Cycle C- 18th Sunday – July 31st 2010
The new pastor stood at the church door greeting the members as they left the Sunday morning service. Most of the people were very generous telling the new pastor how much they liked his message, except for one man who said, "Today was a very dull and boring sermon, pastor."
A few minutes later, the same man again appeared in line and said, "I don't think you did much preparation for your message."
Once again, the man appeared, this time muttering, "You really blew it. You didn't have a thing to say, pastor."
Finally, the minister could stand it no longer. He went to one of the deacons and inquired about the man.
"Oh, don't let that guy bother you," said the deacon. "He's a little slow. All he does is to go around repeating whatever he hears other people saying.
Coming to one’s own senses and realization is very important! A person who does not have his sense or realization is in vanity and is a fool. He is not down to earth.
The author of today’s first reading would call such feelings vanity. The very first verse of today’s first reading from the book of Ecclesiastes says:
Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! (Eccl 1:2)
For what profit comes to man from all the toil and anxiety of heart
with which he has labored under the sun?
All his days sorrow and grief are his occupation;
even at night his mind is not at rest.
This also is vanity. (Eccl 2:23)
Who among us has not at some point or the other pondered on the futility of it all. In fact, Qoheleth would suggest that “the futility of it all” is the best realization that a wise person can come to. The opposite is the human desire for wealth and earthly security and its accompanying anxiety, grief, and sleeplessness is what Qoheleth calls, vanity. And Jesus would agree. That is why Jesus, in today’s gospel reading, called the rich man who found comfort and security a “fool.” “Take care,” Jesus says, “to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich one’s life does not consists of possessions.” Therefore Paul proposes in the second reading three steps for us to make sure we can avoid vanity to have self- realization and reach our final destination – our Creator.
Three practical implications:
Paul was a very educated man. He studied under the then famous Rabbi Gamaliel. Knowing how self-motivated Paul was, being aware of his zeal for Christ and the single-minded devotion, his ability to focus on the task at hand, and recognizing his capacity for deep thoughts, we can conclude that Paul could have written a number of “how to do it” books. In fact, today’s second reading is not much different from modern day motivational literature.
1. First, Paul says, “Think” of what is above, not of what is on earth. It was Buddha who said, “What we think, we become.” In other words, Paul suggests that the secret to living wisely begins in the mind. How do we think of ourselves, primarily? Do we define ourselves by the roles we play or the professions we practice or do we primarily think of ourselves as pilgrims on the way to eternity? Paul would advise us to let our final destiny define us. It our calling as children of God that should determine what roles we play and how we fulfill them. It is our identity as belonging to Christ that should determine our profession and how we carry out our social responsibilities. This is the first practical implication then: Let our divine eternity determine our earthly mortality. In this is wisdom. To do otherwise is vanity. It is foolishness. That would be an eternal suicide.
2. Second, Paul suggests, “Put to death the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and the greed that is idolatry.” Once we determine that our eternity determines our mortality, the next step is the conscious effort to root out those elements from our lives that tie us to our earthly mortality. In the gospels this process is called conversion. In today’s reading Paul identifies six things we must root out from our lives: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed (which he calls idolatry), and lying. The second practical implication, then, is: let our eternity dictate our mortality.
3. Third, Paul pleads, “…Put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator.” The third step, Paul would suggest, is to make conscious positive changes in our life. Wisdom lies not only in eliminating earthly values but inculcating those values that will lead us to our Creator. Paul calls this, “putting on the new self.” If we take the readings seriously, we must “put on” integrity where we find immorality, purity where there is impurity, self-control where there is passion, holiness where there is evil desire, generosity where there is greed and truth where there is lie. The third, practical implication, then, is: let us put on Christ.
As we offer our worship this Sunday through the Eucharist, let us ask Christ the wisdom to focus our minds on who we are and our eternity.
