This Love and Power to Heal: St. Luke's Day

Sermon for the Feast of St. Luke 10/24/2010, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

 

Texts: 2 Timothy 4:5-11; Psalm 147:1-12; Luke 4:14-21

 

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”

 

Today, my friends, we are gathered together to remember our beloved ancestor in the faith, blessed and holy Luke. We do not know much about him, of course. Tradition tells us that he was a companion of St. Paul in his travels. It seems clear that he was a well-educated Greek, and thus he became one who wrote down what he heard and saw. Luke has left us with two well-written books: his eponymous Gospel and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles.

 

Both of these books contain Luke’s unique perspective on the ministry of Christ in the world. Our reading today from Luke’s Gospel was given to us as Jesus’ mission statement. It is Luke’s clear and concise statement for Jesus’ mission in the world.

 

If we wished to summarize this mission, we could say that the work of Jesus, the work that God had sent him into the world to do, was to preach, to teach and to heal.

 

His task was to preach: to proclaim to all who would listen the good news of a different and better way to live in connection with God.

 

His purpose was to teach: to reveal the errors of typical human ways of thinking and to show and explain the way that we can obtain this new and better life.

 

But the work of Christ was also to heal: to make God’s desire for wholeness and completeness a visible reality among us human beings.

 

These three – preaching, teaching and healing – are the essential components of Christ’s ministry. And do you know what that means for us? That means that these are also the essential components of our work as well.

 

As the church, our entire reason for existence is simply to carry on the work that Jesus began! Let this then be our lens by which we view and evaluate all that we do in the church. In every decision, and every activity, you can ask yourself these questions:  

• Does this project help to proclaim the possibility that all people can find new life in Christ?
• Does this activity help to teach people how to practically live the abundant and full life that God desires for us?
• Does this meeting provide a way for people to experience God’s healing touch within their lives?

If you can answer yes to any of these, then you can feel confident that this project is indeed faithful to Jesus, and inspired by the Spirit.

 

But if you evaluate any activity within the church and you find that you cannot answer in the affirmative to any of these questions, then we shouldn’t be doing it.

 

It may be a nice activity, but it belongs somewhere else. As the church, we have too much to do to carry on this bold mission of Jesus in our world today. We have too much to do, and we cannot afford  to be distracted in this way.

 

In particular, we have much to do to carry forward the healing ministry of Christ, this work which we remember today in honor of St. Luke the Physician. This is not something with which most of us here are very familiar. When we consider the healing work of Jesus, many of us today can find it difficult to understand this work.

 

How does God heal people? And what kind of healing are we talking about after all? Most of us have seen really bad healing preachers on TV, right?! Those who use manipulation to achieve fantastic displays. This helps them to raise lots of money and buy big houses in southern California!

 

Well, forget all about those false images. What we are talking about is true healing from God, the real work of healing in many different ways, and on many different levels. It is not something to be predicted, not something we can control.

 

Tony Campolo tells a story of a healing that God accomplished through his willing hands.

 

Tony is a Baptist from Philadelphia, a long-time Professor of Sociology at Eastern University. He is not one who regularly experiences works of healing, but, when he is invited to preach, Tony often asks whether there are any who would like to receive the laying on of hands, like we will do here shortly.

 

Once, when Tony was preaching at a church out in Oregon, he did exactly this. He spent nearly an hour talking with each person and praying for them. Nothing obvious happened at that time, but four days later Tony received a phone call. The woman on the other end said, “Tony, on Sunday you prayed for my husband. He had cancer.”

 

When he heard the word “had”, Tony perked up. “Had cancer?” he asked. “Well,” she said, “he’s dead now.”

 

Oh great, thought Tony. She’s probably calling to rip me, to complain about my total lack of healing ability! But she went on and said, “You don’t understand. When my husband and I walked into that church on Sunday, he was angry with God. He had cancer and he knew he was going to be dead soon, and he hated God for letting it happen. He wanted to see his grandchildren grow up more than anything. At night, he would lie in bed and curse God. It was horrible. And the angrier he got toward God, the meaner he was to everyone around him. It was unbearable to be in the same room with him. His nastiness just kept getting worse and worse. But then you laid hands on him on Sunday morning and you prayed for him. When he walked out of church, I knew there was something different. I could feel it. He was a different person. The last four days of our lives have been the best four days we’ve ever had together. We talked and laughed. We even sang hymns with each other. It was a good, good time.”

 

She paused, then added something very profound. She said, “Tony, my husband wasn’t cured, but he was healed.” (Let Me Tell You a Story, p. 34-36)

 

My sisters and brothers, let us be assured that God desires and intends for us to be healed. After all, this is the ministry of Christ, which Luke has recorded for us with suck skill. This healing work is still made effective today by the Holy Spirit, but only when we ask and when we put ourselves in a position to receive this healing grace.

 

We can’t control it; we can’t predict it, but this healing grace is at work today, and we all have access to it today because of Jesus our Savior. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Not to Lose Heart

Sermon for Proper 24 C RCL 10/17/2010, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Jeremiah 31:27-34; Psalm 119:97-104; 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5; Luke 18:1-8

In our Gospel reading today, the Lord tells a parable to his disciples so that they would learn to pray always and not to lose heart. There are only 3 parables on prayer in all of the gospels, and all 3 of these prayer parables are found only here in Luke. We heard the first earlier in the summer, and next Sunday we will hear the 3rd of these. But today we are given this brief little parable for our meditation. And what is more, we are even told before hand what the lesson of this parable is meant to be!

“Jesus told the disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.”

What does it mean to lose heart? It’s an unusual Greek word that is used here and it means something like becoming weary or tired, losing heart, beginning to despair.

What a fitting word given to us today, I believe. I know that there are many among us here who are feeling weary and tired; many who are tired of carrying such a heavy load in the church all alone.

Well, if you are in that category, then listen well to this message of hope that the Lord brings to you today. The persistent widow who finally receives justice from the wicked judge because of her patience and perseverance is a lesson for all of us who labor in the Lord’s work but see little fruit for our efforts.

I spoke with you a few weeks ago about prayer, particularly about the woman who was praying a novena to St. Joseph. And I suggested that she was misguided in her prayers because she did not, first and foremost, seek after the will of God above all things. (10/3 Sermon - Life that really is life)

But there is, of course, a place for pleading to God for those things which are on our hearts. We call that the work of petition and intercession.

Let’s take a minute to get our understanding of prayer straight before we go any further. Please turn to the Catechism in the Prayer Book on Page 856. Let us look together at how the church has defined prayer, and particularly this discipline of asking God for help and relief.

Prayer and Worship (the first question)

Q. What is prayer?
A. Prayer is responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.

All that we can ever do in prayer is to respond. God always initiates; we are always in the position of reacting and responding to what God has done.

Q. What are the principle kinds of prayer? (at the bottom of the page)

A. The principle kinds of prayer are adoration, praise, thanksgiving, penitence, oblation, intercession, and petition.

There, at the end, are the forms of prayer that we are considering today: intercession and petition.

(on to the next page, about in the middle – the 6th question down)

Q. What are intercession and petition?
A. Intercession brings before God the needs of others; in petition, we present our own needs, that God's will may be done.

This work of prayer is nothing other than the work of love. If we love others, and if we love God, then it is natural and completely expected that we would bring to God the needs of those who love, and our own needs as well.

But this is not intended to be simply an individual effort. When we get down to it, the work of the church is prayer. Remember that the Lord’s concern when he entered the temple and overturned the tables was that the temple is to be “a house of prayer for all nations.” Our relationship with God – on an individual level – is our life of prayer. But this is true on a community level as well. Our collective connection with God begins and ends with prayer. It is our task to fulfill the vision of Jesus and to become a house of prayer for all people.


In his classic book called Prayer, Richard Foster shares the remarkable story of a prayer movement among churches in South Korea. Over the last 50 years, the church in Korea has absolutely exploded with exponential growth and, at least in terms of people who identify themselves as Christians when asked, South Korea today ranks as one of the most Christian nations on earth. One of the keys to this growth has been their commitment to prayer. Foster tells the story of Myong-Song Presbyterian Church in Seoul. Koreans are known for their early-morning prayer meetings, but this church has taken this to a new level. Back in the 1980’s, about 40 members of the church gathered together early in the morning to pray. By the mid-90’s, around 12,ooo people were coming out each morning simply to pray, and that’s all. They began at 4 AM. Once the church was completely full, they closed the doors and a large crowd waited outside until 5 AM when the doors opened and the next group was allowed inside. Another group entered at 6 AM. Even during cold winter mornings, with the temperature well below freezing, these crowds continue to gather each morning.

And why do they do this? Simply for the ability, and the privilege, to pray together.

By the way: isn’t it remarkable how quick we are to complain when things aren’t precisely as we would want them? And yet, here are thousands of Christians who are so eager to pray with their fellow believers, that they will wait up to 2 hours in the dark, in the cold, on the street, solely for the sake of that privilege of praying together?

This work of ongoing and unceasing prayer is what the church is all about. Thomas Merton wrote this about the ever-present call to prayer that we experience: “The ever-changing reality in the midst of which we live should awaken us to the possibility of an uninterrupted dialogue with God.”

Because change is the one constant in our human experience, this change offers us an opportunity to bring everything we experience before God in reverence and expectation, patiently waiting for the Spirit to move.

This is something that we are not particularly good at. Patiently waiting for God. I know that I am not very good at it. I’m a fix-it kind of guy. If something is broken, then let’s get to work and fix it. That’s how I think. That’s how I operate.

But, when things are broken within ourselves, or within our church, what kind of response does God teach us to take? Stop and pray and wait.



Right now, we have challenges in our congregations that keep us from being able to effectively bear witness to the gospel in our communities. What is the answer? What is the solution to our challenges? It is prayer. I can’t explain to you why or how this works. But prayer is why we are here, and prayer is the unique offering that we give to the world around us.

Prayer is our task. Both individually and collectively, to come before the presence of the living God with trust and to present our needs with hopeful expectation. This is not the easy path to take, but it is the faithful path, the one that leads to joy and abundance in our life together in Christ. Amen.

Erin painting at Pat's King of Steaks!

IF YOU DO NOT KNOW ERIN, MY SOUL-MATE, THEN PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VIEW A RECENT INTERVIEW WITH HER WHILE PAINTING ON THE STREET IN SOUTH PHILLY. THANKS TO ALEX ONKOW AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY FOR PRODUCING THIS!

http://astro.temple.edu/~tub66955/erin.html

Erin painting at Pat's on Passyunk Ave

But the Word of God is not chained!

Sermon for Proper 23 C RCL 3/21/2010, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Jeremiah 29:1,4-7; Psalm 66:1-12; 2 Timothy 2:8-15; Luke 17:11-19

Help us, O Lord, to become masters of ourselves so that we might become the servants of others. Take our minds and think throw them. Take our lips and speak through them. Take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.

In our Gospel reading today, the Lord heals ten lepers who beg for his help. Only one returns, the one who is the foreigner. The Samaritan. You and I, who are Gentiles in the flesh – we, of course, represent the Samaritans in this gospel story. And this week, as I read this story, I wondered about how often we take for granted the amazing healing grace which we have received from the Lord. Do we even recognize it and acknowledge it? Or do we continue to go on our way, never ceasing to give our thanks and praise?

Today’s reading from the letter to Timothy speaks of St. Paul being chained in prison for the sake of the Gospel. Then he adds a remarkable little sentence after this. “But the Word of God is not chained.”

But the Word of God is not chained! Of course, the writer of this is not speaking of the Bible as we know it, but rather of “the message”, the euangelion, the proclamation of Jesus as the Master of all. The Greek quite literally says that the logos of God is not bound, restrained or hindered. Jesus is the logos, but he speaks to us today primarily through the words of scripture.

But how often do we stop and recognize this?
Do we Samaritans stop to give thanks to God for this amazing gift of the Bible? To recognize and give thanks for the healing and transforming effects of these sacred texts?

I think that we take them for granted. Oh, yeah, it’s the Bible. We are supposed to read it.

Do we remember and recognize know how many millions of people in the world are craving and praying for the privilege to read the Bible in their own language, in a way that they can understand, and yet they are not able?

The old proverb is that “familiarity breeds contempt” and in this case I believe it is true. We here in the Church – we have heard the Bible so much, and talked about it so much, that it has become almost boring. Most of us can hear it now with such nonchalance that we barely even listen any more.

But the Word of God is not chained. And this message of the Gospel has amazing power to touch people and change them forever.

Let me share with you and amazing story of the effect that the word of God can have on people. Mosab Hassan Yousef is a young man living right now in exile. The reason for this is complicated. You see, he grew up in Ramallah, in Palestine. His father is Sheik Hassan Yousef. This man is the imam, the one spiritual leader behind the founding of Hamas, the Islamic Palestinian terrorist group committed to the destruction of Israel. Mosab grew up then as a prince among his people, the first-born son of a very important and very influential (and dangerous) person.

Growing up in that place, Mosab learned the spiritual practices of Islam. He never missed a time of prayer with his father at the mosque. He loved his father and admired his father’s devotion. But, unfortunately, Mosab also learned there how to hate. And as he grew up, his list of those who were worthy of his hate grew longer and longer. When he was 18, he secretly bought a few guns so that he might attack Israeli settlers and soldiers as part of the first intifada, but he was caught and arrested by the Israelis. While being held in the large prison in the valley of Armageddon for 16 months, he watched with horror as the leaders of Hamas tortured and brutalized one another under suspicion of collaboration with the Israelis.

Mosab’s faith in and commitment to his people began to waver. If they did this to one another in the name of Islam, of what other horrors were they capable? He became confused and began searching for truth. Mosab grew unsure now of who were the bad guys and who were the good guys, who he should hate and who he should trust.

Damascus Gate in Old Jerusalem

Until one day in 1999. By this time, Mosab was free and on this day he was walking with his best friend, Jamal, past the Damascus Gate in Old Jerusalem. A man from the United Kingdom, who spoke Arabic, was there and he invited Mosab to join a group studying the New Testament at the YMCA in West Jerusalem. The invitation came at just the right point in his life, and Mosab accepted. After all, every Muslim considers Jesus to be a great prophet from God, so why not learn about what he actually did and taught?

Mosab was given a New Testament as a gift for him to take home. This was dangerous for Mosab, as conversions are not allowed and any hint of disloyalty to the cause of Hamas could cost him his life. But the giving and receiving of gifts is a vital part of Arab hospitality, and so Mosab accepted this gift and secretly he took it home.

He had no idea of how to read this Arabic New Testament, so he began in the beginning. Mosab read the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew. He found it interesting, but not terribly overwhelming. That is, until he came to the Sermon on the Mount and these specific words, which seemed directly spoken to his heart: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43-44).

What? Love your enemies? Pray for those who are attempting to hurt you? Instantly, Mosab felt as if he were struck by lightning! Never before had he heard a message like this. Never before. And yet he knew with an abrupt awareness that defies rational description “that this was the message [he] had been searching for all [his] life” (The Son of Hamas, p. 122).

Since that day, Mosab has become a devoted disciple of this prophet from Nazareth, the one who taught him that there is no enemy out there who we must hate and attack. Jesus taught him that his only true enemy is in fact the hatred and anger and violence that had taken hold of his heart.

But the Word of God is not chained. Just let that gospel message loose into the world and who knows what effect it might have! Let those trapped in cycles of violence hear words of truth and beauty from the Prince of Peace, and who knows how the Spirit might begin to transform them and their communities!

Do you think that you and I here remember and recognize how truly radical and revolutionary this Word of God is? How life-altering is this message of the Gospel? Let’s face it. It is not our primary instinct to love our enemies. It is not a natural reaction to never seek after revenge. It is not normal to reject all anger and hatred, to never allow a root of bitterness to grow up within our hearts.

When Paul was held in prison for the sake of the gospel, he writes letters to his friends. But does not ask for help with organizing a raid party, to organize a prison break? Never does not write to his friends to organize a secret militia to attack the prison. Never does he seek revenge by plotting to assassinate the Roman official who put him there. Never does he do this, because the logos of God has gripped and changed his heart.

This word, this message, this Gospel has power to change people, to change communities, to change the world.

Do we come back to God and give thanks for the healing and grace which we have received through this Word? Or are we like the nine others who take it for granted, and consider this gift of little value?
Let us be the ones who do not take the word of God for granted, but who continually recognize and give thanks for the amazing gift that we have received here in the message of the Gospel. Amen.

A Spirit of Power and Love

A Youth Sermon for Proper 22 C RCL 10/3/2010, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Lamentations 1:1-6; Lam. 3:19-26; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Luke 17:5-10

Did you hear and notice that powerful little sentence from our readings today? “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

What is cowardice? What does it look like? Can you show me what cowardice looks like?
What does it feel like to have cowardice, to be cowardly?

So the great apostle Paul taught us that God did NOT give us that kind of spirit. God does not want us to look or to feel that way.

Instead, God gave us a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline!

That spirit of power, the spirit of love, looks different that cowardice, doesn’t it? What does it look like to be filled with power and with love? To be bold?

Yesterday, we had a retreat out at a nature preserve where a group of us gathered together to learn about St. Francis of Assisi. Do you know anything at all about St. Francis?

Well, when Francis was a young man, he faced a really tough situation where he had to choose whether to live with a spirit of cowardice or with a spirit of boldness. Francis’ father ran his own business and he wanted Francis to join him and to learn the business so that he could take it over when his father grew old. But instead, Francis was more interested in working in churches! What’s worse is that Francis was giving away his father’s money to poor people! Finally, his father was fed up with this. He had had enough of this strange behavior. So he dragged his son, Francis, into church to stand before the bishop to make Francis swear to give up this craziness and to be a good son.

Francis had to choose! Was he going to cower under his father’s anger and do what his father wanted? Or was he going to listen to God, follow Jesus and be bold and courageous?

Do you know what he did? He decided to follow Jesus! He took of all of his clothes, gave them back to his father, and walked away totally free to begin a brand new life!

Francis was a Christian, and he chose to live with that spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline that Jesus had given to him.

Do you know how to live with that Holy Spirit inside of us? That Spirit does not allow us to be ashamed of the Gospel. But when we are filled with the Holy Spirit like Jesus and like Francis, then we can stand up with boldness and say to others,

“I don’t care what you say, because I am going to love you no matter what! And I don’t care what you do, because God is going to love you no matter what! And there's nothing you can do to change that!”

That’s the freedom that we have in the Holy Spirit! To speak and act in a spirit of power and love and self-control.

Let’s pray together:

O God, you made us and you have given us this Spirit of power and love: help us to not be cowards, but to be bold and brave and strong so that we can love everybody and so that we can tell everybody that you love them too. Thank you for giving us such great and wonderful gifts, and thank you for teaching us through the example of people like Francis of Assisi. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Retreat with the Little Poor Man of Assisi



"We happy few" - our small mini-retreat group!

 On Saturday, October 2, we held a "Mini-Retreat with St. Francis of Assisi" at the Wheelabrator Wildlife Refuge in Westville, NJ. Here is an outline of the life of St. Francis. He is, without question, one of the greatest followers of Christ ever to walk the earth. We have much to learn from him. 

Reading about St. Francis in the Wheelabrator Picnic Shelter

The view from Tie-Off Point due north to Center City

Outline of Francis’ Life

• 1182a.d. Birth of Francis in Assisi. The son of Pietro di Bernardone, a wealthy middle-class linen merchant, and Pica, a French woman.
• He studied at St. George’s Church School in Assisi as a youth. He was deeply influenced by the ideals of medieval chivalry and dreamed of being a brave knight.
• 1200 He joined the war between Assisi and neighboring Perugia, was captured and spent 1 year as a POW. During an illness, he received a vision urging him to serve the Lord rather than men.
• 1202 He returned to Assisi and began to help poor priests and the needy by selling his father’s goods. He also began to pray intently. He received a vision of Christ saying, “Francis, go and repair my church which, as you see, is falling into ruins.”
• 1206 Confrontation between Francis and his father over wealth given away. Francis stripped away and left everything behind him now.
• 1209 He received his “gospel way of life” and begins to gather followers (called Friars Minor, meaning “little or insignificant brothers”).
• 1210 Now as a group of 12, they wrote a short Rule of Life and received verbal and direct approval from Pope Innocent III for the Order (the Order of Friars Minor).
• 1212 Desiring to preach the Gospel to everyone, Francis traveled and tried, but failed, to reach the Muslims in North Africa, Spain, and Syria.
• 1219 Francis traveled with Crusaders to Egypt where he preached to the Sultan and attempted to forge a cease-fire agreement.
• 1220 Suffering from malaria and glaucoma, he retired as leader of his growing movement and entered a time of deep struggle and disappointment.
• 1223 Finally regaining peace, Francis created the first Nativity crèche to make the celebration of Christmas more real to the people.
• 1224 He received the Stigmata on his body while in prayer on Mount Alverna on September 14 (Holy Cross Day).
• 1226 After two more years of painful illness, Francis died peacefully in nakedness on the bare ground. He was 44 years old.
• 1228 Francis was canonized as a Saint by the church and his following continued to grow.
• 2010 Today, more than 1.5 million people around the world are vowed Franciscans. Many more are influenced by his example.

The primary source for fruitful meditation upon the life of St. Francis is the Little Flowers. Buy it, and read it often!

The Life That Really is Life

A Sermon for Proper 21 C RCL 9/26/2010, offered by Nathan Ferrell for Trinity Episcopal Shared Ministry

Texts: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15; Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16; 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31

During this season of Pentecost, as we move into the Autumn months, the lectionary bombards us with readings about money and wealth and giving. It certainly seems like a carefully planned conspiracy by church leaders to prep us all for the coming stewardship season, doesn’t it?. But we have talked about money and wealth quite a bit here recently, and today I think we are ready to pursue a different tact.

Of course, the truth of the matter is that Jesus is not, in fact, primarily speaking about money and wealth in this parable today. What he is speaking about is the quality of our character, our ability to see our neighbor in need, the state of our heart. The question at the heart of the matter is this: what is the goal of our relationship with God, our journey with God through this complicated and confusing life?

Last week, a stopped by a local coffee shop to grab a cup of coffee, sit for a few minutes and go through my e-mail. I was the only patron at the time, and so the woman working at the coffee shop felt comfortable to talk with me. Of course, I had my collar on, so she talked with me about her prayers. Her daughter stopped by quickly and talked with her mother. When she left, the mother explained to me that her daughter is studying hard to pass the state nursing test, to become a licensed and registered nurse. The daughter has failed it three times already. This is her fourth attempt at it. Therefore, the mother explained that all her family is right now praying the St. Joseph novena in order for her daughter to pass the state nursing test. She said, “You know, the prayer to St. Joseph for special causes that my daughter has is slightly different from mine. So I’m praying them both, because we really need her to pass this test!”

What’s wrong with this picture? I am not opposed to the idea of praying to the saints. There are many different ways to pray, and the Scriptures do encourage us to pray for one another within the body of Christ. Whether the members of the Body are dead or alive, that doesn’t make any real difference in this. We can all pray for one another.

But look at her situation more deeply. What is the purpose of prayer? Is it simply a way for us to get what we want? Some kind of divine lottery game? So that, if we pick just the right numbers, or in the case, say just the right prayer for just the right number of days, then we will be the fortunate one who wins the prize?

Is this what prayer is about? Is this how we view our relationship with God? Perhaps that example is a bit too obvious for you, so let’s try another. How is it that we view the sacraments of the church, the usual channels of grace that God has appointed for us?

Do you honestly think if you come to church regularly, receive communion often, given to and support the church, that in some way God is going to give you more goods things than those who never darken the doors of a church?

The answer is no, no, no. God causes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and gives rain to the righteous and to the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45).

What is the primary purpose of prayer but to place ourselves intentionally in the presence of God so that we can draw close to God? What is the purpose of attending church, of joining together in worship but to be in a place where God can touch us and change us? What is the purpose of receiving communion, of participating in the sacraments but to embrace the grace that is given so that we might become the bearers of God in this dark and confused world?

What is the purpose of praying a novena to St. Joseph except to draw near to St. Joseph and to learn from him how to live a life of faithfulness and strength, commitment and devotion? What is the goal of our relationship with God but to be united to God and to our neighbor in love?

There is an old story of a man, a spiritual seeker, who visited a Sufi community and was very impressed by what he saw. Here’s a little background to help you understand this. Within the Muslim world, miracles have never been an important part of their faith. Muhammad never performed any miracles. But, over the years, Sufi communities within Islam embraced a more mystical, spiritual path, and thus they have tended to seek after and accept the miraculous.

So this man came to the Master of the Sufi community, and he said this: “Master, I am very impressed by the spiritual depth of your community, and I would like to join you here. But first, I must ask this question: Do you believe that God performs miracles?”

An understandable question, coming from a Muslim seeker. The answer from the Sufi Master is superb, in spite of its old-fasioned language. He said: “Yes, of course. But some believe it is a miracle when God does the will of man. We believe it is a miracle when man does the will of God.”

We believe it is a miracle when men and women do the will of God!

When Jesus shares this parable of the rich man and Lazarus, in no way does he offer this as a way to curry God’s favor, so that if we act well then we can avoid the fate of this rich man. There is no special formula to win God’s blessing. The purpose of Jesus’ teaching is NOT to give us clues about how we can best manipulate God into giving us what we want.

Our task rather is to submit ourselves, with love and gratitude, to the purposes and dreams and visions of God, to learn the art of contentment. St. Clement of Alexandria explained the purposes of God in this way: “Providence is a disciplinary art.”

Providence, the working out of God’s plan in the actual realities of everyday life, is a disciplinary art. It is God’s way of shaping us, correcting us –so to speak, of guiding us toward a life of union with God, where we become one with God.

My friends, let us push forward to “take hold of the life that really is life” (1 Timothy 6:19), as the apostle states so well. That life that is deep within us far beyond the superficial things of this world. That life that is lived in conscious and intentional harmony with the will and purpose of God, whatever that might be. Amen.