Self-Test

Growing tougher through testing by God

06/27/2019

Matthew 7:21-29 Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.' "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

I want to thank everyone for their prayers for me Tuesday night at Pints with a Priest. I spoke about the scandal of clergy sexual abuse of minors with a full house of about 80 people present. And fortunately, no one threw tomatoes at me or poured beer over my head. Tim Shields even bought me a beer. A few guys walked in half-way through my presentation and were clearly shocked to see a priest giving a sermon in a bar, but they stayed because it looked like it might be entertaining, maybe how some people stumbled into the Sermon on the Mount and stayed and were blessed.

After my presentation there was a lively discussion. People expressed not only their deep pain but also their unflagging perseverance in the faith. A few people who spoke were Eileen Teagle, Martha Osbun, Randy Ragsdale, Garrett Bannister, and Fr. Matt Garrison, and several others whom I didn’t know. Fr. Matt said something that really stuck with me. He said: “We should pray not only for the victims of the abuse, but also for the abusers.” That surprised me. We don’t often think to pray for the abusive clergy, because we’re usually thinking of how to punish them. But Fr. Matt made a great point: maybe the abusive priests need God’s mercy more than anyone.

As I drove home Tuesday evening, I thought: the Church is undergoing a great test of faith. Will the faith of Catholics be deepened or will the faith of Catholics be destroyed by this test? In a recent Gallup Poll, 37% of Catholics were considering leaving the Church in the wake of the scandals. But on Tuesday night I met the 63% of Catholics who are not leaving the Church. Their faith has been tested and it has grown tougher, thanks to the test.

Our scriptures from Genesis 16 and Matthew 7 also speak about tests of faith, and how some pass and some fail that test. God has promised Abraham and Sarah they will have children as numerous as the stars in the sky. But Sarah doubts her faith and immorally offers her maidservant Hagar to Abraham as a concubine so they can have a son and an heir. Sarah reacted like so many modern day Catholics: God has abandoned the Church and his promises, and so we must take matters into our own hands and figure out our own way forward. A few chapters later in Genesis 22, Abraham would also be put to the test on Mt. Moriah and asked to sacrifice his own son, Isaac. Abraham will pass that test of faith because he was ready to do the unthinkable in obedience to God’s command. He is like those Catholics who came to Fort Chaffee Brewing Co. and believe beyond belief and stay and are blessed.

Jesus said at the conclusion of his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 that the disciples’ faith would be tested. How so? The rain would fall, the floods would come, the winds would blow and buffet their house of faith. In other words, every disciple’s faith will be tested sooner or later. We are here to be tested. Why? Well, the testing will reveal whether our house of faith is erected on rock on or sand. It is the test that tells the truth about our faith. Billy Graham said: “God doesn’t test us because he doesn’t know how strong we are. Instead, he tests us because we don’t know how strong we are – and we’ll only realize it when times of testing come.”

My friends, may I suggest three tips to prepare for the test of faith God will send you? First of all, test yourself before you are tested by God. In other words, challenge and push yourself by small, daily sacrifices, or reading articles or books by non-believers. But do that in small doses, like an immunization that gives you a little of the disease so your resistance grows stronger, when the bigger bacteria of sin and scandal comes banging on the door of your house of faith. Secondly, do not judge other people’s tests and say if you had been in their shoes you would not have failed that test. Scott Hahn once insightfully observed that as soon as we say that we have missed the nature of their test. We should be careful, therefore, before we criticize Sarah in Genesis 16, or the 37% of Catholics in 2019, or even abusive clergy, like Fr. Matt wisely counseled. There, but for the grace of God, go I. And thirdly, know that God gives us all the grace to pass the test of faith. Protestants memorize Philippians 4:13 by hearts, and every Catholic should commit it to memory as well: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” God gives us the grace to pass the test, but we must ask for it in humble prayer.

God tests our faith not because he wants to know how strong it is, but rather so we will know how strong it is. But I suggest we test ourselves before God puts us to the test. And the next time you walk into a bar and find a priest giving a sermon, don’t turn around and walk out. Stay and be blessed. And buy the priest a beer.

Praised be Jesus Christ!