Sermon notes 12/3/2017 – preparing for Christmas
Focus on one idea from the Gospel lesson: Luke 18:18-27
Jesus tells the rich ruler: “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the rich man heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
While we tend to assume that the rich man became sorrowful because he was being asked to give up his wealth, but his grief arises immediately after Jesus tells the rich man to follow Him.
All of us who are at the Liturgy have received the invitation from Christ to follow Him. This is for us the very meaning of Christmas, it is time for us to follow Christ. And just like with the rich man, it is possible that the thought of following Him might cause us grief because we too might not want to have to give anything up. Jesus said we cannot serve God and mammon/money, yet many American Christians think that we can. We want prosperity in this world – at no spiritual cost – AND we want the Kingdom of God in the afterlife. We imagine we can pursue all that this world has to offer now, and then, only much later in life should we think about the Kingdom of God, because we will in any case still inherit the Kingdom no matter how we lived on earth. But the rich man in today’s Gospel realized he had to choose between the two and he wasn’t willing to make that sacrifice.
We can think about St. Paul’s comments in Ephesians 5:1-21 to get a sense of what St. Paul thought following Christ meant.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
St. Paul uses the phrase “to walk” several times in this passage. To follow Christ is to walk with Him. We are to walk in love, walk in light and walk in wisdom. We are to imitate Christ who taught us: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
Christmas means to imitate Christ.
But fornication and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting among saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting; but instead let there be thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
According to historians, there were pagans in the First Century who really admired the Jews and the Christians for their morality, especially their sexual morality. There was plenty of sexual freedom in the Roman Empire, especially for those who had money. They could have whatever sex they could afford. And yet, some were attracted to the restraint and purity of Jews and Christians. Sexual freedom and license did not give the philosophers the ideal human. Some Hellenic Philosophers called for sexual restraint as a way to a more spiritual life. These folk were attracted to Christianity. Sexual license did not lead to human fulfillment. People admired the Christians because their morality was stricter than societal norms. People didn’t say: “Look at those Christians, they sin more than we do, let’s join them.” Rather, they looked at the Christians and noted their self restraint and willingness to sacrifice and deny the self, and they were attracted to the self denial and self giving. They saw the Christians who were willing to die for the faith, to die in order to preserve their moral purity. AND Christianity grew.
In Sigrid Undset’s wonderful trilogy, Kristin Lavransdatter (for which she won the Nobel Prize), the young Kristin leads a sheltered Christian lifestyle in rural 14th Century Norway. As a teenager she wants to break tradition and choose her own path in life. She is sent to a convent where, wanting to justify her own (mis-)behavior, she ceases to see the Gospel as establishing a norm of behavior and instead begins to compare herself to the sinners living around her. She is able to justify more and more of her own misbehavior by comparing herself to others (“I’m not as bad as some…”) while ceasing to compare herself to Christ, the Virgin or the Saints. As her standard of comparison falls, so does her own morality. She feels ever more justified in judging others while justifying herself, losing completely any foundation for moral thinking.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
St. Paul teaches us to follow Christ, means to follow a standard in moral behavior, especially sexual behavior.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them, for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret; but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.
St. Paul teaches that being a Christian means not only seeing the Light, but becoming the Light. Jesus said to His disciples: “You are the light of the world…” (Matthew 5:14).
St. Paul doesn’t say, “once you were in darkness…” but rather “once you were darkness“. Being a Christian means moving away from darkness in any and all of its forms, and moving into the Light and all its manifestations. To follow Christ is not merely to see the Light, but to participate in it, to become the light.
To follow Christ is a transformation from darkness to light, to live the morally pure life.
Therefore it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.
Christ is going to give us light – we can receive it from Him. First we have to awaken. It is not the Light which awakens us, but rather once we spiritually and morally wake up, only then can we receive the Light.
The days are evil – St. Paul writes this in the 1st Century. Believers have always felt this way about the world we are trying to navigate through. Evil times are not something new. The world is not becoming evil, evil has been with us since the beginning of Christianity. But we are not to despair because of this, but rather are to make “the most of the time“!
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
Folly is a sin. We need to be mindful of that.
Drunkenness may be socially acceptable and popular entertainment, it may be the most common way to deal with stress or to celebrate success. It is not approved behavior for the Christian.
Christmas means walking with Christ, which means walking in the Light, being the Light, instead of cursing the darkness.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)
I have come as light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:46)
Fraternized 