There’s a lot of hardship and suffering described in today’s readings. Heroic suffering for faith – suffering as part of Christian spirituality – isn’t exactly in vogue nowadays. Which isn’t to say that people of Christian faith don’t suffer; many do. We American Christians suffer from illnesses, financial hardships, and all the other normal difficulties that life sometimes entails. That’s suffering with faith, but that’s not the same as suffering for faith. Of course, many Christians in other parts of the world do suffer at the hands of others because of their faith. And that’s been true throughout history. In fact, even after the Roman government stopped persecuting Christians and the faith was commonplace, there were Christians, who made them selves suffer as part of their spirituality. That practice was often a mistaken way of earning salvation by punishing the body to heighten the spirit. It began with the so-called Desert Fathers, as early as the third century, and carried on throughout the Middle Ages and beyond. Of course, except for fasting, in scripture God doesn’t ask His people to inflict suffering on them selves, but to be outgoing in their faithfulness and courageous enough to endure the sufferings that may result. That’s the kind of suffering prophets, like Jeremiah, frequently endured for their faith. Theirs was heroic faith.

I can’t think of a better description of that kind of heroic faith – that kind of prophetic vocation -- than Jeremiah’s words in today’s Old Testament reading. He writes, “I’ve become a laughingstock. Everyone mocks me. The word of the Lord has become for me a cause of reproach and derision all day long.” Jeremiah’s courage under adversity brings to my mind Sam Keen’s book, Fire in the Belly. Appropriate enough on this Fathers Day, as I recall, in that book Keen described the traditional way in which men often defined and conducted themselves. That image of how often thought they should carry themselves, included standing tall, all alone, like so many action heroes, to aggressively carry out their mission against all odds, fighting every adversary in their own way – tough and courageous enough to push ahead against all enemies and overcome all obstacles -- to do what they knew in their hearts to be right.

A few weeks ago the newspaper carried a story about how some men find it very difficult to relate to some of the subtler forms of Christianity. According to the article, many men find the Catholic, Orthodox, and Main Line Protestant Churches to be a bit too feminine. I don’t think that’s anything new. When I was boy there were always far fewer men at church than women, and there was always a cluster of them, in the back of the church with one foot in and one foot out – standing at the ready and kneeling on one knee at the appropriate times. As a boy I sensed their ambivalence about being there.

Has faith become unmanly? It’s not coincidental, I think, that religious fundamentalism – whether Christian, Islamic or Jewish – seems to attract far more men in our time than other approaches to faith. They just seem more assertive, if not aggressive, even militant at times – more literal, task-oriented, and decisive. Like the military boot camp or athletic drill – they practice the basics, emphasizing obedience, and memorizing strategies. Some men feel far more comfortable with that sort of task and action-oriented approach than the relationship stuff of loving God and neighbors. So the newspaper article reported that some churches are trying to remake themselves – to become more appealing to men --like the Promise Keepers. Why not? I’m all for men getting together in groups to become stronger disciples of Jesus Christ – learning about the faith and encouraging each other to put it into practice. I’d love to have a men’s Bible study group at St. Paul’s.

If anything underscores the manliness of devotion to God and discipleship to Jesus Christ it’s certainly today’s readings. The prophet Jeremiah, like all the prophets, was a man all alone, standing tall against all adversaries, and he had a lot of them. He was a man with a mission and with fire in his belly to accomplish it no matter what. Although he felt that everyone was against him, he forged ahead – to accomplish his God-given goals – pushing against their adversity and his own fears. Jesus most certainly did, as well, and in today’s Gospel reading He told His disciples to do the same. Each and every one of them courageously pursued his God-given mission, without counting the cost, without shrinking back – facing imprisonment, even death. That’s heroic faith! That’s having fire in your belly for the God you believe in!

Having said all that, I’ve never known a time, like the rigorous monasticism of earlier centuries, when single-minded faith has been taken to such extremes as it is nowadays. Just consider that action hero of extreme fundamentalist Islam – Osama bin Laden. That’s exactly what he is to those who see him as some sort of Arnold Schwartzenegger type hero of their faith. Consider those who strap explosives to their chests – to die and kill for their cause. Consider those Jewish settlers in the West Bank – willing to die and kill for their ultra Orthodox faith. Consider the Iranian Ayatollahs who never shrink back from imposing on others their own ideas about how God wants people to live. Consider those TV evangelists, in our own nation and faith, who never seem to tire of trying to impose their views on others -- ever vigilant to portray those who disagree with them as evil and as responsible for God allowing attacks to succeed on American soil. Consider the gang of Hindu men, who beat several Christian missionaries last week. Consider those extremist politicians, in our country, audacious enough to claim that God is on their side. Yes. Extremist religion is quite in vogue, these days. No religion has a monopoly on it, and most of its advocates are men – believing that they are standing tall for their faith against all evil adversaries and obstacles.

Is that what it means to be a man or woman of heroic faith? Is that the example of the prophet Jeremiah, or of Jesus and what He meant when He told His disciples to follow their mission heroically, as he did in today’s reading? Ah, but the devil is a coy one – ever trying to appear as an angel of light and ever deceiving the faithful to lose their balance! The counterfeits of heroic Christian faith are everywhere. Of course, Jesus always said that there’d be false prophets – claiming to be God’s messengers. He told us to be discerning – to watch what people do and not just listen to what they say. He must have known that actions speak louder than words and that most actions can be justified in words of faith.

Let’s be clear about it. God has given us a mission, and it’s the most important mission in the world. That mission, as Jesus said hundreds of times, is nothing less than God’s Kingdom. But God’s Kingdom is a democratic monarchy – each of us, of our own free will, is meant to elect God as our ruler – to elect Christ as the leader of our lives -- over and over again. Our mission is to live that way, which means to love God completely and to love others every bit as much as our selves. Our mission is to pass that on to others – so that they, too, may elect God as the ruler, Christ as leader, of the their own lives. And it is a totally demanding mission – one that calls us to give all we’ve got, even our lives. Yes, God does call upon us to be heroic in our faith. It might just involve dying, but it never involves killing others – as the bin Ladens and suicide bombers claim. Yes. It means never shrinking back from speaking the God’s truth, as we know it to be – but never taking away other people’s freedom to choose it for them selves – never imposing it on others or legislating it to coerce others to conform, as many Ayatollahs, certain religious broadcasters, and a handful of politicians aim to do. Ours is a mission of ultimate and universal importance that demands everything of us, but does not allow us to dominate others. It is always actively loving, always giving, assertive but never aggressive. That’s what it involves to be a heroic Christian man or woman with fire in the belly for God.