STAND FAST IN THE LORD

 A SERMON FOR THE 23RD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

We’ve had a rather disappointing week, I think, and many of us are feeling despondent after all the ups and downs.  Things are still rather uncertain, but one thing is clear—there is an enormous number of people in this once great nation who have, wittingly or unwittingly, placed themselves firmly on the side of the children of darkness and enemies of God.  “Many walk,” says St. Paul in today’s Epistle, “of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.”  For that we should grieve.  And for them, we should pray. 

As for ourselves, we must take heart and prepare ourselves for troublesome times to come.  In doing so, we should not give in to feelings of despair or of fear.  In his Epistle to the faithful of Philippi, St. Paul describes the deep contrast between these enemies of the cross of Christ and ourselves as followers of Christ.  “Our conversation,” he reminds them, “is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”  Today, even more than before the election, we must turn to our Lord, confident that he will indeed be our Saviour, that he will save us from whatever lies ahead.  Our conversation must be in heaven, not in frantic texts and emails and YouTube watching, but in heaven.  We must not trust in men, but in God, and converse with him alone.  For it is he alone who can draw good out of evil, and we must have every confidence that he will do so.  It is a fact that he always does.

We have had good times and bad times throughout our history.  But let’s remember that good times produce weak men.  Bad times, on the other hand, produce strong men.  It has been a while since we have had truly bad times.  The attacks of 9/11 turned out to be a single event, but they were still not “bad times.”  We need to go back to Pearl Harbor and the terrible World War that followed.  Sons and husbands, fathers and brothers, put on their uniforms and left their homes, many never to return.  Those who stayed home lived in constant fear of that knock at the door, the dreaded telegram from the War Department telling them of unbelievably terrible news.  These were the great generation, who courageously fought and suffered and sacrificed for this nation.  Since then, we were reduced to weakness, subjecting ourselves to mind-destroying rock music as we puffed away at our funny cigarettes, experimenting with ever more depraved forms of immorality.  Worse yet, the hippies of the 1960s grew up, and raised children, the Millennials, who now join their decadent parents to form a majority in this once great country.  The time has come to reap what has been sown.

The results have always been inevitable.  As our Lord reminds us, “a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit.”  From now on, it’s time to start planting good seeds.  We must begin by summoning up all our dormant strengths and use them in the defense of all that is good, all that is true, all that is important for our own salvation and that of our families.  This is a time of renewal.  If we now sow in tears, we will eventually reap with shouts of joy.  And so “therefore, my brethren,” as St. Paul writes today, “my dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.” 

The rising up of good, strong men and women is but one of the ways that God will draw good out of this evil.   You will see many, many more examples, and we must always be on the lookout, for they will provide inspiration in our endeavors, and consolation in our distress.  See those hidden and unexpected wonders and miracles of grace that will be showered by God upon all who place their trust and hope in him—conversion of family members, an increase in virtue in Christians everywhere, perhaps a growing realization of the dangers of Biden’s atheistic socialism, a greater awareness of the value of an unborn child’s life, a growing patriotic fervor and realization of the need for Almighty God in the life of the nation.  All these things and more like them must be our new aspirations and the intentions for which we now pray, and for which we now live.

Meanwhile, the Gospel summarizes our plight.  “Behold, there came a certain ruler”—let’s call him Donald Trump.  “And he worshipped our Lord, saying, “My daughter,”—my country—“is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.  And our Lord replies, “The maid is not dead, but sleepeth.  And they”—the Democrats and children of darkness—" laughed him to scorn.  But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose!”