I want to talk to you about nature and
grace which is one of the thorniest and
most interesting issues in theology and
I'll do it by referring back to st. John
the Baptist under the famous scene when
people come to the Baptist and say what
should we do you know tell us what to do
and so John the Baptist in line with his
prophetic tradition says well here are
some things you can do
so you soldiers or acting like bully
boys and extorting people stop doing
that
you know don't don't demand money from
people or the tax collectors you know
who are skimming money off the top and
threatening and all that stop doing that
in other words and he says if you got
you know two shirts give one to a guy
with no shirt okay he urges upon them
the great works of Justice and here as I
say he's in line with his prophetic
forebears own Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel
Hosea Amos Daniel and the whole gang
would urge Israel to justice he's also
in line I would say with the great
philosophers go back to Cicero and Plato
and Aristotle Plato says to be just is
to render to each his do good pithy
definition do the right thing we would
say be virtuous be upright do things
that you can do on your own steam even
go up to you know Thomas Jefferson again
they would all agree with them you know
agree that there are certain actions
that are just that we should do to make
our lives better so far I would say so
natural number nature grace but then the
Baptist says something which I think if
we really move into it will take our
breath away but there's one mightier
than I whose coming and I'm not even
worthy to untie the strap of the sandal
now first of all our antenna should go
up because I mean be impossible to
imagine Plato is as much as he respected
Aristotle whatever say oh this guy does
Aristotle is coming to me I I'm not
worried to take his shoes off I mean
come on he'd never seen or even you
couldn't imagine
Isaiah saying of Jeremiah was Jeremiah
fellows coming I'm not even worthy no
I'm sure I respect them and they're in
the same tradition I'm in uh but they
would say that you're Jefferson oh this
Hamilton guy I maybe were to take money
to take his shoes oh no they would
recognize the legitimacy of those who
follow them in this natural tradition of
social justice man but John the Baptist
is not saying that he's saying the one
coming after me is so different that I'm
not even worthy to do with slaves work
for him taking your sandals the one
who's coming after me is qualitatively
different than I am that's the point
making we're moving beyond I would say
here the merely natural moving beyond
the realm of the natural which is what
we can achieve on our own by our own
forces now notice what he says further
about this one who's coming he's I I'm
baptized even water you know like anyone
can do that but the one who's coming is
going to baptize you in fire and in the
Holy Spirit and go back to the the root
meaning of baptized baptizing in Greek
means simply to dip in so dip into water
you're baptize but to baptize is to dip
into the one coming after me is going to
dip you into the Holy Spirit notice
please the shift from the active of the
passive what should we do well do this
do that you can do active things but the
one who's coming is not going to ask so
much for activity in our part it's a
passive stance now he's going to dip you
in the Holy Spirit and fire what's the
holy spirit spiritus Sanctus holy breath
it's the breath exchange between the
father of the son it's the shared love
of the father in the son the one who's
coming is going to dip you into that
love so you could be transformed in it
it's not something you can do it's
something that can only be done to you
by the one who's coming now and the
second image as well it's making the
same point he's got his winnowing fan in
his hand now we're going to miss what
that means but the ancient people knew
that winnowing fan was like a like a
rake or a fork and the farmer would put
stalks of wheat on the threshing floor
right which is his flat surface and then
he would take the winnowing fan and
throw it up in the air and the wind
would blow the chaff away and then the
heavier wheat would remain
it's how they separate a wheat from
chaff okay now could you say Oh put me
to self-help program so I can separate
out what's good bad at me that's not
what he's saying he's saying the one
who's coming was qualitatively different
than I am is gonna do something to you
okay
first he's gonna bop T Zane he's gonna
dip you into the Holy Spirit so that the
love that God is can begin to take hold
in you and then he is going to affect
this change he's gonna take his
winnowing fan which would hurt by the
way I imagine him here suddenly the
wheat being tossed in the air and things
being blown away that's not easy but he
he's doing the work was it mean now to
be truly holy to be a saint
part of it is indeed Justin see none of
this is gain saying what John said or
what Isaiah Jeremiah Thomas Jefferson
Cicero all that's fine that's part of it
what we can do but then there's this far
far more important thing that we can't
do it's allowing Christ to live his life
in us to effect a change in us to let
him take over I've talked before about
Jesus getting in the boat of st. Peter
and then giving orders right it's a li
Peter asked him to get the boat it's not
like hey well you helped me with my
fishing here it's Jesus gets in the boat
and then starts giving commands and
that's when Peter truly comes to life or
it's the Lord going to Zacchaeus and
saying this day is the key is I'm
staying in your house house there means
his soul it means his self
Jesus is I'm coming in and I'm directing
operations from now on see that's what
it means to be a saint and it's really
really hard for us to get that I think
in our culture which is very much geared
to self-assertion to self-help to I can
do it the independent person the saint
you might say by definition is is a non
independent person
the saint is someone who has surrendered
her life to someone else has given his
life over to a higher power
look at the twelve-step again you know
surrendering to a higher power is
essential essential to transformation I
the the true addict who says finally
look I can't do this that's a key moment
and I turn my life I become passive
before this higher power so in the
spiritual order so in the spiritual I
become passive before the one now lives
his life in me well what does all this
look like on the ground or what is its
cash value as William James I'm singing
well I would use the language of love
here if love is truly willing the good
of the other as other it's not something
we can do on our own look back at the
great philosophers they'll talk about
generosity your magnanimity sort of a
certain kind attention toward those with
less than you but they don't tell you
what love real love which is a complete
abandonment of your own program and
project it's it's reefs entering your
life so that the other is more important
than you that I would say is something
properly divine and so it comes only as
a gift now look at the great science
look at a mother Teresa going into the
worst slums in the world now look at
rose Hawthorne who would literally
invite into her home people that had
been kicked out of hospitals because
they were dying of cancer now look at
Junipero Serra recently canonized who
went at mid-career
at midlife when he was pretty
comfortable doing good works but went to
the ends of the world I just visited to
him out in Carmel went to the end of the
world like go to the moon today and and
abandon his life his family knew he'd
never seen him again and he never did
how do you explain that I mean that you
can't explain those things on
Aristotelian grounds you can't you can't
explain them on classical philosophical
grounds
you can't even explain them on prophetic
grounds like boy that person's following
what Isaiah said something happened
someone came into their lives with a
winnowing fan
and cleared out what he had to clear out
and then he dipped them into the Holy
Spirit and then sent them there's
Christianity that's Christianity one of
the problems today is we turn
Christianity into a self-help program
follow these steps and you'll be no
Christianity is allowing Christ to live
his life in you surrendering to him
doing what he commands letting him throw
the wheat the chaff so that the chaff is
borne away that's what it means to be
holy and that's why the distinction
between nature and grace remains of
enormous importance