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The Application of LovePreached at St. Barnabas Church, Bellville, TX The Second Sunday after Trinity, 2010 by The Rev. Stephen E. Stults I John 4:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. Our Epistle lesson for the day begins with this startling statement. It is one that makes us take notice. It is, if we may be so bold, “in your face” and as such, remarkable for its plainness. Yet, it is a statement that must make us wonder too because it sets forth a disturbing premise and challenge for us. One big question to consider is this: if we Christians are just “sailing along” in our earthly walk, are we truly doing our job as Christians? If we never receive any sort of “bump in the road” because of our faith, are we really, truly, giving our witness? How comfortable are we with the World and the World with us? It is an interesting question and one that must evoke some consideration from us. As with many questions dealing with the Christian walk, there is a simple, yet profound answer. Yet, before we attempt to put some sense to it, let us consider one point: why does the World, in general, hate Christians? St. John tells us one excellent reason in this very epistle, in fact, in the same chapter. Simply, it is this: those who sin are of the devil and those who are of God do not sin. Wait, wait, but we know that we all sin! Does that mean that we too are of the Devil? No, hardly, but it does mean that we are redeemed, yet still sinful creatures. Those who habitually practice unrighteousness are not of God, but of the Enemy. This is expressed in our love, or conversely, our hatred for our brother. If we love not our brother, we are not filled with the love of God. Rather, we may be filled with the spirit of envy or jealousy similar to Cain, who slew his righteous brother Abel because his works were better than Cain’s. Thus, the World reacts similarly when confronted with the righteousness of Christians. Empowered by its regent Satan, and imbued with his malicious power, the World reacts with fear and loathing to our acts and our attitudes. Certainly the world will accept our charity as expressed in our desire to operate hospitals, or to relieve hunger, or to provide the necessities of life. The World has no problem with this It’s just when Christians make a comment on the moral climate, or when we object to something in the current culture, or we seek to stop some disastrous public policy, that we are met with open ridicule, scorn, or even hostility. The World would prefer that we just keep to our churches and to our bake sales, while turning a blind eye to the evils of society. “Just keep still and pray,” the World tells us. “Just keep it nice and “spiritual” and you’ll be OK.” In short, it can’t hear our message or simply doesn’t want to. It won’t tolerate it.
Uncle Andrew’s soul is so filthy and ragged, however, that he hates the song and can’t bear hearing it. In fact, all he hears is the lion roaring as an ordinary lion would do. He is, because of his shrunken and evil soul, unable to hear or to comprehend the beauty around him as Narnia comes into being. It is the same with the World. It can’t bear the beauty of the Christian message, nor can it stand our belief in absolute Goodness. The real problem is that Christians have absolute standards in a relativistic world. The World, in general, does not, or if it does have standards, they usually stand in stark contrast to the Christian’s. It is our absolute duty to resist evil whenever possible and to hold up the good. Alas, it is when we do these things that the world shows its hatred. For example, my own brother, who is also a priest, has taken part in several pro-life rallies over the years. Several times, he was spat upon by radical pro-choicers and has had cigarette smoke blown in his face when kneeling to pray. This occurred while he exercised his constitutional right of free speech… We will now reconsider our original premise about our relationship with the World. We stated that if you are going about your Christian faith, sooner or later you will encounter resistance, hostility, or even persecution. About this time, you may be thinking, “Wait. If we are living in covenant with the Lord, won’t He protect and guide us? Won’t He prosper our Way? What then, is all this noise about hostility to Christianity?” Yes, this is undoubtedly true. God will certainly defend His People and will fight their battles for them. Yet, God’s ways are past knowing and He certainly doesn’t ask permission from us before sending us into different experiences to shape, sharpen, or mature our faith. This is too deep and unknowable for us. Yet these experiences happen and they happen for a purpose, usually too mysterious for us. We will, however, warrant you that one will seldom meet hostility to Christianity here in Bellville. This is a very “churched up” town. Yet, if one looked, we’d wager that even here one could find those who are despise God. Like Uncle Andrew, these poor people are unable to hear the Good News of the Gospel for whatever reason. At this point in their earthly pilgrimage, these people are unreachable. Yet, we must try. As God gives us opportunity, we must tell them about the Good News of Salvation. Let’s give them the opportunity to be as blessed as we are. Earlier, we mentioned that if one’s Christian life is totally smooth, that is, if we never experience any sort of hardship for the faith, we may be lackluster in living our Christian witness. Some of you may think, “Does the Vicar mean for us to pass out flyers and knock on doors?” Perhaps. It certainly wouldn’t hurt if we did. Believe me, doing that sort of evangelism will bring with it many interesting experiences, some of them positive, some of them not. Yet, they will all be instructive and valuable. But no, what we’re talking about here is even more difficult and probably more effective. What is that? It is living day-to-day with Christ and providing an excellent example daily to the world. We want to be walking, breathing examples of evangelism, so-called “walking billboards for Christ.” Make people wonder about you. What do you have that they don’t? This is very old fashioned. In fact, up until the 20th Century, it was thought by most in the Church that the best way to transform society was not by governmental action and societal programs, but a change of the heart, one by one. It takes a while, but in the long run it is more effective and more permanent. After all, one can’t legislate positive, healthy attitudes and actions about anything. What one can do is to see to the conversion of his own heart and interior being. It’s a concept called “Each one, change one,” so to speak. A nation of converted, committed Christians would be an awesome sight in every way. No nation on earth could stand before us. Yet, we wouldn’t be bent on conquest, except for the peaceful, loving conquest of the heart for Christ. Not waging jihad, but waging peace and certainly not conversion by the sword, but conversion by the Word of God. It all begins with us. We must see to it that our walk with Christ is the most perfect we can make it. We must see to it, with the help of the Holy Ghost that we are bursting with joy so as to make people wonder about us in a positive way. When we concentrate on that, all the rest will follow. I John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Amen |
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Allow me an example from C.S. Lewis’
The Chronicles of Narnia, specifically the first book called
The Magician’s Nephew, which I am currently reading to my summer
school class. In this book, Uncle Andrew is a so-called “magician” who
believes he has a way to transport out of the world into somewhere else.
Lacking the courage to go himself, he tricks his nephew and his friend
Polly into going instead. In
their travels they inadvertently bring a wicked Witch into the new world
of Narnia, which the lion Aslan is singing into existence. The wicked
and cowardly Uncle Andrew eventually gets dragged along too and hears
Aslan’s song, which the two children, Polly and Digory, describe as the
most beautiful sound they have ever heard..
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