In the Book of the Prophet Malachi we are warned about expecting the Lord God Almighty to work for us rather than alongside us.  Those sorts of expectations, Malachi tells us, . . . those sorts of expectations lead to discouragement and spiritual cynicism.  . . . On the other hand, Saint Paul says in his second letter to the Church at Thessalonica; . . . on the other hand, Saint Paul says, the same sort of expectations, before we become discouraged, is the leading cause of spiritual giddiness, . . . which, in some ways, does more damage to the soul than cynicism and, so, is more offensive to God!  . . . My wife, Fran, is a force to be reckoned with when confronted with spiritual giddiness.  . . . She would make Paul proud.

    I remember, in particular, one day when I was Vicar of several mission churches in Piscataquis County in the state of Maine.  I had left home early to drive to Portland, where the Diocesan Office was.  It was a summer morning, and some time after I had left Fran was in the kitchen when, suddenly, within a matter of seconds, one of the cats horked up a hair ball in the middle of the kitchen floor, grossing out our middle son which inspired our oldest son to make him touch it, while our youngest son, having laid abed too long, chose that instant to have a hypoglycemic emotional meltdown.  So, here is Fran with a wad of paper towels in one hand, trying to stuff a cracker into Scott with the other, while commanding Andrew and Robert to go to neutral corners, . . . when a sweet, young Jehovah’s Witness shows up at the door to ask Fran, “Wouldn’t life be perfect if everyone believed in God and did His will!”

    Fran took a moment to collect herself, then smiled sweetly at the young lady and said, “No, dear, because cats would still spit up and children would continue to be unruly, because that’s the way God made them!”  . . . Fran is on the side of Jesus.  She’s an Episcopalian and couldn’t tell you chapter and verse, . . . but she, like you, had heard the last thing Jesus had to say to His Church at the end of His public ministry.  . . . And you have heard it once again today.

    Jesus warns us against spiritual giddiness.  . . . He warns us not to make magnificent structures the object of our spiritual lives.  As exhilarating as it is for our souls to fly among the stained glass windows and intricate carvings in stone and wood, Jesus warns us not to make magnificent structures the object of our spiritual lives, . . . for, as much as they may be visible signs of our reverence for God’s glory, they are not a measure of God’s faithfulness nor are they symbols of the Church’s ultimate triumph over principalities and powers.  For, “the days will come,” Jesus says, . . . “the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

    Neither should we allow spiritual giddiness, Jesus counsels; . . . neither should we allow spiritual giddiness to cause us to hope and pray for bishops or charismatic leaders or religious movements to end poverty and hunger and to do good and righteous things to establish a bright, new day of emancipation and justice which shall end war by subduing fanaticism and self-interest under the irresistible persuasiveness of divine might.  Instead, “take heed,” Jesus says, . . . “take heed that you are not led astray.”  Take heed that you not cause your spiritual life and your faith and confidence in the Lord God Almighty to rest upon the triumph of peace and justice in this land or in the world at large.  Oh, there may be some decades more peaceable than others, . . . but in spite of your best efforts, Jesus says; . . . in spite of your best efforts “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; [there will be] great earthquakes, and in one place after another famines and pestilences.”  And all your prayers and righteous deeds will not arouse God to prevent them; . . . it is the nature of the created order that these things happen, Jesus says, . . . and it is not the Church’s job to change that.

    And you really must come to grips with the fact that neither is it your task to cause the world to like you, Jesus says.  Oh, you may be as accommodating and as generous as you wish with muslims and hindus and Texas Republicans and California Democrats; . . . you may be so accommodating and generous as to rewrite John’s Gospel and declare Jesus to be only a way to the Father . . . so that all the heathens may smile and nod and praise you for your altruism, . . . but the time will come to all or some of the Church when “they will lay their hands on you,” Jesus says; . . . “they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to [religious courts] and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because you bear my Name,” Jesus says.  . . . But when that happens, Jesus says, you and the world shall see the Kingdom of God, . . . for, I will be at your side, Jesus says; . . . “I will give you a mouth and wisdom” to exhort humanity that the only way to God is to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil, . . . and to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour in Whom we entrust our entire faith and love.

    But your baptismal confession is not magic, Jesus says.  In you, the world will see God’s Kingdom; . . . they will see Jesus, because He will be at your side.  . . . But even the Church, . . . even your own bishops and priests and kinsmen and friends may not be able to tolerate the simplicity, detachment, and focus which Jesus counsels.  Even the Church will hate you, . . . and some of you will be put to death.  But even if you are put to death you shall not perish, Jesus says.  By your enduring trust in Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour . . . “you will gain your lives,” Jesus says.

    So, stand on the side of Jesus.  Without looking for results from your religion; . . . without expecting the Lord God Almighty to work for you rather than alongside you, allow your faith in Jesus to make you grateful (as Jesus has recently told us it does); allow your faith to make you grateful and show forth God’s praise not only with your lips but in your lives, . . . by cleaning up the hair balls and unruly children God gives us with holiness and righteousness all the days of this life . . . with confidence that even though things might not turn out as we might want them to, . . . we shall not perish, but gain our lives . . . and enjoy God’s felicity . . . forever.