THE SERMON
The preacher, whether
Bishop, Priest, or Deacon, now addresses the People,
all standing.
From the _20th_
chapter of
the Holy Gospel according
to Saint _John_,
the _29th_verse.
A section of the Gospel
of the Day is read.
Jesus said to him, "Have you believed
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come
to believe."
Upon conclusion of the
reading is said,
Let the words of my
mouth, and the meditation of my heart,
be alway acceptable in
thy sight, O Lord,
my strength and my
redeemer.
Psalm
19:14.
The People sit and listen
to the Sermon.
I.
Introduction – What do we see? What do we believe?
Please, allow me to share what a couple of the doctors of the
Church had to tell us about this verse:
1. From St. Augustine of Hippo: “He (Our Lord) does not say, because thou hast touched Me,
but because thou hast seen Me; since the power of vision pertains in a
general way to all the senses, and by it the other four are wont to be implied;
as when we say: ‘Listen and SEE
how good it sounds’;
‘smell and SEE how good it smells’;
‘taste and SEE how good it tastes’;
‘feel and SEE how warm it is’.
And so here the Lord says:
Put in thy finger, and see my
hands.
What else does he say but; ‘feel and see’.
For he (Thomas) had not eyes in his finger. Therefore, whether by seeing or by
touching, He (Jesus) says this: Because thou hast seen, though hast believed
(a question).
2. And a little note from St. John Chrysostom: Should anyone say: ‘Would that I had lived in those days,
and had seen Christ working His wonders’, let him recall these words: Blessed
are they that have not seen, and have believed.
II.
Sermon Body – The Detail, supported from the Bible, Antiquity, and Reason
So often we have heard the phrase, “Seeing is
believing.” That seems to be how
many of us are.
And then there is that old Evangelical joke (this is
the humor part of the sermon): “If I don’t see you in the future I’ll see you
in the pasture!”
My granddad, though, would never have purchased
something, “Sight un-SEEN.” He had
to touch it, smell it, and use it.
Gus was very particular in his VIEW of the world.
Western civilization is very visual in orientation,
though. Philosophy, art, food are
all LOOKED at through a visual LENS.
For example, I don’t think I could eat BLUE food, no matter how
wonderfully it was marinated and grilled.
I am visual, too.
A. First Point – The
Glory of God, His Greatness
Let’s look at this a little more. Our Lord understood the LENS of time. He knew His time on this earth, as
perfect God and perfect Man, was limited.
Christ also knew that we could not understand what we could not SEE, and
we couldn’t SEE what was coming. His
apostles couldn’t see what was coming, or maybe didn’t want to. Jesus spent time helping followers grow
in their understanding, beyond the knowledge of what the disciples SAW. In our first lesson today, from the
Acts of the Apostles, we are taught that those who obey, not observe, Our Lord
will be given the company of the Holy Spirit, the Great Comforter. We learn in our second lesson today,
from Revelation, that Jesus the Christ is the fullness of time, for he is the
Alpha and the Omega. He can SEE
all of time. We are dependent on
God the Son, for He has the LENS.
We don’t.
B. Second Point – Our
Iniquity, The Undeserving
Now we need to get pretty serious. We are so easily fooled, aren’t
we? That is how “magicians” make a
living. Slight of hand is used to
fool our eyes. And on an innocent
level it works. We are entertained
by the likes of Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, Penn and Teller, or Criss
Angel. They are out to fool our
eyes for fun, and sometimes to give us a friendly scare.
There is another magician, though, who likes to fool
us, tempt us, with those things we can SEE and yearn for: Things like food, and wealth, and
power. He was not afraid of
temping Our Lord. I think this
magician was hoping to SEE Jesus accept his magic show.
We understand that real magic, though, is
supernatural. Anything
supernatural is above the created natural order. Only God functions at that level naturally. Anyone or anything else must be evil to
do so or to suggest that it can be done.
Those who fall
for the temptations of the evil one truly FALL, though often they enjoy it for
a while until they realize the GRAVE implications of the evil temptations. Do not be fooled by the false IMAGE,
the slight of hand.
C. Third Point – The
Thanksgiving, Mercy Given
We may rejoice, though. We understand down to the deepest recesses of our soul that
we are blessed. “Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” That is us! That is us, isn’t it?
We didn’t walk with Our Lord, or listen to Him preach, or watch Him
heal, or most wonderfully lay our head on His shoulder. We also didn’t have to live through the
betrayal, trial, and execution. We
could not SEE. Unless we have been
granted a vision we have not seen Jesus.
We don’t really know what he looked like. From the Shroud of Turin and some anthropological studies we
may have a general idea, but no actual sightings or first-hand photos. We can’t SEE Him. And yet we believe. WE ARE BLESSED! Don’t you just feel it? Our Lord has blessed us!
III.
Conclusion – Reiterate the Sermon Points
We teach with signs, symbols, and stories, don’t we? Jesus taught us how to teach. “Seeing is Believing!” We know we rely on our vision too much
(except when driving). We also
know that because of this weakness we are so easily tempted by the evil
one. We must use all our wits and
senses in the worship of the Lord, to live in the Lord.
In our Gospel today we are given a warning and a great
hope. Don’t doubt Jesus! Believe Him! And if we do He will call us “Blessed.” Maybe believing is seeing!
The sentence from the
Gospel of the Day is reread.
Jesus said to him, "Have you believed
because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come
to believe."
Upon conclusion of the
reading is said,
The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be
with us all evermore. 2 Cor. 13:14.
The Sermon is completed.
In Christ's love, Fr. Robert Pax
