Sermon for 3rd Sunday in Lent, 2021

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, 2021

Fr. Tony Melton

“Walk as Children of the Light”

One of the great charisms, or strengths, of the Anglican tradition is its pastoral theology and its aescetical theology. Beginning with the early Celtic Christians, the Anglican Way has always focused on the question of how the soul makes progress in the spiritual life and how a pastor is to help the Christian make progress. Two things that show this emphasis are the Threefold Rule and the Threefold Way. The Threefold Rule is the common Rule of Life that all Anglicans share: weekly Communion, Daily Offices in the morning and evening, and personal devotion guided by spiritual direction. The Threefold Rule. But Anglicans also often speak of the Threefold Way to understand the stages of spiritual progress. The three stages, or modes, of the spiritual life are Purgation, Illumination, and Union. The idea is simple and intuitive. First a soul is swept and cleaned—purged. During this stage or mode, there is a heavy emphasis on a moral or an ethical life, confession, repentance, habits, vices. Then, the soul is filled with God, filled with Light. This mode of Christian progress is heavy on catechesis, knowledge, nurturing a sensitivity to the Spirit, the development of the fruits of that same Spirit, virtues. Then, the soul, swept and filled with the presence of God, grows in its union with Him. This mode in the Threefold Way is heavy on contemplation, spiritual direction, acts of mercy and wisdom, even mystical prayer for some. The Church’s process for Baptism followed this progression. Catechumens were put under strict ethical training before they were taught the mysteries of Christian theology. Purgation, then Illumination.

In our texts for this 3rd Sunday in Lent, the first two modes of the Threefold Way are in clear view—Purgation and Illumination. The most obvious reference is in the Gospel. “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” First the house, or soul, must be purged, then it must be filled with the Spirit of the Living God.

We also see this dynamic at work clearly in our Epistle from Ephesians 5. Paul begins by exhorting the Ephesians to be followers of Christ, to walk in the Way of Love. What is the Way? Paul follows a clear progression in laying out the Way. First, he has a long section devoted to avoiding Sin, which he calls darkness. Then, there is a long section on walking in the Light, being filled with the fruit of the Spirit. “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.” First, purgation of Sin, then, illumination by the Light of the Spirit.

I don’t know if you have ever been privy to the seemingly endless debates on how to parent. Some parenting books stress obedience to authority, a good and gentle authority, nurturing a healthy fear of the Lord, which the Bible says is the beginning of Wisdom. The use of punishment, because this perspective sees the essential issue as depravity, an issue of the Will. “Billy, clean your room.” “No.” [Whop!] “Yes, papa.” Then there are other perspectives on parenting, much more contemporary, that seek to develop a child’s conscience through appeals to their reason, logic, or self-interest. The goal here is Wisdom. Rather than command, it would seek persuade. Rather than punish, it would present consequences. This perspective sees the essential issue, not so much as depravity, but a lack of Wisdom. I find merit in both approaches at certain stages of development. For parents who are unable to affirm different stages in the development of a child, which call for different approaches, the effects are disastrous. Appealing to a 3 year old’s logic or self-interest is like pushing a rope. “Billy, don’t you want to clean your room? It is good to have a clean room.” “Nope.” Likewise, always issuing commands to a 14 year old as if they were a child, with no appeal to the use of Wisdom and discretion leaves them angry and underdeveloped. There are stages. One comes before the other. Each calls for a different approach and have different emphases.

It is so helpful and wise to have the Threefold Way. Like with parenting, so many errors and imbalances make their way into the Christian life because we cannot distinguish between different stages of growth. Sometimes people put Illumination before Purgation. Sometimes, people treat all of life as Purgation. Other brands of the Faith treat all of life as union, and the mention of purgation is immediately accused of legalism. But St. Paul exhorts the Ephesians to leave the darkness, and walk in the Light.

It is worth noting that the sins that we are to be purged of that St. Paul lists in Ephesians 5 are mainly sins of the body. “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

Christians are chaste people. This was an issue in St. Paul’s day. It is certainly a problem in ours. I need not give the statistics that show how filthy the common Christian’s house is. But Paul says, “let it not be once named among you.” Purgation comes first. What progress can we hope to make in the spiritual life when we walk in unchastity? Give these things no quarter. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. If a thing causes you to sin, take a hammer to it. This leaving of sin, which we have called Purgation, St. Paul calls “not having any fellowship with darkness.” It is on the second phase that our terminology aligns. What we call Illumination, he calls “walking in the Light.”

After they leave the darkness, those who are “followers of God” are filled with Light and walk in the Light. The Light is, of course, the Spirit of God. The Spirit fills the house. Ancient commentators on the Gospel pointed out that the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit are the defense against the seven spirits more wicked than the first that Jesus says will try to return to a purged soul. This is what happens in Baptism. The soul is filled with the Spirit of Christ. In fact, the Church has called Baptism “illumination” for almost 2 millennia, starting in this very reading in Ephesians 5, which I’ll explain in a minute. So, children of God are filled with Light.

And, children of God walk in the Light. St. Paul says, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light…And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” In other words, when our secret sins are correct, we re-enter that holy dynamic of purgation and illumination. Our deeds of darkness are exposed by the Light, and when this happens the areas of our houses that were filthy become powerful places of holiness and light. Don’t live in the darkness. Don’t live in secrecy. The first step of Purgation is to confess. Confess to a friend, confess to your priest, confess to your family. On the other side of secrecy is not shame, it is Light, and joy, and the peace of a clean conscience. Walk in the Light.

It is fitting that these texts are given to us today, on the day of Aliya’s baptism. The Church has always believed that Baptism is an exorcism and an illumination. A purgation and a filling. Though the process of repentance is to be repeated throughout life, all the sweeping and filling that follows is really a re-entrance of the Great Sweep and the Great Filling of Baptism. Aliya is the house in the Gospel. And so are you. Every baptism is an opportunity to renew your vows, and partake of that same Grace which purged you and filled you with Light in your Baptism.

The closing verse of our Epistle, St. Paul actually uses a portion of baptismal hymn used in the early, early Church. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Aliya, you are filled with the Light of Jesus. Walk in that Light. The Light exposes all secrets. This is hard, but it is good. The Light of Jesus and the Water of Baptism grow in you the fruits of holiness. This is very good. May God show us all the Light of His Countenance, may He by His power expose us, sweep us, and fill us, that we would radiate His Light to those still in darkness. Amen.