(By Cheri Wetzel)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Jeffrey Miller of St. Helena\u2019s, Beaufort South Carolina delivered the homily. Here are my notes from this homily, which was excellent.<\/p>\n
Tertullian, a Roman theologian, said, \u201cWe are but of yesterday, yet we have felled every spot you occupied. We have left nothing to you but empty broken tokens of your gods.\u201d\u009dIn the short span of 200 years, a formerly persecuted sect filled the whole earth and even invaded Caesar\u2019s palace.
\nHow? Edward Gibbon wrote in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, that Christians felt it was the sacred duty of each person to share their faith. Why is Christianity struggling and shrinking across the West and Islam growing? Because you and I have failed. We have become convinced that it is impolite, impolitic and rude to discuss in public our faith. We believe that our faith is a private matter and is best kept to the self. This is decidedly not how the disciples or the early Church felt.
Remember that first Palm Sunday in Jerusalem? Jesus was walking down the street and the people were ripping palm branches off the trees and shouting. It was pandemonium. The disciples ran to Jesus and begged him to make the people stop. He replied, \u201cIf they are silent, even the rocks will cry out.\u201d\u009d
\nHis last words to his disciples before his ascension into heaven were, \u201cGo ye into all the world and make disciples\u201d\u00a6\u201d\u009d
\nSo let me ask you. Is it impolite, impolitic and rude to warn someone about a speed truck that is heading their way? Is it impolite, impolitic and rude to tell someone about a cure for cancer?<\/p>\n