Titus 1:10-16
Matthew 5:33-48
"I
tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving
the world and its pleasures." St.
John Vianney, 1786-1859
A “prerogative” is to be
understood as more than only a “right” to which one is entitled; it should also
be understood in terms of “duty”. In the
ministry of the Church and realm of the Kingdom of Heaven, however, we must not
understand “duty” in terms of the dreaded and cursed “works” many have declared
as “unnecessary” or a bounden “obligation” to be done whether we like it or
not.
Rather the “prerogative
of faith” is best understood, especially within the context of the Sermon on
the Mount, as the “opportunity” it
truly is and not the burden we have
deemed it to be or have allowed it to become.
The only reason we may even consider it to be a choice speaks to the complacent nature of our being and ultimately
denies the power of faith itself, especially if we consider faith to be
strictly self-serving. It isn’t.
It is our “holy prerogative”
to bless those who curse us as much as it is our “secular prerogative” to curse
those who curse us; our “prerogative” to defend ourselves as we see fit even in deliberate
defiance of what is written in the Scripture for us to know. Our Lord Jesus seems to be clear in which
option His followers must choose, but somehow His message has been lost on the
greater Church which is struggling for survival as we claim not to know what
the real problem is.
And while it may be easy
to say we are in the “end times” when so many will choose to walk away and “worship
the beast” (since it is prophesized, it cannot be avoided), it becomes
much more difficult when we come to terms with the reality that we are in no
way and at no time “authorized” by the Lord of the Church to throw up our hands
and give up!
Think of it; what would
be the difference between the ones who walk away and the ones who just give up
by taking their faith into hiding?
St. John Vianney (whose
quote I share at the top of the page) came of age at the turn of the 19th
century during the time of the French Revolution, a time in which the Church
had been outlawed. Priests were
imprisoned or killed, and the faithful went into hiding. During this period St. John the boy saw the
priests who were still active even under such threats as heroes, larger than
life; men to be admired and looked up to because they persevered in the face of
imprisonment and/or death. They
persevered to bring the Sacraments and the Gospel to the faithful in spite of
the dangers. It was this period that
formed St. John’s determination and calling to the priesthood.
The theologian G.K.
Chesterton once wrote, “Each generation
is converted by the saint who contradicts [that generation] the most”. This quote is attributed to the spirit
and ministry and calling of St. John Vianney who persevered in the face of
overwhelming odds during a time in which it seemed much easier to give in to
the demands of the state than to put one’s life at risk just to “have
church”. He converted whole communities
and restored generations to faith by his perseverance, his insistence upon his
service to the Living Word first. Untold
numbers of souls were won or regained by one man’s faith.
Catholic or not, St.
John’s example to us is that he chose holiness of heart and life over secular
safety and comfort. And we must
understand that choosing holiness of heart and life does not mean we can take
our faith and go into hiding. This is
not at all what the saints have shown the historic Church.
Of course we Methodists
do not pray to the saints in asking for their intercessory prayers, believing as
it is written that there is “one Mediator” (1 Timothy 2:5). Yet we have
no problem asking others to pray in our behalf (often instead of us) for whatever ails us or frightens us. However, this isn’t about Catholic doctrine
regarding the saints.
It is entirely about the “great
cloud of witnesses” written of in Hebrews
which clearly includes not only the heroes of the Bible – but must also necessarily
include those throughout the history of the Church who by their extreme examples of faithfulness showed
us what is possible when we fully trust The Lord and not our own instincts or
the cultural “signs”. We see by their
examples what is possible when we fully trust The Word of The Lord rather than
our own ideas.
Those who were served by
St. John were, of course, cradle Catholics who knew that an earnest confession
and an expressed will to repent would open the floodgates of the Gospel back
into their lives. They did not come to
be hit over the head with the Law, although there was certainly penance to be
done. They came to be fed by the Gospel! In Catholic doctrine, that is the whole point
and purpose of the Sacrament of Reconciliation – the Good News of mercy! – and
to be held to account for one’s sins.
Jesus’ lessons in the
Sermon on the Mount are quotable and memorable – and rightly so! For daily living, however, these lessons just
don’t seem so practical. They don’t work
for us, they are unrealistic, and they don’t take into account what we face
today. We should be able to see, though,
that for all those we accuse of dismissing the Written Word as “ancient” to
suit their own social purposes, political agendas, and personal lifestyle
choices, we are as guilty
of dismissing what is clearly written for us as much as it is written – not for
those who don’t believe, but for those who claim to believe. Especially
for those who claim to be “saved”.
It is not about the
threat of Hades or any other spiritual penalty, however, that should drive us
back to the Word. It is, rather, the promise
of the Life which is before us in faith.
It is the promise of spiritual peace even in the face of social and
cultural and even political turmoil. It
is peace of mind and heart and spirit on The Lord’s terms rather than our own. The “prerogative of faith” is entirely about
how deeply we actually TRUST The Lord to the point of obedience to The Word.
Still there is a catch. Having the “prerogative of faith” which comes
with the calling of every baptized Christian means we cannot shut ourselves off
from the community of faith or participate only when the “fun” stuff comes
around. Having the “prerogative of
faith” means we are not only fully engaged and
fully invested in the whole life of
the Church – worship AND Bible study AND fellowship – we are also searching for
our place in the whole ministry of
the Church.
We are in search of
“perfection”, as our Lord Jesus so commands us: “Be perfect as your heavenly
Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). What does this mean to us, to pursue
perfection? The answer may be found in
John Wesley’s sermon entitled, “The One Thing Needful”, based on Luke 10:42. Recall the story of Martha and Mary playing
host to Jesus. Martha was taking care of
all the chores while Mary just “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what
He was saying” (Luke 10:39).
The compelling verse (42)
is the one in which Jesus states, “There is need of only one thing”. Wesley believed that “one thing needful” for
us is the recovery and restoration of the Image of God in which we are all
created. This is, in our mortal
lifetime, the “one thing needful” we are to pursue, and it is the “prerogative
of faith” by and through which we pursue it.
We must not continue to
make the mistake that is the habit of so many of what Wesley called “almost
Christians” who have fallen into the rut of complacency, those “almost
Christians” who have the “form of religion but lack the [transformative]
power”. For these “almost Christians”,
faith is nothing more than a token we place into a bag and hold on to until the
Day of The Lord and then expect to be able to cash it in. We don’t do
anything with it in our lifetime, believing there is simply a space “held” for
us in trust.
Yet throughout our lives
we deny the better part of all we are called to be because we are too busy, we don’t
want to, we’re mad at the preacher or a neighbor, or have convinced ourselves
(or have been allowed to become convinced) that doing for The Lord and His Church is not necessary or “not
my thang”.
Ultimately the
“prerogative of faith” is the call to “holiness of heart and of life”, and it
means much more to Christ, to His Church, and to us than simply “being good” or
going through the motions of “church” without fully engaging and investing in
the life and mission and ministry of the Church. It is entirely about “sanctification”, the
pursuit of holiness, the restoration of that Holy Image of perfection from
which we have fallen so far.
Our Lord Jesus came to us
as an expression of God’s eternal love for us so that we could have the means
by which to restore that Image. Humanity
cried for help in the bondage of secularism just as ancient Israel cried for
help in Egypt’s bondage, and The Lord of Mercy answered in His Eternal Word who
is Christ Jesus, the Lord of the Church and Savior of the whole world. Now it is time for His Church to answer. Amen.
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