Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Trinity: Look to this Day – preached at the Eucharist, Sherborne Abbey, on Sunday 16 June 2024 by Canon Charles Mitchell-Innes. (2 Corinthians Ch. 5 v 6 – 10, 14 – 17; Mark Ch. 4 v 26 – 34)
You may know the morning hymn:
“Awake my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run.”
It was written by the saintly Bishop Thomas Ken, and contains the line “Live this day as if ‘twere thy last.” Someone must have mentioned this to Homer Simpson, philosophical anti-hero of The Simpsons, because in one episode he is seen leaning miserably on a lamp post and wailing “I’m going to die tomorrow.”
No, Homer, that is not the sense in which you are supposed to take this piece of advice. It is of course an encouragement to live life to the full, whilst never losing sight of the heavenly virtues. So the good bishop bids us to “joyful rise …. improve thy talent with due care”, to “let all thy converse be sincere, Thy conscience as the noon-day clear.” There is also a happy reference to the joys of music – of the sort that our excellent girls’ choir is providing today:
“Awake, awake, ye heavenly choir,
May your devotion me inspire,
That I, like you, my age may spend,
Like you may on my God attend.”
The emphasis is on making the most of today, this very moment. We know we cannot relive the past, even though our previous successes and failures can inform and guide us; and we cannot be certain of the future: we may indeed plan for it, but there is no point in fretting over things that are unknown since they have yet to happen, and may not. But now – now is the only time we can be sure of. Jesus recognised this: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life,” he said, “what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew Ch 6: v 25) Two things are important to remember here. First, this is definitely not an invitation to hedonism, to simply doing whatever pleases you most, regardless of others. Jesus ends, “Seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” (Ch 6: v 33) He is saying that we have to work at living well, not sink into a self-indulgent lethargy. Second, this is not an excuse for being fatalistic, for reckoning we have no control over what is happening.
I remember, years ago, listening to a friend who had been the driver of a British army truck in North Africa. On this particular occasion he had handed over control to a fellow driver, a Muslim, and they were coming down a steep mountain road. As the truck began to accelerate dangerously, this co-driver declared “It is the will of Allah”, and took his hands off the steering wheel. My friend grabbed the wheel and said, “Oh no, it jolly well isn’t” – or words to that effect: he was a soldier – and brought the truck safely down the mountain. It must be said that this is not mainstream Islamic doctrine or practice.
The saints have often been characterized by displaying a fine balance between living in the moment and keeping, at the same time, a clear eye on the eternal truths. One of my favourites is the 3rd century St Felix of Nola, who knew when to work for the Kingdom of God and when to leave things in God’s hands. He had an energetic and fruitful ministry, leading to many conversions and miracles. But he also suffered persecution, and once found himself pursued by Roman soldiers bent on killing him. As he ran, he came to the bottom of a cliff which had many long, thin caves carved into it; into one of these he disappeared, and waited. As he waited, he noticed a spider weaving its web across the cave’s entrance. His pursuers got ever closer, and he heard them searching each cave in turn. When they reached the one Felix was hiding in, and he thought the game was up, he heard one of the soldiers say, “There’s an unbroken spider’s web across this one: he can’t be in here.” And they passed by. To Felix, waiting on God’s will, it was a miracle.
In today’s Epistle Paul assures the Christians in Corinth, “We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” Like the saints, they should, Paul says, not put too great an emphasis on worldly values and success, but make it their “aim to please God”. (2 Corinthians Ch 5: v 8 – 9) In other words, not to fret about the past nor to get in a stew over the future, but to value each day – now – as an opportunity to serve God by using our talents to the full and by enjoying and engaging completely in the life we have been given.
To close, a poem from the Sanskrit, “The salutation to the dawn”:
“Look to this day with thanksgiving!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities
And realities of your existence:
The glory of action,
The bliss of growth,
The splendour of beauty.
For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today, well-lived, makes
Every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!”