Fr. Sean’s Trinity IV Sermon
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
As we continue to prepare for our renovation, I am feeling a sense of longing for this building. I realize that soon I will walk out of here and demolition will begin. What has been my refuge and place of worship for sixteen years is going to change. I am excited, yes, but there is a sadness with every change for this building we know so well will never be what we know right now. Someone was visiting last week who had been married in this church, and she told me she was very excited about the project and yet she was glad to have visited once more before the construction happens.
This week we started packing up, and it all became very real that we are about to embark on a very large project. These are all very good human emotions, for we attach ourselves to what we know, the places we live, the images on our walls, the memories that we have. We are naturally drawn to the physical world and naturally see meaning and purpose in even the smallest things. Think of the memories you might have at your home that remind you of your parents or grandparents or good friends. They might be a simple photograph or a tea-cup or that battered book or that sweater with holes. We keep these items because they hold a memory–the physical, created object, takes on a deep meaning within and beyond the actual object. In fact, the material object draws us, without any effort, into the world of meaning and love.
This church holds within it memories upon memories--and hopefully those memories draw us closer to the love of God and one another. I think upon this altar rail where we have knelt week after week, now it is worn with age. The pews, which to be honest, are in a sad state now, remind me of the Covid years when we sprayed them down with nasty chemicals and ruined the varnish--but also remind me of the sacrifices we all made together to live through uncertainty and fear. These floors are stained with wax and water from advent wreaths and paschal candles, countless liturgies that have grown our devotion. People have come and gone, families have grown up, moved on, and the parish continues, the physical space growing thicker with meaning like wax building up on a candle.
As humans, we understand this naturally, because God has created us and the entire cosmos fitted together--matter and spirit, one creation. So what we do with our bodies and the world around us matters and affects our souls. We understand this, just as we understand and experience a sadness about changing a building we love so much and yet can be excited about what is to come.
Some might say, 'Its just a building!' But we know it is more than drywall on studs. That is a similar mindset to the people who tell us that humans are just physical bodies, cells lumped together and blood pumping. But we know that we are more than that. As Christians, the fact that God created us means that we are special. And the fact that God became one of us, then truly opens up the brilliance of God's highest creation: humanity. Now God has a human face. The eternal and almighty God became one of us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and he did so to restore all things to their intended beauty and truth.
The emotions we are experiencing as we prepare for this renovation speak to a much deeper truth. They show us a glimpse of the meaning of creation. But even more, they show us how God loved his creation so much that he sent his only son to become one of us and die for us. Our own emotions which speak of a love for the physical spaces around us are a shadow, a type, of the great love that God has for his creation.
It is his love and humility which sustains and brings meaning to the entire world. This is our starting point as we look at God’s creation. And it is one of great humility because God Almighty humbled himself to create, sustain, and even redeem a creation that worked against Him. Now man can participate in the life of God Himself because he became human and opened up to us His life. Look at how the Introit, from Psalm 27 puts it: “THE LORD is my light, and my salvation, whom then shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life, of whom then shall I be afraid?” God is the light of life, our salvation, the strength of life in whom we live and move and have our being! Our salvation depends on the life in which we are engrafted and feed upon. Or take a look at the Collect: “O GOD the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal.” It is his life and strength that makes us who we are are, that makes us holy. This life begins as a pure gift at the deepest of our human nature as we are given a new life in our baptism. At that level, we participate in the life of God as a baby in the womb participates in her mother. God seeks to lead us to our final happiness, and as His children, he gives us all that we need to freely live and participate in His life. This type of participation involves our own will and actions, as we live our lives blossom from the roots of divine life. This is the basis of humility.
One does not begin to grow humility by focusing on how bad you are or how much of a failure you are. That way of thinking is actually quite self-obsessed. We need to address our sin–that is very important. As we see in the Gospel, Jesus reminds his disciples that they must examine themselves, especially before offering judgment upon others! “Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.” But what is remarkable, and quite alarming, is that we as humans can miss the beam in our own eye! Self examination and proper judgement of one’s own sin is important, but even that habit must rely on something deeper. Humility, as I said before, is not grown from the soil of self-hatred but of true self-acknowledgment. It is when we know our own place and know ourselves that humility can flower.
Think of it this way– Jesus lived a perfect and fully human life. In that human life he never sinned, and yet he was perfectly humble. His humility did not sprout from the self-examination of his sin–he didn’t have any! His humility stems from his love of His Father. In the acknowledgment of his person as Son, and in his work as the Word of God and the Messiah, and as a result of his incarnation, Jesus lived a perfectly humble life. His humility comes from his being–who he is!
This is the type of humility we need to grow, for we look to Jesus as our guide. In the Gospel, Jesus told his disciples: “Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” St. Paul gave the Philippians an excellent description of what this looks like, of what a disciple of Jesus must follow: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [Phl 2:5-8 KJV]
Even before the incarnation, the Word of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity was living in perfect humility, perfect love with the Father. And, in St. Paul’s words, because he did not think it robbery to be equal with God, took on human flesh, the likeness of man, and in supreme humility even took on death. A humble person does not flaunt his position or seek only his own good, but he lives in love and service because he focuses his life upon God. We can grow humility as we focus upon God and understand ourselves in His light. It is only when we give ourselves to God that we can begin to understand how he has given himself for us: how he has cared for us. And then we understand that we are part of others, not just an individual able to impose ones own rights and powers on others. Instead, we live together towards a common goal. Our moral actions are not arbitrary but they take on the very life of God. JESUS said unto his disciples, “The disciple is not above his master; but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” When we are open to God’s care and love, we will see Him working in the world and in our lives. We will know His presence in the liturgy and be aided by His Body and Blood. We will read Holy Scriptures and hear the words of God to us. We will pray and be comforted in all dangers and adversities. We will also grow in our lives for God has given us His life in which we can grow infinitely, farther up, and farther in. We will see his presence all around us, in his creation and in his people, even here in the parish. May God grow us in humility during this new phase of parish life!