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The Rev. Christopher Brdlik
October 28, 2007 --- Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

The wind and the wildfires in southern California have died down for now. Hundreds of thousands of people in San Diego and Los Angeles were evacuated from their homes this week. Now they have largely returned, though there are still fires in isolated areas. When the fires started last Sunday in Malibu, I was reminded vividly of a conference I attended 15 years ago at a Franciscan Retreat Center in Malibu Canyon. The Franciscans built an attractive monastery in a remarkable place: on a butte, or promontory of land set in the middle of the canyon with views of the Pacific Ocean a mile or two off to the south, and Pepperdine University on a ridge to the west. In the valley below the Franciscan Center, circling it on every side, were the expensive homes of Hollywood luminaries. I watched George C. Scott leave his Range Rover in the driveway and walk into his house. Over there were the kids of Mel Gibson, playing in their yard. At the foot of the mountain was the home of Dick Van Dyke, modest by comparison to the others. Stars and producers and directors all around. But on the hills above the homes and Pepperdine were the fresh scars of a previous wildfire. It had been in the news just months before. In fact the TV cameras had been set up in the Franciscans’ parking lot, filming the frantic efforts of fire crews desperately preventing the fire from descending the hills and threatening the homes in the valley. The fire fighters, from all across California and the West succeeded in blocking the blaze that time — but only just barely. 

Three weeks after the fire the monks decided to throw a neighborhood party to thank the fire crews for their effort. They prepared a barbeque and invited all the neighbors, everyone in the valley below, to come and offer a word of gratitude to the men and women who’d saved their homes. The fire crews were pleased at this gesture. But do you know how many of the home owners showed up? Exactly three. Only three people thought it worth their while on a Saturday afternoon to shake the hand of a fire fighter and share a hot dog with him. Just three people came to say thank you. The monks were terribly disappointed that their neighbors were so ungrateful. They thought they had been on good terms with the stars who lived next door. Now their opinion of their neighbors radically changed. 

My friends, gratitude is at the center of the Christian life, maybe all of life. Giving thanks is the central act we owe God. Recognizing all that we have or all that we’ve achieved comes from God is the impetus for spirituality. If you are rich and famous, it may well be because you have innate talent and you have worked hard. But your talent and your work ethic are gifts from God. And any distinction you have achieved may be traced to God’s blessings. More to the point, even the rich and famous depend, rely, and count on the support of others for their safety and livelihood. It’s a Hollywood cliché to thank all the “little people” when one is awarded an Oscar or Emmy. But it is the honest truth. And the rock-bottom verity is that God has blessed us all with the gift of community. 

Now there are some potential pitfalls in offering gratitude to God that we should remember as we place our pledge cards here today. The wise man Sirach (Sirach 35:12-17) wrote, “Do not offer God a bribe, for he will not accept it; do not rely on dishonest sacrifice, for the Lord is judge.” In other words, giving thanks must be offered with a clean heart and a clean mind. You can’t fool God about your feelings. Instead, wrote Sirach, “Give to the Most High generously as God has given to you, and as generously as you can afford.” The point is, God recognizes and blesses true generosity, the kind where the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. You can’t fool God, but you can be generous with God. Generous gratitude to God will be rewarded. False generosity will be judged. 

Then there is the example of the Pharisee (Luke 18:9-14). I think Jesus based this parable on something he witnessed in person in the Temple. It’s no secret Jesus did not get along with Pharisees. They thought he was a threat to their influence; he thought they were self-righteous. The Pharisees fell into the trap that waits for anyone consciously trying to be religious: pretty soon they compare themselves, their piety, their religious achievements, to other people — what we might call the “little people.” Their religiosity, all external, maybe even superficial, makes them feel superior to virtually anyone not on the same path. Even the best intentions can lead to self-righteousness, and, in matters of religion, they often do. Thus the Pharisee in the parable, praying aloud in the Temple, standing by himself, seems to thank God for his stature in life. But he’s really congratulating himself for being holier than thou. 

Now I would never try to dissuade someone from honestly undertaking the spiritual journey. It is my vocation to encourage every one of us to become more conscious, more disciplined, more serious, more happy, more committed about growing in our faith as believing Christians. But just as we cannot fool God with a bribe, with false generosity, so too we cannot deceive God with self-righteousness, with false spirituality. Humility and modesty, represented in Jesus’ parable by the example of the tax man, are what leads to genuine spiritual growth. When we offer thanks to God, whether it’s through your pledge card this morning, or in any of your prayers, offer it from a sense of deep gratitude in a spirit of charity and humility. 

One more thing: Let me say thanks you in advance as sincerely as I can for your generous support of Calvary Church. May your stewardship be a true and honest measure of your growth in the faith.

© copyright 2007, Christopher Brdlik

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