“God’s People Sensitive to the Needy”
October 6, 2013
The 20th Sunday of the Christian Season of Ordinary Time/Kingdomtide/Time of the Church
Habakkuk 1:1-13; 2:1-4/Psalm 37:3-9/2 Timothy 1:6-14/Luke 17:5-10
His Excellency
His Excellency
The Most Reverend Ariel Cornelio P. Santos D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop and Locum Tenens
of the
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church
We are the people of God. Epistle said this morning that “we have been called with a holy calling.” It’s a holy calling. It’s serious and it’s God’s business. We are continuing to learn who we are and who God created us to be.
Last week, we learned that it is part of our divine nature that we partake of - we are sensitive. We’re not insensitive and we are a people who obey in faith. That’s who we are. That is our nature. Don’t ever be deceived sometimes but what you see or what you see yourself doing or living out. That’s not the real you. The real you is a partaker of the divine nature. God’s people obey in faith.
The Gospel this morning talks about how that Jesus in one instance would talk about faith and then He would shift suddenly to go on and talk about how that we have a thankless job. What’s the connection? Well, understand first what faith is. In the Old Testament reading, in Habakkuk, he said the righteous are supposed to live by faith. The righteous live by faith. God gave us a measure of faith and He has not given us a spirit of fear which is the opposite of faith. What He has given us – not fear, not timidity, but faith - faith that we use to obey God and His commandment.
The Epistle today, Hebrews Chapter 11, a very popular verse says, “Faith is the substance of things we hope for, the evidence of things not yet seen.” Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence, the guarantee, that what we don’t see is there. Now, let me define obedience with reference to faith. Obedience or our works, obedience is the substance of faith. As faith is the substance of things not seen, obedience is the substance of faith which is not seen; the visible evidence of faith; the visible evidence of that which is not seen.
Works or obedience is to faith as Christ is to the invisible God. I’ll say that again just for good measure. Obedience is to faith what Christ is to the invisible God the Father. Christ is the fullness of Him Who is not seen. In the Gospel of John, it says, “Christ has explained who the Father is.” In the same way, our works, our obedience, explains our faith.
You know many times and this we’ve done before, many years ago, we would do what we used to call “witnessing”. A witness is somebody who has seen or experience something first hand. Otherwise, it’s hearsay. But what you do is you show a witness so that he sees something and he becomes a witness. Right? But what we used to do before, sometimes part of our witnessing, is we give something that is written and is not seen; a theory written but not necessarily seen in action. Now, I ask you, can that be witnessed? Can that be seen? What Jesus said was, in His popular sermon on the mount, was “let your light shine before men so that they might see your --GOOD WORKS.” SEE the good works. And glorify God the Father who is in heaven.
Good works are the evidence and the substance to faith. Good works explain faith and are the fullness of faith. We can debate about faith and theology. We can use words. We can open our bibles and our books and whatever else we have. But what will explain faith? What people see. Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify God who is in heaven. Jesus said to His disciples, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” In the same way, we, to the world, can say, he who has seen us the Church - living, letting our light shine through our good works - has seen the faith we preach because those things explain our faith and who we are, because faith is seen through works.
Do you remember this centurion who had a paralyzed servant and this Canaanite woman who had a daughter who was demon possessed? Both of them were gentiles. You know what Jesus said of them after He has seen their faith through their works? He said, “I have never found (or seen) faith such as this in all of Israel.” But He did say “I have not SEEN faith such as this.” How did He see their faith? By what they did - their good works. They demonstrated their faith.
In the Love Chapter of the New Testament, first Corinthians chapter 13, St. Paul says there, “If I have faith so as to remove mountains,” or in the case of the Gospel this morning, a mulberry tree, “but have not love, I am nothing,” or my faith is nothing. Our love of God is equivalent, Jesus said, to our obedience to His command. He said “if you love Me, you would obey Me.” If we have faith, or so we say that we have faith, but we don’t have love and don’t obey our God and His command, then our faith is nothing. There is no substance to it because obedience is the evidence of faith and what makes it visible. You obey Him whom you have faith in.
Let me ask you, who here has a job and has a boss and gets paid? Come on, raise your hand. It’s okay to raise your hand. Don’t be afraid. You work and you have a boss, right? You work with the expectation of getting paid. Right? That is the hope that we have. Why do you work? Are you sure you are going to get paid? Are you sure? How do you know you are going to get paid? Well, number one, by experience. Right? You know that on a certain date your boss will give you your pay. You have proven that, you have known him, at least in that area, that he will give you what you have worked for. You know by knowledge and by experience whom you obey, whether he is faithful or not.
In the epistle that was read, again Paul says, “I know whom I have believed because knowledge enhances faith which inspires obedience which enriches knowledge.” Let me repeat that: knowledge enhances faith, faith inspires obedience, obedience enriches knowledge.
It is a cycle of growth that starts with a step of faith. Your first day, you didn’t know your boss, the first day on the job you obeyed, you worked. Right? You still don’t know, you were not sure whether you will get after fifteen days or so, your paycheck. You did not know. But you took a step of faith. That starts the cycle and as you become familiar with the system and you know the faithfulness and the regularity and the steadfastness, then it enhances (or in some cases it does anyway) your enthusiasm to obey.
Our Collect that we prayed earlier says, “Sovereign Lord, Thou has given us the measure of faith” - a faith which we prove by our obedience to Thee, a faith that is proven by obedience. Faith is the substance of things not seen; obedience is the substance of faith. And faith, in the New Testament, it says, comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of Christ.
Now, let me give us a clearer understanding of the word “hear” as based on the original meaning in the Old and New Testaments and the Jewish culture. The word “hear” means receive (many times audibly) with an obligation to obey or comply. Not just listen, not just receive audibly and then it stops there. It has a legal and binding obligation that comes with it of complying or obeying. This is why, and there’s another word I would like to define, we say the “Amen”. The Amen says, “Yes, I heard” and “Yes, I agree that I MUST obey what I heard.”
Today, a preacher asks his congregation (and this is a true story by the way, I am not attacking, it’s a true story), “Isn’t your pastor good looking?” and the people would say? Amen. That’s not the meaning of it. It doesn’t mean “yes” only or “that’s my opinion” or “good preaching, brother.” NO. Amen means “I heard you, and I am ready to obey what God said through you.” Hear and Amen. Amen! Good.
The proud, which Habakkuk was talking about, are those who don’t run with the vision; who don’t run with what was written on tablets; who don’t listen and hear and obey. Now, let me paraphrase what I quoted earlier from Romans: Faith comes by hearing and obeying the Word of God and His command.
Now, this must put to rest this idea of pitting faith against works. They’re not against each other. They are one virtue. St. James, in his epistle, is not being against St. Paul in his epistle. They’re talking about the same virtue. They’re on the same page. We are just reading another book. They’re on the same page. They’re not against each other because works are the substance of faith. We only need the proper understanding just as the soul and body of a human being are one man, so are faith and works, one virtue. You cannot divide, let me use this word- dichotomize, dissect- the flesh part of the human being and his soul. They are one.
This is the problem that heretics encounter because they try to define Jesus – Oh, He is God; no, He is man. No, He is God AND man. One hundred percent God; one hundred percent man; not equals two hundred percent but equals one hundred percent Christ. The Athanasian Creed said that. He is not God only; He is not man only. He is God AND man in one Christ. In the same way, faith and works are one virtue.
The Gospel encourages us to have faith because it’s what’s needed to have an obedient servant attitude. It’s true we have been made worthy. That is true and let us put a period on that and that will never change. That is true. We are, we have been made worthy not by our merits but by the grace of God. BUT our attitude should always be “I’m an unworthy servant and I do this.” Maybe it was too strong a word to say it’s a thankless job because God is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But let’s leave that to God. Our attitude should be “I am servant, God is my Lord”. Yes He is my Father also, He has made me worthy, but my attitude is “I serve Him with a humble heart” and faith is needed to do that and to understand that. We are unworthy servants obeying the Lord. That would make us NOT have an attitude of doing things for the reward. Again, there is a reward because God will reward. But again let us leave that to Him.
I hope you understand what I am saying. I am talking about attitudes. Our attitude should be: we love not expecting something in return. We give not because of the promise that it will return to us a hundredfold. That will happen. It will happen, I promise you because God said it. But our attitude nonetheless is: we give without expecting “Oh you’re such a great guy, you did a good job!” If they say that, if they don’t say that, our attitude should remain. We are servants and our nature, because we share with the divine nature of God, is to EVER bless.
Did Christ get something in return for His giving? Of course. You know you can define that both ways. Yes or no. But He did get joy at least, in His giving. But did He think about that? No. He didn’t have to do what He did for us. He didn’t have to. He would not have lost anything. Nonetheless, He gave without expecting a “Thank you” or a reward or anything. Our obedience and our attitude. When Psalm says we trust in the Lord and do not fret, and delight in Him, that means we obey Him because we know our Lord, we know His voice, we know His love. That is living by faith. And that is the way it is in the kingdom of God.
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