A SERMON FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
A belated Happy Independence Day
to all you rebels. It’s a long time
since 1776, and time, as they say, heals all wounds. Happily, our two countries today enjoy a
strong alliance that has seen us through a couple of World Wars and will
hopefully continue long into the future.
There’s a scene in Mel Gibson’s movie The Patriot where the
commander of the British forces, Lord Cornwallis, admonishes his somewhat
over-zealous cavalry officer, reminding him that both sides of the
Revolutionary War were essentially of the same stock, and that after the war
they would be trading partners once again.
This proved to be true, despite the outcome of the war not being what
Cornwallis had been expecting. It’s a
typical and very good example of politics overcoming the baser aspects of human
nature—one of the better effects of politics perhaps…
The fact is, it benefits us
nothing if we continue to bear grudges. If
we are fighting with someone today, it does not necessarily imply that we will
be fighting with him tomorrow. If it’s
in our best interest to make up and make nice, then it becomes ‘politic’ to do
so. Our use of reason, in other words,
subdues our emotions. Our self-interest
rejects our underlying hatred.
Believe me, there’s an awful lot
of hatred going around right now. The
mood of the nation on this Day of Independence is not that of optimism and
confidence that we had just a year ago.
What happened? An enemy has been
introduced into our midst. Without going
into all the conspiracy theories about who did what and why, let’s at least all
acknowledge the results. Life has
altered dramatically since the beginning of 2020. We started out with impeachment hearings,
then suffered the global catastrophe of Covid-19 with all its medical, social
and economic implications. And now we
descend into a nightmare of national lawlessness whose only motivation seems to
be the utter destruction of the society that was so carefully crafted by the
Founding Fathers after 1776.
Our reaction must be, of course,
to fight to defend that society. But
there are ways of fighting that are good and there are ways of fighting that
are not good. Our enemies in this
war seem to have a big advantage, in that they have no qualms of conscience, no
moral compass, to guide them as they set out to destroy. The devil has no morals at all, we know this,
so why would we expect his representatives on earth to have any either? But we cannot allow ourselves to descend to
the level on which they fight. We cannot
use evil to overcome evil. Our battle must
remain on the higher level of morality and human decency, is spite of the fact
that the other side will surely see this as a weakness and attempt to use it
against us.
In reality though, it is not our
weakness but our strength! “For the eyes
of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers:
but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” Today’s Epistle, written by St. Peter, whose
feastday we also celebrated this past week, surely puts the present crisis into
its true perspective. “Who is he,” St.
Peter writes, “that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”
So if we’re fearful, “be not
afraid of their terror” because God is on our side, and that makes all
the difference in the world! There is no
possible mistaking who is on the right side in this particular war today. This battle isn’t about relatively minor
political considerations, like taxation without representation. When people who openly worship Lucifer are
marching in the streets in support of Antifa, Black Lives Matter and the Democratic
Party, it shouldn’t take long for us to decide which side we need to fight
on. But as we fight, we must do so “not
rendering evil for evil… but on the contrary, blessing.” Our Lord himself tells us: “Bless them that
curse you.” He tells us to “judge not,
and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned:
forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”
So while it might seem difficult
to love our enemies as God commands, we should find it a little easier if we
realize that it is truly in our own best interests. It is ‘politic’ and our reason dictates to us
that we should overcome our lower tendencies for hatred, revenge, violence, so
that we in our turn, will not eventually fall victim to the judgment and condemnation
of God.
So by all means defend our
society and the laws of our nation. Die
for these things if necessary. But don’t
die with hatred in your hearts, because that would be a disastrous waste of
your time and would profit you nothing.
On the contrary! Forgive your
enemies and God is on your side. “Be not
afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify Christ the Lord in
your hearts.”
