Proper 14 :: Genesis 15:1–6 / Psalm 33: 12–22 / Hebrews
11: 1–3, 8–16 / 12: 32–40
This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, August 11, 2019.
“WHEN THE BELL RINGS, THE CALL COMES, AND THE
ALARM IS SOUNDED”
(Homily text: Luke 12:
32-40)
In
days gone by, fire departments used horses to pull their steam pumpers, hose
wagons and ladder wagons. For the horses, their routine consisted not in the
orderliness of their schedule of feedings, the times when they were groomed,
and so forth, but in the timing of the alarms as they came into the firehouse.
Then,
all of a sudden, when the alarm sounded, a great deal of activity took
place: The alarm bell sounded, and the
firefighters sprang into action, bringing the horses to the front of the
equipment, where they would be harnessed into the harnesses that hung from the
ceiling.
The
horses knew the drill. They knew what the sounding of the bell meant. They knew
the routine of sudden bursts of activity. They knew the excitement of heading
out the doors of the firehouse, bells clanging (fire apparatus in those days
didn’t have sirens, they had bells to warn others of the approach of
fast-moving equipment.) They knew the excitement of running down streets that
were lined with people, watching the spectacle of fast-moving steam pumpers,
smoke billowing out of the stack of the boiler as they raced to the scene of a
fire.
And
once these horses had grown old, and were too old to pull the equipment, they
were put out to pasture in farms, where, when the farm bell sounded, they would
revert to their old behaviors, twitching their ears, stomping the ground with
their hooves, snorting and carrying on.
When
the bell sounds, are you and I ready for action?
That’s
a good way of describing our Lord’s teaching, heard in our Gospel text for this
morning.
He
says, “Stay dressed for action, and keep your lamps burning.” (It reminds us of
the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, found in Matthew 25: 1–14.)
“You
also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect,”
our Lord says.
So
just when is the Son of Man (the Lord Jesus) coming? Is He coming at the end of
all things, at the time when He will be “all in all”?
Yes,
at that time, surely. The (Nicene) Creed, which we will recite in a moment,
affirms this biblical understanding that, in the Lord’s time, He will, indeed,
come again. (Speaking personally, and given the present disorder of the world,
if the Lord were to come yesterday, that’d be soon enough.)
But
the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus, comes to us again and again in between this
present time and the time of His eventual coming in glory,
How
and when does He come? How and when is the alarm sounded?
He
comes, and the alarm is sounded, when the Holy Spirit calls us into faith. On
this point, we must be very clear: The call to faith comes as a result of the
Holy Spirit’s movement in a person’s heart.It isn’t something that a person,
by themselves, can bring about.It is God’s gift, pure and simple. Coming to
faith isn’t a matter of something that we think about (as helpful as thinking
and understanding something about God is), but it is – at its most basic level
– a matter of the heart, not the mind.
The
call comes and the alarm is sounded whenever a person enters the waters of
baptism, saying “goodbye” to their former (old) life, and saying “Hello” to a
new, more vibrant and holy life in God.
The
call comes and the alarm is sounded whenever any believer is asked to
demonstrate their faith, either by their actions or by their words, the
wonderful relationship with God through Christ that offers richness and depth
of meaning that nothing else and no one else can offer.
The
call comes and the alarm is sounded whenever any believer is asked to share
their faith with another, offering to them the wonderful riches of God’s grace,
found in Christ.(As St. Francis of Assisi says, “Always preach the Gospel. If
necessary, use words.”)
You
and I are a lot like those fire horses of old. We are called to respond to the
alarm bell when it sounds, showing signs of life and eager to do God’s will in
the day, the time and the place where we find ourselves. Eager to rush out of
God’s fire house, so as to offer help and assistance to any and all who need
it.
AMEN.
