Sermon for the 14th Sunday after Trinity, 2021

Homily for the 14th Sunday after Trinity, 2021

Fr. Tony Melton

And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.” +++

I began last week’s homily at the marriage altar, showing the simple and direct connection between beholding, loving, and serving. This cascade of grace-infused action is at the beginning of every Christian marriage. There are at least two other key moments in the life of a marriage. The first happens when you realize that the person you thought you married is not exactly the person you actually married. They leave their stinky socks on the floor, or they’re emotional, or needy, or absent. For many, this is the beginning of the end. But for most Christian couples, it is a significant step in the Way of Love. We love the other for who they are, not for who we think they ought to be.

But then there is another step, probably more significant than the other. It is when we recognize that we are the difficult ones. I am the problem. And we see ourselves as we really are, not as who we like to think we are. This is still the Way of Love, but like two highways merging into one, it is also the Way of Penitence. When a marriage is traveling on both of these roads, its destination is greater and greater Joy.

This morning, we’ll be talking about the Way of Penitence. Far from being a dower topic, it is one of the greatest keys to experiencing great joy in the Christian life. Yet, this highway is often missed by the Faithful because we tend to see penitence as occasional, simplistic in its aims, and we are not practiced in any process or method. Yet, we can learn about all of these questions in our Propers for this morning.

So, first we will learn about when we ought to be penitent, then for what we ought to be penitent, and then how we ought to be penitent.

We’ll begin in the Epistle, Galatians 5:16. Here St. Paul teaches an essential principle for walking in the Way of Penitence, that our souls are mixed. Two contradictory powers work upon the soul, someone like the demon on the left shoulder and an angel on the right, except that these principles do reside on our shoulders, appealing to our mind, but reside deep within our heart fighting for what we love. The power that leads us away from righteousness, St. Paul calls the “flesh”. The power the leads us toward righteousness, St. Paul calls the “Spirit”.

Two important principles emerge from our Epistle that are important for understanding the Way of Penitence. First, because we possess the Spirit of the Living Christ, we can have victory over the Flesh. St. Paul says, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” But we also learn that this victory is not entire or perfect in this life. “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” This means that in this life, we are never entirely free from the desire to do evil. In fact, our deeds, even our good deeds, are mixed, just like our hearts. Why is this important in learning about the Way of Penitence? It means that penitence is not something we do from time to time. It is a perpetual reality for God’s people. Penitence is a Way of Being. We can always repent.

I cannot overstate how transformative this idea can be for you. Most conflict in our lives comes is sustained by the false assumption, held by both parties, that I am completely in the right and he is completely in the wrong. Everyone take their finger and put it one inch from your eye. Can you see your fingerprints? Now pull your finger away from your face. Can you see it now? We can see imperfections a lot easier when the imperfection is outside of us, meaning in someone else, but we are notoriously bad at noticing our own imperfections. Our eyes often miss our own sins, so that our sins look like specks, and theirs look like logs. But just watch how acknowledging your own faults first can unlock repentance and peace in the peace around you. Because we are mixed in our hearts between flesh and spirit, we are to be in a continual state of penitence.

Our Gospel reading is the story of the Ten Lepers. Their crying out to Jesus surprised me in reading the passage this week. "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Have mercy? We give help to those whose situation is not of their own doing. We give mercy to those whose situation is of their own doing. I think it would have made more sense for them to yell, “Jesus, help us!” “Jesus, we didn’t do anything to deserve this misery! Make us whole!” But they yelled, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

This reminds me of the same surprise that I had recently when visiting one of the sick in our mission and giving an anointing. I’m sure you’re familiar with the passage from James 5, “ Is any sick among you? let him call for the priests of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” There is a liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer, and I was preparing by reading it out the 1662 BCP. I was struck by just how penitential is the liturgy for the Visitation of the Sick! There are multiple exhortations toward holiness and confession of sin, self-examination, sorrow for sin. In a word: penitence. So I’m getting ready to visit this person whose gone through the ringer the last two weeks thinking, “Yeesh! I’m getting tired from reading these exhortations right now. How could anyone who is sick handle this!?” But perhaps that is because we are in a time where penitence seems such an odd thing, an occasional thing, and not the perpetual thing that it ought to be. We think of penitence for when we’ve done something really rotten, not for when we get the flu, or throw out our back, or get leprosy… But we forget the connection made in the Prayer Book, and in the Scriptures. For the very next verse in James 5 says, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.”

What is this getting at? Both our Epistle and our Gospel are showing us that to walk in the Spirit is to walk in the Way of Penitence. To acknowledge that we are mixed beings with divided hearts, that all our deeds are mixed, and that in every moment, in every sickness, in every conflict, we can pray the words of Psalm 139, “Try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart : prove me and examine my thoughts. Look well if there be any way of wickedness in me : and lead me in the way everlasting.”

So, we’ve covered when we are to be penitent. Always. But, St. Paul makes clear in the Epistle what we are to be penitent of and for. What are the aims of penitence?

To answer that question, we have the Works of the Flesh and the Fruits of the Spirit. These lists are very helpful in our ability to self-examination, which we’ve discussed this last month in cell groups. By learning the words well, we can participate with God in seeking the ground of our own heart, and examining our own hearts, and therefore walk more and more in the Spirit and not in the Flesh! So, we’ll walk through the lists briefly, given that many of these words are confusing to us.

The text lists many things, but the Works of the Flesh can be divided here under two main headings: sins that come from a desire for pleasure, and sins that come from a desire for power. The Flesh seeks after Pleasure and Power. The list for Pleasure is easier to understand. They are less subtle than the Sins of Power. St. Paul says that the Works of the Flesh are Adultery, Fornication, Uncleanness (meaning all kinds of moral impurities), Lasciviousness (which is an adherence to an openly sinful lifestyle in spite of rebuke or correction—“I have a RIGHT!”). He continues later, Drunkenness, and Revelings, which were lewd parties common in that day.

The Works of the Flesh that come from a Desire for Power are a bit more interesting and nuanced. Idolatry, witchcraft are both ways that pagans seek more control over their lives. But then there is a long list of very similar things.

Hatred, or enmities. This word in the Greek refers to having lots of enemies. Having lots of conflicts now or in the past.

Next, St. Paul lists Variance, which is translated as “strife” in other versions. Those given to Variance love to “vary” with their brethren, meaning they love to be at-odds or in disagreement with others. Contrarians at best; lovers of fights or quarrels at worst.

The next is a confusing word, Emulations. The Greek word here is ζῆλος, from where we get the word “zealous” or zeal, ζῆλος. Zeal can be a good thing. Plato and Aristotle considered it so. But within the power of the Flesh it can stand contrary to holiness. I’ve been listening to the podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, which documents the ministry of megachurch pastor, Mark Driscoll. This was a man zealous for the Bible and for the city of Seattle and for the mission of Mars Hill Church. But his ζῆλος caused him to steamroll other people, especially his staff, so that he joked once, “There’s a pile of bodies behind the Mars Hill bus and by God’s grace someday it’ll be a mountain. If our passion for something, even something good, leads us to run over our brothers and sisters, then we are walking not in the Spirit, but in the Works of the Flesh.

Next, wrath, which refers to outburst of anger. Next, strife, the Greek here refers to engaging in a party spirit, bolstering our personal identity in an us vs. them mentality. Next, seditions (διχοστασία means to “stand apart”. This is a readiness to join a faction. Next, heresies, the Greek word here is αἵρεσις. αἵρεσις did not originally refer to false doctrinal beliefs. Rather, it referred at this time especially to a personal choice or opinion held with impenetrable vehemence despite correction from a larger body of peers or authority. You can see how this would relate to theological opinions later, but its general meaning is powerful. This is a crucial word for us to understand nowadays, especially as we explore topics such as individual conscience. It is commonplace for each person to hold to individual opinions so tightly with hardly any reference to the Church, or to wiser members within a parish, or one’s pastor, or even one’s spouse. This reflects a spirit of αἵρεσις.

And lastly, envying, also translated “grudges”. This Work of the Flesh holds onto hurts. It is a spirit of bitterness. It robs both parties in a conflict from the opportunity of the joy of repentance and reconciliation.

Had you ever noticed that right before St. Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit, he gives no less than 8 words to describe patterns of conflict, bitterness, and division? We must understand the Fruits of the Spirit in their juxtaposition to the list we just walked through. If we do, then we will hear the Fruits of the Spirit like this…

Instead of Variance, or “being at odds with others”, instead of relying on the adrenaline that comes from the Facebook argument, or the theological distinction, instead of being lovers of quarrels, lovers of debate, let us be lovers of our brothers and sisters in Christ! Love is the first fruit of the Spirit.

Instead of envyings, or bearing of grudges, paying constant attention to the scars and marks of our past fights, let us be marked by Joy!

Instead of hatred, or enmities, seeing our brothers and sisters through the lens of our past conflicts, let us strive for the Fruit of Peace.

Instead of Wrath (thumia), let us be macrothumia (long-tempered, long-suffering).

Instead of Strife, or having a party spirit, quickly dividing yourself from a brother in an us-vs-them way, let us possess the fruit of Gentleness, which in the Greek means “well-fit, like the right tool for a job, able to bend not break, to bring one along not leave them behind.” This is the fruit of Gentleness.

Instead of heresies, or self-assured opinion in both religion or relationships or politics or ethics or philosophy. Let us have the fruit of pistis, faith, faithfulness, trust, allegiance to the Truth. Let us have the humility to gain our answers about the complex issues of life, not from blogger in his basement but from the Church that Jesus assures will never fall to the powers of darkness and who possess the Holy Spirit to lead us into all Truth. Do not hold fast to your own private interpretation of Scripture, but from the Faith handed down once for all to the Saints. Do not trust your own assessment of yourself and your faults and God’s calling on your life, but heed the words of your brothers and sisters in Christ who speak to you God’s Word and God’s Wisdom. This is the fruit of Faith.

Instead of Zeal, overcome with self-directed passion for our own sedition or sect, let us have the fruit of Meekness, to see our own faults as logs, and the faults of others as specks. To turn our zeal for righteousness upon ourselves first rather than on our brothers and sisters. To know clearly the worst in ourselves and to see the beauty in others and to see both ourselves and others in light of God’s lavish love. This is the Fruit of Meekness.

So we have the when of penitence (always) and the what of penitence, but our Propers also give us a clue as to the how of penitence. For this, we can look at the leper. His penitence happened in four stages. First, he recognized that he had leprosy. Probably easier for him than it is for us! Second, he cried out to Jesus for mercy. Third, he obeyed Jesus and followed the process given for the healing of body and soul. Fourth, he returned to give thanks.

The recognition of our own spiritual leprosy is required for a life of joyful penitence. And, in a week that will be learning about Recollected Prayer, or free prayer from the heart, this is a good opportunity to reemphasize the real value of the Prayer Book as an anchor and balance. If we pray the Morning Prayer every day, just listen to the words that begin our day out of the 1662 Prayer Book. We begin our day, every day, by “acknowledging and bewailing our manifold sins and wickedness.” If we continue to pray like this, we will train our eyes to see clearly our own hearts, and we will recognize, like the leper, that we need mercy.

And then we will cry out for it! We will know our brokenness and we will be beautiful because of it! Everyone baptized into Christ has the Spirit of the Living God within them, but that glory can only show forth when our vessels are cracked and broken by a spirit of penitence.

Look at the process that Jesus gave to the leper. He told him to go show himself to the priests. This meant a few things. First, the how of penitence should likely involve a third party. Just like the priests at the Temple were trained to tell if the leprosy was really gone, priests are trained and gifted in helping the penitent assess whether they are truly repentant. Second, it meant that the leper had to go back into the city. This would have been an entrance back into shame, pain, and the spectacle. Repentance can be hard, especially if it means mending a relationship. Third, notice that the leper was healed as he went to obey the words of Jesus. He did not question the command. He asked for mercy, and with no assurance that mercy had been given, he obeyed.

Finally, he gave thanks. He fell down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The process of penitence finds its terminus at the Eucharist, the Great Thanksgiving of God’s people. What a great day it will be when someone who has ought against their brother or sister, or thinks that their brother may have ought against them, leaves the altar, and goes to their brother, and in the side aisle or in the narthex, confesses their leprosy to each another, forgives each other, ensures that peace and charity between them, and then go together to fall down at the feet of Christ by kneeling side-by-side to receive the Eucharist together.

Brothers and sisters, let us walk together in the Way of Penitence, for it will lead us to feet of Jesus. Let us walk in the Spirit, that we may bear the fruits of Joy, Peace, and Love. Amen.