Homily For The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity 2025
Helplessness, hopelessness - looking at the world as it is. Our Old Testament Lesson is from the Book of Job. Job’s testimony is considered one of the older narratives in the Old Testament. It goes back to a time before the Patriarchs but addresses age old questions that have vexed humanity from the very beginning. What do we make of human suffering? Why does God allow sin to remain in this world? Why do the righteous suffer while the wicked seem to flourish?
Our Old Testament Lesson is the lament of Job about the hopelessness of the world as he sees it. He takes an approach similar to that of Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes acknowledging the futility of life under the sun - completely from the viewpoint of life in this world.
This passage shows that mankind has a heart problem, a soul problem that has been with us since the Fall. We talk about the wickedness of our present age but the Old Testament Lesson along with other readings show us that technology only increased capacity for sin - the real problem, the heart, has always been the same.
In Job Chapter 24, Job wrestles with the existence of overt wickedness that he sees in the world around him. Verse one presents the question - Why, seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty, do they that know him not see his days? Or as another translation puts it, ““Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Job looks at his circumstances and wonders whether the righteous are looking in vain for God’s judgment to come.
The remainder of the Old Testament Lesson is a catalog of sins common in the world around Job.
The wicked defraud their neighbors by moving the markers of the property line - expanding the estate of the wicked at the expense of their neighbors. The wicked take advantage of the helpless - typified by the fatherless and the widow. The evil take away their work animals and push the needy, the poor out of their way. The poor hide themselves in the misery of their affliction.
The wicked are eager in their work; they are like marauders in the wilderness seeking to steal from those passing through the wilderness. They steal the corn from the field and the grapes from the vineyard. The wicked then oppress the poor - taking their clothing, making them sleep without cover from the cold of the desert night. The oppressed have no shelter - being wet when the rain falls, clinging to any overhang for hope of cover.
Job then moves from lamenting the actions of the wicked in the wilderness to their actions in towns and villages.
We read that evil men kidnap children from widows and then sell them into slavery. They cause the destitute - the naked and hungry - to work for them but do not allow them to eat or drink of the produce. The poor destitute “make oil within the walls” of the wicked “and tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst.” As a result of the affliction caused by the wicked, Job says men groan and the soul of the wounded crieth out.”
They oppress in the wilderness, they oppress in the town, they oppress in day and, Job laments, they work evil even throughout the night. They work murder, adultery, burglary all under the cover of darkness with a firm conviction that darkness will hide them. That they will not receive the consequences of sin. Job is vexed that it appears that God is letting them get away with their evil acts.
The lawlessness, the oppression of Job’s world shows us how far man is from his original blessed state.
Article 9 of the Articles of Religion say it this way - “it is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation.” Job’s narratives show the plain, outward view of men who are rebelling against God - acting contrary to the spirit, inclined to do evil.
Yet, God sent his son into that world. It is for this purpose that he came. As St. John reminds us - I John 3:8 - For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. The works of the devil were clearly seen in Job’s day - in the lament about evil-doers. It is seen in our Gospel through Jesus' acts of mercy.
While we see physical manifestations of Christ destroying the works of the devil - the deformity of body, the perversion of men’s thoughts, we see Our Lord’s power in destroying the root of the problem - lack of forgiveness. Christ destroys the power of sin by extending forgiveness for sins. We also read that he will judge those who ultimately refuse to receive him as Lord. St. Matthew tells us the story of a man who was paralyzed who was lying on his bed. Jesus sees the faith of the men who bring him to Jesus, our Lord observes how much effort they expended to put the man before Jesus. In another Gospel account, they remove the roof of the house so that they can lower the man down before Jesus. No one goes to this sort of effort unless they are convinced that help is possible. Jesus could heal. They believed that. The man believed that as well. To the surprise of many, Jesus doesn’t declare healing of his physical problems but rather the forgiveness of sins. Jesus deals with the underlying matter, the root, that has eternal consequences directly.
It would seem that the scribes were scandalized that Jesus would declare forgiveness of sins. The greatest of the prophets - Elijah, Elisha, Moses - they could perform miracles but none was in a position to forgive sins. Think of the prophet Nathan when confronting David about sin with Bathsheba. David repents and Nathan tells him - God hath put away your sin. God has done it. I, Nathan, am just the messenger. Yet, we confess with great joy, that Jesus is fully God and fully man. We have hope today because God became flesh, came among us and is the process of rolling back the power of Satan. He is crushing Satan and his kingdom through the expansion of the resurrection’s power to announce forgiveness of sins. Not just a better life in the present through physical healing, but the destruction of evil through forgiveness. The prospect of repentance, restoration, turning from the evil of this present age lamented by Job in the Old Testament Lesson.
Jesus, in his mercy, wanted to give an object lesson on his capacity to forgive sins by allowing the crowd the privilege of seeing what the reversal of the curse looks like. The man was paralyzed, the man was completely incapable of doing anything for himself, he was so hopeless in his condition that he had to be brought to Jesus. Someone had to do it for him. Jesus confronts the evil of the thoughts, the root of unbelief in their hearts. He reads their minds and then declares that the forgiven man can get up and walk. Notice what Jesus says - But that ye may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins… that is the purpose. The love of God for sinners who know their need and for those who need confrontation, blunt force trauma of Christ’s claims. For this is directed toward those who were blaspheming the son of man in their hearts. It is directed to them. What a mercy! What an opportunity to rethink one’s position: to repent and believe in Jesus.
In any case, the man not only got up, he had such physical renewal and strengthening that he carried the bed that he was carried in on and went home.
St. Matthew wraps up our Gospel for today by noting the response of the crowd. It is a common feature in the Gospels that the common people marvel at the works of Jesus and then connect it to some prophesy or acknowledge the wonder of the miracle. Here, the crowd marvelled about the nature of this healing and glorified God - which had given such power unto men. Beloved, the solution to the problem of evil that vexed Job, that burdened him in his affliction, is the reality that God has given power unto men to destroy the works of the devil. More specifically, to destroy the works of the devil by extending forgiveness of sins. We are responsible for our actions; we will give an account for every idle thought and word. Yet, God came in the flesh to destroy the works of the great instigator, the great perverter of God’s creation.
We are redeemed through Christ’s redemptive, restorative work. We should marvel that God has given such power to one man - that it came to men through Jesus. Our vocation now as God’s people is to declare the truth of this redemption in varied forms to ourselves and to our neighbors. Moreover, as we were reminded in our study of Phillipians, to devote ourselves to meditating, to marvel anew at the works of God in the common events of life. Make it a practice to labor in seeing his good amidst the blackness of the night that Satan would tempt us to focus on. Don’t allow Satan to have the final word on what is going on in this world. Focus instead on what is possible through the Lord Jesus Christ. What his redemptive work has done and is doing in the world. St. Paul reminds the Philippians - 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
So on this 19th Sunday after Trinity, let us give our attention to the redemption we have received, the hope we have because Jesus has forgiven our sins. That we can be received by God through faith in His Son. In doing so, let us meditate, being fixated in heart and mind on the habits of the eternal kingdom of God. The next time you find yourself ready to complain about the state of the world or even the state of your life, pivot and refocus. Find a focus that allows you to give thanks. This is how you renew your mind: Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on these things.
