Truth be told, brothers and sisters, the moving story that we have heard this morning from the Second Book of Maccabees always makes me chuckle a bit. While it speaks of the incredible courage and integrity of the Jewish brothers who would rather face death rather than violate the Jewish dietary laws and be defiled by eating pork, it reminds me of a story that occurred some years ago when I was Rector of Holy Family Cathedral. I was proclaiming this very same first reading and as I looked down to the congregation, sitting right there in front of the ambo was a gentleman who worked for the National Pork Association – and he was wearing a sweatshirt that had emblazoned on it “Pork, the other white meat!” Frankly, I had to do everything in my power from not breaking out into laughter at the incongruity of the moment.
Aside from this little humorous anecdote, this story of the brothers willing to face death because of their deeply held convictions has resonated down through the centuries with men and women who have sacrificed much, if not all, to live lives of conviction rather than convenience.
As we find ourselves poised on another election year that for many of us couldn’t come any sooner, a story of conviction and the price we are willing to pay for the truths that shape our lives and that of our country, could not be more fitting.
In the 243 years of our republic, the arc of our history has thankfully been attentive to the ‘better angels of our nature’ a beloved phrase taken from Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address. While there is no question that the dark side of our history has not always been a reflection of the best of who we are as a people and a nation, the striving to shape ‘a more perfect union’ continues to be a burning passion for men and women of integrity and conviction down through the decades of our existence.
I’m very fond of the writing of David Brooks, author and commentator for the New York Times. In his book, Road to Character, Brooks speaks of what he refers to as ‘résumé virtues’ and ‘eulogy virtues.’ Resume virtues focus on all the things we have accomplished that focus on self-advancement. Eulogy virtues, on the other hand, are the ones that touch at the very heart of what it means to be a person of character: selflessness, bridge-builder, a person of compassion and empathy, one who nurtures the goodness in others, a passionate truth teller, one who is willing to sacrifice one’s own personal needs and wants for the good of the other.
In our second reading today from Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians, he speaks of the virtue of hope and encouragement that you and I are to reflect to the world because we have been recipients of those same gifts from Christ Jesus Himself.
And so, my friends, as the great moment in our democracy nears, let us see in this tremendous privilege of our Republic the opportunity to shape our decisions and choices by the résumé virtues that are the foundation of true character and integrity in life. Let us seize this opportunity to help shape a community and nation of hope and encouragement where all God’s children are reverenced and provided the opportunity to experience the freedom of the sons and daughters of God.