Remembering St. Luke

Today (Oct. 18) is the commemoration of the martyrdom of St. Luke the Evangelist. It is supposed the 84-year-old Evangelist was crucified on an olive tree in the ancient city of Boeotia, which was located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Corinth in modern day Greece. The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, both written near the place of his death, are attributed to this Gentile whom the Apostle Paul calls the “beloved Physician.” Luke has the unique distinction of being a co-prisoner with Paul as mentioned in Second Timothy.

Luke is revered as a great Evangelist who makes clear in his Gospel that salvation is for all, regardless of gender, social position or nationality. Throughout the centuries, he is honored by the Church Fathers as one who embodies the evangelistic nature desired by every Christian. Gregory the Great, in a sermon delivered in the 6th century about Luke’s model of evangelism, concludes his remarks with these words:

“But now listen to what our Lord has to say after sending out those who are to preach: ‘The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’ There are only a few laborers for so huge a harvest, something we cannot mention without sadness, because, although there are many who crave to hear the good news, there are few to preach it…But as for you, my dear brothers and sisters, ponder well the Lord’s command. Pray indeed the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. And pray for us that we may be able to serve you as you deserve, that our tongue may never grow tired of exhorting you, lest having undertaken this office of preaching, our silence condemn us in the sight of our just judge.”
For many churches, October is a month to celebrate ministry. We celebrate the ministry of our clergy. We celebrate the ministry of our laity and in so doing, ask the question, is God calling you to the vocation of Ordained Ministry? What better week to answer the call then this one, as your way of honoring the evangelistic ministry of St. Luke.

Wisdom In Moments of Evil

No doubt many of you have been struck by the news of the execution-style murders of five young Amish girls in Pennsylvania. I have received numerous emails, telephone calls and comments from many of you asking why God allows these kinds of things to happen. The question of why evil exists in the world has been a stumbling block for nonbelievers and a test of faith for believers for centuries. From the Apostle Paul to St. Augustine to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Church has struggled with how we should respond to evil and how we can explain the apparent non-action of the God that we claim is omnipotent and sovereign. In that thousands of volumes have been written on the subject, a few paragraphs here will certainly not settle the issue.

For me, as a Christian, I understand God to be one who walks with us in the midst of tragedy, who understands our loss, as he watched his own Son tortured and executed by a world who followed the gospel of hate and not the Gospel of Love. I also believe that Christ continues to live in the world in the form of the Church, the Body of Christ. The question for me is not why a mighty hand from heaven does not stop evil, but rather, to what extent will the Body of Christ on Earth—the Church of Jesus Christ—be willing to give itself as Christ gave himself…even to a cross.

I know in this case, the reasons are complicated, mysterious and elusive. It is easy to boil everything down and identify the person or persons to blame: God, the government, the evil doer’s parents, but really the blame rests with the power of sin and evil in our lives and in culture. Our culture promotes a selfish propensity to shake our heads in disgust and then suppress the incidents of evil and injustice. Meanwhile, we grow increasingly anesthetized to both an unwillingness to take responsibility and our culture’s avoidance of investing the time, energy and resources to foster our families, churches and communities to be places of virtue and wisdom, the true meaning of Jefferson’s call in our Declaration of Independence to the right of the pursuit of happiness. It begins not in Washington D.C. or in the halls of justice, but in the most sacred of halls, your homes, our community, with me and with you.