27th Sunday OT (Is 5.1-7; Phil 4.6-9; Matt 21.33-43
Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP
Church of the Incarnation, Irving, TX

What is the greatest spiritual problem facing the church right now? Would you say: Heretical clergy? Dissident theologians? Homosexual priests? Lack of faith in the Real Presence? Failure to attend Mass? Vatican Two? Liberalism? Traditionalism? I wonder how many of you would say, “anxiety.” I don’t mean the psychiatric term denoting a nervous physiological and psychological response to enviromental stimuli. I mean “anxiety,” as in “protect us from all anxiety as we await with joyful hope the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” I mean anxiety as in “Brothers and sisters, Have no anxiety at all…” I mean anxiety as in a failure to trust God, a failure to hold firm to faith, and to know that the promise of the Father is completed; it is done. What could be more of a spiritual problem than a failure to trust the One who created us, made convenant with us, redeemed us from our sin, and dwells among us even now?

The Spirit of this world trembles. Not with fear. Not with pain. But with anticipation. The Spirit of this world delights. Not in triumph. Not in victory…not yet. But in self-congratulation and pleasure for a job well-done. There is nothing for him to do now but relax and watch the well-fed virus of anxiety unravel the careful work of faith, unwind the intricate morality of charity, and attack all the defenses of those best equipped to do the Father’s will in the world.
This virus of anxiety is simply and elegantly coded to attach itself to the one thing that Christians most need to survive and thrive—anxiety hits prayer; it attacks our life-line to God, our means of communication with the Divine, stranding us in a silence so profound that despair is inevitable and the work we are called to do goes undone for lack of trust in God.

The Devil doesn’t really have to tempt us into sin. He only has to convince us that the Father isn’t listening. He doesn’t have to fill our lives with violence, pornography, or death. He only has to lead us to believe that we can do this Christian-thing on our own—that we don’t really need a healthy prayer life. That we are strong enough, smart enough to take charge of our holiness and do this thing by the numbers so that nothing goes wrong, nothing falls outside the lines, nothing ever looks crooked, smells fishy, or feels twitchy.

Once we’re convinced that we can color this Christian coloring book without slipping outside the lines, that we can seek and attain perfection on our own, once we’re cruising along comfy and satisifed in the quality of our spiritual work, the Devil throws us a curve, he tosses a grenade, and watches with a smirk as we panic, crash, and flop around, thrashing in the mess we’ve made. Then he waits with angelic patience for the moment of his greatest joy, his sharpest glee. It is the moment we look to heaven, spread our hands over the devastation we’ve created in our arrogance and pride and cry out in anguish, “Where were you, Lord?” Ah, Despair! Can’t beat Despair with a stick.

Jesus instructs the chief priests and elders with a parable about the salvation history of the Jewish people and the advent of the long-awaited Messiah. The Father sent the Law to forge a covenant with His people. The stones were broken in disobedience. He sent the Prophets. And they were beaten, killed, exiled, or just plain ignored. Finally, he sends his Only-Begotten Son, the long-awaited Messiah, to bring them back to righteousness, and they kill Him—a death He freely accepts for our sake. The parable makes it clear that those who refuse the salvific effects of the Messiah’s vicarious death will themselves die a wretched and permanent death. Those who come to the Lord, take on his death as the death of their own sin, and place themselves in trust to Him, they will be given the Kingdom of God, and they will cultivate its fruit. Those who would build the kingdom of heavem on their own reject Jesus Christ as a cornerstone. Those who would seek and attempt to attain perfection on their own reject Jesus Christ as a cornerstone and delight the Devil in his work.

And so Paul tells the Philippians, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. THEN the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Trust God always and in everything that you do make what you need known to God through prayer, ask and say “Thank You,” and the result will be that your anxiety—your lack of trust—will be silenced with a peace that outshines everything you have ever known and this unsurpassing peace will shield your relationship with God and settle your mind into the lordship of Jesus Christ.

If the peace of the Lord is to remain with you, if it is to remain as a shield against the wily arguments of the Devil you must dwell on what is true not what is false, what is just and not unjust, what is lovely and not ugly, what is gracious and not crude, what is excellent and not vile, what is worthy of your praise and not what is worthy of your rebuke. And do not be afraid b/c this is not a job you can do alone. If you would build the kingdom of heaven in your heart and mind, you must do so with the grace of the Father under the Lordship of the Son and in the Spirit, and you will think and pray what is true, pure, gracious and excellent with God’s sure help.

We could make a list a several hundred feet long, a list of the problems of the Church, a list of the ways that the kingdom of God is defied on earth, in the church herself, and in the hearts and minds of individual Christians. No list, no matter how long, will make any sense at all if it does not include at the very top this name: “A List of Ways that Anxiety Makes Itself Known in the Church.” Heretical teachings. Dissident theologians. Unfaithful priests and religious. Usurpers of legitmate ecclesial authority on the left and the right. All of these are insidious manifestations, instances of our anxiety when we try to control, examples of our fear to risk trust in God, our need, our deeply planted need to make the church, all of creation in our own image and likeness.

Jesus’ parable tonight is really very simple. He says, “Make the cornerstone the builders rejected the cornerstone of your spiritual castle. No other stone. No other god. No self-help guru or alien philosophy. Entertain no anxiety. Ask for what you need, say thank you, and know my peace.”