From the Sayings of the
Desert Fathers: ‘When blessed Antony was praying in his cell, a voice spoke
to him, saying, “Antony, you have not yet come to the measure of the tanner who
is in Alexandria.” When he heard this, the old man got up and took his stick
and hurried into the city. When he had found the tanner ... he said to him
“Tell me about your work, for today I have left the desert and come here to see
you.”
He replied, “I am not
aware that I have done anything good. When I get up in the morning, before I
sit down to work, I say that the whole of this city, small and great will go
into the Kingdom of God because of their good deeds, while I alone will go into
eternal punishment because of my evil deeds. Every evening I repeat the same
words and believe them in my heart.”
When blessed Antony
heard this he said “My son, you sit in your own house and work well, and you
have the peace of the Kingdom of God; but I spend all my time in solitude with
no distractions, and I have not come near the measure of such words”
When
Our Lord begins the Sermon on the Mount, he starts by saying ‘Blessed are the
poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God’ To be poor in spirit is not to
have a false idea of who and what you are, and it is to know your need for and
dependence upon God, and God alone – to trust Him to be at work in your life,
to heal and restore you. That is how we
are to live as Christians. In this morning’s Old Testament reading we see
Isaiah prophesying about the Kingdom of God: he speaks of joy, refreshment and
new life in God, it’s what the Kingdom of God looks and feels like – these are
the promises fulfilled in the Word made flesh, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, who took our flesh and lived and died to heal us, to restore in us the
image of God, in which we were created.
This
is why in the Gospels Jesus performs miracles: not to show off his power, or to
attract followers, or to win popularity or power, but to show God’s healing
love for people who know their need of God. The miracles are first and foremost
prophetic acts which announce God’s Kingdom among us: a kingdom of love and
mercy and healing, where humanity is restored and valued. This morning’s second
reading from the Letter of St James shows us how to live our lives as
Christians in an authentic manner. Just as St Antony was not afraid to see a
greater example of faith than his own lived out in the world, by a man who
tanned animal hides in urine all day long, hard, demanding and smelly work; so
we should not make the distinctions of which the world around us is so fond. If
we live our lives without judging others, we can be as free as the deaf mute
healed by Jesus. The ways of the world will not bind and constrain us; we can instead
serve Him, whose service is perfect freedom.
To
return to the desert for an example ‘A brother in Scetis committed a fault.
A council was called to which abba Moses was invited, but refused to go to it.
Then the priest sent someone to him saying “Come for everyone is waiting for
you”. So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug with him filled with water
and carried it with him. The others came to meet him and said, “What is this,
father?” The old man said to them “My sins run out behind me, and I do not see
them, and today I am coming to judge the errors of another.” When they heard
that, they said no more to the brother but forgave him’
This
morning’s Gospel shows us God’s love and God’s healing. It is what we all need.
I certainly need it: as I’m weak, broken, vulnerable, and sinful, and in need
of what only God can give us. All of us, if we were to be honest are in need
too – we need God to be at work in our lives, healing us, restoring us, helping
us to grow more and more into his image. It would be foolish or arrogant to
think otherwise: that we know it all, that we’re quite alright, thank you very
much. Can we come to Jesus, and can we ask him to heal us, through prayer,
through the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, the true balm of Gilead which can
heal the sin-sick soul? We can and we should, indeed we must so that we can
continue to live out our baptism as Christians.
As those loved and healed by him we need to
live out the reality of our faith in our lives, showing the love and forgiveness
to others which God shows to us. So that all of our lives may give Glory to God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, to whom be ascribed as is
most right and just, all might, majesty, glory dominion, and power, now and
forever.
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