Fr. Sean’s Trinity VII Sermon

Now being made free from sin, and become servants to god, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life.

One of the main features of Trinitytide, this season dedicated to spiritual growth, is that each year we read through many of Paul's Epistles. We start this season with two Sundays from the Epistles of John and then two from Peter, but the rest of Trinitytide, all the way to Trinity 24, are from Paul's Epistles. This is no surprise--Paul wrote most of the Epistles and he particularly had a ministry teaching the Gentiles, us, how to follow Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This week is the final Epistle taken from Romans before we move to his letters to the Corinthians. 

The small church in Rome was a very mixed group given that this was one of the most diverse and large cities of the first century, with over a million residents. There were some Jews in this group, but many of the church were Gentile converts. Paul is trying to teach the new Gentile Christians the nature of salvation. He first makes the general distinction between a life before baptism, which he titles the life of the flesh, and then our life after baptism as Christians, the life of the Spirit. 

St. Paul views this contrast as two different lives of service, one in service to uncleanness or one in service to righteousness. To sum up this section of Romans in the words of Bob Dylan: You've got to serve somebody. Just to be clear, St. Paul's vocabulary here is one of slavery: the word service is the Greek word for serving as a slave, being made a subject of a master. In the ancient world, slavery was very different from the slavery that occurred here in this country. It was not based on race, nor were families bound to slavery over generations. In fact, many slaves actually had the opportunity to achieve freedom after years of service. In Rome, there were slaves from all across the world, typically captives from war; and there were times where even Roman citizens became slaves if they could not pay back debts.

Paul writes: "I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity." The first type of slavery that St. Paul mentions is slavery to the flesh. But ‘the flesh’ does not mean 'anything to do with our bodies.' When read this way, it can appear that any of our natural bodily desires for food or drink, comfort or touch are evil, but this is not what St. Paul is referring to. The infirmity of the flesh means using our bodies and all of creation as an end in themselves, without purpose. Walking in the flesh, another phrase Paul uses in his Epistle, is to walk away from God and his plans and intentions for His creation. This is slavery to sin and death. He continues: "when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death." This type of slavery cannot create any type of righteousness for its end is death, nothingness. This is why Paul asks the Romans whether there is any fruit from that form of slavery. If the end is death, there can be no fruit whatsoever. 

But life in God, service to Him has the opposite end. St. Paul writes: "yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness." Our life in God has actual fruit because we realize–we bring to reality, to fruition–the ends and purposes for which God created us.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Again, we are back to the same principle we saw last week: the giftedness of reality. That all that we have is a pure gift from God. God has designed us for happiness (union with him) and he gives us gifts to live out and achieve. The Collect for this Sunday summarizes: LORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things: graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same. God is the giver of all good things, and he gives us charity, which is the love of God. And that love completes us, nourishes us, and he sustains us throughout this pilgrimage of life.

This is the reality of the Church: that God seeks to save all humanity and gives all humans the possibility and freedom to serve him. The Gospel account is such a wonderful expression of this. 

"In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far."

Notice that it is Jesus who calls his disciples to do something because he has compassion on the people. God has compassion on us who would be lost in service to death if he did not seek us out. The Morning Prayer lesson from Hosea was another example of how God loved his people, even when they abandoned him. He brings them back and adorns them so that they–like a tree–flower with the fruit of righteousness. 

And then Jesus asks his disciples how many loaves they have. And as they offer the seven loaves, of simple bread, Jesus blesses it and some fish, and returns it to them to disperse to the people and the thousands are fed fully in the wilderness. Likewise, God has taken the seven sacraments which use simple elements from creation to give life to his people. By the waters of baptism we receive the gift of new life and remission of our sins, by the laying on of hands we receive the sevenfold gift of the Holy Spirit at Confirmation; by bread and wine we receive his very Body and Blood; by the words of absolution we can receive forgiveness of sins; by oil we receive healing in the sacrament of Holy Unction; by the giving of rings and taking of vows Holy Matrimony is established; and by the laying on of hands, God makes new priests to serve His Kingdom. 

In his provision, God has given us these sacraments in the most general and simple way possible. Think about how amazing it is that God has promised to be with us, and he meets us in every place and at every time. He is present to us here at the altar, and he is present to us at every Mass, even if that mass is celebrated in a country club dining-room. Fr. Glenn used to tell me, think how amazing it is that a milk-crate in the middle of the field can become the altar of God Almighty if a priest celebrates Mass there. We are going to experience the Mass in a very different way for the next seven months. But each of those times we come together and celebrate the Mass, we know that the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ will be present with us. The Blessed Holy Trinity is a God of fights, and we will now experience these gifts in a new way, opening up opportunities to experience and serve Him in new ways. I firmly believe that our lives together during this time of renovation will deepen as we walk through the little challenges ahead.

We will have new opportunities to love and serve one another and experience the gifts of God. Even our experience at the Greencroft provides opportunities: the words and meaning of the Mass can be heightened when heard in a new context. I have had many opportunities at summer camp or ski trips or clergy conferences to attend or celebrate Mass outside of a church building. And while there is an incongruity, phrases or certain actions stand out in new ways. We never would wish to have Mass in a dining-room, but because we will, we will find a fresh encounter with the liturgy, and hopefully a fresh encounter with Jesus Christ himself. For again, no matter where a priest celebrates the Mass, Christ is present. 

But even this is an image of the entirety of our lives. We will get through this project–I am not worried. In fact, it is quite exciting, and we get to come back to a church better suited for our needs. The trials ahead for our parish are small compared to the real hardships, sorrows, and pain we endure in our lives. More important is to see how God cares and loves us through every stage of our lives, the ups and downs. God is present in the sacraments. May we use this opportunity, but more importantly ever sorrow and hardship and joy we experience to serve God. Then we will see how through his gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity, we grow closer to our perfect end: happiness in union with Him. 

Now being made free from sin, and become servants to god, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life.