Sunday Homily - May 10, 2020 - "That where I am, there you may also be."
 |
| The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen Icon |
I.
almost invariably
when I hear this Gospel passage from St. John this morning,
and it is the song, "That Where I am, there you may also be" by Rich Mullins.
If you have a moment, I encourage you to listen to this song:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfQ-eHHbvIM&list=PL0mnF7gQKRQidoqEXNhOnYYfn4kthzcb5&index=19]
If you listen to the song,
you will undoubtedly find that the lyrics are taken directly from John 14 that we read this morning:
as he writes:
"In my Father's house, there are many many rooms,
and I'm goin' up there now to prepare a place for you
that where I am there you may also be."
For those of you who might not know who Rich Mullins was,
he was an immensely popular Christian musician and hymn writer
who was heavily influenced by the life and witness of St. Francis of Assisi.
Mullins even wrote a song about St. Francis's life called "The Canticle of the Plains."
But I think the reason why Rich Mullins stands out so much to me
is because of his incredible ability to use biblical metaphor in music.
And the setting of Jesus's words in today's Gospel is an example of that.
But another reason why Rich Mullins stays in my mind
was because of the heaviness and depth of his music.
This is summed up in a phrase by music artist Amy Grant,
who once said of Rich Mullins
"[Rich] was the uneasy conscience of Christian music."
[quoted in "1998 - Rich Mullins Tribute". GMA Dove Awards. April 23, 1998.]
Rich Mullins wrote so deeply
because his life with God was so complex,
and because he believed that truly following Jesus
meant often that we have uncomfortably interrogate our notions of God
in order to more fully follow where God is leading us.
This is very clear in Mullins's own life,
as in his later life,
he had somewhat distanced himself from the more mainstream Christianity that he had been a part of for most of his music career,
moving to teach music among the Navajo nation in New Mexico to children.
When someone asked him if he had moved there to convert people to Christianity,
Mullins replied,
"No. I think I just got tired of a White, Evangelical, middle class perspective on God,
and I thought I would have more luck finding Christ among the Navajos.
I'm teaching music."
["Rich Mullins Interview" – Ichthus Festival, 1996]
A complex and fascinating person, Rich Mullins was.
But for Rich,
tragedy would not be far behind him.
As he and a friend were traveling to a benefit concert,
he was tragically killed in an auto accident on the way,
ending his life in 1997.
But, this is perhaps where Rich's testimony to the resurrection of Jesus is seen in his own music life.
Because just that next year, at the GMA Awards,
he was posthumosly awarded Artist of the Year,
Songwriter of the Year,
and one song on his next album that he did not finish in his lifetime,
was awarded Song of the Year.
And the last song on that posthumous album
was none other that the song I most remember about him:
"That where I Am, there you may also be."
Rich Mullins, even in his death,
bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus in his faithful following of Jesus,
even when it led him to places that others may have not understood this side of heaven.
But then again, Rich Mullins is far from the first person to witness to Jesus's resurrection,
even in their own death.
II.
This is why St. Stephen's story in the Acts of the Apostles is so very poignant,
given the context of what happens in the passage.
St. Stephen is commonly known as the First Martyr for Jesus Christ,
because of this very passage in the Acts of the Apostles.
Stephen,
filled with the Holy Spirit,
lays out an incredible testimony to Jesus Christ
in Acts 7.
And this was in response to being summoned by the Sanhedrin,
the tribunal of Rabbis
that judged whether a member of the local Jewish assembly
was causing trouble.
And Stephen lays out his case,
beginning with the very beginning of the Covenant with Abraham,
and leading up to the prophets foretelling the life of the Messiah,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
But Stephen also isn't interested in what the tribunal thinks of him or does to him.
Because as Stephen lays out his case about Jesus,
he also doesn't let them just sit comfortably.
Stephen also lays his accusation against them for not heeding the work of God:
"You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.
You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!
Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?
They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One.
And now you have betrayed and murdered him—
you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”
[Acts 7:51-53]
Stephen then, immediately and in the presence of the tribunal,
receives a vision of Jesus Christ and tells it to the Sanhedrin.
And the Sanhedrin was so full of rage at what he said,
that they don't even have a coherent response.
Instead, the Scripture says that they simply pick him up,
take him out,
and stone him to death.
But the most important part of this whole Scripture passage,
I think,
is what Stephen says as he is dying.
Even as he is being wrongfully put to death,
Stephen cries out,
"Lord receive my spirit...do not hold this sin against them."
Stephen's own words perfectly reflect Jesus's own words at the Cross.
Because just as Jesus promised the convicted bandit on the cross beside him that he would be with him in paradise,
Stephen also holds on to the promise of Jesus Christ
that he has gone to prepare a place for him
in his Father's house.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ
was central for Stephen's hope for eternal life,
even so much so that he cried out to God to forgive even those who were in the middle of murdering him.
And that is the ultimate hope that we have in Jesus Christ
and the resurrection of the dead.
III.
Rich Mullins and St. Stephen had such a faith in Jesus
that even in and after their physical death,
their lives tell the story of the Easter message
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Rich Mullins wouldn't consider himself a martyr if he were still around.
But undoubtedly, Rich Mullins was and is still a witness to Jesus's resurrection in the music he bequeaths to us,
even after his death.
St. Stephen wouldn't have changed his message even if it spared him his death,
because the salvation that he had received as a free gift
was so important for the world to hear
that he freely and willingly gave up his life for it,
and the testimony of his faith is made all the more sure
in how even in death, he pleaded with God to forgive his murderers.
Because both Rich Mullins and St. Stephen had been given the holy faith
of hearing and receiving Christ's own words,
"In my Father's house are many many rooms,
and I'm goin' up there now to prepare a place for you
that where I am there you may also be."
For us who are in the midst of Easter season,
it is east to try to focus on the happier thoughts and less complicated realities of Our Lord Jesus's eternal life,
and the Holy Spirit being bestowed on us.
But don't forget, friends, the harder and deeper ways
in which the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God
penetrates even the darkest corridors of our human lives,
even in the midst of tragedy and death.
We who have faith in Jesus Christ
have the sure and certain hope that although we may die,
we will live.
And this hope extends to our loved ones reposed in faith,
that although we still fear the darkness of death,
we have the holy hope of seeing our beloved dead alive again in Christ.
Not only can we hope to see Rich Mullins and St. Stephen again,
but also our dad,
our mom,
our sister, our brother,
our son, our daughter,
our lifelong friends and neighbors
in the eternal life that will never perish.
The resurrection penetrates even death's dark veil over our own faces,
and for me,
this is a much harder, yet so much more hopeful place
to know that Jesus resides.
Keep the faith, friends,
in Jesus's ultimate triumph over death in his bodily resurrection.
And remember that Jesus is getting your place ready,
just as sure as the sky is blue.
Because:
"In my Father's house are many many rooms,
and I'm goin' up there now to prepare a place for you
that where I am there you may also be."
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Comments
Post a Comment