LUKE 9:18-24
MY MOTHER USED TO TALK
ABOUT HOW, WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL, HER OWN MOTHER WOULD MAKE THE
CHILDREN STAND WITH THEIR ARMS OUTSTRETCHED FOR THREE HOURS ON GOOD
FRIDAY. MY MOTHER STILL REMEMBERED HOW HARD THIS WAS. BUT MY
GRANDMOTHER WAS ONTO SOMETHING, AND WHILE IT MAY SOUND A LITTLE
EXTREME TODAY, THERE WAS A TIME WHEN CATHOLICS EMBRACED PENANCES, NOT
BECAUSE THEY WERE MASOCHISTS, BUT BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BE CLOSER
TO JESUS.
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF
CHRISTIANITY THERE WERE A LOT OF MARTYRS – PEOPLE WHO WERE PUT TO
DEATH FOR BEING CHRISTIANS, AFTER HAVING BEEN GIVEN THE CHANCE TO
RENOUNCE THEIR FAITH. BUT THERE WERE TWO OTHER NOTABLE CLASSES OF
CHRISTIANS; THERE WERE THOSE WHO HAD COME CLOSE TO DEATH BUT HADN'T
DIED; AND THERE WERE THOSE WHO DID RENOUNCE CHRISTIANITY AND
EVENTUALLY WANTED TO BE REINSTATED. TO BE REINSTATED WAS A TERRIBLE
ORDEAL; YOU FIRST OF ALL HAD TO CONVINCE THE BISHOP AND THE LOCAL
COMMUNITY THAT YOU WERE SERIOUS; BECAUSE THEY COULD SIMPLY REFUSE TO
HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU, AND THAT WAS CONSIDERED THE EQUIVALENT
OF BEING CONDEMNED TO HELL. AND IF YOU WERE ACCEPTED IT MEANT
USUALLY A LIFETIME OF PENANCE AS A CATECHUMEN, AND AFTER MANY YEARS,
PERHAPS EVEN AT THE TIME OF DEATH, YOU WERE FINALLY ALLOWED BACK INTO
THE CHURCH AS A FULL-FLEDGED MEMBER. BECAUSE APOSTASY WAS ONE OF THE
MOST SERIOUS SINS OF THEM ALL.
THOSE WHO HAD NEARLY DIED
WERE CALLED “CONFESSORS” BECAUSE THEY HAD CONFESSED THEIR FAITH
EVEN WHEN THEIR LIVES WERE BEING THREATENED. THEY WERE CONSIDERED TO
HAVE ACCESS TO GOD'S EARS, PERHAPS TO ACTUALLY EFFECT THE
FORGIVENESS OF SINS THROUGH THEIR PRAYERS. AND SO WHEN A PERSON WHO
HAD APOSTATIZED WANTED TO RETURN TO THE CHURCH, HE MIGHT SINGLE OUT A
CONFESSOR TO ADVOCATE FOR HIM BEFORE THE BISHOP. AS TIME WENT ON,
THE TERM WAS APPLIED TO ANY HOLY PERSON, SO THAT BY THE MIDDLE AGES
IT SORT OF BECAME A WAY OF DESCRIBING A SAINT WHO WASN'T A VIRGIN, A
MARTYR, OR A CLERIC. I BRING THIS UP BECAUSE WE HAVE IN TODAY'S
GOSPEL ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS WHEN JESUS SEEMS TO SAY SOMETHING
THAT IS VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND. AFTER HIS APOSTLES RECOGNIZE HIM,
HE REBUKES THEM AND TELLS THEM TO TELL NO ONE. SOME BIBLE
TRANSLATIONS SAY HE ENJOINED THEM, OR FORCIBLY ORDERED THEM – BUT
THE GREEK WORD IS MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO REBUKE, OR IF YOU PREFER,
SCOLD. SO WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
THE APOSTLES HAVE
DEFINITELY MADE PROGRESS; THEY'VE FIGURED OUT THAT JESUS IS THE
CHRIST OF GOD, THE MESSIAH. IF JESUS HAD SAID, “GO AHEAD, TELL
EVERYONE!” THEY WOULD HAVE GLADLY DONE SO. AFTER ALL, THAT WOULD
SEEM TO BE VERY GOOD NEWS FOR A PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN UNDER THE ROMAN
THUMB, AND BEFORE THAT, SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES; A PEOPLE WHO HAD
BEEN EXPELLED FROM THEIR HOMES AND LAND AND ALLOWED BACK TO LIVE ON
JUST A SMALL PART OF IT; A PEOPLE WHO PAID TAXES TO A FOREIGN POWER
SO THAT ROME COULD KEEP LARGE NUMBERS OF SOLDIERS IN THE AREA.
BUT JESUS IS SAYING, TELL
NO ONE!” AND HIS WORDS ARE SHARP. BECAUSE THERE'S MORE TO BEING A
MESSIAH THAN MERELY CLAIMING THE TITLE. JESUS EXPLAINS TO THE
APOSTLES THAT HE WILL BE A MESSIAH WHO SUFFERS AND DIES AT THE HANDS
OF THE PEOPLE'S LEADERS; AND HE TELLS THEM THAT THEY ARE TO TAKE UP
THEIR OWN CROSSES JUST AS HE WOULD TAKE UP HIS.
CONFESSORS WERE PEOPLE
WHO HAD DONE MORE THAN LIVE GOOD LIVES; WHO HAD PRAYED AND FASTED AND
GIVEN ALMS – ALL OF WHICH WAS PART OF LIVING A CHRISTIAN LIFE.
CONFESSORS HAD WALKED THAT LONELY ROAD THAT JESUS WALKED, AND LIVED
TO TELL ABOUT IT. THEY HAD HELD ONTO THEIR FAITH EVEN IN THE FACE OF
TORTURE AND THE THREAT OF DEATH. THEY HAD CARRIED THEIR CROSS AS
JESUS COMMANDED, AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT IT MEANT TO
BE A CHRISTIAN IN A WAY THE REST OF US COULD ONLY GUESS.
WHEN THE CHURCH BECAME
LEGITIMATE AND WAS SUPPORTED BY THE ROMAN EMPIRE, PERSECUTION
STOPPED; HOWEVER, THE INSIGHT THAT SUFFERING WAS IN SOME WAY PART OF
THE CHRISTIAN CALLING CONTINUED. WE HAVE SOME GREAT STORIES FROM
THIS TIME, AS THE MONASTIC MOVEMENT BEGAN AND PRODUCED PEOPLE WHO
WORE HAIR SHIRTS AND SLEPT ON ROCKS AND PRAYED EVERY MOMENT OF THEIR
WAKING HOURS. WE HAVE SAINTS WHO SPENT THEIR LIVES PERCHED ON
PILLARS; WE HAVE OTHERS WHO LASHED THEMSELVES WITH CHAINS. AND WHEN
WE THINK ABOUT THESE PEOPLE WE THINK THEY WERE MASOCHISTS, THAT THEY
WERE JUST PLAIN CRAZY. BUT THEY WERE PIONEERS, TRYING TO DEVELOP
WAYS OF INTEGRATING SUFFERING INTO THEIR OWN LIVES. SAINT BENEDICT
CAME ALONG AND REFORMED MONASTACISM; HE ADVOCATED BALANCE; AND HIS
RULE INFLUENCES CHRISTIANITY TO THIS DAY.
HOWEVER, WE HAVE
FORGOTTEN THAT IF WE ARE TO PROFIT FROM THE SUFFERING THAT WILL OCCUR
IN EVERYONE'S LIFE AT SOME TIME OR ANOTHER, WE HAVE LEARN HOW TO
SUFFER. IN THE OLDEN DAYS, WE USED THE WORD “MORTIFICATION”. IF
KNEELING WAS UNCOMFORTABLE, WELL, WE MIGHT KNEEL A LITTLE LONGER. IF
SOMEONE SERVED ME FOOD THAT I DIDN'T LIKE, I'D EAT IT ANYWAY. IF I
REALLY LIKED TO SLEEP IN ON SATURDAY MORNING, I WOULD GET UP
NEVERTHELESS. MORTIFICATION IS A PROCESS IN WHICH I TEACH MY BODY
AND MIND WHO IS BOSS, AND I DO ALL THIS BECAUSE IN ORDER TO GROW
SPIRITUALLY, I'VE GOT TO TEACH MYSELF THAT I AM NOT THE CENTER OF THE
UNIVERSE. IN ADDITION TO SIMPLE THINGS LIKE THESE, PAIN WILL COME
ALONG; PHYSICAL PAIN, MENTAL PAIN. AGAIN, IN THE OLDEN DAYS, WE WERE
TOLD TO “OFFER IT UP”. IN OTHER WORDS, WE CAN TAKE THE PAIN THAT
WE DON'T ASK FOR AND WE CAN MAKE IT PART OF THE CROSS WE TAKE UP TO
FOLLOW JESUS.
CONFESSORS WERE PEOPLE
WHO HAD FACED DEATH, AND IN SO DOING HAD MADE THE DECISION THAT
FOLLOWING CHRIST, EVEN TO CALVARY AND THE CROSS, WAS PREFERABLE TO
THE PAIN, SUFFERING, AND EVEN DEATH THAT THEY FACED. OTHER
CHRISTIANS RECOGNIZED THAT BECAUSE THEY VOLUNTARILY SUFFERED, BECAUSE
THEY REFUSED TO WAVER IN CIRCUMSTANCES DAUNTING TO MOST PEOPLE, THEY
COULD CLAIM TO BE TRUE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. AND YOU AND I MAY NOT
LIKE IT, WE MAY FIND THE VERY IDEA REPULSIVE, BUT WE CAN'T TURN OUR
BACKS ON THE VERY WORDS OF JESUS: “IF ANYONE WISHES TO COME AFTER
ME HE MUST DENY HIMSELF AND TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY AND FOLLOW ME.”
SUFFERING IS PART OF LIFE. JESUS HAS GIVEN US THE POWER TO MAKE
SUFFERING OUR GATEWAY TO ETERNAL LIFE.
