In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.
St. Paul says in his epistle to Timothy, and
he refers to Timothy so fondly as my son Timothy,
he says that all scripture is profitable for
our reading and instruction and for our salvation.
And I think this is true of all scripture, just
as St. Paul says. So this is why I'm going to
spend a little bit of time this morning on the
epistle and the gospel. First of all, the epistle
to the Colossians asks the question, how can
I, or answers the question, how can I have peace
with God? So St. Paul addresses in the epistle,
peace with God here on this earth, and the gospel
addresses the parallel question, how can I inherit
eternal life? So peace with God here on earth
and in this world. He says, put on mercy, kindness,
humility, meekness. long -suffering, bearing
with one another, forgiving one another. How
hard is that to do? Especially those that are
closest to us. A spouse, a parent, a fellow worker,
a brother and sister that maybe years ago said
or did something that got under our skin. We
all have faults and imperfections, and even sins,
which we can tolerate the sinner, but not like
the sin. But still and all, St. Paul tells us
we have to bear with one another. Bear one another's
burdens. Forgive one another. And then he says,
above all these things, put on love. This is
a theme in St. Paul. There are three virtues,
powers that are put into our souls by God at
our baptism. Faith, hope, and love, or sometimes
called charity. And these are gifts from God,
but we have to work on increasing them by prayer
and practice. Put on love. And if... St. Paul
tells the Colossians, if you do this and make
a genuine effort at these virtues and practices,
kindness, humility, meekness, long -suffering,
bear with one another, forgive one another, then
the peace of God will dwell in your hearts. You
cannot have peace with God, believe me. unless
you have peace with one another. You hold any
grudge or anger against another one, you will
never find peace with God. It's dependent on
how we treat others. And I say this so often
in confession. Remember, we all have faults.
If we like other people to sort of overlook our
faults and not call to attention all the time
our little shortcomings and idiosyncrasies, so
we should put up with those little things that
our loved ones do that sometimes can get under
our skin. Have peace with one another and then
follows peace with God. The gospel addresses
the similar parallel question, how to inherit
eternal life. This story is so prominent that
it's found in three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and
Luke. The young man who asked Jesus, good master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus
answers him, keep the commandments, and he mentions
a few of them. Do not commit adultery, do not
murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness
or lie. And then the young man said, I've always
found this sort of amusing. He said, all of these
I have kept from my youth. Well, neither he nor
any of us can keep all of these commandments
perfectly. No way. Either in thought, word, or
deed, we sin against these commandments. But
I think if I may speak for that young man, who
is a good person, mind you. He wasn't bad. He
was saying, I have tried to do these. And then
Jesus says, still one thing is lacking. Sell
all that you have, distribute to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven. follow me.
In a famous event from early church history,
St. Anthony of Egypt, who is referred to as the
founder of monasticism, the father of monasticism,
because of his prominence. He wasn't the first
monk, but because of his prominence in the example
in his teaching in life. St. Anthony tells us,
He heard this gospel. It happened to be from
Matthew rather than from Luke, which we hear
this morning. He heard this, and he took it literally.
He sold everything that he had. He provided for
the well -being of his relatives, and he went
off to what the monastic fathers so often called
the single -handed combat of the desert. to struggle
with Satan and with his bad habits alone in the
desert, in the wilderness. And so this moved
Anthony. But then it also, that's a good example
for us, but Christians throughout the centuries
have realized, well, what? I thought, what can
I do, even though I don't take it as literally
as St. Anthony? And I think the best answer to
that question was provided in a sermon by St.
Clement of Alexandria. And this sermon was preached
about the year 180 or 190, late in the second
century. And it's called... What Rich Man Can
Be Saved, that's the title. It's a famous one.
You could Google it and read that for yourself
or a synopsis of it. It says, it's not having
money that's sinful. It's what you do with your
money. And this provided, it's not an excuse
not to have care for the poor and the needy.
But it tells us that the question is not how
much we have, but what we do with what we have.
Even so many examples, parallel examples, the
widow's coin, that little penny that she put
in the treasury, and Jesus said she's contributed
more than all those guys that threw in their
$20 and $50 and $100 bills because she gave.
until it hurt, to paraphrase him. What you do
with what possessions God has given to each and
every one of us. Then there's, I want to say
one final thing about this interesting expression
of our Lord. It's easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of God. Well, literally what he has
in mind is threading a needle. You know how hard
anybody that tries to sew something, especially
when you get older and you have presbyopia and
you can't see, threading needles. So that is
difficult. So if it's hard for a piece of thread
to go through, it's impossible for a camel. But
then there's another explanation for this expression,
which I find very charming. And it's postulated
that there was one entrance gate into the city
of Jerusalem, which apparently was shaped, it
looked like the eye of a sewing needle. Very
small, and in order for a camel to get through
there, the camel had to bow down like this in
order to get through this needle eye gate. Makes
a very charming story. A good Sunday school story.
But you know what? There's no evidence that there
was ever a gate like this. And the first explanation
about this can only be traced to the 9th century.
So even though historically it's not true, it
does provide us with an illustration about the
importance of humility and the other virtues
that we need to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
As with these epistles and gospels, it's always
good to go home and sometime during that day
to reread the epistle and gospel. Because we
hear it, we might be distracted in church when
the epistle and the gospel are read. But go home
and in the quietness of your easy chair with
the TV off, reread. the epistle, and the gospel.
Let these words and teachings sink into our hearts
to forbear with one another and to share what
we have with those who have much less. Amen.