The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, August 16th: Proverbs 9:1-6; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58)

WE MUST NOT BE FOOLISH IN THESE EVIL DAYS

In this week’s second reading, from the letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul warns all Christians: “Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise…because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance.”

The key words in this warning are “foolish,” “evil,” and “ignorance.” You can make a strong case that Paul’s words are very appropriate on a purely secular level. After all, we live in a very chaotic world these days. A great deal of foolish, evil, and ignorant ideas—mostly self-centered and short-sighted ideas—have put our entire society in dire straights.

As a culture, we have become obsessed with instant gratification. We are so focused on having whatever we want whenever we want it, even if we can’t pay for it, that we have borrowed money and maxed out our credit cards at record levels. Additionally, a majority of the population has encouraged our political leaders to spend trillions of dollars we simply don’t have. Even the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently used the word “unsustainable” when describing the current level of deficit spending. Our nation is now traveling down a path of unprecedented borrowing, and soon the crushing debt most likely will cause hyper-inflation, which will effectively decimate the middle-class. If you want to get a glimmer of this gruesome scenario, go research the German Weimar Republic, where they needed a wheelbarrow full of cash to buy a loaf of bread, or the lifestyle of the average Bulgarian under Soviet domination during the 20th century. It’s not a pretty picture.

Foolishness and ignorance surely are at the heart of our cultural and financial mess. When people choose to be ignorant about basic monetary principles, and when they foolishly assume that someone or something magically will fix the problem down the road, then we really are getting what we deserve. We are reaping what we have sown.

Add to this situation Paul’s third word: evil. There is no doubt that as a nation we have embraced evil. Greed is now considered good; killing babies is considered a “right”; adultery and perversion are viewed as nothing more than morally neutral personal preferences; stealing someone’s life savings is just shrewd business; and destroying the property of others is merely the expression of a political point of view. When we include this acceptance of evil to the financial mess caused by ignorance and foolishness, the collapse and the chaos will only be that much more devastating and violent.

Paul’s warning, and the principles behind his warning, are not only applicable on a secular level. They also apply on a spiritual level. The same three words—foolish, evil, and ignorance—have a huge impact on a person’s faith life. If someone foolishly ignores the truth of the Gospel, if that person embraces evil as if it were good, he or she cannot possibly be in a proper relationship with God. And without this proper relationship, the final result is not just cultural chaos and Weimar or Bulgaria-style poverty, the final result is eternal damnation. Compared to eternity, our brief lifetime in this world is like one tick of the clock.

Of course, we should be concerned about building a prosperous, healthy, and moral society in this world. God has charged mankind with the responsibility of being good stewards of this planet, and part of our duty is to create societies that minimize poverty and misery. But our earthly situation is rather minor when compared to eternity, where our final destination, according to Scripture, will be in either one of two places: Heaven or Hell.

So we must take St. Paul’s words to heart, and honestly ask ourselves: How are we living our lives these days, foolishly or wisely? Are we embracing the truths of God, or are we embracing the evil attitudes of our fallen world: self-centeredness and short-sightedness? Are we satisfied with being ignorant, too focused on personal comfort and pleasures to bother learning about the stark realities of our world today? Are we in a proper relationship with the one-and-only true God—with all the demands and duties and delayed gratification required—or are we worshipping a make-believe god, a god of convenience who has no moral standards and who makes no demands of us? (Here’s a surefire test to determine whether you’re worshipping a make-believe god: if your “god” lets YOU define right and wrong based on what gives you the most pleasure, you can be sure you are not serving the real God.)

One of the most awesome aspects of God is the way His spiritual plan for our lives meshes so seamlessly with His secular plan for our lives. If we truly know Him and love Him and serve Him, with our eyes firmly set on the final goal of eternal life in Heaven, then we end up being much better citizens in secular society right here and right now. If we live according to God’s spiritual principles—which include being less self-centered and less short-sighted—we do a much better job of balancing our freedoms with our responsibilities. We don’t become consumed by greed; we don’t murder babies; we don’t ignore our marriage vows; we don’t max out our credit cards; and we don’t encourage our political leaders to spend money like drunken sailors and send to bill to future generations. (Sorry, that’s an insult to drunken sailors. When they blow a month’s pay in a single night while on shore leave, at least they’re blowing THEIR OWN money. Politicians are much worse than drunken sailors because they blow other people’s money.)

As St. Paul tells us this week, “the days are evil.” We must “watch carefully how [we] live, not as foolish persons but as wise.” The ramifications are momentous, both in this world and in the next.

©2009