Our Christian Duty
THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Corresponding duties always accompany a covenant (*let me say that again). The covenant of holy matrimony demands both the man and the woman to live together according to God’s holy marriage ordinance. They vow to do the work of loving, comforting, honoring and caring for one another through sickness and health. They covenant to love each other, and no one else, all the days of their lives; this is their duty to one another.
Through baptism, we graciously become sharers in the new covenant promises and incorporated into the people of God. In the regenerating waters of Holy Baptism, we pass from the Kingdom of darkness into the glorious Kingdom. At baptism, we (or our godparents and sponsors on behalf of a child) make a public vow to uphold certain duties commanded of all covenant members. “Wilt thou obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of thy life? Will you learn the Creed, the Lord’s prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and all other things which a Christian ought to know and believe to his soul’s health?” Covenant and duty. At our confirmation, we are asked once again if we will continue to keep the baptismal vows taken. Will we continue to do what covenant-life commands us to do? Covenant and duty.
Within our homes, the domestic church, parent and child alike dedicate themselves to God’s service and pray for Divine assistance to perform our “rightful duty unto Him,” the various works that God has prepared for us to walk in. Search long and hard, and you will not find within the Holy Scriptures a description of a duty-free covenant life- it just doesn’t exist. From Adam to Abraham and Abraham to the marriage covenant made between God and Israel at Mt. Sinai, covenant always comes with duties. The heavenly Bridegroom says, “You shall have no other Gods but me.” “You shall not commit adultery.” Covenant and duty.
I am aware of the times in which we Christians live, and I know that many people recoil at the word duty, especially in connection with much of what people call Christianity. And perhaps this reaction is a reflection of modern culture. We like grace, and we like salvation. We love the promise of a happy ending as long as there aren’t any associated duties or responsibilities. The idea of God requiring something from us somehow gets misconstrued and conflated with an inaccurate understanding of salvation and sanctification, of works and faith, law, and grace. “Jesus paid it all, so I’ll just sit back and wait for heaven.”
The spiritual life easily conforms to our worldly aspirations of comfort, never-ending vacations, celebration, and ease. We don’t think of attending to the commands of God as our duty. They’re more like optional suggestions that we might dabble in when convenient, or if they fall “into my area of gifting.” The idea of doing our duty feels far too regimented. It’s uncreative, constraining, forced, rehearsed, and, most of all, inauthentic- we want whatever it is we chose to do, to be spontaneous and free because then, and only then, do we deem it to be authentic. Authenticity, the highest and greatest virtue! Friends, I’m afraid we’re placing far too much value in effort in pursuit of authenticity.
On the contrary, the idea of a rigorous Christian spirituality plays to a much smaller audience (it sounds too much like works), which may be why antinomianism runs rampant throughout Christ’s church. The idea of honor seems so passe’. The prayer life for so many of our fellow brothers and sisters is spotty at best, giving tithes and alms infrequent, their service to others selective, and sadly, their sabbath worship so uninspiring and empty. Now, these are not bad people! Perhaps you’ve gone through such a season in the spiritual life- I know I have. And when we do, it’s often attributed to a lack of discipline and, quite frankly, effort, attempting to enjoy covenant blessings without fulfilling any of its demands.
There is a name for this sort of orientation towards the spiritual life in certain Christian circles: it’s called “being moved by the spirit” whereby a Christian doesn’t do anything unless he or she feels led by the Holy Spirit to get up and do something. Could you imagine if everyone within their respective roles and given responsibilities, both in society and within the home, only attended to them when “moved by the Spirit?” And yet, despite this, we do things every single day, stuff we like and stuff we don’t, because life has a way of ordering itself, of routinizing and gravitating towards form. You’ll find with the “spirit led crowd” that all of the things in life that they enjoy doing somehow get categorized under being “spirit led” while the mundane and hard stuff doesn’t.
Many suffer from a bi-furcated view between the routine and the spontaneous or unusual; the routine is bad, the spontaneous fun and freeing. This might be why so many people moan and groan when Monday morning rolls around, and they have to “go back to the grind.” Back to the routine. Many work and live for the next vacation, a break in the mundane to stave off suffering the day to day demands of life. This is a life of unrest. And, perhaps, this lies at the heart of those who initially react negatively towards ordered liturgy, Prayer Book spirituality, and living a rule of life. Its too routine, too ordered, and predictable! (but that’s another sermon!) The main point is that whether we agree or disagree, covenant has its duties. The baptized Christian life has its demands and duties, which we have vowed to perform.
On this 18th Sunday After Trinity, our Lord teaches on what he expects of his people, clearly stating what our Christian duty is.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
There it is clear as day; this is your Christian duty. But what does loving God look like, and how do we do it? To love God “with all thy heart, with all thy mind, and with all thy soul” is first an inward movement, an orientation of heart, will, affection, desire, and mind aimed solely upon the Lord. We first love the unseen God with the unseen part of our being. We are rational creatures made in the image of God, the mind distinguishing us from other created things. Our love of God begins within. It is an inner impulse of heart, soul, and will. Eucharistic worship understands this and guides us. First, we “cleanse the thoughts of our hearts, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly Love [God] and worthily magnify [His] holy name.”
The liturgy then instructs us to “lift up our hearts unto the Lord” that we might “give him thanks” with our lips. You see, love first swells in the heart then floods the mind, then, our bodies follow. Our senses and faculties physically manifest this inward disposition in our bodies’ posture and verbally with prayers and thanksgivings. In this way, we give our whole selves as a reasonable and living sacrifice to God, a complete and total love offering of heart, soul, mind, and body. To love God is to order our loves: loving the very reality of love Himself, the Giver, not the gifts. To love God is to desire him above all things. And this becomes evident as we’re able to grow in detachment: a continual willingness to detach ourselves from earthly pleasures both of the mind and the flesh when those things compete with or hinder our duty to love and serve the Lord.
To love God with the mind is to think rightly of Him. By liturgy, prayer, and study, a mind trained by the rule is conformed to Christ, not to the world; given to catechesis as a way of life and humbly submitted to the nurture and love of Holy Mother Church. To love God with the mind is to think rightly of self in light of God and the grace mercifully bestowed upon us in the person of Jesus Christ. To love God with the mind is to be prepared to give a reason for the hope that lies within you; to lovingly correct false doctrine, stewarding the faith once delivered; teaching your children, grandchildren, and friends of the love and truth of God.
We love God as we attend to the duty of daily prayer both in God’s house and in our domestic devotional life. It is not forsaking gathering with your brothers and sisters in Christ, worshipping God with one voice and one heart, keeping the feasts and fasts (even when hungry or short on time). It is joyfully giving God the first fruits of our labor though it might bring temporary inconvenience or delay enjoying some simple passing pleasure. It offers self in service to this parish, his people, and the greater work of the Kingdom, though it takes us into foreign lands to minister to people very different from ourselves.
To love God with our body is to seek after holiness, a purity of soul, cleanness within, a clear conscience, a pure vessel inclined to perform the will of the King, the Lion of Judah, and Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. We order our bodies around God’s time and requirements. Our bodies worship in the church each Sunday. Our bodies are present for the daily prayers of the church. Each morning, our bodies arise and having prayed, go and do whatever occupation, calling, or responsibility God has given us (for every day has its duties unto the Lord, and everything we do is done unto Him). We show up and do our duty. I know this picture is incomplete, but this and much more is what it means to fulfill our duty of loving God.
And what about the second half of the great commandment? What does it mean to love our neighbor as ourselves? What is our duty unto them? Well, just as we sin with our bodies, we love our neighbors with them as well. Love isn’t merely a thought; it materializes. The inward disposition of love towards God must manifest itself in the flesh towards our neighbor- incarnationally- with matter and form, such as our words. Proverbs tells us that death and life are in the power of the tongue. And love seeks life; it seeks health and wholeness for others.
We love our neighbors with encouraging words in times of struggle. Often, a gentle rebuke or strong exhortation can turn one from destruction and back to life. Courageously speaking truth with grace into another’s life, or gently correcting error is like a soothing balm for the weary. Taking time to pray with someone who is hurting can bring a divine perspective to life’s difficulties, offering hope to the heartless. Remember, the words of St. James, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). We love our neighbor when we speak words of life and the promises of God to any in need. But when we do the opposite, we speak death.
We love others, not only with our words but with our bodies as well. Love of neighbor manifests itself in physical acts of service and generosity, in freely giving of our material possessions or going without that others might have. And, “when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will rewards you.” Sometimes love willingly offers one’s body in service to others by putting ourselves in harm’s way or laying down our lives for fellow countrymen, willing for our bodies to perish for the sake of another. This is the supreme form of charity, for, “No greater love is this, that a man would lay his life down for another.” Loving others, even unto the point of death. This is our Christian duty because, in this, we imitate the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the fullest expression of what it means to love our neighbor in which all other selfless acts of service point too. We fulfill our duty to love our neighbor when we love without reserve, without limitation, and without any concern for our lives.
Now, by God’s grace, which is given you in by Jesus Christ, endeavor each day to fulfill your Christian duty. Pray for God to enable you to do all that he has called you to do. Hold nothing back from Him. Instead, offer yourself daily as a living sacrifice, an oblation of love and thanksgiving. Pray for the Spirit to open your eyes to the needs of your neighbors and seeing with the eyes of Christ, pour yourself out for the sake of others just as the Lord has done for you, the great covenant keeper and dutiful Son, who, by the breaking of his body and shedding of his blood, fulfilled the Divine Law. Amen+
