[Note: the audio recording above will vary in places from the prepared text below.]
I will be reflecting on our Lord’s teaching, that He came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Before I get there, let me set the stage.
Our Lord calls Saint Matthew with the words, “Follow Me.” And Matthew (who in Mark’s Gospel account is first called Levi) rose: and he followed Him. And we are told that many others were immediately drawn in to join Jesus as He sat at table: many tax collectors and sinners. Jesus, our Savior, is a charismatic figure: He truly draws people to Him; hence, as Saint John records, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”
Of course, as we consider the world today, it is quite clear that while Our Lord has drawn much of the world to Him (the number of Christians estimated today is 2.2 billion), at the same time, many souls remain who have yet to be drawn to Christ. Even in our corner of the world, here in this portion of Volusia County, we can easily see that all people have not been drawn to Jesus. Churches are not closing, but they are not full; people who could be at a church in worship choose other activities instead. To say this should shock no one.
This is not to suggest that such people are necessarily living sinful lives (although some probably are). People who are either not Christians, or non active Christians (let’s call them “non-attenders” in a generic way), they very well may be living upright and seeking to be humble and loving in word and deed. And this is nothing new: for we see in several places in Scripture that it is people outside the worshiping community that demonstrate virtue more concretely than do followers of God.
I myself have encountered such “non-attender” people many times in my life (in fact, I was one for 17 years). Having spoken with some during my days, to the extent God is mentioned, it is not uncommon to hear such things as “I find God out in the world.” “I find God on my motorcycle,” or “I find God in nature.” “I find God by living a simple life raising my family,” and so on. In other words, attending the Liturgy and receiving the Sacraments are not seen by non-attenders as necessary. If they know about Liturgy and Sacraments at all, they only see Liturgy and Sacraments as one way of worship, but certainly not the primary way, nor the only way to accomplish the goal of living rightly.
If I sound like I am not condemning such attitudes, that is not unintentional. While I myself strongly disagree with that position (my view is that of the ancient Church, not only are Liturgy and Sacraments important, these are very important, and in fact essential to receive the power of the Holy Spirit – in the same way that water is everywhere in the atmosphere, and all places; but if you want a drink, you have to come to a faucet; the Church being the faucet), there is little use in condemning those who think otherwise.
I say this for two reasons. The first is simple: such words of condemnation would be useless (and likely counter-productive) that is, unless the proof was in the pudding. By that I mean, the proof that Liturgy and Sacraments are absolutely necessary is shown through the lives of such Christians. If non-attenders are going to be convinced that their view is wrong, it is going to be from witnessing the ways that liturgical/sacramental Christians live, and being moved by their lives. And this happens in a neighborhood through the parish: a parish being transformed into a powerhouse of holiness – which is the result of Liturgy and Sacraments taking highest priority – communicates far better the value of traditional Christian religion than any words of condemnation could ever hope to do.
And the second reason is that the fact that “non-attenders” exist, and exist in some numbers, demonstrates exactly what Jesus means when He said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” We need to understand Him clearly on this. Sinners are people who realize they are in need of a savior. Jesus came, He says, for such people: people who know they are in need of a Savior. Jesus did not come, by His own words, to call the righteous. And non-attenders are the righteous. The righteous of course need Jesus, just as all humans do; but the righteous do not realize it yet. The righteous do not realize they are in need of a Savior, and do not realize that Savior is Jesus Christ, and do not realize that Jesus Christ is known and experienced primarily through Christian religion which happens in an obedient parish: Christ’s presence known through the opening of Scripture and Breaking of Bread.
What is amazing, and surprising perhaps to some, is that Jesus is perfectly content with this situation. He allows this to happen, to allow non-attenders the time and space they need to at some point realize the error of their ways. And for some people, it takes a long time.
Why? What He wants is His disciples to take seriously His commission to proclaim the Gospel and baptize people in the Name of the Holy Trinity. He wants His disciples to be the means, the agent, the conduit for the world’s experience of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants His disciples to share the Holy Spirit with people in the world who do not yet know they are sinners; who do not yet know that they are in need of a Saviour. And He wants His disciples to trust completely in the Holy Spirit, which means trusting in Him to bear witness to us of Jesus Christ (through Liturgy and Sacraments) to such an extent that we are transformed, and thereby mediate the Holy Spirit to the world as transformed men and women: transformed from mere people into Christ’s true disciples. He wants a parish to become and partake of holy fellowship, and the good works He has prepared for us to walk in include lighting up the world around us with the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us.
Our task is not, in other words, to harangue the world of the unrighteous (we are not to act or speak to condemn such people; it really does no good); rather, our task is to focus all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind on loving God, so that in becoming better and better disciples, we are so filled with the Holy Spirit and presence of Christ that we love our neighbor because we are filled with the Holy Spirit and presence of Christ, and thereby mediate the holiness of God to them. To take this approach might be hard for some, might demand more patience than people have. But to take this approach toward the world of unbelievers is the way of our Lord, and thus it must be the way of the Church which is His Body, and thus the way of our parish. God grant this parish the patience of Job, the perseverance of S. Paul, the holiness of Blessed Mary, and the Angels and Archangels, and with all the community of the Saints to fulfill the mission God has given this parish to do. Amen.