August 10, 2025 ☩ The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
on
Is 1:1,10-20; Heb. 11:1-3,8-16; & Luke 12:32-40
“A Paradox of Faith: Give to Receive”
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As some of you know, I once was a high school teacher. Among the topics I taught were Mathematics and Physics. In Physics, there is a time when we study light. Light operates in a paradoxical way.
To begin, here is a definition of ‘paradox’ according to the Meriam-Webster Dictionary: a paradox is “a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true.”
The study of light is a paradox. Light is energy, and therefore should only operate under laws of electromagnetic radiation – where energy passes from one atom to the atom next to it. However, because light travels through the vacuum of outer space between the sun and earth where there are no atoms, light behaves as though it is its very own particle. Physicists, therefore, study light as both energy and as a particle. So, we have a paradox of light studied as a particle and as an wave of energy. Interestingly, the frequency of the wave is sort of magical because it changes the color we see simply by the narrowing or expanding of the waves.
Color itself is a bit of a reverse paradox. We name objects for the color they reflect. We might say a shirt is yellow, yet we truly mean that the shirt only reflects yellow light, while absorbing all other colors. This is a paradox to our naming convention of colorful objects. We call objects a color for the color they reflect, not for what they are.
It is good for us to recognize the complexities of the natural world, our own limitation of language and understanding, especially as it relates to accepting a deeper truth beyond seeming paradoxes.
There are paradoxes in today’s readings. In the Gospel, Jesus tells his flock to “sell [their] possessions, and give alms.” [Luke 12:33] In this giving, a treasure in heaven is gained. We gain the treasure in heaven by giving up the treasures of earth. This short phrase includes the crucial point to give alms, which tells us to support the needy and the poor. The goal is not simply to give handouts to those who might not willing to work, but to decimate poverty and the systems that encourage an unequal fairness to some groups where improving financial situations comes at a greater cost, and sometimes an impossible feat with a multitude of complexities. Those in poverty are struggling to survive, whatever the situation. This is Good News for the poor – that Jesus encourages the destruction of the system of poverty that entraps, denigrates, and strangles our brothers and sisters.
Luke’s Gospel continues to encourage to not wait, but to always be ready, be active in faith, so when our Lord comes, we are ready. I am often reminded of the Boy Scout motto to “always be prepared.” But we are to not just be prepared with tools of the earth for physical tasks, but dispositions that are ready to assist and support those in need as we build up treasures of heaven.
Paul’s letter to the Hebrews offers another paradox. It is not written as a paradox, but if we truly live into our faith, we can see his paradox. Paul says “faith is… the conviction of things not seen.” [Hebrews 11:1] Paul is correct that faith holds dear that which our eyes cannot see. However, our hearts can see, know, and feel the truth we live. Thus, we have a paradox that we can ‘see’ with our hearts that which our faith expounds, yet without seeing with our eyes.
Paul also notes how Abraham and his descendants lived a certain way in faith with their hearts as their guides. In their lives, they yearned so deeply to reach God’s kingdom of heaven, where they centered their hearts so earnestly. In this pattern of faithful living – setting themselves apart from others in their practice of adhering to God’s rules and laws-, their hearts of faith made them citizens of heaven while also foreigners and strangers of the earth. [cf. Hebrews 11:13]
When we feel as though we have not reached our final destination, Paul validates those feelings, knowing we are living toward the city God has prepared for us. On our path, we honor our God, ready to serve his children around us despite their circumstances. In our faithful living, we also help draw the kingdom of heaven closer to those who need it most.
The final paradox we hear, the one of apocalyptic nature – about the ultimate culmination of our lives is in the reading from Isaiah. Isaiah writes: “Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord: | though your sins are like scarlet, |
they shall be like snow; | though they are red like crimson, |
they shall become like wool.“ [Isaiah 1:18]
In Isaiah’s paradox, we hear the word “argue” used and yet it is a blessing. Though we may be imperfect, the metaphor provided by ‘sins of scarlet’ or red, we made be made like snow and wool, the metaphor for a whiteness of purity. Let us remember the forgiveness and redemption our Lord provides, purifying and strengthening us for the road, the way of living, toward the city of God prepared for us.
Amen.
