Trinity 11 – The Dwelling Place of God

1 Corinthians 15:1-11       St Luke 18:9-14

 

Thus saith the high and lofty One,
that inhabiteth eternity, whose Name is Holy;
I dwell in the high and holy place,
And with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit.
[Isaiah 57:15a]

 

The whole history of salvation of humanity is one of humanity moving away from God, starting in the Bible with disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and then countered by God coming to meet us.  First to Adam and Eve, expelling them from the garden, then to Cain, to Noah and his family, then to Abraham and his descendants, to one Nation, Israel.  First God spoke in dreams and visions to a few, gave the Law, then manifested Himself in the midst of Israel in the Tabernacle and then the Temple, and through Prophets.  And finally, by the Incarnation God tabernacled among us in Jesus Christ, and with arms open wide on the Cross, made possible the descent of the Dove at Pentecost to dwell in us.

It is not by the Word alone, or the Law, though it was a necessary preparation.  But it is by the Word made flesh, that God makes possible His indwelling our bodies and souls as His Temple.

We moved away from God, God sought us out and desires a mystical marriage, that we may ever more dwell in Him and He in us.

Only what is holy can see, and can dwell, with Him that is Holy.  And the good news is that holiness can be revealed by God in “a contrite and humble spirit”.  Not in the perfect, because none of us are, save Jesus, but in those who know themselves to be imperfect and, despite that, have the gift of faith to ask for mercy.

Last week Jesus came to His Temple, and cleansed it that it may be a place of prayer and that He may teach there daily.  This week we are directed about how we are to comport ourselves when we quiet ourselves outwardly and return within to pray.  It is about having “a contrite and humble spirit.”

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Jesus tells a parable “to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt”.  It was directed towards confused Pharisees.  They were transferring a vainglorious way of looking at the world and our place in it (thinking its about attaining power, and wealth and prestige over others), of transferring that same vanity, confusion, to the religious life – thinking our spiritual growth is about attaining spiritual supremacy over others.

The spiritual life is about climbing a ladder of holiness, yet that ladder is not one that leads us to self righteousness, but to "a contrite and humble spirit".  Because as we ascend, we see God more clearly, we see also more clearly our distance from Him.  It is not something that leads us to despair but to awe and wonder, to recognize our need more and more for God’s mercy, and to desire to draw closer.

And it leads us to a new way of viewing our neighbour.  More on that later.

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In the Epistle we have the example of St Paul brought before us.

It is a beautiful choice to accompany today’s Gospel for a number of reasons.

First, St Paul is proclaiming the Resurrection.  And when we move in the spiritual life from purgation to illumination, it is a movement from death to resurrection.  As we follow more closely the commandments of God, we form, by grace, new habits of holiness, so that there is less attention to the restraint of the disordered passions, and more attention to the use of our gifts for the love of God and neighbour.  We are awaking from the sleep of death to a risen life as a new creation in Christ.

Second, St Paul himself exemplifies this transition in his spiritual life, from a dead end zealous Pharisee, who followed outwardly the Law but it led him to persecute the very followers of Jesus.  Elsewhere, St Paul says he was blameless under the Law, but then went through a kind of death to that way of looking at the spiritual life once he met Jesus.  He said that that previous way of life was so much rubbish compared with the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ.

And in today’s Epistle St Paul describes himself as unworthy of being called an apostle because he persecuted the Church.  He has become the Publican.  I laboured more abundantly, but it was not I, but the grace of God which was with me.  He recognizes that whatever good he is doing It is only by the grace of God.

We see this “contrite and humble heart” is the place where God can work.

Think of King David – despite his profound falling away from God, through his adultery and murder to cover it up, yet he is described by God, through the prophets that came after him, as "a man after my own heart.” [1 Sam 13:14]  David saw his depravity when illumination came to his soul through Nathan the prophet, and he repented and then knew, when he wrote in Psalm 51, “a contrite and humble spirit, you will not despise.”

Jonah comes to the same place in the belly of the whale – “when my soul fainted within me [that proud rebellious spirit], I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.” [2:7]  The was suddenly an opening between him and heaven.

We see it again and again in the examples in the Old Testament and in the New.

As we read in the daily lessons this week, when Zacchaeus meets Jesus, he is hiding in a tree, but he changed immediately in the encounter so that he would no longer defraud others and restore those whom he had defrauded, his heart was opened into the kingdom. [St Luke 19:1-10]

When Mary Magdalene met Jesus, she was a repentant sinner whom Jesus delivered of 7 demons, there was an opening to God's kingdom.  She was made ready to be the first person on earth to see Jesus after His resurrection.

There is the unnamed woman who washed Jesus feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, who was immediately forgiven by Jesus.  [St Luke 7:36-50]

And in the parables, we have the Prodigal Son who returns with a contrite and humble spirit and is received immediately by his Father [St Luke 15:11-32]... and of course today’s Parable:

"The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Heaven opened up to the  Prodigal and opened up to the Tax Collector, they had "a contrite and humble spirit".

We know it in the care for children.  When a child comes back to herself, after time out, and is in the place of a contrite heart, is sorry, I think we understand that it is important she not remain there, outside, but be received back immediately into the fellowship of those whom she loves.  Then she comes to know what is a contrite heart and that there is the place of fellowship, of happiness, of growth, of blessedness.  It is a holy moment to be cultivated.

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What about us?  We all come here Sunday by Sunday, and we say prayers together, which are meant to express the position of the Publican. [from sermon of John Keble]

After hearing the Ten Commandments or the Summary of the Law – our response is Lord have mercy upon us, followed by the Kyrie.  That’s the expression of a contrite heart, acknowledging our failures to love.

In the confession:
“we are heartily sorry for these our misdoings, the remembrance is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable.”

And in the words before Holy Communion:
“I am not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs.”

These are expressions of a contrite heart.

The Word of God written is to lead us to return to this place of contrition, that we might experience the place of restored fellowship, of happiness, of growth, of blessedness.

Only God sees the heart…  We can say them and we might ask if these prayers are exaggeration?

These prayers are not about rubbing our face in the dirt, but I think as we progress in the spiritual life, as we begin to see God more clearly, we can pray these prayers more truthfully, more authentically and wholeheartedly.

And when we come to dwell in the place of a “contrite and humble spirit”, living under the mercy of God continually, we cannot but be merciful to those around us.  Love truly received from God, as mercy, will manifest in our love for our neighbours, expressed as mercy.

If we are not sure that we are in this place, we can always check by looking at our attitude to others – do we treat others with contempt?  Do we think ourselves better than other sinners?  Wherever you come from in the political spectrum, it is right to disagree even strongly on other people's positions, but if treat our opponent with contempt, we have passed over the line and forgotten that we all live under the Mercy.

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I don’t want to end here but to express a caution about what is not being said.  Today’s Gospel is not council against spiritual striving or spiritual excellence.

The degree to which we find ourselves uncomfortable with St Paul’s “boasting” is the degree to which we have misunderstood our calling to true glory.  St Paul understood the call to live the new risen life in Christ as a call to striving for excellence, and he worked harder than them all!  This is love being received and being shared.

If Gregory the Great had refused to write the Moralia because he felt the temptation to vainglory, the Church would be so much the poorer for it.  (see his final words of this three volume masterpiece, para 49 of Book XXXV.)

If Bach had hidden his musical gifts, because he didn’t want to be tempted by vainglory, the world would be so much the poorer for it.

There is a Dutch proverb:  je hoofd boven het maaiveld uitsteken.  In English, Don’t stick your neck out... (or you'll get it cut off, presumably)

Maybe they are practical advice about not suffering the consequences of striving for excellence (others who are vainglorious will try to tear you down).  But I don’t think these are Christian sayings, maybe a false humility.  We should not seek mediocrity.

We are to be like St Paul, using our gifts to God’s glory, and it may get some others backs up.  But in the Te Deum, we pray daily, if we say Morning Prayer daily,

We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints, in glory everlasting.

O LORD, save thy people, and bless thine heritage;
Govern them, and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name, ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us, as our trust is in thee.
O Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded.

Notice it is not a prayer to be superior to others, but that we might all excel in the spiritual life, together.  And notice, mercy, mercy, mercy, is acknowledged as the ground of our growth.  We seek it, it is the cry of a contrite heart, and it is combined with the earnest striving for sainthood.

This is our calling today.

Now let us prepare to fufill this high calling, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and being forgiven and nurtured by His Body and Blood, to foster a contrite and humble spirit, and a striving for the holiness of God!

Amen +