Second Sunday of Lent, cycle B

MARK 9:2-10
WHO IS YOUR GOD? IF YOU LOOK INTO YOUR OWN IMAGINATION, YOU PROBABLY ARE LIKE ME; YOU HAVE A CERTAIN DOMINANT PICTURE OF GOD THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN PUT INTO YOUR HEAD WHEN YOU WERE SMALL. THE FACT THAT YOU COME TO CHURCH MEANS THAT YOU TAKE GOD SERIOUSLY – BUT AGAIN, WHICH GOD?
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT TELLS US THAT WE ARE NOT TO HAVE FALSE GODS, WHICH MEANS TO US MODERNS THAT WE ARE TO STRIVE TO UNDERSTAND GOD AS HE TRULY IS, EVEN THOUGH WE WON'T REALLY REACH THAT POINT IN THIS LIFE.
IS YOUR GOD ONE WHO IS COUNTING ALL YOUR MISSTEPS AND ALL YOUR GOOD DEEDS, AND LIKE A COSMIC COMPUTER, THE BALANCE WILL DETERMINE YOUR FATE IN THE NEXT LIFE? IT'S NOT AN UNCOMMON VIEW OF GOD, CERTAINLY HELD BY MANY OLDER CATHOLICS, AND BY MANY FUNDAMENTALISTS. BUT IT'S ALSO THE DOMINANT IDEA IN HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM, WHERE INDEED WHAT YOU DO IN THIS LIFE ADDS UP TO A BALANCE, AND PRECISELY DETERMINES YOUR FATE IN THE NEXT. BUT THAT ISN'T REALLY THE CHRISTIAN GOD.
IS YOUR GOD ONE WHO DEMANDS THAT YOU BELONG TO A PARTICULAR PEOPLE, A PARTICULAR RELIGION, THAT YOU FOLLOW PARTICULAR CUSTOMS? THERE ARE CHRISTIAN GROUPS THAT BELIEVE THIS, AND CERTAINLY IT WAS A POPULAR BELIEF WHEN I WAS GROWING UP; WE CATHOLICS, BY VIRTUE OF BEING CATHOLICS, HAD A DEFINITE ADVANTAGE OVER OUR NEIGHBORS. THIS WAS NOT REALLY WHAT THE CHURCH TAUGHT, BUT IT WAS CERTAINLY WHAT A LOT OF US BELIEVED. THIS KIND OF GOD IS CERTAINLY THE GOD OF MUSLIMS, WHO OFFICIALLY BELIEVE THAT ANYONE WHO ISN'T A MUSLIM IS GOING TO HELL – IT'S IN THE KORAN.
OR IS YOUR GOD ONE WHOSE GREATEST CONCERNS HAVE TO DO WITH PEOPLE BEING POLITICALLY CORRECT; WITH THE CONQUEST OF GLOBAL WARMING; WITH UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION; A GOD WHO IS PRO CHOICE, A GOD WHO IS FOR GAY MARRIAGE, A GOD WHO WANTS AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. AND FOR OTHERS, THAT GOD REWARDS THOSE WHO WORK HARD AND PUNISHES THOSE WHO DON'T; AND LOVES THE UNITED STATES AND DOESN'T REALLY THINK TOO MUCH OF ALL THOSE OTHER COUNTRIES; AND WHOSE IDEA OF CHARITY IS TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE STARVES OR FREEZES TO DEATH, BUT AFTER THAT, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHOSE GOD IS MERELY A REFLECTION OF THEIR OWN BELIEFS, THEIR OWN DEEPLY HELD OPINIONS. THE GOD IN THE MIRROR.
AND THEN THERE ARE THOSE FOR WHOM GOD IS AN INDULGENT GRANDFATHER, WHO DISMISSES ALL OUR FAULTS AND FAILURES, WHO CONDONES OUR BAD BEHAVIOR, WHO IS ALWAYS THERE FOR US BUT DOESN'T CARE IF WE GO OFF ON OUR OWN, BECAUSE WHEN WE COME BACK, HE IS THERE WITH WIDE OPEN ARMS. AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO A THING ABOUT IT.
TODAY OUR READINGS GIVE US A PICTURE OF HOW GOD REALLY IS. IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM, WE KNOW THAT THE SACRIFICE OF ONE'S CHILD WAS CONDONED; RECORDS FROM THIS TIME SHOW THAT KINGS UNDER THREAT OF MILITARY DEFEAT WOULD DO THIS. THE GOD OF ABRAHAM DEMANDS THAT HE SACRIFICE HIS ONLY SON, AND ABRAHAM, NOT SURPRISED BY THIS, SETS OUT TO OBEY. BUT GOD CHANGES THE WHOLE EQUATION; IT WASN'T THE SACRIFICE HE WANTED, IT WAS ABRAHAM'S WILLINGNESS, HIS FAITH, THAT GOD WANTED. AND GOD REWARDS HIM WITH ASTONISHING, OVERWHELMING GENEROSITY. ABRAHAM WILL HAVE DESCENDANTS AS COUNTLESS AS THE STARS IN THE SKY OR THE SANDS ON THE SEASHORE. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE FOR AN OLD MAN WHO HAS ONE SON. WELL, WE ALL KNOW GOD IS GENEROUS, BUT AS ST. PAUL TELLS US WHEN HE WRITES ABOUT ABRAHAM, GOD IS GENEROUS TO THOSE WHO PUT HIM FIRST, WHICH IS THE REAL MEANING OF THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC.
IN THE RESPONSORIAL PSALM, WE HEAR, “PRECIOUS IN THE EYES OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS FAITHFUL ONES.” PRECIOUS. WHY WOULD DEATH BE PRECIOUS UNLESS GOD MEANT FOR SOMETHING GREATER THAN LIFE TO COME OUT OF DEATH? THAT'S THE POINT. GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON THOSE WHO ARE FAITHFUL, EVEN IN DEATH AND BEYOND. WE HAVE NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT. NOT ONLY ARE WE PRECIOUS, BUT OUR DEATHS ARE PRECIOUS.
IN THE EPISTLE, PAUL TELLS US THAT IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? AND IF GOD ACQUITS US, WHO CAN CONDEMN US? GOD HANDED HIS ONLY SON OVER FOR US, SO HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY NOT GIVE US EVERYTHING ELSE? GOD DOES NOT SIT IN HEAVEN AND COUNT OUR FAULTS, HE HAS ALREADY JUDGED US, AND THANKS TO JESUS, HE HAS PRONOUNCED US NOT GUILTY, WE ARE SET FREE.
AND FINALLY, WE SEE THE AMAZING MIRACLE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION. JESUS IS REVEALED AS GOD'S BELOVED; BUT AFTER JESUS DIES AND RISES FROM THE DEAD, AND AFTER HE ESTABLISHES HIS CHURCH ON PENTECOST, YOU AND I BECOME PART OF HIS BODY, WE BECOME IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS; WE ARE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, AND OUR GARMENTS ALSO BECOME WHITE AS SNOW, AS WE ARE TOLD IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. AND IF WE HEAR GOD WHISPERING IN OUR EAR, “YOU ARE MY BELOVED,” WE CAN BE SURE THAT IT IS AUTHENTIC, THAT IT IS NO ILLUSION.
GOD ASKS VERY LITTLE OF YOU AND I IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS OVERWHELMING GENEROSITY. ALL HE WANTS FROM US IS OUR LOVE. ALL HE EXPECTS IS THAT THE MORE HE LOVES US, THE MORE WE WILL LOVE EACH OTHER – THAT, AFTER ALL, IS THE MEANING OF “WHATSOEVER YOU DO FOR THE LEAST OF MY BROTHERS, THAT YOU DO FOR ME.” AND IF WE SIN, HE FORGIVES US WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT – IF WE SEEK FORGIVENESS. AND IF WE DEMONSTRATE OUR LOVE IN LITTLE WAYS, HE POURS OUT HIS BLESSINGS ON US, AS HE DID ON ABRAHAM.
SURE, GOD CARES ABOUT THE WORLD, ABOUT POLLUTION, ABOUT HOW WE TAKE CARE OF OUR INHERITANCE. HE CARES ABOUT THE FACT THAT A HUGE NUMBER OF OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS LIVE IN CONDITIONS WHICH DESTROY THEIR HUMANITY, WHICH REDUCE THEIR POTENTIAL. HE CARES ABOUT THE THINGS WE CARE ABOUT.
BUT WHAT HE CARES ABOUT PRIMARILY WHETHER WE LOVE ENOUGH SO THAT HIS LOVE FOR US CAN SHOWER US WITH BLESSINGS. BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT IF WE TRULY LOVE, ALL THOSE OTHER GOOD THINGS WE LONG FOR WILL COME ABOUT.
WHO IS YOUR GOD? IF IT IS NOT THE GOD DESCRIBED IN THESE HOLY WRITINGS, IT IS A FALSE GOD.