Palm Sunday 2012

Our Lord Enters Jerusalem

Our Lord Bears the Cross

 

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

Palm Sunday Sermon
Preached at St. John’s Lancaster 1 April 2012
Mark 11:1-11 and Mark 15:1-39

What are we to make of today’s Gospel lessons? The first is so full of hope and anticipation. The King has come into his own! As he rode into Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophesies, the people ran to acclaim him as King David’s long awaited heir. Surely the Kingdom of God was among men, and it was just a matter of time until “justice rolled down like a mighty river.” But then there is that second reading which recounts the Passion and Death of our Lord. Pain and suffering, alienation and loss, disappointment and fear are everywhere. The contrast is absolute. I for one would rather just talk about Jesus coming into our lives today, but that is not what the Scriptures or our Holy Mother the Church call me to do this day.

A wise man has said that some of the most wonderful things which happen in our lives often occur “in the shadow of a cross.” The architecture of our Church echoes that statement. At the very apex of our beautiful east window, the mythical pelican gives life to her chicks by shedding her own blood willingly. Just below her is the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world- by himself becoming the sacrifice for our sins. On the font where so many of us were baptized is carved the cross and crown, an ever present reminder that only the person who lays down his life will receive it again. Only the one who goes to the cross with Jesus will reign with him in glory. And perhaps most poignant of all is the cruciform nature of the path we walk as we gather at the Lord’s Table to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, as Chesterton says, “to eat the flesh of our God and to drink his blood.” And then we arise and walk again in the way of the cross as we go forth into the world to bear his love to everyone we meet.

The fact is that death and hardship and sin and evil are ever present realities in our world. I may by good fortune, sound investing, and skilled medical practice be able to avoid most of those things for a while, but eventually even the most protected and privileged of us run afoul of the evils of this world. Death comes to one we love at an early age. Divorce strikes in what seems like the most secure and loving relationship. Disease stalks in the food we eat and in the lifestyles we adopt, even when we try to do our best. War claims our sons and daughters in the prime of their lives, and even those who survive are never quite the same.

I would submit to you today that these realities which are all around us are the reason today’s odd combination of Gospel lessons is so very, very important. You see, we are not as those who hope based on what seems right, or on some philosophy we pray might be true. God has come among us and carried the cross. He has laid down his life willingly to demonstrate for us that he has the power to take it up again and claim the crown that is rightfully his. This is not some mere fantasy or novella of a good man’s life. The Bible names the names of eyewitnesses as if to say, “ask them if you don’t believe me.” The New Testament accounts were circulating widely during the lives of so many who were there, and the authors, guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit, invited their hearers and readers to check the facts before they believed. People are pretty much the same in every historical era. Since the fall, our world has been plagued by sin and people have lived with its consequences. We have yearned for the happy times, and for a while, at least occasionally, they come to us. But there is always that shadow of the cross, that harbinger of the place of suffering. When Jesus Christ came among us and took up the cross and died for us, he entered into our world that we might know we are not alone in the midst of our sufferings. When he died for us, he became our great high priest and our sacrifice and our king. And because of what he accomplished in the midst of his suffering, we, like him, will live forever. Through his cross, we shall gain the crown of life which is offered to all who believe in him. Because he embraced the cross, we all might wear the crown.

One of my heroes has long been the gallant Montrose. Condemned by a perjured king to fight a battle that could not be won, he was defeated by his foes and betrayed by his friends. The poet Aytoun, late professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at Edinburgh, translated this good man’s words into verse in “The Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers.”

“There is a chamber far away
Where sleep the good and brave,
But a better place ye have named for me
Than by my father’s grave.
For truth and right, ‘gainst treason’s might,
This hand hath always striven,
And ye raise it up for a witness still
In the eye of earth and heaven.
Then nail my head on yonder tower-
Give every town a limb-
And God who made shall gather them:
I go from you to Him!"


My hero understood the nature of the cross, and the promise and reality of the crown. Jesus made it clear to all who will believe, and that includes you and me. The darkness of pain and tragedy will come to us in this life, but we are not like those who are without hope. For with St. Paul we can say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” Pain is a reality in this world, as are death and loss and suffering and injustice. But our God is greater, and as he has come among us to bear the cross, so has he opened the way for us to reign with him in glory. May this be the reality of our lives in this world, and in the next. AMEN.

It Really Is Worth It All

Daughter Ashley sent this picture today of the girls on their way to the library for story time.  Seeing my grand-daughters so happy and safe gives real meaning to so many of the decisions Rebecca and I have made over the course of our life together.  The hard work of making a marriage work and sacrificing to provide for a family, the decision to serve in the military and pass on a heritage of service, the decisions to circumscribe our desires and keep our passions within due bounds by living the Christian life- all of these things and so many more seem more worthwhile than ever when I see a picture such as this.   If there is anyone out there struggling with life's realities who is considering giving up, or wondering if it is all worth it, I hope you can take my word that it is worth it all when we consider the impact we have on the people we love.  Stay the course my friends.  We may never know the good we do and the difference we make in the lives of others.

A Perfect Weekend

The weekend began Friday evening with a casual dinner at the Pub with my Cousins from Cladaugh Council #86, Knight Masons- Irish Constitution.  After a wonderful board with pipe and whistle music to mark St. Patrick's Day, we repaired to the Lodge and conferred the Babylonian Pass on one candidate.  The courage and steadfastness of Zerrubabel and the other Jewish Captives as they sought to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem has always inspired me, and this night was no exception.  We then returned to the pub for convivial fellowship and plenty of time to renew old friendships and make new ones.

Saturday Morning began early at Lancaster Chapter #11, Royal Arch Masons.  Two candidates received the Royal Arch Degree, one of the most sublime in Masonry, and for a change, I was priviledged to sit on the sidelines and see the degree in its entireity.  It was a grand opportunity to reconsider my own dedication to God, and to consider those things that are truly important in life.

The afternoon brought several hours in the garden with my beautiful wife Rebecca.  I divided siberian Irisis and lined the lower north walkway with these diminutive and beautiful plants while Rebecca planted primrose along the east walks as a transition to the conical boxwoods which define our grand-daughters' secret garden.

The evening found me clad in saffron kilt with bottle green socks and tie and day wear jacket at the home of good friends Steve and Camille for their annual Irish dinner.  Beef pie, taties, cabbage and corned beef, lamb, garden peas, and desserts to die for filled the board, and the evening was finished off with cigars and Irish malt, and discussions of faith and fraternity with our hosts and friends Danny and Julie.  Such an evening spent with fellow Anglicans and Freemasons was both uplifting and inspiring.  I returned home with peace in my heart towards all men.

On Sunday morning I preached twice, and on this fourth sunday of Lent considered the life and ministry of Archbishop Rowan Williams, who announced his resignation from the see of Canterbury this week.  While I disagreed with this good man on many things, I have always found in his life and ministry real inspiration and challenge.  In what many might consider this most difficult time for our Communion, he sought to keep us together while providing safe havens for minority faith communities within the communion.  He attempted to lead us into a rational and loving structure which would define our faith and make us more accountable to each other.  And he sought to defend the historic faith received against what at times seemed overwhelming cultural odds.  His gentle counsels were often rejected by those who might have profited the most from hearing them.  I wish him the best as he re-enters the academic life.

After Church, Rebecca and I joined Bill and Nancy, friends and parishoners for a lovely breakfast at Shaw's Restraunt across the street from the church.  The eggs Benedict were splendid, and the asparagus was perfectly steamed.  The conversation strayed from ++Cantaur to the Parish Gardens to the Iraqi Rowing Team, for which Bill is an advisor.  My soul was refreshed by the good work and beauty that surrounds me.

From lunch, we went to the Funeral Home to pay our respects to Jan, the sister of our friend Carole.  Her illness was long and terible and now she is at peace.  Even in times of loss, it is good to see a family where love is so evident in the lives of all.

The day concluded with Choral Evensong at St. John's.  Our choir was joined by choristers from Trinity Newark, St. Paul's Logan, and Holy Cross Carpathian Orthodox Church in Columbus.   The setting, including the Mag and Nunc, was composed by Kathy Heim,  our Choir mistress, and one of the featured hymns was written by Thurlow Weed, our Organist.  To hear the people of so many parishes gathered in worship employing their own original compositions truly gave me a deeper understanding of liturgy as the work of the people.  As we gathered for a light lenten repast in the undercroft, I gave thanks again for God's soverign decision to post me to this place at this time.

I came home to relax on the back porch with a gin and tonic and a bowl of MacBaren's Navy Flake.  The dogs and I watched the lightening show for the better part of an hour and a half, and now we have all retired to the chapel/study to share the weekend with you, my gentle readers.  It is good to dwell in such a place and with such people.  I pray that all who read this post might find such joy in the realities of your own lives.  Surely God is among us here, and we are a people blessed. 

Ah, Spring!

The Gateway to Paradise: A Garden Entrance at Briarwood Last Spring

After an unusually mild winter, spring seems to have come early to Fairfield County. It has been accompanied by what the ancients would have considered to be powerful omens. Jupiter and Venus have been profoundly beautiful as they danced together in the western sky over the past few weeks. Mars is ascending steadily in the east, and friends who are not as distracted by city lights as we are here at Briarwood tell me that Saturn is clearly visible on the eastern horizon. Last night, a mighty thunderstorm struck after mid-night and the counties to our east and southeast experienced flooding and reported tennis ball sized hail. I really don’t know what to make of it all, and I don’t put much stock in omens, but the passing of winter this year has been spectacular.

Daffodils and Narcissi bloom profusely in the cutting garden, and the greenhouse literally bulges with young spring plants awaiting their final transplanting into the garden. The propagators have been working overtime, and are currently populated by tomatoes, peppers, and second plantings of lettuces, cabbages, and greens. Hopefully, next week I will be able to till the garden plots, set the trellises, and plant garden peas. Potatoes are also in our future. About half of the plot will be grown in containers filled with straw, a little experiment I’ve contemplated for several years, but never gotten around to managing. Over the weekend, parsnips, turnips, kohlrabi, and beets should get their starts in the propagators. I’ll plant a few more than we can use, because the chickens seem to like them (but then the chickens seem to like about everything!)

Speaking of chickens, my beautiful flock of eight Speckled Sussex hens is now presenting me with six to seven eggs a day. They are overseen by Chanticleer, a monstrously mean, but dashingly handsome rooster of the same breed. Sussex hens tend to be pretty broody, so as the year advances, I’ll let one of the girls hatch out some chicks. We will keep two or three as replacements, and donate the rest to the Common Friars in Athens.

The pastures have greened considerably in the last two days, and as always, it is good to see our old horses, Princess and Squirt, enjoying their retirement. A bit more gaunt and swaybacked than when they were in their prime, they are ever present reminders of when this farm rang with the laughter of children on a daily basis. The place would not be the same without them.

The trees are beginning to show signs of life, and it won’t be long until I will be able to sit on the porch with a pipe and a wee dram and hear the buds pop open in the woods. Even as I write, the air is filled with the deafening chorus of a plethora of peeper frogs. Just a few years ago, we were afraid that we had lost them, but this year and last they are back in all of their spring glory.

Briarwood is a blessed place to be any time of the year, but especially as the winter turns to spring. It is in a very real way an icon of that Heavenly City, which will one day come down as a bride adorned for her husband. Here is balance and harmony, plenty and peace. I pray Rebecca and I might be good stewards of this place that all who come here might be drawn into relationship with the maker of it all.

As I pen my goodbyes tonight, the terriers are curled up at my feet. Faithful Pat is in the woods running game, which is what all old hounds are paid to do. Might we all so employ our instincts that the Great Architect and Creator of the Universe be ever glorified! Amen.

Memory Work is Good for the Soul

Rector’s Rambling April 2012

Holy Week will soon be upon us. Some of you may remember that on the first Sunday of Advent, I challenged the parish to read those Bible passages suggested by Scripture Union in their “Essential 100 Bible Reading Plan” http://www.e100challenge.org.uk . Our target date for completion is Good Friday. Many people at St. John’s have taken that challenge seriously, and I believe our level of Bible literacy has increased as a result. In addition, I hope the regular discipline of Bible reading now seems more accessible to many of us here at the parish. Many of you know Betty Pugh, a long time parishioner of St. John’s. Although Betty is legally blind, she uses a special super magnifier and reads the Bible through on a regular basis. She asked me to suggest a list of Bible verses which Christians might memorize to their profit. I thought it was a good idea, and so here they are.

Some Favorite Memory Verses:

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Acts 1: 8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:


Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

These are just a few favorite Bible Verses. For a longer list, you might want to visit http://topverses.com , where you can access favorite Bible verses in many different translations.


If you have not already done so, I would also suggest you work on learning the Ten Commandments and Apostles’ Creed, reproduced here as they appear in “The Book of Common Prayer- 1979” http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp .

The Decalogue: Traditional (BCP page 317-318)

God spake these words, and said:
I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none
other gods but me.

Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth
beneath, or in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow
down to them, nor worship them.

Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.

Honor thy father and thy mother.

Thou shalt do no murder.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet.


The Apostles’ Creed (BCP page 66)

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Faithfully,
Bill+

Fools For Christ

Sermon for Lent IIIB Preached at St. John’s 11 March 2012

Exodus 20:1-17

Psalm 19

I Corinthians 1:18-25

John2: 13-22

It made perfect sense- selling sacrificial animals in the Temple courts. People came from all over the world to sacrifice, and they could not be expected to bring their animals with them. And was it really so bad if the people providing the service made an honest living? After all, the Scriptures say that “the laborer is worthy of his hire.” The problem was that people got so caught up in the day to day administration of the program that it seems they forgot what the program of sacrifice was all about. The people on the spot demonstrated this lack of understanding when they failed to understand what Jesus was saying about his upcoming resurrection as he discussed the “allegory of the temple’s destruction and rebuilding.” This preacher from Galilee just didn’t make sense.

In the same way, the commandments of God from the first lesson don’t make a lot of sense in a modern and cosmopolitan world. Surely we all want to respect God and our neighbors, but can you really believe this Moses. He says that you have to do it his way, and that if you don’t, God will judge you, your children, your grand-children, and your great-grand-children. Is it really so bad if someone swears by using God’s Name? And I only get off two days a week. What is the big thing about giving one of them exclusively to God? I suppose the rest of the rules make some sense, about honoring parents and murder and stealing and the like. But all of this puritanical pre-occupation with sex and absolute honesty is not very realistic at all. And how can I ever make a living for my family unless I am willing to drive my competition into the ground and increase my own market share? Moses just isn’t willing to understand that it is dog eat dog out there in the business world today.

As usual, Paul was right. In our second lesson for today, he points out that “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” And goes on to say “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” We are so enamored with ourselves. At least we are until things really fall apart. We trust in our own schemes and live our lives according to our own choices. We create false gods who will justify our own thoughts, actions, and desires, and do what makes sense to us at the time. And then comes the horrible time of divorce, violation of our safety and self-worth, death of a loved one, loss of a career, or our mobility, or our health, or our financial security. We realize that all of our imaginations were just that. And we cry out to God. And in his mercy and love he comes to us. When everything else lets us down ‘the message of the cross is to us who are being saved the power of God.’

It makes no sense whatsoever that God the Father would send his only begotten Son, the second person of the blessed Trinity, to bear the punishment I deserve and give me another chance. It makes no sense that The Blessed Holy Spirit, the third person of that same Trinity, would come to comfort and strengthen me in my hour of trial. In fact, it makes no sense that God would care about me at all. There are millions upon millions of people who have lived throughout history. There seem to be a nearly infinite number of star systems. History seems to roll on and on and I do so little to impact or control it. And yet God himself knows my name and has called me to be among that number of people who are being saved.

Today I stand before you as a Staryets, a fool for Christ, to encourage you to accept this radical and irrational message that by this bizarre and unbelievable methodology, God has chosen to show his love for you. He reveals to you and to me a model of how we might so live that we will find peace and consolation in this world, and life everlasting in the world to come. It is too simple to be real. Believe today that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Tell him that you are sorry for the bad things you have done, and that you will do your best with his help to amend your ways. I assure you today that he will keep his promise to you and to us all, and we shall be known as the people of God.

In just a few moments, we will stand and say together “I Believe.” We will confess that Jesus is the Christ. Then, after we bring our needs and concerns to God in the prayers of the people, we will repent and ask for his forgiveness for our sins. Then he will forgive us and invite us all to come to his holy table, which is an extension of his heavenly banquet table. Those of us who have been baptized he invites to receive the Holy Communion of the body and blood of Jesus. Those who have not been baptized he invites to come for a blessing and to begin preparation for baptism. In this act of faith, he will pour upon us the assurance of his love and strength for the challenges of this coming week. I urge you to join me as a Staryets, a fool for Christ. Set aside your own wisdom and embrace that true wisdom of God today. “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.

To Believe The Bible Or Not?

I was recently with a group of my fellow clerics and the discussion turned to the lesson from Numbers 21:4-9 which is assigned for the Fourth Sunday in Lent.  As the lesson opens, the children of Israel are participating in their favorite outdoor sport- murmuring. 

Then the Lord sent poisonous serpants among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died.  The people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take the serpents from us."  So Moses prayed for the people.  And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a poisionous serpent, and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten shall look at it and live."  So Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it on a pole; and whenever a serpent bit someone, that person would look at the serpent of bronze and live.

The usual discussion ensued about whether or not God sends judgement upon people.  Recent tornadoes in our part of the world were discussed, along with health issues and a number of other possible candidates for divine judgement.  Most everyone agreed that usually we bring judgement upon ourselves thus saving God the trouble, but there was still that nagging question about when God comes after us for our rebellion.  I tend to be a bit more literal than many about such passages, but I am always very careful not to attribute every bad thing that happens to judgement.  Such theology seems to be mean spirited and generally gets out of control pretty quickly.

But the thing about the discussion which troubled me at the time, and even more as the day wore on, was the statement from one present, and the agreement of several others with it that this account from Numbers was just a Jewish "fairy tale."  I protested at the time, not because God needs my protection or defense, but because such an approach to the Bible is so common in Protestant Christianity.  So many in the Mainline Protestant academic community seem to discount so many parts of the Bible that do not fit their experience, expectations, or concept of who God is (or ought to be.)   Pity the parish whose priest or pastor does not believe the Bible to be an authentic eye-witness account of the works of God in history.  Ultimately, such an outlook as the one expressed that day leads to denial of major doctrines of the faith, often even to the denial of articles of the Creeds.  In short, if one denies the veracity of Scripture, departure from the faith received is often soon to follow.  From classroom to pulpit to pew, good or bad theology so often flows with significant results for good or ill.

All of this leads me back to the concept of God's judgement on his people when they rebel against him.  Could it be that the current malaise of mainline protestantism in the west is God's judgement because the denominations involved have failed to believe the Bible (or have re-interpreted it so significantly that its meaning is changed)?   We have lost scores, even hundreds of thousands of members in the last forty or fifty years in the Episcopal Church alone.  Many of our parishes and seminaries have closed or are threatened with closure.  Our "market share" of the American and European population has contracted dramatically.  Certainly parallel occurrance does not necessarily demonstrate causation or correlation, but I cannot help but wonder.

Honor Virtutis Praemium ( Honour is the reward of virtue)

John Harris and I served together as Lieutenants on staff at the Ohio Military Academy about three lives ago.  Later. we worked together on the staff of a Divisional Cavalry Squadron.  Finally, he was my Commander in the Second Squadron 107th Cavalry.  He is, in the words of Terence (Adelphi III.iii.88), "homo antiqua virtute et fide," "a man of old-fashoned virtue and loyalty."  John is a man of prayer and deep personal faith.  He is a devoted husband and father, and a faithful follower of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He loves this Republic as did his father (a retired Cavalry Scout) before him.  He cares deeply for the soldiers entrusted to his leadership and insists that virtue and the right always trump pragmatism and triumphalism in the accomplishment of his mission.  The soldiers and people of Ohio are blessed to have a man like John Harris as our newest Assistant Adjutant General for Army.  May God bless you, General Harris, and may your watch be characterized by honor, duty, and a love for that which is right.

Do You Believe God's Promise?

Sermon for II Lent, Year B Revised Common Lectionary

Romans 4:9-25

Preached at St. John’s Lancaster 4 March 2012

Circumcision was very important in the Jewish community in the time of Jesus and Paul. It was, like Baptism for us, the mark of entry into the community of faith. It physically identified every Jewish boy eight days old or older as a member of Israel, the people of God. I suppose that many Jews of that day, like many Christians today, came to rely on the rite of the sacrament, instead of that which it represented and accomplished and fulfilled, as the primary indicator of their relationship with God. As long as the ceremony was done in a proper manner, they were of Israel and In God. When St. Paul, missionary Archbishop to the Gentiles, wrote to the believers in Rome in the first century, he did not seek to downplay or minimize the importance of the ceremonies of the people of God, but he worked hard and logically to demonstrate that the importance of any ceremony, might we say any sacrament, is in the true reality it proclaims rather than the outward forms of the ceremony.

Paul’s legal mind was well suited to make such an argument. God’s promises to Abraham took place before he was circumcised, indeed before he even knew what the law was. It could not have been that Abraham’s participation in the ceremony, or even his righteousness in keeping the law, were the causes of God’s promise and blessing to him, because at the time of the promise, the rite of Circumcision had not been introduced and the law had not been revealed in its fullness. Abraham was blessed by God because when God looked at his heart, he saw that Abraham was “fully convinced that God Was able to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:21).

None of this is to say that the sacrament (circumcision) or the law (obedience to God) are unimportant. They are means of instruction and grace that God has ordained. But it is to say that God looks upon our hearts in his dealings with us. He looks for people who are on the adventure of growing into that state of heart, mind, and life whereby our reality can include a willingness to see beyond the realities and limitations of this life and embrace what the writer to the Hebrews called “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). That is precisely what Abraham did when he believed the promise that he, an old man with a wife well past menopause, would be the father of many nations. He was willing to see beyond scientific probabilities and human expectations to believe that “what God had promised, he was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21)

Because of this belief, Paul continues, God “reckoned this faith unto him as righteousness” (Romans 4:22). An older translation says “imputed to him for righteousness.” You see, God proclaimed Abraham righteous not because of ceremonies and obedience, as important as those things are. He proclaimed him righteous, because of the attitude of his heart and the nature of his expectations. As F.F. Bruce from the University of Manchester wrote, “Abraham’s justification and attendant blessings were based on his faith in God; they were not earned by effort or merit on his part…but conferred on him by God’s grace” (TNTC Romans 109).

In its simplest form, to be righteous means to fulfill the claims of right. Thus when Penelope mourns for Ulysses, Homer says that she fulfills the sacred obligations of a wife. When Antigone buries her brother and incurs the wrath of the state, she embodies that higher unwritten law against barbarism. The translators of the Septuagint, the Jewish translation of the Old Testament into Greek, often translated the word “Righteousness” as “Mercy,” or “Kindness.” As Professor Vincent of Union Theological Seminary and so many other scholars have pointed out over the years, “Righteousness is union with God in character” (Vincent’s Word Studies in the NT iii12).

And all of this takes us back to circumcision. Blessed Paul was writing to Romans, Gentiles who had not been circumcised. He wrote with the good news that their ability to participate in the blessings of God, their ability to be “unified with God in character,” was based not on their participation in the rites and ceremonies of Judaism, or in the moral uprightness of their past life, but in their decision to “believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification” (Romans 4:24-25).

Have you made that decision today? Are you willing to consider those things, or that thing in your own life which seems insurmountable? Are you willing to believe that God will help you to forgive that ex-spouse or that parent who hurt you so badly so many years ago? Are you willing to believe that God will give you strength , presence of mind, and persistence to take something as persistent as clinical depression or alcoholism to God on a daily basis and work a program of recovery and healing? Are you willing to believe that God will help you to push away from the buffet table or the internet console which has been the source of so many failures and so much sin in your life. Are you willing believe that God will give you the strength to walk away from a relationship or lifestyle choice which the Bible says is contrary to God’s will for his sons and daughters?  Are you willing to believe that God will give you the perseverence and strength to make restitution to that person you have wronged, and to fulfill those responsibilities you have failed to live up to?   Are you willing to believe that God is able to do what he has promised?

If you are willing to take that step today, God will meet you just as he met Abraham. He will impute to you union with his own character and give you a strength beyond what you have ever known. It will be a struggle, a war in fact. Satan will marshal all of the forces of hell to block your success. But our God is greater than Satan. And he has sent the Blessed Holy Spirit to accomplish in our lives that victory which Christ Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.

If you have been living your life in a sort of low grade discouragement which seeks to serve Christ but seems to fail with disturbing regularity, I invite you to come to him in faith today. If you have been relying on the ceremony of baptism or communion, or on church attendance or being a good person to get you into heaven, but have never been quite sure that you will make it, I invite you to come to him in faith today. The Bible says with absolute clarity that if you believe on him who raised up Jesus from the dead, if you are willing to commit yourself to the life changing conviction that God is able and willing to do what he has promised, the very character of God will be imputed to you and your life will be changed forever.

Now Father, in this holy season of Lent, help us to believe as Abraham believed, that you are able to keep your promises to transform us and give us strength to fight the temptations we face every day. Make us victorious Lord. Assure us of your presence with us every day. And help us to know in our hearts that we will live with you forever. Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and forever. AMEN.