Sermon on the Last Sunday after Epiphany: How shall we deal with the world?
Why is the world the way it is? In my work at my college, I’m starting a new semester of trying to teach how the world has become the way it is with the methodology of a historian.
Here in this church, I have tried to answer that question, using the practices of a priest.
The reading from Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians illustrates the difficulty we all face in figuring out why the world is the way it is. The gospel is veiled to many people. When Paul says such people are perishing, he blames it on being blinded by the “god of this world.”
I think we can all be blinded by the “god of this world.” Who is that god? Some sources think it is the demon Beliar, because Paul mentions him later in the epistle. I would prefer to avoid blaming demons.
Instead, I think there is enough to blame in the distractions and temptations offered by human society in the world. Lives that get distracted by desires, grudges, angers, hatreds, hungers, egotisms, ambitions, greeds, and just plain not caring about what happens to others.
As we enter Lent, we should remember that Christ died for all of us and we are to live as Christ for all of us. We should foster generosity, mercy, kindness, humility, and doing something to care for other people, especially those who cannot care for themselves.
What should be “in our hearts” is “the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” We need to bring that light into our world.
Written for the parish of St. James & St. George 2021 February 14
URL: <http://therev.brianpavlac.org/srms/20210214.html