Sermon for the 8th Sunday after Trinity, 2021
Christ the King Homily
Trinity 8
7-25-2021
“My… what big eyes you have… My what big ears you have… My… what big teeth you have.” We all know these words from the children’s story, “Little Red Riding Hood”. It’s the story of a wolf that dressed up as the little girl’s grandmother in order to deceive her… trying to disguise who he really was so that he could eventually devour her.
As the story goes… Little Red Riding Hood began observing the features of her “disguised” grandmother… the Hair, the Big Eyes… the Big Ears… the Big Teeth. And with every statement she made… the wolf had words to dissuade her. “All the better to see you with my dear”… “all the better to hear you my dear”. Until finally… at last… he responds, “All the better to eat you with”… at which point he lunges at the girl and gobbles her up. All the signs pointed to falsehood but the words spoke otherwise. And because the girl entertained the wolf’s deception and ignored the signs… it ended in her destruction.
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This famous children’s story actually fits pretty well with the teaching of Christ in the Gospel Lesson today from Matthew chapter 7, which is at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Since we celebrate the Feast of St James today, we read different Propers pertaining to the life of James the Apostle. So, let me read this other Gospel Lesson for today (read Lesson).
After Jesus teaches about all that God desires of his people… and after He describes what righteousness in God truly is…and how much God cares for his children… He then offers a warning… a warning to be careful of those who teach otherwise. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
Jesus speaks about wolves… about false teachers… who put on a disguise to entrap others. They say all the right things… they seem to look the part… but unless care is taken to look closely at the signs… they will devour you in the end. And… at the end of this passage Jesus offers a piece of advice. He says… “Not every one that saith unto me,
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“Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven… but he that doeth the will of my Father in Heaven.” In an expanded translation… Jesus was saying… “Just because someone calls me “Lord,” doesn’t mean that they are one of my children. And you shouldn’t listen to and follow anyone who simply says, “I believe in the Lord”… but rather you should take care that they confess my name AND follow me in their lives.”
That’s the context of this verse from Matthew Chapter 7 verse 21. But aside from the context of false teachers… this verse speaks to each and every one of us because we are all confessing Christians… and this verse ought to teach us something about our confession.
The King James Version reads… “Not every one that says Lord, Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” Other translations read “Many that say “Lord, Lord” shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven.” But the literal translation of the verse is… “No one that says “Lord Lord” shall enter into the kingdom… except he that does the will of my Father in heaven.” Notice how emphatically this literal translation moves away
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from feeling broad to being pretty direct and specific toward those who would confess Christ. … and it fits the context of Jesus’ warning against false teachers who confess… “Lord, Lord,” yet are not true followers.
You see… A confession of words is not enough. Recognizing or saying that Jesus is Lord is not enough... As St. James said in his Epistle(very likely a different James than the Son of Zebedee)… “Even the demons believe…. and tremble.” Jesus is saying that a mere outward and passive profession is worth nothing… Our confession must be supported by an active life of devotion. Again St. James tells us, “faith without works is dead.”
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So this begs a question of us…. Do our confessions and our actions coincide? Do we have harmony between what we say and what we do?
It’s like a story I read about a woman who was being tailgated by another stressed-out woman on a busy street. Suddenly… the light at
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the intersection just in front of them turned yellow. The first woman hit the brakes and quickly stopped at the crosswalk. The tailgating woman hit the roof – and her horn and began screaming in frustration. As she was still in mid-rant – alternately pounding the steering wheel and gesturing colorfully to the lady in front of her – she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer.
The officer ordered her to exit the car with her hands up and put handcuffs on her. He took her to the police station and placed her in a cell. After a couple of hours, the police captain approached the cell, opened the door and escorted the woman back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
He said, “I’m very sorry for my mistake, Mam. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn… using sign-language at the woman in front of you… and cursing up a blue streak. Then I noticed the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder… the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ bumper sticker… the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ window
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sign… and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.”
I know many of us can relate to that story… We all have situations in which we find ourselves in a position of acting contrary to our profession. And Jesus’ words warn us to think about those times and our actions. ‘Not everyone that says Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven. But he that does the will of my Father in heaven”
It would be impossible for me to go through example after example for you this morning. But perhaps it’s in our marriages. We say “I love you” to our spouse… but do our actions follow up on that up…? As a wife or husband are you constantly learning how to better demonstrate love toward your spouse?..or are they just passive words?
Or how about our neighbors and co-workers?... Do we give to them of ourselves?...our time, our knowledge, our faith…? Or what about our children… We tell them that growth in the faith is central to their role as a Christian… Do they see that in the behavior that we
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model for ourselves? Can all of those in and around our lives see, by our actions that we confess, “Lord, Lord?”
These are things that we each need to examine within ourselves, and need to lean on the body of believers to help us with. This latter portion is where it gets really difficult but we are directed by Scripture to bear each other’s burdens. We are called to be together in life. Being together in life means we need to become transparent, and most of all practice a humble stance of vulnerability.
We are now 8 weeks into the Trinity season. And the teaching of the Church for these Sundays after Trinity is a very practical Christianity… setting always before us the practical demands of our life as professing Christians. How must we, as Christians, live our life in this world? What must be our attitudes? What must be the character of our relationships with one another? What must be our hopes and expectations? What must be our conduct in this or that situation? ….These are practical questions, and the Scripture lessons for this
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Trinity season speak to such questions in a profoundly practical way. But, of course, the answers are really practical for us, only in so much as we think seriously about their meaning… and relate that meaning to the concrete circumstances of our life, as individuals and as community of believers.
No one can really do that for us. So we should not just hear these lessons in Church Sunday by Sunday: we must also ponder them in our hearts day by day - think about them, and pray about them, and try, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to conform our lives to their teaching. Only if we do that, will they become genuinely practical teaching for us.
Do you know what God desires for you? Are you doing as you know God would have you do? Does what God says really matter to you so much that it influences what you think… how you think, what you say… AND what you do? Are you more concerned about God than you are about yourself? I mean…think about that for a minute… that was
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the original sin of Adam and Eve. They became more concerned about themselves than about God. They inverted God’s intent. God made man in His image to worship Him, to serve Him, and to do His will in order to glorify Himself. Man turned that upside down and since then as been creating idols in his own image trying to get those “gods” to do our will and bring glory to us. Jesus nailed it when He said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…” I mean, let’s just be real…we all struggle with this, and if we say that we don’t, we’re really just spiritually blind and or outright lying to ourselves. Have you ever had one of those moments as a married couple where you’re upset, your spouse is picking up on the signals, and asks what’s wrong, and you answer, “I’m fine” or “Nothing.” Now, I know that men are from mars and women are from Venus but we both have this in common…and we men are notoriously guilty of saying, “nothing” when something really is bothering us. ………………………………….Oftentimes, at the root of such behavior in marital relationships is this notion that I’m not being served by my spouse. He or she isn’t doing what I want him
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or her to do. Now, I’m not dismissing the obligation to care meaningfully for one another, and to love one another. We all vow to do that in a marriage and there are times when we fall short in living up to those vows. And Josh/Charlotte, this isn’t meant to scare you away from the wedding to come… as I am sure that this will never happen to you two wonderful love-birds…at least for the first 6 months.
When we take a good look, deep-down-inside, this original sin can be found actively at work trying to get what we want…trying to be the recipient of service rather than simply serving. And it’s so hurtful to us… and to those around us. When we invert this mindset, we uncover that it is in perpetual acts of selfless service to God and others that we actually find ultimate peace and fulfillment, demonstrate the love of Christ, and live in accordance with God’s will.
So ask yourself this….
Is there something… some obstacle… some belief… some worry or fear… that stops you from living out God’s will? Is there some sin…
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some behavior that just has a grip on you… that you know God does not approve of…that is preventing your deeds from aligning with your words?
In just a few minutes, as part of our liturgy, you will have an opportunity to confess what those are and seek God’s forgiveness…and you’ll have an opportunity to offer yourself, your soul and body, as a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice of thanksgiving to God through the offering of your tithe and through the Holy Eucharist. This in and of itself is one outward action that demonstrates your desire to live out your confession of word. But it doesn’t begin and end here. We are called to come and be strengthened by His Word and the Eucharist and to take it back out with us into the world in our deeds.
I encourage you to think about these types of things. Ponder them in your heart… and pray that you may be led into righteousness. Pray as we read in our Collect that God would “put away from you those things that are hurtful and give you those things that are profitable”…and then
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respond in faith by taking one step at a time… so that your confession in word is in harmony with your confession in deed.
Not everyone that says unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven… but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.