Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent - March 13, 2016

Homily for March 13, 2016

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Rubbish

 

            Consider two people. The first is a poor, simple laborer, an elderly woman who spent her life living hand-to-mouth, but who is full of humble faith and profound trust in God. The second is a rich and powerful executive, who drives a Mazerati and has a corner office, and who trusts only in himself, his talents, and his efforts. Between those two, who is richer? Who does the world consider to be the successful one? Who possesses true wealth?

“I count everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus.” Everything is rubbish, trash, meaningless when compared with Jesus Christ.

            Think about the things we strive for every day: we worry about making enough money, we work out and eat right to lose five pounds, we worry if we have enough friends, we strive to get promotions and straight A’s and win awards. All of this stuff is good – but when we die, is any of it going to matter? In the afterlife, no one is going to ask me what my GPA is, or how much money was in my bank account. The only thing that will matter is how well I have loved God and loved my neighbor.

            Immediately before this second reading from Philippians, St. Paul gives his short biography, highlighting the things he’s proud of: his Jewish heritage, the fact that he studied under the best teachers, all of his honors and recognitions. But he then says, “All that? It doesn’t make a difference. It’s as meaningless as trash compared to Jesus Christ.”

            What are you proud of? Your nine hundred Twitter followers? Your advanced degrees? Your bank account? Your new shoes or diamond necklace? Your spot on the Stamford Premier League soccer team? Can any of that save you? Will any of that matter as you are on your deathbed, preparing to meet Jesus Christ? Again, I don’t mean that thinks like money or degrees or talents are bad – they aren’t bad at all, they are gifts from the Lord – but everything we own and everything we do pales in comparison to the fact that you are redeemed by the Blood of Almighty God, that God has poured His divine life into your soul through grace, and that He is inviting you into an eternity with Him, an eternity that begins now. That is what is most important. That is the only thing we should focus our lives around!

            So what does St. Paul do? He says that he is not perfect, but that he forgets what lies behind – his sinful self, his worldly pride – and strives to possess Jesus Christ more fully. What does that look like for us? Let’s look at a couple examples.

            Let’s say you work for a living. Keep working hard, but work hard to glorify God, not just to get ahead. Don’t let your work distract you from your relationship with Christ – find quiet minutes during the day to step back from your work and pray. Be willing to live at work as a public Christian. Don’t make your life revolve around money. Basically, we should be more interested in pleasing God than we are trying to please our boss or ourselves.

            Let’s say you go to school. Keep studying, but do your best because you want to love God through your schoolwork. Try not to worry about things, but trust God with your grades and your future. Don’t get caught up in the drama, the gossip, and the worldliness of your classmates, and always remember that we are not made for this world but for eternity. Recently one of our youth group kids was telling me he was bringing a Bible to school to read during the quiet moments, and he was bullied a bit for that. There’s a kid who realizes that Jesus Christ is worth everything – and that everything else is rubbish.

             It’s pointless to live for this world only, when this world will all turn to dust someday. To have the true riches, become a saint and possess the only thing that matters: Jesus Christ.