{"id":15193,"date":"2025-09-28T00:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T23:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/?p=15193"},"modified":"2025-11-22T20:44:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T20:44:02","slug":"26th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/?p=15193","title":{"rendered":"26th Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until the news of his assassination broke, I had never heard of Charlie Kirk. Nor did I look into his life after the tragic event, partly because US mass shootings have sadly become quite commonplace across the pond, and partly because I\u2019m not fond of militant, muscular, politicised Christianity. Taking sides in political disputes would render me unable to minister to all in the way described by St Paul: \u201cI<\/em> have<\/em> become<\/em> all<\/em> things<\/em> to<\/em> all<\/em> people,<\/em> that<\/em> by<\/em> all<\/em> means<\/em> I<\/em> might<\/em> save<\/em> some.<\/em> I<\/em> do<\/em> it<\/em> all<\/em> for<\/em> the<\/em> sake<\/em> of<\/em> the<\/em> gospel.\u201d<\/em> (1<\/em> Corinthians<\/em> 9:22)<\/em> Please keep that in mind, as what I\u2019m about to say isn\u2019t political but an illustration of the subject I will tackle in my sermon today.<\/p>\n

The case of Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination was a prominent topic in the reputable media outlets I follow regularly, so I learned more details about the man, some of which struck me as unusual for a typical American culture wars fighter. In fact, his whole idea was to meet those who disagreed with him and openly discuss their views. As a devout Christian, he seemed to apply Jesus\u2019 calls \u201cto<\/em> love<\/em> your<\/em> enemies<\/em> and<\/em> pray<\/em> for<\/em> those<\/em> who<\/em> persecute<\/em> you\u201d<\/em> (Matthew<\/em> 5:44)<\/em> and \u201cif<\/em> anyone<\/em> forces<\/em> you<\/em> to<\/em> go<\/em> one<\/em> mile,<\/em> go<\/em> with<\/em> him<\/em> two<\/em> miles\u201d<\/em> (Matthew<\/em> 5:41)<\/em>. He appeared to believe in and practise \u201cthe<\/em> power<\/em> of<\/em> argument\u201d<\/em>, but fell victim to \u201cthe<\/em> argument<\/em> of<\/em> power,\u201d<\/em> which is always a sign of the perpetrator\u2019s intellectual and moral failure. The most convincing proof of Christianity seriously held came from his wife at his memorial service, when she publicly forgave the assassin. Cynics may dismiss this as a gesture or a pose, but I know from my personal, painful experience how powerful and transformative such a public declaration of forgiveness can be, even if in my case it was only made in front of my close family. Then, President Trump gave his speech and said some astonishing words: \u201c[Charlie]<\/em> did<\/em> not<\/em> hate<\/em> his<\/em> opponents.<\/em> He<\/em> wanted<\/em> the<\/em> best<\/em> for<\/em> them.<\/em> That’s<\/em> where<\/em> I<\/em> disagreed<\/em> with<\/em> Charlie.<\/em> I<\/em> hate<\/em> my<\/em> opponent,<\/em> and<\/em> I<\/em> don’t<\/em> want<\/em> the<\/em> best<\/em> for<\/em> them.<\/em> […]<\/em> I<\/em> can’t<\/em> stand<\/em> my<\/em> opponent.\u201d<\/em> The man who had been promoting a special edition of the Bible to raise funds for his presidential campaign publicly rejected its core values. Christianity can be \u201cuseful,\u201d like any ideology, religious or secular, to bludgeon opponents. In a similar vein, a friend of mine once sarcastically said that when Celtic and Rangers play at Hampden Park, the stadium is full of Catholics and Protestants but not a single Christian.<\/p>\n

The parable in today\u2019s gospel could be called \u201cMind the Gap.\u201d It\u2019s not a literal description of what the afterlife looks like; please, don\u2019t use it to create a simplified model of heaven and hell. The nameless rich man was depicted as enjoying life to the fullest, in contrast to an utterly impoverished and stricken man named Lazarus, who lingered at the rich man\u2019s house gate, and \u201cdesired<\/em> to<\/em> be<\/em> fed<\/em> with<\/em> what<\/em> fell<\/em> from<\/em> the<\/em> rich<\/em> man\u2019s<\/em> table.\u201d<\/em> The parable implied that this didn\u2019t happen; instead, stray dogs \u201ccame<\/em> and<\/em> licked<\/em> his<\/em> sores,\u201d<\/em> appearing more sympathetic to Lazarus\u2019 plight. There was a huge gap between him and the rich man. In the parable\u2019s afterlife, the roles were reversed. The rich man found himself in utter pain and saw Abraham, the highly revered founding patriarch of Israel, accompanied by Lazarus. In their exchange, the rich man revealed his mental gap from Lazarus when he addressed Abraham: \u201cSend<\/em> Lazarus<\/em> to<\/em> dip<\/em> the<\/em> end<\/em> of<\/em> his<\/em> finger<\/em> in<\/em> water<\/em> and<\/em> cool<\/em> my<\/em> tongue,<\/em> for<\/em> I<\/em> am<\/em> in<\/em> anguish<\/em> in<\/em> this<\/em> flame.\u201d<\/em> He knew his name, yet he wouldn\u2019t lower himself to speak directly to him, still treating Lazarus as a slave. Abraham\u2019s response was intriguing: \u201cbetween<\/em> us<\/em> and<\/em> you<\/em> a<\/em> great<\/em> chasm<\/em> has<\/em> been<\/em> fixed.\u201d<\/em> Who had created it? Dare I say, it was the rich man\u2019s doing; his inability or unwillingness (or probably both) to close the gap between himself and Lazarus. This was evident when, in his final plea, the rich man again failed to close the gap, addressing Abraham rather than Lazarus: \u201cSend<\/em> him<\/em> to<\/em> my<\/em> father\u2019s<\/em> house<\/em> […]<\/em> so<\/em> that<\/em> he<\/em> may<\/em> warn<\/em> them.\u201d<\/em> Abraham pointed out the futility of such an idea – why would they treat Lazarus differently than the rich man did? – and offered a more effective solution: \u201cThey<\/em> have<\/em> Moses<\/em> and<\/em> the<\/em> Prophets;<\/em> let<\/em> them<\/em> hear<\/em> them.\u201d<\/em> In other words, they should read the Bible and, from that, develop the right attitudes.<\/p>\n

The danger faced by Christians – and indeed, followers of any religion – is that it can be reduced to an ideology, purely devotional religiosity, a superficial cultural veneer, or a mixture of all three. In practical terms, it means adopting its values and principles selectively. We tend to embrace those we like and\/or find easy, but overlook those that challenge our assumptions, prejudices, intolerance, biases, and push us out of our comfort zones. When this happens, the Christian faith loses its transformative power to positively change lives – ours and others’. St Paul\u2019s commendation in today\u2019s second reading offers a strong call to you and me: \u201cpursue<\/em> righteousness,<\/em> godliness,<\/em> faith,<\/em> love,<\/em> steadfastness,<\/em> gentleness.<\/em> Fight<\/em> the<\/em> good<\/em> fight<\/em> of<\/em> the<\/em> faith.<\/em> […]<\/em> keep<\/em> the<\/em> commandment<\/em> unstained<\/em> and<\/em> free<\/em> from<\/em> reproach<\/em> until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/em> Mind the gap and strive to close it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until the news of his assassination broke, I had never heard of Charlie Kirk. Nor did I look into his life after the tragic event, partly because US mass shootings have sadly become quite commonplace across the pond, and partly because I\u2019m not fond of militant, muscular, politicised Christianity. Taking sides in political disputes would render me unable to minister to all in the way described by St Paul: \u201cI have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel.\u201d (1 Corinthians 9:22) Please keep that in mind, as what I\u2019m about to say isn\u2019t political but an illustration of the subject I will tackle in my sermon today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermon","category-year-c"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/posts-headers-green.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15194,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15193\/revisions\/15194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}