The Diocese of East Tennessee
Sermons

Sept. 3, 2000
Pentecost XII
Delivered at St. Alban's, Hixson

Sermon: "The Hard Part Comes Later"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

I heard a remarkable story on the radio this week about a hero, and I'd like to share it with you. A man named "Long" was on vacation in the Northwest when he saw some smoke in the forest. He is a firefighter, and so, he went to investigate. Firefighter Long found a cabin in the woods and an elderly woman named "Susan" there. She said that she was trying to decide about evacuating herself, her two cats, and her seven dogs. Firefighter Long asked where the other firefighters were, and Susan said that since they were volunteers, they probably were protecting their own homes. Mr. Long watched the blaze for a while, and then he told Susan that she had about twenty minutes to collect what she could and leave. He assured her that he would try to save her house. Susan spoke of what she saw in her rearview mirror as she left. Firefighter Long had his gear on and was fighting the fire in front of her house as a wall of flames approached from about thirty feet away.

Mr. Long stayed there for two days. He finally was joined by other firefighters, and together, they managed to save Susan's home. She said that upon returning, she found her house to be a kind of eerie island in the midst of a sea of burned ashes. She approached Firefighter Long - covered in soot - and attempted to thank him. He gave her an interesting reply: "But, Susan, that's what I do." "That's what I do."

In our Gospel reading this morning, Jesus said, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile." I feel certain that Jesus would agree that those things outside someone likewise cannot commend the person in any significant way. That is, honors and awards from outside may be nice, but we are commended - legitimately and accurately commended - by our own actions … by "those things that come out." "But, Susan, that's what I do." And, by means of what he does, Firefighter Long was appropriately commended.

Now, it seems to me that these points relate to Christian living at several levels. For instance, there is truth in the song title, "They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love." Indeed, the world should be able to identify our Christianity by means of our actions … actions that come forth from within us. Let me repeat that. The world should be able to identify our Christianity by means of our actions.

We need to recognize something about the Pharisees in today's Gospel … those people often set up as the "bad guys" opposite Jesus. The fact is that the Pharisees tried hard to be good religious people. Their problem was that "being good religious people" meant doing all kinds of petty, little things to the Pharisees. For instance, the conflict of the day involved ceremonial washing before meals. Listen to the rules insisted on by the Pharisees. Water for washing had to be kept in special stone jars. The hands at first had to be held with fingers pointing upwards while a certain minimum amount of water was poured on them. Then, each hand had to be cleansed with the fist of the other. At this point, the hands were wet, but the water was unclean because it had touched unclean hands. Therefore, next the hands were held with fingers pointing downward while fresh water was poured on them a second time. That water ran down the hands and off the fingertips. Then, and only then, the hands were ritually clean and ready for the meal.

So, you see, Jesus really challenged these folks - the religious institution - when he said that a person is not defiled by what goes in … but by what comes out.

Let me offer you another principle that relates to the detailed rules and regulations of the religious establishment. And, if this does not make you squirm a little bit, I am not making my point. We in the religious establishment today have much in common with the Pharisees. The point is this. Like the Pharisees, we make Christianity appear to be hard at first and then easy later on. Actually, though, the reverse is true.

Think of our Christian education - a subject that I hope is much on the mind of the people of St. Alban's. We tend to conform to the model of the school system where education is packed into heads for some number of years. Then comes graduation - the big event - and suddenly that previously constant education is supposed to last for life.

Or, think of confirmation … another big event, I hope. Much preparation precedes it - or, at least - again - I hope it does. We encourage learning, working, examining, and experiencing the Faith. And then comes confirmation, sort of like graduation. Suddenly, magically, the students are experts. They've graduated; they've arrived. And, at least in some places, there is no further expectation for Christian growth.

Finally, consider the institution of marriage - a subject near to my heart following the marriage of my son this summer. We counsel engaged couples, pointing out things to consider in their relationship. We try to prepare them for problems, as well as for joys, to come. Then the day of the big event arrives - the wedding. And, once again, suddenly the students are experts … or, they are expected to be. They do not really know any more about marriage or about the other person the moment after they are married than they did the moment before. But now their time of learning is over, except for trial and error. They've graduated.

It seems to me that the message of the Pharisees conforms to what we seem to say about Christian education, confirmation, and marriage. Things may be hard at first. There are things to learn and procedures to develop initially. But then, at some point, we arrive. We know what there is to know. We have learned what there is to learn. And, things get easy. But what a mistaken message that is!

Jesus calls us into fellowship with him. He invites us to share communion at the Lord's table. He offers us a place in the Body of Christ on earth. He makes us his brothers and sisters. But once we are given these things, neither the Father nor the Son assures us of an easy time. Now, ultimately and finally, those gifts from God are precisely the marks of salvation for us. We cannot save ourselves, and so, God must do it for us. However, in this life, gifts from God do not make life easy, any more than the cross - symbolic now of eternal life - was easy for Jesus.

In conclusion, then, our lives - like so many of our experiences - are not always hard at first, and then, easy. Rather, they are often easy at first, and then, hard. The easy times are those in which we are given an unmerited, unearned gift from God - the grace of Confirmation or of Holy Eucharist, the love we receive from another person, the awareness of belonging within community, and so many other priceless gifts. And those blessings which come so freely and easily then give us the strength to live the Christian life that can sometimes be very difficult indeed.

Copyright © 2000 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee