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An Empty HouseOne of the Gospel lessons for Lent reads:
When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest; and finding none he says, “I will return to my house from which I came.” And when he comes he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. (St. Luke 11:24-26, RSV) Jesus spoke about a house. This house is a human soul; a mind and a life we might say. The man who owned the house had an unwanted lodger; a demon representing sin. So the man cleaned house. He kicked the demon out. Some might think, “Ah, this man is now a Christian. He has expelled the sin and corruption from his life.” But is he now a Christian? Is this a picture of Christianity? We must answer, “No, it is not.” Christianity is more than the absence of evil. It is that, of course, but it is more. Christianity is the presence of good. Christ is telling us that it is not enough to have an empty house. All of us have heard of the Golden Rule of Christ - “So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them....” (St. Matthew 7:12) But have you ever heard of the Silver Rule? The so called Silver Rule was expressed by Confucius in his Analects. It reads, “Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.” The Stoics and other Western philosophies had proverbs similar to this. The two rules, the Golden and the Silver, sound much alike, but there is in fact a world of difference. Anyone can fulfill the precept of Confucius for it is entirely negative. All that is necessary is that a person do nothing. Such is not the case with Christ’s Golden Rule. To fulfill it we must do to others. Christianity is not a religion of negatives, but of positives. In Christ’s story the man kicked the demon out and everything in the house was neat and orderly. But no one was living in the house so the demon moved back in and he brought along a few of his nasty friends. A person’s soul cannot and will not be empty. There is only one way to keep an unwanted lodger out. That is by having good lodgers move in. Have you ever had a song or a jingle in your mind and couldn’t get it out? The song was continually repeated in your brain. How do you get a song out of your mind? By emptying your mind? No, that’s impossible. You get rid of it by singing another song. The best way to get rid of bad thoughts is to replace them with good thoughts. Or replace bad actions with good actions. If we try to remain neutral in thoughts or actions, to take the negative approach, the evil will come back into our minds and lives. William Barclay made this point quite well when he wrote, “...the best way to avoid evil is to do good. The loveliest garden I ever saw was so full of flowers that there was scarcely room for a weed to grow.” Going back to Christ’s illustration, if you don’t want bad company in your house, fill the house with good company, so there will be no room for the bad to get in. If any of the bad does get in they won’t feel very comfortable and will soon leave. The house is no longer filled with their kind. During this Lenten season remember that Christianity is not a religion of negatives, but of positives. The bad isn’t simply removed, leaving a vacuum, it is replaced by the good. by Rev. Frank M. Levi
On Saturday, December 19, 1998, the Sunday School had a Christmas Party in the Parish Hall. The children also went caroling and practiced for the Christmas Program. The Sunday School Christmas Program was presented Sunday morning, December
20, 1998. The cast, all with speaking parts, included: Anne Horn, Caroline
Robertson and Parham Horn as the choir and in skits; John Horn as Joseph,
Jackie Robertson as Mary, and Audra Brulc as the Star; Annamarie Sellers,
the Angel, Adam & Loretta Sellers, Shepherds, and Mark Levi, the King
and soloist. The Sellers were also in a family skit; the Horn children
each played a special number on the piano, Caroline Robertson played the
oboe. On Christmas Eve we gathered in the chapel at 11 p.m. for the Candlelight Christmas Service. The service was followed by a lovely reception in the Parish Hall. Ordination Congratulaitons to Debbie Novak, daughter of the Rev. Robert & Mrs. (Dorothy) Novak, who recently became engaged to Robert Gilman. The wedding is planned for September 3, 1999 at St. Paul’s Bible Church in Chicago Missionary of The Month Domestic Missions Happy Birthday! The Lenten Season begins on Ash Wednesday, February 17, 1999. As has been our tradition, we will meet on each of the Wednesday nights of Lent. We will have dinner at 6:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall. A sign-up sheet will be posted in the Narthex. Following dinner we will gather in the chapel to worship our Lord. The service will begin at 7:30 p.m. Diocesan Synod |
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