Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
The 19th Sunday after Pentecost
Today is a very special day for the Church of the Redeemer. Today we are privileged to honor and thank Fr. Ferdinand Saunders. We honor him and give thanks for his ministry of 50 years as a priest in Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. We honor him and give thanks for his priestly ministry among us for 19 ½ years. Fr. Saunders was called by Fr. Iker, who is now Bishop Iker, to be the priest in charge of Pastoral Care. And Fr. Saunders was coming here after his retirement! His first day at the Redeemer was the 1st of April 1990, and his time in that position ends officially the end of this month.
We didn’t change the readings for this celebration from the ones normally appointed for today, the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, but both the Epistle and Gospel are very appropriate for this occasion. In the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer addresses the “holy brethren.” By using the word holy, the writer is not calling his readers perfect, without sin. He is using the word holy as those who belong to God. By that understanding, every Christian is holy, for by virtue of our baptism we belong to God. And of course the word brethren is generic and refers thus to both men and women. Brothers and sisters, we are holy not because of who we are, but because of whose we are.
The writer then tells that we share in a heavenly call. Every Christian has a calling, a vocation. We all have a general vocation and we all have specific vocations. Our general vocation is summed up in the Baptismal Covenant: Be faithful in worship, the teaching of the Apostles, and prayer; confess your sins regularly; live according to your faith and bring others to Christ; serve Christ in those in need; and strive for justice and peace among all people. This calling we all have in common. Then there are specific calls, as many as there are people.
Then the writer refers to Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. This is the part that makes this reading so appropriate for this celebration of the anniversary of Fr. Saunders’ s ordination to the Sacred Priesthood. Jesus is our great high priest, and every priest who follows after him does not have his own priesthood, but shares in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. The priest offers the sacrifice of the mass as he re-presents Christ at that mass. He pronounces absolution in the name of Christ, and he blesses with the blessing of Christ. We bear witness to this reality when some bow the head when the Celebrant at the mass passes in procession. We’re not bowing for that person, but because that person re-presents Christ in that liturgy.
The Gospel appointed for today also speaks of vocation. A man runs up to Jesus—he is obviously intent upon asking his question. He asks, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” That’s the question of life, isn’t it? What can I do to make my life count for something—eternally? What can I do to make sense of this life I’m living? What can I do to be right with God? Eternal life as Jesus taught it referred not only to what happens beyond the grave, but also to what happens this side of the grave. In other words, life that is eternal is available to us here and now, as well as for ever. You get the for ever part when you get the here and now right.
Jesus’ first answer is obey the commandments. The young man has done that, but he still feels a void, so Jesus tells him to sell all he has, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow him. Jesus perceived in this man a love of money that surpassed his love for God, so he tells him basically to get rid of that temptation.
Jesus is not telling everyone to give up all of one’s earthly possessions if he or she is to follow him. This was a specific calling to a specific individual. The man needed to accept that calling if he was to have eternal life. We need to remember also, though, that even though the man didn’t accept his calling, Jesus still left a door open. In the end, none of us is saved through our own merit, but through God’s grace. “All things are possible with God.”
The point that makes this Gospel so appropriate for today is that God uses our specific callings to make us inheritors of eternal life. If he has called you to be a teacher, or a doctor, or a housekeeper, or a bank teller, he will use that calling to bring you closer to him and make you more the person he created you to be. In other words, he uses that calling to bring you closer to perfection. When a person is called to the priesthood, that is the way God is going to use to bring him closer to him, and to make him more the person he was created to be.
You can see this reality lived out in the lives of Christians in every walk of life. A faithful Christian, doing the holy work to which God has called him or her, develops more and more into a person who reflects Christ in his or her life whether we’re talking about a housewife or a househusband, a lawyer, a secretary, a musician , a priest, or a bishop. God can use retirement in this way as well.
Fr. Saunders is one whose vocation seems to fit like a glove on a hand. God obviously has worked mightily in this devoted servant of Christ. His identity as a priest is so mingled with his personhood that they appear to be indistinguishable. I have only known him in the last fifteen years of his ministry before this second retirement, but I suspect that while he has always been a fine priest, he has grown throughout his ministry to the person we know today. At least I hope so; that means there’s hope for me!
I wish to thank Fr. Ferd for his many years of service to our Lord in this parish. We honor him today and we look forward to seeing what he will do in retirement!