Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; I Corinthians 8:1b-11; Mark 1:21-28
A homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at The Cathedral Church of St. Paul and Apostle, Springfield, Illinois on Sunday, February 1, 2014
“A
(BRIEF) TREATISE ON SALVATION”
(Homily text:
Mark 1: 21–28)
The story is told about the time
that the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple (Archbishop of Canterbury
from 1942 – 1944),
was traveling by train. Someone on the
train asked him, “Archbishop, are you saved?”
In reply, the Archbishop said, “I have been saved, I am being saved, I
shall be saved.”
This statement has been variously
ascribed to a number of persons. But regardless
of whoever it was who said it (and the fact is that there may be more than one
person who did), the statement points to the nature of our salvation. Salvation has to do with God’s work to save
us.
The statement points to the reality that
God’s saving work, done in us, is a process.
It is not a one-time event.
The statement points backward into
the past: “I have been saved.”
The statement points to the
immediacy of the present: “I am being
saved.”
The statement points forward into
the future: “I shall be saved.”
What assurance do we have that God
is able to save us? And in particular,
what assurance do we have as we look at Jesus’ life, healings, and work that
would assure us that God has made possible our salvation through the person and
work of Jesus?
Today’s gospel account gives us a
basis, I believe.
So, let’s look at each phases of the
salvation process, past, present and future, for today’s reading provides us
with a basis to believe in God’s saving work done in the past and in the
present. And, by implication, it points
forward into the future salvation that shall be ours.
As we look at the past event of our
salvation, we have to begin with the fact of baptism. For in baptism, we have
been buried with Christ in a death like His, and we rise up out of the water
into a resurrection like His. (Here, I
am quoting St. Paul as he describes what baptism does in Romans 6: 3 – 9).
The early Church knew how to conduct
baptisms. They immersed people fully
under the water, three times. Each time,
one person of the Holy Trinity was invoked as the immersion took place: “I baptize you in the Name of the
Father,” “I baptize you in the Name of
the Son”, “I baptize you in the Name of the Holy Spirit.”
But before that action took place,
those who were to be baptized were asked to face the west. (The westerly direction represented the ways
of the world and the ways of evil,) They
were asked to renounce Satan and all his works.
They were then asked to turn to the east, to turn toward the Lord Jesus
Christ, and were asked if they accepted Him as Savior and Lord. (This ancient practice survives in our modern
liturgy, in the questions that are asked of those being baptized….see page 302
of the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.)
On what basis could those being
baptized trust Jesus to save them?
Simply because Jesus had already conquered all the powers of evil, as we
read in today’s passage. In the
synagogue in Capernahum, Jesus had silenced and had expelled an evil spirit
from the one who had served as its host.
Jesus, by this action, conquers the powers of evil.
So in baptism, we are set free from
the powers of evil by the One who has demonstrated power over evil. Moreover, in baptism, God claims us forever. It’s as if God takes a permanent magic marker
and writes on our souls, “God’s property.”
In baptism, we turn away from the
west, from the ways of sin, death, the devil and the world, and we turn to
Jesus Christ and begin a new life, a new walk with Him.
In the present time, however, we
continue to be in need of God’s saving work.
I won’t presume to answer for you,
but I find in myself a continuing desire to return to the ways of the world,
the ways of sin, death, self-absorption and the ways of evil. I want to turn westward again, into those
ways I know so well.
I am fond of saying that I am
praying for a long life, for I am a “work in progress”. Indeed so.
I find that my walk with God, in the things I think, the things I do,
the things I say, I often make two steps forward, and then one backward. Then, a burst of God-driven direction takes
place and I make three steps forward, only to fall backward again.
St. Paul lamented this spiritual
reality. Writing in chapter seven of his
wonderful letter to the churches that were in Rome, he admits that he knows the
right things to do, but finds within himself that he does not do them. “Wretched man that I am!” he will exclaim.
St. Paul’s admission should give
each of us comfort. If this great giant
of a saint struggles, isn’t it safe to say that we will, too?
And yet, in this present time and in
this present life, Jesus’ teachings, those teachings that are with authority
because they come directly from the mind of God, serve to show me the right
way, God’s way. In the Lord’s time on
earth, the scribes’ authority rested on the basis of the Law, the Torah, of
Moses. They would often say, “The Law
says so and so.” But Jesus’ teachings
rested on the authority of God the Father, received directly from the Father.
So Jesus’ teachings provide clear
light for the pathway of faith. They are
the source of God’s continuing saving action, drawing us closer to God,
lighting the pathway when we step off the narrow way.
And so, what of the time that is yet
to be?
How can we rely on Jesus Christ’s
ability to save us when this life’s journey is done?
Looking at my own walk, I will
readily admit to you that I often think that I am immortal, that I will live
forever. But even as I say so, I am also
aware that there is a growing amount of evidence that I will not live
forever. Someday, my life in this life
will be done.
Then what?
How can Jesus save us when death
comes?
That assurance comes in the fact
that Jesus has already conquered death, too, just in the same way that He
conquered the powers of evil in the synagogue in Capernahum those many years
ago, as we read in today’s gospel text.
Jesus rose from the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, shattering all the
designs of the evil one to separate the Lord (and us) from God for ever.
The resurrection stands as the proof
that God raised Jesus from the dead, and that God has the power to save us from
eternal death, as well.
Thank you, Lord God, for
demonstrating your power to save us in times past, in times present, and in
times to come.
AMEN.
