure without hoping to get anything out of it. The themes of humility and generosity are at the very heart of the life of Christ and he taught his disciples that they should follow his example. But you cannot out love or out give God. There is no humility more profound than the humility of the Son of the Father becoming flesh. And if you wish to follow him then you will pursue the virtues of humility and generosity because that is what God is like. It is impossible to be a disciple of Christ and live any other way. 

Only two weeks back the Gospel was that notorious passage where Jesus draws the line: 

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Jesus and his apostles are constantly warning us about the dangers of money because wealth is an existential threat to our salvation. This is not a sermon against accumulating wealth — but it is an exhortation to attentiveness because it is a foolishness to ignore or to attempt to soften our Lord’s plain sense.

“You cannot serve God and personal wealth.” 

No, you cannot. If Jesus is your God then you will end up being careful to the point of being suspicious of your personal wealth. You will not trust in your riches. But if personal wealth is your god, you will end up suspicious and doubtful of Jesus. Jesus did not teach his disciple to throw their money away and in fact his own disciples during his earthly ministry gave alms to the poor. But he did teach his disciples not to value money and possessions so highly that you dedicate your life to the pursuit of treasures that less than eternal. This is a warning to both the well to do, who have possessions to guard; and it is a warning to the poor who wished they had them. 

“For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

But God’s ways are not our ways. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount there is something that we almost never see or hear about — the four final woes that Jesus adds to the Sermon. Here instead of as state of blessing, he pronounces a state of heartbreak:

“Woe unto you who are rich, you have received your consolation!”

“Woe unto you who are full, you shall be hungry!”

“Woe unto you who laugh now, you shall mourn and weep.”

“Woe unto you when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”

Jesus and his apostles are constantly warning us about the dangers of personal wealth.  But don’t forget that there are also many examples in the New Testament, and in the history of the Church, of people who used their personal wealth for the mission Christ’s Church. Most of the original parishes in the city of Rome in antiquity were the homes and property of patricians. Roman citizens, families of senators and rulers who truly presented their selves, their souls, their bodies, and their material wealth to the Church of God. The themes of humility and generosity are at the very heart of the life of Christ and he taught his disciples that they should follow his example. There is no humility more profound than the humility of the Son of the Father made flesh. We will never out do God’s humility. You are called to incarnate the life of Christ in your humility and in your generosity and liberality. You have been made the child of God by the grace of baptism; you participate in his divine life, and he calls you to be rich toward God. Those who inherit the Kingdom will be merciful in their assessment of others, forgiving of injuries, liberal in sharing their wealth —  they are people who make a positive use of suffering — there is humility, openness, trust, joy and a thankful heart. The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.  

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.