From 2009 while I was substituting as chaplain for the Sisters in Ft. Worth, TX.
Independence Day: Genesis 27.1-5, 15-29; Matthew 9.14-17
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Sisters of St Mary of Namur, Fort Worth, TX
Independence Day: Genesis 27.1-5, 15-29; Matthew 9.14-17
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Sisters of St Mary of Namur, Fort Worth, TX
Jesus
says to John's disciples, “No one patches an old cloak with a piece
of unshrunken cloth...People do not put new wine into old wineskins.”
What does this bit of homespun wisdom have to do with weddings,
fasting, the Pharisees, mourning the death of a bridegroom, and the
price of camels in Jerusalem? Better yet: what do any of these have
to do with the American Revolution and this country's declaration of
independence from the tyranny Old King George? Is Jesus teaching us
to party while we can b/c we won't be around forever? Is he arguing
that we ought to be better stewards of our antiques—human and
otherwise? Or maybe he's saying that the time will come when the
older ways can no longer be patched up and something fundamentally
new must replace what we have always had, always known. When “the
way we have always done it” no longer takes us where we ought to
go; when the wineskin, the camel, the cloak no longer holds its wine,
hauls its load, or keep us warm, it's time to start thinking about a
trip to the market to haggle for something new.
We
celebrate two revolutions today: one temporal and one eternal, one
local and the other cosmic. The political revolution freed a group of
colonies in the New World from the corruption of an old and dying
Empire. The spiritual revolution freed all of creation from the
chains of sin and death. Today, we give God thanks and praise for the
birth of the United States of America by celebrating our 4th of July
freedoms. And we give God thanks and praise for the birth, death, and
resurrection of Christ by celebrating this Eucharist, the daily
revolution that overthrows the regime of sin and spiritual
decay.
The revolution of 1776 not only toppled the imperial rule of George III in the American colonies, but it also founded a way of life that celebrates God-gifted, self-evident, and unalienable human rights as the foundation of all civil government and social progress. The revolution that Christ led and leads against the wiles and temptations of the world fulfills the promise of our Father to bring us once again into His Kingdom—not a civil kingdom ruled by laws and fallible hearts, but a heavenly kingdom where we will do His will perfectly and thereby live more freely than we ever could here on earth. In no way do we understand this kingdom as simply some sort of future reward for good behavior. This is no pie in the sky by and by. Though God's kingdom has come with the coming of Christ, we must live as bodies and souls here and now, perfecting that imperfect portion of the kingdom we know and love. No revolution succeeds immediately. No revolution fulfills every promise at the moment of its birth. The women and slaves of the newly minted United States can witness to this hard fact. That we continue to sin, continue to fail, continue to rebel against God's will for us is evidence enough that we do not yet live in fullest days of the Kingdom. But like any ideal, any program for perfecting the human heart and mind, we can live to the limits of our imperfect natures, falling and trying again, knowing that we are loved by Love Himself. With diligence. With trust. With hope. With one another in the bonds of Christ's love, we can do more than live lackluster lives of mediocre compliance. We can work out our salvation in the tough love of repentance and forgiveness, the hard truths of mercy and holiness.
Christ is with us. The Bridegroom has not abandoned us. His revolution continues so long as one of us is eager to preach his Word, teach his truth, do his good works. Today and everyday, we are free. And even as we celebrate our civil independence from tyranny, we must bow our heads to the Father and give Him thanks for creating us as creatures capable of living freely, wholly in the possibility of His perfection.
The revolution of 1776 not only toppled the imperial rule of George III in the American colonies, but it also founded a way of life that celebrates God-gifted, self-evident, and unalienable human rights as the foundation of all civil government and social progress. The revolution that Christ led and leads against the wiles and temptations of the world fulfills the promise of our Father to bring us once again into His Kingdom—not a civil kingdom ruled by laws and fallible hearts, but a heavenly kingdom where we will do His will perfectly and thereby live more freely than we ever could here on earth. In no way do we understand this kingdom as simply some sort of future reward for good behavior. This is no pie in the sky by and by. Though God's kingdom has come with the coming of Christ, we must live as bodies and souls here and now, perfecting that imperfect portion of the kingdom we know and love. No revolution succeeds immediately. No revolution fulfills every promise at the moment of its birth. The women and slaves of the newly minted United States can witness to this hard fact. That we continue to sin, continue to fail, continue to rebel against God's will for us is evidence enough that we do not yet live in fullest days of the Kingdom. But like any ideal, any program for perfecting the human heart and mind, we can live to the limits of our imperfect natures, falling and trying again, knowing that we are loved by Love Himself. With diligence. With trust. With hope. With one another in the bonds of Christ's love, we can do more than live lackluster lives of mediocre compliance. We can work out our salvation in the tough love of repentance and forgiveness, the hard truths of mercy and holiness.
Christ is with us. The Bridegroom has not abandoned us. His revolution continues so long as one of us is eager to preach his Word, teach his truth, do his good works. Today and everyday, we are free. And even as we celebrate our civil independence from tyranny, we must bow our heads to the Father and give Him thanks for creating us as creatures capable of living freely, wholly in the possibility of His perfection.
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'... an old and dying empire'? THat great gift of God to the world, the British Empire, was just getting going!
ReplyDeleteWe'd have to disagree about that.
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