The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

Bill's suspense novel "Purge the Evil" now available for Kindle download. For info, click here: http://www.boomertrek.com/PurgeTheEvil.htm
 

The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

(Scripture readings for Sunday, January 29th: Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28)

KNOWING ABOUT GOD NOT THE SAME AS KNOWING GOD

As we’ve pointed out many times in these essays, the identity of Jesus is probably the most important issue in the whole world. If a person doesn’t know the true identity of Jesus, then it’s just about impossible for that person to enter into eternal life in Heaven. I say “just about” impossible because I don’t want to limit God’s amazing mercy and forgiveness. Even though my puny brain detects no wiggle room in Jesus’ words, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me,” maybe God has made special provisions for special cases. That having been said, however, why take a chance? Why roll the dice when the stakes are so high? The identity of Jesus is supremely crucial, and the Bible and the apostolic tradition of the Church paint a very clear picture: Jesus was not just an interesting spiritual philosopher and yet only a man; He was the incarnate deity, the Son of the living God. It behooves all of us to spend some time studying the true identity of Jesus.

But you know what? Knowing the true identity of Jesus is not the be-all and end-all of religious life. It is just the first important step. Once the true identity of Jesus is clearly understood, then a personal relationship with Him based on faith and trust is needed. This week’s gospel reading offers a stark reminder of this concept.

In the synagogue at Capernaum, Jesus confronted a man possessed by an evil spirit. The evil spirit shrieked out at Jesus, “Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

Did you catch that? The evil spirit KNEW the true identity of Jesus. The evil spirit was certainly not an atheist; it knew that God exists. Nor was the evil spirit one of those New Age, touchy-feely adherents who believes that whatever a person feels is right must be right for them. No, this evil spirit knew that Jesus Christ is the “Holy One of God.” But the correct knowledge of these basic facts did the evil spirit no good. It was damned for all time.

The Bible offers additional teachings on this subject. In James’ epistle, he wrote, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:19).

Jesus himself explained, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Scary stuff, huh? Knowing that God is real and knowing that Jesus is His Son, and even referring to Jesus as, “Lord, Lord,” just doesn’t cut it. Possessing knowledge about God is not the same thing as having faith in God. Knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Him.

Faith in God, the kind of faith that gets us into Heaven, requires that we put our full trust in the Lord. We need to do the most difficult thing known to mankind: forget about ourselves and focus instead on God.

It’s not easy to put God at the center of our lives. It wasn’t all that easy a century or two ago when most citizens were Bible literate and understood that pride and selfishness were sinful. It’s even harder today when most people are ignorant of Scripture and have been trained by our modern culture to view self-centeredness and pride as the most important attitudes in life.

If you told a class of high school students (or for that matter, middle-aged businessmen) that our national motto, “E pluribus Unum,” is Latin for, “What’s in it for me?” many would say, “Yeah, that sounds right. That’s the way you’re suppose to approach life, isn’t it?”

Surveys consistently show that over 90 percent of the American public believe in God, with over 80 percent claiming to be Christian, which presumably means they know Jesus is the Messiah, the Holy One of God. Despite this, we live in an era when true faith is rather scarce. We have been fooled into thinking that knowing about Jesus is the same as knowing Him; that believing God exists is the same has having faith in God.

The Bible clearly teaches that saving faith is not a one-shot, fleeting emotion that makes you excited for a brief moment in time. And faith is not an intellectual assent to a set of statements that quickly gets filed away in the back of your mind. No, faith is a life-changing reality that permeates your whole being.

Now don’t get me wrong. We can’t earn our way into Heaven. Scripture plainly states that salvation is a free gift offered to us by the grace of God. We can’t do a lot of good deeds—as if we’re building up Brownie points—and buy our way into eternal life.

God doesn’t particularly want (or need) our good deeds. He wants instead our hearts. He’s smart enough to know that if we give Him our hearts the good deeds will follow.

True faith in God through Christ has the power to transform lives. It changes people into new creations. The old sinful nature is put to death on the cross with Jesus, and a new Spirit-directed nature takes over.

Does saving faith instantly make a person perfect? No, perfection is beyond our grasp in this world. But saving faith does change people so drastically that others can’t help but notice. (Hint: if it would come as a complete surprise to your co-workers or neighbors that you claim to be a Christian, the you’d better do an emergency faith inventory.)

Please heed this week’s gospel lesson: knowing ABOUT God is not the same as knowing God. Yes, knowing the true identity of Jesus is crucial. Without it, everything else you think or do will be heading off in the wrong direction. But knowing the identity of Jesus is just the first step. A vibrant faith and trust and commitment to Him is also needed. It is the difference between hearing Jesus say to us at the moment of our death, “Away from me, you evildoer. I never knew you,” and hearing him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

©2012