TRINITY III

June 20, 2010

St. Augustine Anglican Church

“God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

The Rev. Gerald Parks +

          Suffering for the faith seems to be the common lot of the Christian brethren everywhere and always: it is perhaps the only true common denominator of lives lived in Christ.  Of course, in today’s Epistle (1 Peter 5:5-11), St. Peter was writing to those whose faith was tested by the severe persecutions of the first century, where the death of Christians was often considered a blood sport and celebrated as such.  Twenty centuries later, while our Lord’s Great Commission—to go, baptize and teach all nations—is still “a work in progress,” Christianity has spread to mostly all parts of our world, and the faithful, though still targeted for extermination in some Muslim countries, are largely left to practice their faith unmolested and without fear.

          However, persecution takes many forms, some of it today overt as in parts of the Middle East and Africa, but a lot of it subtle and all but hidden.  In its old form, persecution sought the life of a believer: attack the person and silence one voice.  But in its new subtle and more effective form, persecution bypasses the individual in favor of attacking the faith itself: change or eliminate the faith, and the faithful become irrelevant and silently permissive.  The choice for us today, then, is the same one faced by the early Christians all those centuries ago: resist persecution and face whatever the consequences of that resistance is, or go along with it and face a new reality, shedding our faith as we would shed a comfortable but worn pair of sneakers, to preserve our sense of security or our place in society.

          Those are never easy choices to make, as all of us realize, because they both can result in sacrifice of one sort or another.  And sacrifice is not something most human beings are eager to embrace.  So, a lot of us are more than willing to avoid the issue, which we find unpleasant to contemplate, and fix our attention on other less threatening issues, or, as we say, “go along to get along.”  But avoiding the issue of persecution does not change the fact of it; it only gives it and those who perpetrate it our permission.

          General Colin Powell is a man I respect and admire a great deal: in my opinion, he is an honest, brave and humble man, but he is also a human being, and subject to the same issues as the rest of us.  In speaking about his church, he said that his mother, as well as many of the older members of the Episcopal Church, didn’t like the changes going on there, but he thought it best to leave all that to the leaders of the church, who (as he said) are better equipped than he to decide those things.

          Since General Powell said it, I believe it to be an accurate statement, as far as it reflects his true feelings.  But it could also be considered a “cop-out” because it completely ignores the responsibility each of us shares to be true and loyal followers of the Risen Christ.  Faith is a purely personal thing, shared with others to be sure, but first and foremost an expression of our individual complete and utter trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and in the teachings and commandments He personally gave us.  As believers in Him, we are not at liberty to pick and choose, or change, what we believe, any more than a church, no matter its leadership, may decide to teach that which is at variance with Holy Scripture.  It doesn’t take heroics to be truly resistant to persecutions, such as this one, it takes humility.

          Today’s Epistle is a lesson on humility, advising the faithful to “be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5), and we have our Lord’s own example, that He humbled Himself for us in all things, even unto death.  But humility is not a trait much admired by man.  To us it seems weak and almost effeminate to be humble – permissive and lacking in will or courage.  What we admire most is bravery, or “daring-do.”  We celebrate it in music and poetry and the other arts, and we build monuments to its glory.  When we think of the early Christian martyrs, and all the others since, the very first thing we think about is not their humility but how brave they were to give their lives for their faith.

          And yet, there is something else to bravery we don’t think about much, an ingredient without which any brave act becomes only self-promotion and foolish risk taking.  And that ingredient is humility, a trust in God’s mercy so strong that we are driven to give ourselves for the sake of others without thought of our own sacrifice.  Or as St. Peter writes, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7) 

          Some of us are called upon to be brave in the presence of persecution, it is true, but all of us are called upon to be humble custodians of the grace of God, no matter what may befall us.  The ugly face of persecution has a softer look today, so much so that we may well miss its threat altogether if we are not alert to its danger.  “Be sober, be vigilant;” St. Peter tells us, “because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)  The proud among us are fond of saying that Satan is a myth, as if their pride will save them from the evil he represents.  And that is a great and sorrowful mistake, because it is our pride that condemns us in God’s sight: “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” (1Peter 5:5)

          Let us remain strong in our faith, then, and steadfast in our love of God, bravely humble in all things.  And let us count no sacrifice too great to make in His service: “The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” (1Peter 5:10-11)