Tenth Sunday after Trinity, August 4th, 2024

 

Tenth Sunday after Trinity, August 4th, 2024

I love watching a good Charlton Heston movie.  And one of my absolute favorites is a film from 1961 entitled "El Cid."  For whatever reason, this movie is not as widely known as "The Ten Commandments" and "Ben Hur".  But, trust me, it is an excellent film.  It is the story of an 11th Century knight who fought to unite Spain against an invading force.  Throughout the movie, "El Cid" is shown as a man with courage but more importantly he is shown as a man of character.  He is a man of honesty, of faithfulness, of steadfastness, of determination, of integrity.  And as you watch this movie you see that these traits bring him both acclaim and exile.  But here is the point that I want to make.  After a fierce battle in which "El Cid" and his forces find victory, his men think so highly of him that they want the Cid to claim the crown for himself.  They want the Cid to be the king of the kingdom which they just fought so hard to defeat.  And when they hand him the crown of the defeated king, the Cid declares the crown and the newly won kingdom to belong to King Alfonso and not for himself.  The problem is that King Alfonso is not a man of character like the Cid.  King Alfonso is not a man of integrity like the Cid.  King Alfonso does not have any of the wonderful qualities of the Cid, quite frankly.  And when the Cid, who is a man of great character and conviction,  declares the crown won for a king with very little conviction and even less character, the man who offered the crown responded:   "What a noble subject, if only he had a noble king."   The point being that the Cid was much more noble than the king he was serving.  The Cid gave honor and loyalty to a king who was deserving of neither.  

For the Christian, though, it seems to be the exact opposite.  The roles seem to be reversed from what I described above.  What a noble King we serve in God Our Heavenly Father.  Our King is loyal to us when we don't deserve it.  Our King is faithful and never leaves our side even when we leave Him and wander off.  Our King is determined to save us.  So determined that He freely chose to carry His Cross to that hill of Calvary and laid down His life for you and me.   And as I have said so often throughout the years, think about what a "Perfect Gentleman" Our Lord is.  He never forces Himself on anyone.  He always allows us to choose a relationship with Him.  He never comes in where He is uninvited.  And He waits for us to call upon Him.  God is so wonderful.  God is so loyal.  Our God is so giving.   The question remains why do we choose to treat God so poorly through the way in which we live our life?  Why are we so disloyal to such a wonderful God?  Why do we seem to choose the world over God so often throughout our life?  If we reflect on what God has done for us . . .  what God has done for the world, quite frankly . . .  we will realize that God deserves much better than we ever give Him.  We should examine our relationship with God and always give Him our utmost.  We should always stay loyal and faithful to God, Who has given so much for us.  We should dedicate our life to the One who not only made life possible but also laid down His life in order for us to have eternal life with Him.  "Oh what a noble King we serve!"

Please make a point to join us for Mass on Sunday.  St. Margaret Church gathers together each and every Sunday at 10:30 am.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Version of the Bible.  We use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  And receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Saviour at Communion time.   We are all busy.  We all lead busy lives.  Take an hour out of your busy week and dedicate it to God.  Give that hour to God and spend it with Him.