MATTHEW 28:16-20
I KNOW IT'S HARD TO
BELIEVE, BUT WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER I WAS NOT THE LIFE OF THE PARTY.
I WAS SHY, VERY SELF CONSCIOUS BECAUSE I WAS TALLER THAN EVERYONE
ELSE, AND UNLIKE ALMOST ALL OF MY CLASSMATES I DID NOT HAVE AN IRISH
OR POLISH LAST NAME. I WAS ONE OF THE FEW KIDS FROM THE EAST SIDE OF
TOWN TO ATTEND THE CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL, SO UNLIKE MOST OF MY
CLASSMATES, I HAD NO HISTORY WITH THEM. WE USED TO HAVE SCHOOL
DANCES. IT SEEMED LIKE ALL THE POPULAR KIDS WERE IN THE MIDDLE
DANCING AND SURROUNDED BY US WALLFLOWERS. WE ALL KNEW THAT THE
PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T DANCING WEREN'T COOL, BUT IN EACH OF OUR HEARTS
WAS THE SECRET KNOWLEDGE THAT WE ACTUALLY WERE COOL, BUT THE REST OF
THE WALLFLOWERS WEREN'T. SO WE JUST WATCHED THE DANCE. SOMETIMES
THE GIRLS DANCED WITH EACH OTHER. WE GUYS PRETENDED TO BE BORED AND
MADE COMMENTS TO THE OTHER GUYS CRITIQUEING THE DANCING SKILLS OF OUR
MORE SOCIAL CLASSMATES.
BY THE TIME I GOT TO
COLLEGE, I HAD GOTTEN OVER SOME OF MY SHYNESS. BUT ANYONE WHO KNOWS
ME KNOWS THAT I'M STILL NOT THE LIFE OF THE PARTY. IN COLLEGE I
WOULD ACTUALLY GO OUT ON DATES AND DANCE, OR AT LEAST LOOK LIKE I WAS
DANCING, WHICH WAS THE SAME THING, BUT IT WASN'T FUN; I WOULD HAVE
PREFERRED A VISIT TO THE DENTIST. I MET MY WIFE IN COLLEGE, AND IT
WAS A GOOD THING SHE DID NOT CONSIDER THE ABILITY TO DANCE HIGH ON
HER LIST OF HUSBAND QUALITIES.
I REMEMBER, THOUGH, IN
MEDICAL SCHOOL, I WAS INVITED BY A JEWISH CLASSMATE TO COME TO A
LECTURE BY AN HASSIDIC RABBI. HE WAS VERY INSISTENT AND
ENTHUSIASTIC, SO I DID GO. IT WAS UNLIKE ANY LECTURE I'D EVER SEEN.
THE RABBI BEGAN BY CALLING ON GOD TO BLESS US ALL, THEN HE TOLD A FEW
STORIES FROM THE TALMUD WHICH HAD AS THEIR POINT THAT GOD LOVED HIS
HUMAN CHILDREN AND WAS WILLING TO PUT UP WITH A LOT FROM THEM, JUST
LIKE THE BEST OF HUMAN FATHERS. AND THEN THE RABBI BEGAN TO SING,
AND INVITED US TO SING ALONG WITH HIM – A SIMPLE, REPETITIVE SONG.
AND THEN HE STARTED TO DANCE, AND INVITED OTHERS TO DANCE WITH HIM.
GRADUALLY A CONGA LINE FORMED, AND HE WENT THROUGH THE AUDITORIUM
INVITING EACH OF US TO JOIN HIM, UNTIL NO ONE WAS SITTING AND ALL OF
US WERE DANCING AND SINGING. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. I CAME AWAY THAT
EVENING ENERGIZED AND ENTHUSIASTIC, WONDERING WHY WE DIDN'T DO THIS
SORT OF THING IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. ACTUALLY, THEY DON'T DO THAT
SORT OF THING IN MOST JEWISH CONGREGATIONS EITHER OF COURSE.
SO WHY DO I GO ON AND ON
ABOUT DANCING? WELL, THIS IS TRINITY SUNDAY, AND IN THE EARLY DAYS
OF THE CHURCH, ESPECIALLY THE EASTERN PART, SOME OF THE FATHERS OF
THE CHURCH USED THE TERM, “PERICHORESIS” TO DESCRIBE WHAT WAS
GOING ON IN THE TRINITY. PERICHORESIS IS A GREEK WORD MEANING “TO
DANCE AROUND, TO DANCE IN AND OUT.” THEY SAW THE FATHER AND THE
SON AND THE SPIRIT NOT ONLY DANCING AROUND EACH OTHER BUT DANCING
THROUGH EACH OTHER, SO THAT WHERE THERE WERE THREE THERE WAS ONE.
AND THE INTERESTING THING WAS THAT THIS TRINITY, THIS PERPETUAL DANCE
OF THE THREE PERSONS, WAS ALWAYS INVITING YOU AND I AND ALL CREATION
TO JOIN IN THE DANCE, TO DANCE IN AND OUT, TO DANCE THROUGH, TO JOIN
IN THE DANCING.
JESUS TELLS THE APOSTLES
TO GO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, EVEN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.
HE DOESN'T SAY, GO AND DO NICE THINGS. HE DOESN'T SAY, SPEND A LOT
OF TIME IN CHURCH AND AT PRAYER. HE DOESN'T SAY LIVE THE KIND OF
LIFE THAT WILL ATTRACT OTHERS WHO WILL THEN BE CURIOUS AND ASK YOU
WHY YOU LIVE THE WAY YOU DO. THESE ARE ALL GOOD THINGS, DON'T GET ME
WRONG. BUT JESUS SAID TO MAKE DISCIPLES. A DISCIPLE IS SOMEONE WHO
HAS MADE THE CONSCIOUS DECISION TO KNOW JESUS AS A PERSON AND PATTERN
HIS OR HER LIFE AFTER HIS LIFE. A DISCIPLE OF JESUS WANTS TO KNOW
GOD AS FATHER, JESUS AS BROTHER, ALL THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND
THEN, BECAUSE IT IS GOD'S DESIRE WHICH HAS BECOME HIS OWN DESIRE, TO
INVITE OTHERS INTO THAT EXPERIENCE.
THERE ARE TIMES WHEN YOU
MEET SOMEONE WHO IS ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT SOMETHING. HER EYES LIGHT UP,
HER SPEECH BECOMES MORE ANIMATED. SOMETIMES THE ENTHUSIASM IS GREAT
ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU WISH YOU COULD EXPERIENCE WHAT SHE DID, AND
SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT EVEN BE DRAWN INTO LOOKING MORE DEEPLY INTO WHAT
SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT BECAUSE OF THE ENTHUSIASM. WE SEE A LITTLE OF
THAT WHEN SOMEONE COMES BACK FROM A PILGRIMAGE TO MEDJUGORE, OR A
MISSIONARY TRIP TO TANZANIA OR HAITI.
BUT WHERE IS THE
ENTHUSIASM ABOUT BEING A CATHOLIC, ABOUT HAVING ACCESS TO THE
SACRAMENTS, ABOUT EXPERIENCING THE INCREDIBLE MERCY AND LOVE OF GOD
THAT IS RIGHT THERE FOR US IN THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION? WHERE
IS THE ENTHUSIASM OF KNOWING THAT WE HAVE BEEN SAVED FOR ALL ETERNITY
THROUGH JESUS' SACRIFICE? WHERE IS THE EXCITEMENT OF EXPERIENCING
THE GIFTS GOD HAS GIVEN US?
JESUS SAID “GO MAKE
DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS.” THE FIRST FOLLOWERS OF JESUS DID
EXACTLY THAT, AND BEFORE THE LAST APOSTLE HAD DIED, MANY NATIONS FROM
ROME TO PERSIA TO INDIA HAD DISCIPLES. AND EVEN WHEN THE CHURCH WAS
BEING PERSECUTED, MORE AND MORE PEOPLE TOOK UP THE INVITATION TO
BECOME DISCIPLES AND TO MAKE DISCIPLES.
IF YOU IMAGINE THE
TRINITY AS THE ULTIMATE DANCE, AND DOWN THROUGH THE AGES WE SEE MARY
AND JOSEPH AND THE APOSTLES AND THE SAINTS ALL JOINING IN THAT DANCE
ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE PRESENT, WE ARE BEING INVITED INTO THE DANCE
AS WELL, JUST AS THAT OLD RABBI INVITED EVERYONE IN THE AUDITORIUM
INTO HIS DANCE. AND IF WE REALLY SEE THAT BEING PART OF THE DANCE IS
THE MOST WONDERFUL THING A HUMAN BEING CAN BE, WE'LL TAKE UP THAT
INVITATION AND BECOME DISCIPLES; AND WE WILL INVITE OTHERS INTO THE
DANCE BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYONE LEFT OUT. IT ONLY TAKES
ONE PERSON TO START THE PROCESS. SO TAKE TO HEART JESUS' WORDS –
GO MAKE DISCIPLES – AND NEXT YEAR THIS TIME IF YOU ARE ASKED
WHETHER YOU HAVE MADE DISCIPLES, WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF YOU
COULD SAY, “YES, I HAVE.”
