A FAITH TO GIVE UP A MEAL FOR

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON February 14^th, 2010

Jeremiah 17: 7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water".

There are 3 things we notice about this reading from Jeremiah. Firstly, in this text Jeremiah is repeating the beginning of Psalm 1. “Blessed is the man….. he shall be like a tree planted by the waterside”. Here is this wonderful image of the blessings of God, like a tree on the river-bank.

But immediately after this beautiful image of a tree by the waterside, Jeremiah launches into: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately corrupt; Who can understand it?” Today, lovers are reflecting that they don’t understand their hearts, and they do get carried away. But that is a heart of love. Jeremiah is talking about the deceitful heart. Our Blessed Lord reminded us that evil things come from within, from the heart, because we are sinners.

Having reminded us that our hearts can be sinful as well as full of love, Jeremiah then gets to the point and quotes God himself: “I the Lord search the heart and the mind and try the heart.”

The third thing we notice about Jeremiah 17:5-10 is that it begins, “Cursed is the man” and then by contrast moves to “Blessed is the man.” There is this contrast between being cursed and blessed. This particular emphasis of Jeremiah parallels our Gospel today. In Chapter 16: 22-26 of his Gospel, Luke begins with four blessings and then follows with “Woe to you” four times - balancing the blessings with the woes. We are familiar with these words because they are St. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes - with some obvious differences to what we find in St. Matthew’s Gospel.

For Luke, this great sermon of Jesus is on a plain not a mountain. If you’ve been to the Holy Land you’ll be taken to the Mount of the Beatitudes, where Jesus is supposed to have given the Beatitudes. But in Luke, it’s on a plain.

Secondly, it is not to the crowd that Jesus talks but to the disciples. It is a special teaching for those who are following Jesus. And there are only 4, whereas in Matthew there are 9. Furthermore, Luke has the four woes, and they correspond to the 4 blessings. At first sight they seem to be about social justice - for they are addressing the poor, the hungry, the sad and the marginalized. Whereas Matthew’s 9 Beatitudes are more embracing, and perhaps we might say spiritual. 

St. Luke is doing is the same thing as Jeremiah. He is telling us that when we trust in man instead of God - like the rich, the powerful, and the popular - then our hearts gradually turn away from God. And so he says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. He is like the tree…”

In other words, where our heart is determines the way we act and live.

St. Paul puts it in another way - It is what we believe that is central to the way we live. That is the message of his first letter to the Corinthians. Today in I Corinthians 15 Paul is stressing the centrality of Christ’s Resurrection in the Gospel. This follows on from last week, when St. Paul emphasized to the Corinthians the importance of the faith he taught them, and their believing of the Gospel he had preached to them.

I find the first letter to the Corinthians has an amazing relevance to these days. Looking at the whole of the Epistle, it begins with Paul criticizing the Corinthian Christians for three particular things. Firstly, disunity in the Church. Secondly, a lack of reverence for Holy Communion. Thirdly, they emphasized spiritual gifts, like speaking in tongues - suggesting those who had these gifts were superior to other Christians.

This could well be a parallel to the church in 2010. I’ve been to services where the worship has neither a reverence nor the appreciation of the Holy Communion. I’ve experienced people who think they are superior to other Christians because they have a gift, or because they think they are superior. And all of us know about disunity in the Episcopal Church. So, St. Paul speaks 2000 years later to us, it seems.

Having criticized the Corinthians in his Epistle he then of gives solutions. First thing he tells them they should celebrate the Eucharist with awe, acknowledging that the Sacrament is the Body of Christ. And then from there, he moves in a marvelous way to his teaching that the Church is the Body of Christ. How wonderful that he moves from the Body of Christ in the Eucharist to the Body of Christ which is the Church. It’s marvelous theology. Then, of course, he moves on to that wonderful passage of 1 Corinthians 13. Here, in answer to those who thought they were superior, he says, “The greatest gift is love.”

Finally, having said all those things, St Paul gets back to the basic beliefs of the Gospel which are central to our faith. Paul’s plea to the Corinthians - to change their ways, to worship properly, and to get back to the basics of the faith - could also be his exhortation to us as we look forward to Lent. Ash Wednesday begins that great 40 day pilgrimage of the penitential season of Lent. It is a season where we strive to grow spiritually and to draw closer to our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Many of us have been doing this for years, and we do it many ways - each of us having our own particular way. Basically, we give up things and we also take on things. Traditionally, this giving up and taking on is represented by three practices that are dear to the Bible - Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving.

This is not very fashionable in our culture and society, but it is as ancient as the Bible itself. So we should find more time for prayer and worship. And we should go without something significant, particularly food.

To those who have never fasted as a spiritual discipline I would like to say just two things. Firstly, in America and the whole of the western world we eat far too much, and our children have real problems with obesity. It will be good for us to give up some food this Lent, to go without - and as an example of the way it should be in our society. Secondly, our faith is a faith that many have died for. The least our faith should be is a faith to give up a meal for.

And finally, almsgiving. Most of us who are committed members of this Parish pledge an offering to our church. The Church Fathers of the first century tell us that fasting together with giving offerings, when combined with prayer are a powerful weapon against sin. Why? Because in stripping away material things - all those things that are a part of our life - we’re able to focus more on things eternal and spiritual. And that is one of the achievements and results of a good Lent.

Fasting, Almsgiving and Prayer are also a practical way for us to unite ourselves with Jesus in his Passion and suffering. Of course our fasting is but a pale imitation of His passion. But in doing so - in making some small sacrifice an imitation of His - we journey with Jesus to Calvary. That is ultimately the purpose of Lent - that we may together, through our spiritual disciplines, journey with Jesus to Calvary.

As the weeks of Lent proceed we find that more and more we focus and reflect on Jesus’ Passion and his resolute determination to endure that Holy Week, by going up to Jerusalem which leads ultimately to His death on the cross. And of course, it is climaxed in the Resurrection. So, it’s not anything but a journey to Glory ultimately, as all our life is.

Today St. Paul is reminding us that the Resurrection is at the center of our faith.

Thus Lent ultimately prepares us to celebrate Easter - so that we may know for ourselves the power of His Resurrection.