TRINITY II

June 13, 2010

St. Augustine Anglican Church

“Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

The Rev. Gerald Parks +

          “Jesus loves me, this I know; for the Bible tells me so,” the old Sunday school song goes.  And little children everywhere have sung it and had their faith strengthened because of it: “Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but He is strong.”  Oh, to have the faith of a child, an uncontaminated and innocent faith that asks nothing of God but to be loved, and to love Him in return.  And our Lord does love them, as the song says; and He spoke strongly concerning them.  “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. (Matt. 18:3-5)  But, He also gave warnings to those who would mistreat children, or try to keep them from Him: “But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matt. 18:6)

          In this age when child abuse seems almost to be an epidemic, it is obvious that our Lord’s words are falling on deaf ears.  It is true that those guilty of such awful things are often caught and punished.  But it is also true that sometimes the guilty are caught, and then – through some technicality – are released to probation where they are free to offend again whenever the urge strikes them – often with tragic consequences.  And of course, some are never caught at all.  Obviously, the fear of the Lord is not in them, nor is the love that our Lord commands that we have for one another, especially for the childish innocents.

          In today’s Epistle, St. John reminds us that, “He that loveth not his brother abideth in death” …and “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:13-14)  But are love and hate, as St. John describes them, concepts that most people think about?  It doesn’t seem so.  Oh, we mouth the words: no sermon, for instance, would ever be complete without at least one reference to Christian love.  And most of us give our treasure to help those less fortunate, or in trouble, or in poor health.  While these are certainly evidence of a kind of caring love, and are commendable, they do not “get us off the hook,” so to speak, with God.  For, God has commanded that we love, not as the world loves – in word and in tongue only – but that we should love Him with our whole heart, soul and mind; and that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, or as St, John puts it, “in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)  The act of Christian love, then, cannot be merely talking about Christian love.  And, likewise, it cannot be the mere giving of “long distance” gifts to the poor.  More is required, because no matter how uplifting either of them may be for us, neither has in and of itself the personal involvement required to make our love more than a word.

          Christian love is a state of mind, an attitude really, toward our fellow men.  It cannot be measured or doled out in parcels, because if we follow Jesus, love is for us a constant, as essential to our spiritual life as breathing and thinking are to our physical life.  And that is not an easy thing to understand, let alone do as an adult.  That is what our Lord meant when He said, “Whosoever therefore shall humbleth himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  A child does share some things with an adult: he knows about fear and pain and sadness, and we know that children are often selfish.  But what a child doesn’t share with adults are the really bad things: pride and arrogance, greed and hate – those come later, and to a degree that can sometimes shock us. 

          If we look at our world, it is not difficult to see the results of man’s inability to love as Christ commanded us to do – even among Christians.  We say that we love God, but our actions deny Him in all but the most meaningless ways.  And we say that we love our neighbors, while allowing needless suffering and starvation to exist in many parts of the world, including our own, unchecked by anything but pious declarations of outrage, and meaningless platitudes.  Our politics are scandalous, so much so that the words “honest” and “politician” are never heard in the same sentence, nor should they be, without resulting in a wink or a smirk.  Even something as simple as the election of a bishop for our own Diocese a few years ago, reflected more the pride and arrogance of the candidates than it did their humility or their fitness for that office.  I think the right choice was made in the end, but it was only through the participation of the Holy Spirit that a correct decision was finally made.  It is all very troubling.  And even more, it is all very revealing.  Whatever else we may blame for our “human” condition; there is only one root cause – one word – that accurately describes its content.  And that word is hate, which along with its evil twin indifference, feeds on greed, on pride and arrogance, and effectively blinds our judgment and hardens our hearts to the Christian love that can save our souls.

          We know that in Christ there is always hope.  Even the worst sinner can repent and seek forgiveness.  But to do that, he must first hear the truth.  The greatest act of love any of us can render in God’s service to those who don’t know Him or to those who once knew Him, but have fallen away, is to become a witness to His love for them, and to become a witness to His truth to them.  “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us,” (1 John 3:16) St. John tells us.  Jesus does indeed love us.  And if we will but humble ourselves as children before Him, then our lives will also be laid down in love and in His service “for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16)  “My little children let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. (1John 3:18)