Putting Character First
Sermon by Eric Hollas, OSB
Saint John’s Abbey
13 September 2015
A few years ago a Japanese cooking show took the culinary world by storm. Eventually the Iron Chef found a home throughout the television world; and not only has it lasted, but it’s spawned a host of copy-cat programs. A recent version of this program pits a group of aspiring chefs in competition with each other, with the clock, and with their own creativity. And the first dramatic moment comes when they open the bag of ingredients they must use.
Sometimes the ingredients are conventional, but sometimes there are ghastly surprises. Cooks must combine an oddball list that includes okra and chocolate and lamb; or salmon and jello and cauliflower. These combinations are meant to push the imaginations of the chefs, and soon enough they are sweating bullets. Meanwhile we viewers sit there slightly amused by groups of ingredients that no one in their right mind would ever think of using.
That’s the challenge that preachers sometimes face when they open up the lectionary to look at the readings for Sunday. First off, there are always three readings, and just like on the Iron Chef, they don’t always blend together easily. The good news is that I don’t have to preach on all of them. Also good is the fact that the first reading, from the Old Testament, most of the time matches well with the gospel passage. And if those two can’t spark an idea for a sermon, then there’s always Plan B — which is to leave them alone and hope the second reading offers something inspiring. That’s the theory behind having three readings, and it demonstrates the richness and depth of sacred scripture. There’s many directions to take a sermon, depending on the situation; but the good news is that the Lord has a lot to tell us on most any subject.
In today’s first reading the prophet Isaiah speaks about the suffering he has endured as he has preached on behalf of God. His is not a complaint, but rather there is in his words gratitude to God. Isaiah has done what the Lord has asked of him, and Isaiah has paid a heavy price. But true to his promise, the Lord has stuck with Isaiah through the worst of it. And for that Isaiah is grateful.
Jesus takes up the same theme when he speaks to the disciples about what he must do, and for it he too will pay a heavy price of suffering. Peter will have none of that, and Jesus rebukes him for suggesting that he could take the easy way out. No, Jesus must deny himself for the sake of others, and for the benefit of others he must pay the price of death on a cross. But the price must be paid for the salvation of others.
At first glance the reading from the Epistle of James seems to go off in an entirely different direction. He’s concerned about faith and works, and how a faith that is alive and vital quite naturally is going to show itself in works. Faith without works, James writes, is dead. Such a faith is empty and lifeless.
So with today’s readings we seem to have two very different approaches we might take. But I would suggest that in fact the three readings are of a piece, and the thread that’s common to them all is consistency. It’s about the integrity that weaves in and out and through a life, and a character that shows through in every facet of one’s life, come what may.
I would suggest that today Isaiah and James and Jesus have something very important to say to us, and especially as we begin a new school year. For those of you just beginning college, it’s important to consider this. There are all sorts of good reasons for going to college, and not the least of them is the acquisition of skills that will serve you well in your professional lives later on. But college is more than a commodity for which you pay a lot of money for a skill set. If you’ve come just for that, then you miss the most important part of what college is about. You miss the chance to discover who you want to become in the course of your life. You miss the chance to fix on the principles that will guide you through the rest of your life. In short, you will neglect entirely the issue of character. And without character, you won’t make much of a difference in the world.
In a recent book the writer David Brooks has lamented what he calls the pursuit of a resumé as the primary goal in life. By that he means to say that far too many people spend far too much of their time and energy on acquiring the skills that make for a good resumé. Those skills are important, he’d be the first to say, but they aren’t what life is all about. Rather, what matters far more are the qualities that you hear about in a eulogy. This is the character issue. These are the questions that deal with the basics of life. Was a person generous? Did he or she have the courage of their convictions and follow through on them? Did they care about people and try to make a difference? Did they treasure their friends and love their spouse and family? Were they willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others? These, he argues, are the questions that we speak about in a eulogy at the end of our lives. And these, he concludes, ought to be the questions we should answer for ourselves as we shape what kind of person we want to be.
These things, I would submit, are what you should think about while you’re at Saint John’s and Saint Ben’s, because these are the issues that determine a life of character. Not for a minute am I saying that professional skills are not important. They most certianly are, and after four years here they will help to fill out a pretty respectable resumé. But they are not necessarily what life is all about. Life is about character and love and respect for friends and neighbors. That character is about the ability to sacrifice yourself once in a while to help someone out. It’s about following through on your principles, even if there are moments of suffering, as both Isaiah and Jesus experienced. And ultimately life is all about whether you choose to translate your ideals — your faith — into deeds, as James urges us in his letter.
The world certainly needs professionally competent people; but as Isaiah and James and Jesus all teach, the world is in even greater need of people who love and respect others. The world needs people who can serve and lead others, even if at times that involves a bit of sacrifice.
There’s no doubt that in the years to come life is going to put in front of you a bag of groceries that may not mix well together. What you choose to do with those odds and ends is a matter of character, and now is the best of times to begin to consider the qualities that you’d like to hear about in your own eulogy someday. The world in general, and your world in particular, will be a better place because you chose to put character first.
