Let’s Get Small
Fr. Dale Matson
The title for my homily “Let’s Get Small” actually comes from a 1977 comedy album by Steve Martin. He
was one of my favorite comedians in his many roles of the clueless jerk. The
title of the album came from one of his comedy routines he did for the album.
It seems Steve in his fantasy got so small he climbed into a vacuum cleaner
bag. I thought it was very funny then but for the last 20 years I have thought
of getting small for me as the process of Sanctification. Isn’t Sanctification
all about getting small?
My homily today is based on our
opening Collect, the Ten Commandments and our Epistle lesson.
Our collect states, “O God, your
never-failing providence sets in order all things both in heaven and earth: Put
away from us, we entreat you, all hurtful
things, and give us those things which are profitable for us.”
It seems to me that as our Collect
states that there is an assurance through faith that God is in control of all
things. Things don’t just happen. They happen for a reason. They happen for
God’s reasons not necessarily our reasons. We will never on this earth
understand why bad things happen to good people.
When we ask God to put hurtful
things away from us, it could be things in our path the enemy has put there,
obstacles to misdirect us. But it could also be things we see as good, as
entertaining, or stimulating. How often have we been shopping at Costco and
said to ourselves, If I bring that huge bag of Kettle Chips home, I will
probably eat the whole bag. In this sense, those things that are hurtful for us
are something we would enjoy…something that would give us pleasure…for the
moment at least.
In the same token, some things that
are profitable for us may not mean getting a lot of money or gaining a lot of
possessions. Profitable things could be hardships which we would not choose for
ourselves. Learning that I had ulcers was profitable for me. It was a way of
getting smaller. It meant that I was not bullet proof, that I had limitations,
that the pride I had was obstructing taking on godly humility. I didn’t just
have pride. Pride had me.
So, when we pray this Collect, keep
in mind that hurtful things may be things we see as good and profitable things
may be things we see as bad. It is not how we see things that counts. It is how
God sees things. In Hebrews St. Paul states “He [God] disciplines us for our
good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems
painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:10b-11
If we look at the 10 Commandments
in our reading from Deuteronomy, do you think of those commandments as things
that are hurtful or things that profit us? As Martin Luther once said about the
10 Commandments,” God threatens to punish all who break these commandments.
Therefore, we should fear His wrath and not do anything against them. But He
promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments.
Therefore, we should also love and trust in Him and gladly do what He commands.”
http://catechism.cph.org/en/10-commandments.html
You see, ultimately, honoring the
10 Commandments is something that profits us.
Today we see in the prosperity gospel churches and
increasingly even in mainline churches that the 10 Commandments are seen not as
absolute but as optional or even obsolete. This is not new but it is false
teaching. This false teaching is called Marcionism. Marcionism was an Early
Christian dualist belief system that originated in the teachings of Marcion of
Sinope at Rome around the year 144. Marcion believed Jesus was the savior sent
by God, and Paul the Apostle was his chief apostle, but he rejected the Hebrew
Bible and the God of Israel. Marcionists believed that the wrathful Hebrew God
was a separate and lower entity than the all-forgiving God of the New
Testament. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcionism
Some of you
may have heard of Joseph Prince a world-famous pastor and preacher who is an
advocate of the Prosperity Gospel. Prince
is so willing to dismiss the Law and to say that mixing the Law with grace is
not balancing but perverting the Gospel of Christ. In my rebuttal of his
teaching on our Diocesan Blog “Soundings”, I have had almost 37,000-page views
and had to eventually shut off comments that both supported my view and
attacked me personally.
First of all, Jesus said in Matthew,
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not
come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a
single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything
is accomplished. So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of
heaven, but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.” (5:17-19)
Some would
counter this with St. Paul’s statement that those who are led by the spirit are
not under the Law from Galatians (5:18). I would not argue against this for one
second but I would ask, “Are you continually led by the Spirit?" "Are you led by
the Spirit 24/7?" "What about your dreams?" "Are they Spirit led also?" I didn’t
think so! I haven’t smoked cigarettes for 35 years but once in a while I dream
I am smoking. I don’t believe the Holy Spirit is giving me those dreams.
So, for those
times we are not led by the Spirit, we have the law. For those times we are led
by the Spirit, we will automatically honor the Law. Never let someone tell you
that the Law is not necessary or obsolete. If you throw out the Commandments
and the Old Testament, you have also thrown out all of the prophesies about
Jesus the Christ. If you throw out the Old Testament, you also throw out Original
Sin. If you throw out Original Sin what is the need for baptism? If you throw
out the Old Testament, you will never understand that we are not just children
of God by faith, we are children of Abraham by faith. Folks, there is no “Easy
Button” for Christianity.
For those of
you that think there is an easy button please read “The Normal Christian Life
by Watchman Nee. After reading this book many years ago, I said to myself,
“This is too hard”.
In our Epistle
Lesson from 2nd Corinthians Chapter 4, we hear this from St. Paul. I
believe he speaks not only for himself but for all clergy when he says the
following. “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose
heart.” “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with
ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.” As clergy, we are not just
servants of Christ, we are servants of our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We
know that one sinful act or a few unkind words could destroy our entire
ministry to you. Don’t you think the evil one would just love that too.
“But we have
this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God
and not to us.” With each week that passes, I am reminded how much I am only a
fragile jar of clay. I have learned to live with constant pain. More and more I
depend on God and others to help me with even the activities of daily living.
From time to time Sharon will have to say to me as I am about to cross Friant
on our daily walks, “Dale, wait, the light is not green yet.”
“We are
afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying
in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be
manifested in our bodies.”
I used to talk with Bishop
Schofield about his illnesses. It seemed to me that at the end he was very
frail. I remember when he could not even step up on a curb. I believe he died
prematurely for the sake of the Gospel. The Episcopal Church leadership took
Bishop Schofield’s stand against them very personally and directed their
lawsuit against John David. He had the last laugh. He was already in our Lord’s
arms before the lawsuit was settled.
He had terrible sores on his legs
that needed daily attention. I asked him if it concerned him. He laughed and
said, “heck no, I have at least five other problems any one of which could kill
me at any time.” I asked him why he had so many problems the last few years. He
said, “Because of my stand for the Gospel of Christ, the evil one persecuted my
sister until she eventually died and after she died, he came after me.”
“For we who live are always being
given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be
manifested in our mortal flesh. So,
death is at work in us, but life in you.” If you were to ask Fr. Carlos or
myself about our health, I think both would say, “I’ve been better.” Please
continue to pray for us. For I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be
revealed to us. (Romans 8:18)Let’s all get small. Amen
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