LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART VIII
Recently, a Catholic priest was invited to attend a party at the home of one of his parishioners. Being a traditional Catholic priest, he attended the party wearing a black shirt and a white clerical collar. While he was there, he noticed a little boy staring at him, so the priest asked the boy why he was staring. The little boy immediately pointed at his clerical collar. So the priest said to the boy, “Do you know why I’m wearing that?” The little boy bobbed his head up and down and said, “Sure I do. It kills fleas and ticks for up to three months, right?”
There are many traditions of the church that are a mystery to the outside world. And the more we enter into what we call the age of Postmodernism, the more that tends to be true. For example, a Catholic friend of mine recently attended a worship service at noon on an Ash Wednesday. He received what we call the imposition of ashes, which is essentially a cross of ash marked on one’s forehead. When he went back to work in the afternoon, at least a dozen people said to him, “You have dirt on your forehead.” When he told them it was the Lenten tradition of the imposition of ashes, every single one of them said to him, “The what?” They had no idea why he did it or what it meant.
There are many traditions of the church that are a mystery to the outside world. And the more we enter into what we call the age of Postmodernism, the more that tends to be true. This is the world to which we are called to bear witness to Jesus Christ. While the world may not understand why we do the things we do, it is imperative that we understand why we do the things we do. Keep that thought in mind as we move on.
This is the eighth in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross. The thesis of the series is pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4th chapter of the book of Ephesians. There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro, and blown about by every wind of doctrine. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus, our Lord.” In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.
We talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth. We said that the kingdom is here…but not fully here. Thus, could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church? Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ? While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we should not throw away. After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.
We talked about living a worthy life. A worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community. Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer. You see, God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us. We see God acting in the world today when we witness the heartfelt convictions of those who serve him.
We encountered what we called Paul’s roadmap through the cosmos. He tells us who we are and where we are going as Christians. We are blessed by God, chosen in Christ, destined for adoption, bestowed grace, lavished redemption and forgiveness, made to know the will of God through Christ, and gathered up to God in the end. We are precious children of God – created in the image of God – and destined for eternal life. Do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise.
We noted how Paul refers to us as saints. Paul deliberately chooses a word that identifies us not by what we do for God, but rather, by what God does for us. He is retraining our imaginations to understand ourselves not in terms of how we feel about ourselves, and certainly not in terms of how others feel about us, but rather, he is retraining our imaginations to understand how God feels about us. In God’s eyes we are saints. In God’s eyes…we are holy.
We discovered that God bestows grace to sinners like us. Yet the grace of God is a lot like water to a swimmer. It seems as though there is no possible way it could support us. So like the swimmer, we have to lean forward, lift up our legs, and let ourselves go. To coin a phrase, we need to learn to let go…and let God.
Finally, we learned that the church is the gift of Christ to the world. Yet there is more to the church than meets the eye. The church is not just bricks and mortar. The church is not just a collection of faithful people. The church is the body of Christ in the world. And it is through the church – and only through the church – that Christ bestows his peace upon us.
I introduced this sermon by saying that there are many traditions of the church that are a mystery to the outside world. And the more we enter into what we call the age of Postmodernism, the more that tends to be true. Perhaps I could even go so far as to say that the meaning of life is a mystery to the outside world, and the more we enter into what we call the age of Postmodernism, the more that tends to be true. Could we not say that the outside world sees life as a succession of problems to be solved or overcome? Could we not say that the outside world sees life in terms of the commodities people can get for themselves? Could we not say that the motto of life for the outside world is, “He who dies with the most toys wins?” Perhaps the meaning of life itself is a mystery to the outside world.
In the passage we read from the book of Ephesians, Paul addresses the meaning of life through what he calls the mystery of Christ. The mystery of Christ – in other words, that which Christ came to reveal – in Paul’s mind is twofold. Number one, the Gentiles are included among God’s chosen people. And number two, the church is called to make God’s wisdom known to the world.
Now this first mystery of Christ is hardly impactful to us. Paul says that the Gentiles are included among God’s chosen people. Since we are Gentiles, that means that we are included. We knew that. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here today. Yet the second mystery of Christ is terribly impactful to us. The church is called to make God’s wisdom known to the world. Thus, there is more to life than the motto: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” The question now is, “How do we make God’s wisdom known to the world?” Or perhaps even more basic still: “What is God’s wisdom that we might make it known?”
Have you ever studied a gifted artist’s painting? A gifted artist can bring to our attention what has always been right before our eyes, but that somehow, we have failed to see. Once upon a time, there was a king who offered a prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.
One was a picture of a magnificent mountain lake. The lake formed a perfect mirror for all that surrounded it. Towering mountains stretched up beside it. Overhead was a bright blue sky with billowy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was the perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too, but they were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which lightning flashed and rain pummeled. Down the side of one of the mountains tumbled a foaming waterfall. To the untrained eye, this picture did not look peaceful at all.
But if one looked more closely, one could see that behind the waterfall there was a tiny bush growing in a crack in a rock. And in that bush a mother bird had built her nest. There in the midst of the rush of angry water, a mother bird rested serenely in her nest…the perfect picture of peace. The king chose the second picture because, after all, perfect peace does not mean an absence of turmoil. Perfect peace means to be in the midst of turmoil…and to still be calm in your heart.
Gerard Manley Hopkins, a 19th century Jesuit priest, called this sort of thing, “inscape.” The artist helps us to see what we have always seen, but never really seen. The artist helps us to hear what we have always heard, but never really heard. The artist helps us to feel what we have always touched, but never really been touched by. That, my friends, is inscape.
Perhaps inscape can apply to God as well. For example, about 10 years ago, my family and I lived in Salem, Ohio. One summer, my wife was taking a class at Youngstown State University. Now if you’ve never been to Youngstown, Ohio, let me tell you…it can be a scary place. Youngstown has actually held the distinction of having the highest murder rate in the country.
One sunny summer afternoon, my wife was driving home from class when a tire blew out on her car in one of the worst areas of Youngstown. She called me at the church in Salem, and I immediately began racing the 35 miles to where she was stranded. As she waited, she saw a car full of young thugs slow down and begin to circle back. Just then, a young man in a pickup truck pulled up behind her and offered to change her tire. When he finished the job, she offered to pay him. The young man said, “No, ma’am. I won’t accept any money for this. I only hope that if the same thing happened to my wife, someone would stop and help her as well.” And then he drove off. We never found out who he was.
A coincidence is something that happens purely by accident. Providence is something that we believe occurs by the hand of God. Was this incident merely coincidence, or was it providence? Inscape tells us that this incident was providence. Inscape tells us that this incident was clearly the hand of God.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the wisdom of God that Paul wants us to share with the world. Life is not just about solving problems and acquiring all that we can. Life is about fulfilling the purpose of God. God is all around us. We see that if we possess inscape. The task is to see everything in relation to God – to see all the shadows and colors and tones working together – to bring God’s great purposes to pass.
Inscape is seeing the trials and tribulations of our lives leading us to a brighter tomorrow. Inscape is seeing the person on the street begging for a handout as an angel in disguise. Inscape is seeing that person everyone pokes fun at in the hallways at school as a child of God who could use a friend. Inscape is putting on the eyes of God and seeing the world as God sees the world.
As Paul says, the church is called to make God’s wisdom known to the world. We see the wisdom of God when we possess inscape. We see the wisdom of God when we learn to see the world as God sees the world. And God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Amen.
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