Homily for Sunday 23rd October 2022

Homily for 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

by Revd George Kingsnorth (Deacon)

Sunday 23rd October 2022

Pride is classed as the sin that leads to all the other sins. We are proud of our accomplishments often in the self-centred belief that we achieved them on our own.

“I did that. Isn’t it great?” we tell ourselves.

It may be great, but an individual was not alone in completing the task at hand. We forget about those who created the tools we have used, that allowed us to craft what we have done.

Part of my professional life was as a video editor. I took the work of others and fashioned them into a story. For nearly thirty years, those stories have been edited on a computer. To get to that point, a writer came up with an idea and wrote a script. A storyboard artist turned the words into drawings. The cinematography framed up an actor or two composing his shot to match the storyboard. The images were transferred onto the computer, and I would then edit the shots together based on how the director wanted the shots to line up.

I may change where the shots start and finish and suggest a few alternative ideas but to be able to do this about fifty or more software engineers had to use all their talents and skills to compile the coding, design a graphical interface for me to operate, all to give me the impression I was editing on film. I was not alone. There was a team of people working behind the scenes.

No matter what we do, we are not alone. In fact, Jesus tells us that where there are two or three people gathered in his name, he is there also. So, you could say that there is always a minimum of three people in a conversation. Or should we say two?

When we are on our own in prayer, we are talking to Jesus. He is there with us. Even Paul says that when everyone else had abandoned him, the Lord stood by his side and gave him power, allowing him to be a vessel to proclaim the Good News to the pagans. The Lord rescued him from all who had evil intent and brought him to safety in heaven.

None of us can do this on our own. If we think this way even for a moment, we have proudly separated ourselves from God. Why? Because we have put ourselves above him. We have forgotten what he had done for us to put us in the position we find ourselves in. We have not given him his recognition for being our creator. God knows we make mistakes. In fact, he designed us that way. Through our mistakes we can learn, we can make amends and we can become better. We can improve. It may take a lifetime, but if we recognise that God is with us helping us along the way, we can achieve the goals he desires for us.

We may have ambitions. That’s okay. But it is important to realise where those ideas came from. How they got into our heads. Ideas seem to just seep into our minds. We need to test them to see where they came from and whether they are good or bad. What fruits do they bring? Do they make us selfish or consider the needs of others? Are we the only one who is going to benefit from the actions we take, or will others also be helped?

If following the rules makes us think we are better than others, the ones who we have judged not worthy because they have broken the rules, are we right? Not according to what Luke tells us about the proud Pharisee, who knew the law inside out, being meticulous in every ritual going but in doing so sinned because he thought he was better than the tax collector. Yet the tax collector simply asked God for mercy because he recognised where he had gone wrong and knew he was not worthy.

We cannot exalt ourselves. That is God’s place, if we recognise where we have gone wrong and can learn from our mistakes, we can be forgiven. If we can humble ourselves to see our faults, we are told in Ecclesiasticus that through being humble our prayers can even pierce the clouds and God will answer and rescue us from our distress.

When we are under pressure, see ourselves for what we are, and can recognise our downfalls, it is God who will lift us up, who will raise our spirit and rescue us because it is at that point that we can fully come to terms with the fact that we are not alone. That we have a partnership with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. That our life is about teamwork, trying things out, failing, trying again, and learning from what had not worked the first time around.

If, however, we think we are perfect, like the Pharisees, our pride will be our downfall and we will have separated ourselves from God. Then we will truly be on our own because we have not given room for God to have a place beside us.