Fr. Dale Matson
Putting On Our New
Self
My homily is based on our
Epistle and Gospel Lessons. Let me begin with our Epistle reading from St.
Paul’s letter to the Ephesians but I want to back up a bit to provide a better
context to what Paul is saying.
Therefore,
generally follows a previous statement yet we have our reading beginning with
Therefore. Therefore, I want to go back a few verses to make sense of what
follows in our reading. Our reading starts with Chapter 4 verse 25 but I want
to begin with verse 21.
“Assuming that you have heard about
him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to
your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, [Where does renewal take
place? It takes place in our minds.] Our thinking is changed. As we are
sanctified (made holy) by the inworking of the Holy Spirit, we change the way
we see the world. At one time I thought abortion was a reasonable solution to
overpopulation. When I returned to Christ in later life it became obvious to me
how wrong it was to take the life of an unborn child. 24 and to put on the new self [in verse 22 Paul states to
put off the old self], created after the likeness of God in true righteousness
and holiness. 25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of
you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be
angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no
opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him
labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. So the
converted thief goes from taking from others to giving to others. 29 Let no
corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building
up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace
to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve
the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away
from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
At this point I want to talk further
about both the cognitive (the way we think) and the affective (the way we feel)
issues Paul is discussing. In verse 23 he talks about being renewed in your
mind. Paul discusses the renewing of your mind often and it is an important
topic. For example, we have these verses also.
1.
Romans 12:2-4 English Standard Version (ESV) Do not be conformed to this world, [a] but be transformed by
the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of
God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
2.
Philippians 2:5 King James Version (KJV) Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
3.
1 Corinthians 2:16 “For who has understood the
mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
We think
differently because we are gradually taking on our Savior Christ’s way of
thinking. This is brought about by the witness of God the Holy Spirit. We hear
the Spirit’s voice in what I would call our 3rd ear. The Spirit
speaks to us as we listen to our brothers and sisters. The Holy Spirit speaks
to us as we read Scripture and the Spirit speaks to us as we go about the
activities of daily living commonly called the ADLs. Paul said in verse 29 that as we talk to our brothers and
sisters, we are administering grace to
them.
In verse 30
Paul talks about the danger of grieving
the Holy Spirit. Paul talks elsewhere of quenching
the Holy Spirt. In the latter case, think of God The Holy Spirit as a fire
within us and quenching the Holy Spirit means doing things that would put out
this fire. We think a lot about this with all the wildfires going on around us
but in the case of the Holy Spirit, it is not a good thing.
The Holy Spirit is a Person and only a person can be
grieved. In verse 31 Paul gives examples of ways we grieve the Spirit. “Let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor (uproar) and slander be put away from
you, along with all malice.”
Let’s talk
about anger more since Paul mentions it twice. The first time he states “Be
angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Here is a
public confession. Most of the time when I am angry, it is a self-righteous
anger. Someone stepped on my ego. How often have we sinned because of our
anger? It happens but as mature Christians we realize that being angry with
someone makes us crazy inside. It really does give a place for the devil. But
Paul finishes this verse with “…don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Anger
can become a mood and a mood can become a disposition and a disposition can
overwhelm a personality. I believe our brother Gary referred to me as “crabby”.
I can be crabby and Gary can be good at bringing this crabby part of me out,
especially when he says to me after most of my homilies, “Nice speech Padre.”
In the Epistle
of James, it states “My dear brothers, take note of this: everyone should be
quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man’s anger does
not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” (James 1:20) Some folks
use their anger as a means of controlling others. When I was younger, bigger
and stronger I would answer someone, who was angry with me with even more
anger. It was like an emotional poker game with me willing to up the ante.
Often now I think of the phrase from Proverbs (15:1). “A soft answer turns away
wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” It is absolutely true. What is it
going to be for you the next time? Will it be a soft answer or a harsh answer? We
are called to be peacemakers but the choice is really yours.
When high carbon steel is treated
for making tools, it is both hardened and tempered in a multistep process. The
steel is hardened against wear, such as the tip of a screw driver, by heating
and quick cooling. The problem is that while it is hard, the tip is also
brittle. The screwdriver tip is then reheated and allowed to cool at a slower
rate to temper it so that it is not brittle.
When we become angry, it is called
losing our temper. Like steel our temper is that quality which makes us strong
but not brittle. For me, there is something about love which makes me see
things so much differently and in a less threatening way. Love is the virtuous
temper in temperament. Anger is that which distorts my thinking so much that
rational thought or speech escapes me. It is as if the pilot light is always
lit on my anger too. It is one of my primary faults and even at a lower
temperature, sarcasm and impatience flows. Being cut off in traffic is a quick
source of anger for me but less likely if I have allowed plenty of time to get
to my destination.
Is there righteous anger? Yes,
Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple and there is no doubt he was
angry when he did it. It was described as zeal for his father’s house. When we
see an injustice, anger may motivate the righting of a wrong. We must be careful
not to become angry on behalf of someone who does not see themselves threatened
or angry. It would be a signal that we too easily look for opportunities to be
angry. Are we putting ourselves in situations that lead to resentment simply
because we refuse to construct personal boundaries? Are we trying to prove to
ourselves that others are not trustworthy?
I honestly believe that anger is a
symptom of a deeper problem of fear and fear is a response to an even more
basic problem of mistrust. Jesus said we should be as wise as serpents and as
innocent as doves. Wisdom and innocence for me translate to trust with
discernment. This is not being gullible and easily taken in. As I reflect on
this, the roots of anger can be deep within the individual. Some have been
deeply disappointed in a period of life when they were totally dependent on
others. This is an emotional bruising and makes it difficult for some
Christians to trust even God. It is the theological virtue of love that can
mend this torn fabric of trust. A failure to trust is a failure to love.
“There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear,
because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in
love.” (1 John 4:18)
I would like to examine our Gospel
lesson in order to understand better, the relationship between God the Father,
God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Who reveals the Father? Answer, the Son but who reveals the
Son?
“When Jesus came to the region of
Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man
is? “They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still
others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. “Jesus
replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you
by flesh and blood, but by my Father
in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-17)
Peter’s confession indicates that it is the Father that
reveals the Son.
When He had been baptized, Jesus
came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him,
and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And
suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
So, what does the Holy Spirit do? From our
Gospel Lesson today we hear this. “I have much more to say to you, more than
you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you
into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he
hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will
make known to you. So, it is the Holy Spirit that Sanctifies, teaches us and
Glorifies Jesus Christ. (John 16:12). In the Name of the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit, amen.
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