MATTHEW 1:18-24
WHEN A COUPLE GETS MARRIED, MANY THINGS CHANGE. ONE OF THE COUPLE IS USUALLY IN THE LIMELIGHT AND THE OTHER IS IN THE SHADOWS. OFTEN THE ONE IN THE LIMELIGHT IS THE MAN. I DOUBT MUCH CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT, AT LEAST DURING THIS GENERATION. IN MY OWN MARRIAGE, THIS WAS ALWAYS TRUE. IT WAS “DOCTOR AND MRS”, WHEN I BECAME A DEACON, MY WIFE WAS REFERRED TO AS “THE DEACON'S WIFE”. MY WIFE SHOWED ADMIRABLE FORBEARANCE WHEN SOMEONE WOULD TELL HER HOW HARD I WORKED DURING THE YEARS WHEN SHE HAD SIX CHILDREN THAT SHE HAD TO TAKE CARE OF AND RAISE WITH MOSTLY MORAL SUPPORT FROM ME.
AND I THINK WE BOTH TOOK ALL THIS FOR GRANTED, THIS WAS THE WAY IT WAS. UNTIL ONE DAY JOAN HAD A NEW JOB AS ORGANIST AND CHOIR DIRECTOR IN SACRED HEART CHURCH IN HOLYOKE. ONE DAY I WENT UP THERE TO HELP HER GET THE CHOIR LOFT IN ORDER. AS I WAS WALKING INTO THE CHURCH, THE CUSTODIAN ASKED ME WHO I WAS. I SAID I HAD COME TO HELP MY WIFE WHO WAS THE ORGANIST. HE WALKED ALONG WITH ME AND INTRODUCED ME TO SOME PEOPLE. “THIS IS THE HUSBAND OF OUR ORGANIST,” HE SAID. IT WAS A STRANGE FEELING, FOR ONCE IN MY ADULT LIFE TO BE IDENTIFIED BY MY RELATIONSHIP TO SOMEONE ELSE.
THE GOSPEL TODAY MADE ME THINK ABOUT THAT. JOSEPH, UP UNTIL NOW, HAD CERTAIN EXPECTATIONS IN LIFE. HE HAD LEARNED A TRADE, AND PROBABLY MADE A REASONABLE LIVING. HE WAS ENGAGED, AND HE FULLY EXPECTED THAT IN THE NEAR FUTURE HE WOULD SETTLE DOWN WITH THE GIRL HE LOVED AND THEY WOULD HAVE A FAMILY. SHE WOULD BE JOSEPH'S WIFE. THE CHILDREN WOULD BE “JOSEPH'S CHILDREN”. HE WOULD TEACH THE BOYS HIS TRADE AND HE WOULD SELECT THE HUSBANDS FOR HIS DAUGHTERS. HE WOULD BE FATHER, AND GRANDFATHER, AND MAYBE WHILE HE STILL LIVED A GREAT-GRANDFATHER, AND HE WOULD BE A PATRIARCH, AT LEAST FOR THE LITTLE TRIBE THAT CLAIMED DESCENT FROM HIM. IT WASN'T THAT HE WAS PROUD, OR SELFISH; IT WAS JUST THE WAY THINGS WERE, AND HE GAVE THANKS FOR IT.
AND THEN HIS WORLD COMES APART. MARY IS PREGNANT. I SUSPECT THAT WHEN THIS FACT BECAME OBVIOUS, MARY OFFERED NO EXPLANATION. WHO WOULD BELIEVE WHAT HAD HAPPENED? CAN YOU IMAGINE THE EMOTIONS GOING THROUGH JOSEPH'S HEART? ANGER, FEELING LIKE A FOOL, EMBARRASSMENT – BUT MOSTLY, FEELING LIKE A FOOL. AND THEN, IN A DREAM, HE LEARNS SOMETHING. MARY IS NOT FOR HIM; JUST THE OPPOSITE; HIS PURPOSE, THE REASON HE WAS CREATED, WAS TO BE FOR HER AND FOR THE SON SHE CARRIED. JOSEPH OBEYED. HAD HE CONDEMNED MARY, HIS REPUTATION WOULD BE INTACT. HAD HE DIVORCED HER QUIETLY, AS WAS HIS PLAN, EVERYONE WOULD HAVE PRAISED HIS MERCY, AND WOULD HAVE TOLD HIM HOW LUCKY HE WAS TO HAVE GOTTEN OUT OF THAT RELATIONSHIP. BUT INSTEAD, HE TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE GOSSIP, THE TEASING, BEING LOOKED DOWN ON. I CAN ALMOST SEE HIS MOTHER TEARFULLY SAYING “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?” BECAUSE MOTHERS WERE THE SAME THEN AS NOW.
AND IF JOSEPH THOUGHT THAT WAS THE END OF IT, IT WASN'T. WHO DO YOU THINK DELIVERED JESUS WHEN HE WAS BORN THERE IN A COLD STABLE IN BETHLEHEM? AND JUST WHEN THINGS SEEMED TO FINALLY BE SETTLING DOWN, JOSEPH IS TOLD TO GET UP AND TAKE HIS WIFE AND THE BOY TO EGYPT OF ALL PLACES. AND SO IT WENT FOR THE REST OF JOSEPH'S LIFE. MARY WAS NOT FOR HIM, JESUS WAS NOT THE SON WHO WOULD CARRY ON HIS NAME – HE, JOSEPH, HAD BEEN CREATED FOR THEM. AND A DAY CAME WHEN HE LAY DYING AND LOOKED AT THE WIFE HE HAD LOVED AND THE BOY HE HAD GROWN TO LOVE, AND HE REMEMBERED THE DREAM – WHEN THE ANGEL HAD SAID TO NAME THE BOY JESUS, BECAUSE HE WOULD SAVE HIS PEOPLE, AND THAT HE WOULD BE CALLED IMMANUEL, SIGNIFYING THAT GOD IS WITH US. AND THE BOY HAD TURNED INTO A YOUNG MAN, A COMPETENT CARPENTER, TO BE SURE, A MORAL AND UPRIGHT MAN, JOSEPH WAS PROUD OF THAT, BECAUSE HE KNEW HE HAD A HAND IN RAISING HIM RIGHT, BUT HE COULD SEE NO SIGN OF GREATNESS AND MAYBE HE WONDERED THEN, WAS IT ONLY A DREAM? BECAUSE IN THE END, EVEN THE GREATEST OF SAINTS MUST SOONER OR LATER FACE A MOMENT WHEN FAITH ALONE SUSTAINS THEM, NOT PROOF, NOT CERTAINTY, BUT SIMPLY CHOOSING TO BELIEVE.
I THINK IT IS NATURAL, NOT EVIL, NOT GOOD, JUST NATURAL, FOR EVERY HUMAN BEING TO SEE HIMSELF OR HERSELF AS THE CENTER AROUND WHICH EVERYTHING ELSE REVOLVES. SOME OF US COME TO AT LEAST INTELLECTUALLY APPRECIATE THAT GOD IS CENTER, BUT EVEN THEN, IT IS GOD, THEN ME, THEN EVERYONE ELSE. WHAT A DIFFICULT THING IT IS TO CONFRONT THE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMEONE ELSE IS THE CENTER, AND I AM HERE FOR THAT PERSON, THE REASON I EXIST IN THIS TIME AND SPACE IS FOR SOMEONE ELSE. THAT IT IS GOD FIRST, ANOTHER PERSON SECOND, ANOTHER PERSON WHO GOD MADE ME FOR; AND ME A DISTANT THIRD. AND MAYBE I AM HERE FOR MY SPOUSE, MY CHILD, MY NEIGHBOR, MY PARENT, MY STUDENT, MY EMPLOYER, MY EMPLOYEE. BUT ALTHOUGH SEEING THE WORLD IN THIS WAY SEEMS UNNATURAL, IT SHOULDN'T SURPRISE US. BECAUSE JOSEPH DISCOVERED THAT HE WAS HERE FOR MARY, AND HE AND MARY WERE HERE FOR JESUS. AND JESUS IS THE PERSON WHO IS THE VERY DEFINITION OF BEING FOR OTHERS; HE IS THE ONE WHO EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT AND GIVES HIMSELF AWAY SO THAT THERE IS NOTHING LEFT, EVEN THE LIFELESS BODY ON THE CROSS IS NOT HIS, FOR HE HAS GIVEN THAT TO US AS WELL TO BE OUR SPIRITUAL FOOD AND DRINK.
ON THIS LAST SUNDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THINK ABOUT ST. JOSEPH, AND PICTURE HIM, NOT MEETING AN ANGEL IN HIS DREAMS, NOT DRAMATICALLY FLEEING TO EGYPT – BUT GETTING UP EVERY MORNING, PUTTING IN A HARD DAY BUILDING AND REPAIRING THINGS UNTIL THERE IS NO MORE LIGHT; FALLING INTO BED EXHAUSTED ONLY TO GET UP AGAIN. AND LIVING IN A TOWN WHERE EVEN MANY YEARS LATER, SOME OF THE OLD LADIES AND OLD GENTLEMEN AS WELL TOLD THE STORY ABOUT HOW MARY HAD BEEN QUITE PREGNANT WHEN THE TWO OF THEM HAD GOTTEN MARRIED. AND EVERY DAY, JOSEPH EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT FOR MARY, FOR JESUS.
AND HE LIVED OUT HIS LIFE BEING FOR OTHERS. AND MAYBE THAT'S WERE JESUS LEARNED THE CORE MESSAGE THAT HE TAUGHT AND THAT HE LIVED. AND MAY ST. JOSEPH HELP EACH OF US TO DISCOVER THAT THIS IS OUR VOCATION AS WELL, FOR EACH OF US WAS PUT HERE FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
3rd Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 11:2-11
IT SEEMS TO BE A UNIVERSAL HUMAN CHARACTERISTIC TO WANT A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION, TO HESITATE JUST A LITTLE BIT, BEFORE MAKING A COMMITMENT. THE WORD “DOUBT” COMES TO MIND, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT I MEAN. DOUBT IS NEGATIVE, WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS POSITIVE, OR AT LEAST NEUTRAL. I GUESS ONLY GOD CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE FIRST KIND OF PROCESS AND THE SECOND. THE FIRST WAS WHEN ABRAHAM AND SARAH WERE TOLD THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A SON, AND SARAH LAUGHED, SAYING TO HERSELF THAT SHE WAS WAY PAST CHILD-BEARING YEARS, AND ABRAHAM WAS EVEN OLDER. BUT GOD BLESSED THEM WITH ISAAC. AND THEN WE HAVE MOSES, WHO STRUCK THE ROCK TWICE TO MAKE IT YIELD WATER, AND GOD PUNISHED HIM BY REFUSING TO LET HIM ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. THAT IS THE SECOND KIND OF DOUBT. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, WE HAVE ZACHARY DOUBTING (THE SECOND KIND) THAT HE AND ELIZABETH WOULD HAVE A SON THAT EVEN THOUGH THE ANGEL PROMISED IT,; AND THEN WE HAVE MARY SAYING “HOW CAN THIS BE, FOR I HAVE HAD NO RELATIONS WITH A MAN” BEING REWARDED BY BECOMING THE MOTHER OF GOD – THE FIRST KIND OF DOUBT.
AND TODAY WE HEAR ABOUT HOW JOHN, SITTING IN HIS PRISON CELL, SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE? JOHN HAD BEEN THERE WHEN THE VOICE CAME FROM HEAVEN AT JESUS' BAPTISM; JOHN HAD SAID TO JESUS THAT JESUS SHOULD BE BAPTIZING HIM, NOT HIM BAPTIZING JESUS; AND JOHN HAD POINTED OUT JESUS AS THE “LAMB OF GOD” AND TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT “HE, JESUS, MUST INCREASE, WHILE I JOHN, MUST DECREASE.” BUT NOW, THE LAST VOLUNTARY ACTION THAT JOHN TAKES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS THIS HESITANCY, THIS QUESTIONING. “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN, AS JESUS HIMSELF POINTS OUT, WAS THE GREATEST OF THOSE BORN UP TO THAT TIME; JOHN WAS THE NEW ELIJAH, AND BELIEVE ME, ELIJAH TO THE JEWS WAS ALMOST LEGENDARY-- NOT ONLY WAS HE THE MOST PROLIFIC AND POWERFUL MIRACLE WORKER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, EVEN MORE SO THAN MOSES, BUT HE WAS SAID NOT TO HAVE ACTUALLY DIED – TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A FIERY CHARIOT. AND IN THE YEARS WHEN THE RABBIS COMPOSED THE TALMUD, ELIJAH BECOMES A SUPER HERO IN THE LEGENDS WHICH THEY COLLECTED AND STUDIED. AND JESUS CALLS JOHN THE NEW ELIJAH.
THE PROBLEM, YOU SEE, WAS THAT JOHN, EVEN THOUGH FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD, EVEN THOUGH HAVING THE GIFT OF PROPHECY, WAS A PERSON, LIKE YOU AND I, AND A PRODUCT OF HIS TIMES AND HIS OWN CULTURE. AND THE MESSIAH, THE ONE WHO WAS TO COME, WAS IN THE POPULAR IMAGINATION A GREAT LEADER WHO WOULD CRUSH THE OPPRESSORS OF THE JEWS, RESTORE THEM TO THE GLORY THEY HAD UNDER DAVID AND SOLOMON. THE MESSIAH WOULD CREATE THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM SPOKEN OF BY EZECHIEL AND OTHER PROPHETS, THE CITY MADE UP OF CRYSTAL AND GOLD AND LIFE GIVING WATER, WHERE ALL NATIONS WOULD COME TO HEAR ABOUT AND SUBMIT TO THE KINGSHIP OF GOD. THE MESSIAH WOULD BE PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING, ONCE AND FOR ALL, AND THERE WOULD NEVER NEED TO BE ANOTHER.
AND JESUS, THE ONE WHO GOD HAD REVEALED TO JOHN WAS THE MESSIAH, WAS JUST NOT ACTING LIKE THAT. THERE WERE MIRACLES, BUT LITTLE ONES, MIRACLES OF HEALING MOSTLY. THERE WAS PREACHING, AND LARGE CROWDS WHO HUNG ON EVERY WORD, BUT THAT HAD HAPPENED BEFORE WITH OTHER PREACHERS, NOTHING SPECIAL. AND JESUS HAD RAPIDLY MADE ENEMIES OF THE PHARISEES AND THE PRIESTHOOD, WHEN THEY SHOULD BE ALLIES, AND HE HUNG OUT WITH TAX COLLECTORS AND PROSTITUTES AND ATE WITH SINNERS – VIOLATING IF NOT THE LETTER, AT LEAST THE SPIRIT, OF THE LAW THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO RESTORE. SO JOHN THROUGH HIS DISCIPLES ASKS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
AND JESUS GAVE AN ANSWER, BUT PROBABLY NOT THE ANSWER JOHN WAS LOOKING FOR. JESUS SAID, “GO AND TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN AND HEARD – THE BLIND SEE, THE LAME WALK, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEW PREACHED TO THEM – THESE, THE PROPHETS HAD PREDICTED, WOULD BE THE SIGNS OF THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH, THE COMING OF GOD'S KINGDOM. IN THE END, JOHN, LIKE ALL THE REST OF US, HAD TO ACCEPT JESUS ON FAITH, NOT BECAUSE OF IRRESISTIBLE PROOF.
AND IT GIVES ME HOPE THAT JOHN, WHO DIDN'T QUITE GET IT, WHO DARED TO VOICE HIS DOUBT, WAS NEVERTHELESS CHAMPIONED BY JESUS. JESUS TURNED TO THE CROWDS WHO FOLLOWED HIM AND MADE IT VERY CLEAR TO THEM THAT JOHN WAS A TRUE PROPHET AND MORE THAN THAT, THE GREATEST OF MEN UP TO THAT TIME.
YOU AND I EACH HAVE AN IMAGE OF JESUS; THE JESUS WE THINK WE KNOW. BUT THAT IMAGE CHANGES WITH TIME, WITH OUR OWN EXPERIENCES, AND WITH OUR OWN STRIVING TO KNOW JESUS BETTER. AND SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS AREN'T GOING WELL, AND WE FEEL LET DOWN BY JESUS, WE MIGHT SAY, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL I LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” BECAUSE THE JESUS WE THINK WE KNOW WOULD CERTAINLY NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME. AND WE PICK OURSELVES UP AND STRUGGLE ON AND LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT JESUS, BUT NEVER ENOUGH, NEVER ENOUGH TO ERASE ALL THE QUESTIONS. AND IN THE END, THERE IS FAITH, THERE IS THAT MOMENT WHEN WE SAY, “LORD, I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF”.
AND JESUS CHAMPIONS US AS WELL. WITH OUR IMPERFECT FAITH, WITH OUR DOUBT WHICH COMES SO NATURALLY TO US, WITH THE SEEMINGLY UNBRIDGEABLE GAP BETWEEN WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD BE, JESUS TELLS HIS FATHER THAT HE LOVES US, THAT WE ARE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS; THAT WE ARE THE REASON FOR THE HOLES IN HIS HANDS AND FEET, AND THE WOUND IN HIS SIDE, WHICH HE WILL BEAR FOR ALL ETERNITY; AND HE PLEADS FOR US, HE BEGS THE FATHER TO GIVE US EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING WE NEED SO THAT WE CAN SOMEDAY JOIN HIM.
WE WEAR ROSE COLORED VESTMENTS TODAY, BECAUSE THIS IS A DAY OF REJOICING. LET US REJOICE THAT JESUS OVERLOOKS THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE HESITATE, WHEN WE WANT MORE INFORMATION BEFORE WE COMMIT, AND DESPITE OUR IMPERFECTIONS, IS RIGHT NOW, TELLING HIS FATHER, OUR FATHER, THAT WE ARE GREAT, EVEN GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST, BECAUSE WE ARE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
IT SEEMS TO BE A UNIVERSAL HUMAN CHARACTERISTIC TO WANT A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION, TO HESITATE JUST A LITTLE BIT, BEFORE MAKING A COMMITMENT. THE WORD “DOUBT” COMES TO MIND, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S WHAT I MEAN. DOUBT IS NEGATIVE, WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS POSITIVE, OR AT LEAST NEUTRAL. I GUESS ONLY GOD CAN DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE FIRST KIND OF PROCESS AND THE SECOND. THE FIRST WAS WHEN ABRAHAM AND SARAH WERE TOLD THAT THEY WOULD HAVE A SON, AND SARAH LAUGHED, SAYING TO HERSELF THAT SHE WAS WAY PAST CHILD-BEARING YEARS, AND ABRAHAM WAS EVEN OLDER. BUT GOD BLESSED THEM WITH ISAAC. AND THEN WE HAVE MOSES, WHO STRUCK THE ROCK TWICE TO MAKE IT YIELD WATER, AND GOD PUNISHED HIM BY REFUSING TO LET HIM ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. THAT IS THE SECOND KIND OF DOUBT. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, WE HAVE ZACHARY DOUBTING (THE SECOND KIND) THAT HE AND ELIZABETH WOULD HAVE A SON THAT EVEN THOUGH THE ANGEL PROMISED IT,; AND THEN WE HAVE MARY SAYING “HOW CAN THIS BE, FOR I HAVE HAD NO RELATIONS WITH A MAN” BEING REWARDED BY BECOMING THE MOTHER OF GOD – THE FIRST KIND OF DOUBT.
AND TODAY WE HEAR ABOUT HOW JOHN, SITTING IN HIS PRISON CELL, SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO ASK JESUS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE? JOHN HAD BEEN THERE WHEN THE VOICE CAME FROM HEAVEN AT JESUS' BAPTISM; JOHN HAD SAID TO JESUS THAT JESUS SHOULD BE BAPTIZING HIM, NOT HIM BAPTIZING JESUS; AND JOHN HAD POINTED OUT JESUS AS THE “LAMB OF GOD” AND TOLD HIS DISCIPLES THAT “HE, JESUS, MUST INCREASE, WHILE I JOHN, MUST DECREASE.” BUT NOW, THE LAST VOLUNTARY ACTION THAT JOHN TAKES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT IS THIS HESITANCY, THIS QUESTIONING. “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN, AS JESUS HIMSELF POINTS OUT, WAS THE GREATEST OF THOSE BORN UP TO THAT TIME; JOHN WAS THE NEW ELIJAH, AND BELIEVE ME, ELIJAH TO THE JEWS WAS ALMOST LEGENDARY-- NOT ONLY WAS HE THE MOST PROLIFIC AND POWERFUL MIRACLE WORKER IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, EVEN MORE SO THAN MOSES, BUT HE WAS SAID NOT TO HAVE ACTUALLY DIED – TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN IN A FIERY CHARIOT. AND IN THE YEARS WHEN THE RABBIS COMPOSED THE TALMUD, ELIJAH BECOMES A SUPER HERO IN THE LEGENDS WHICH THEY COLLECTED AND STUDIED. AND JESUS CALLS JOHN THE NEW ELIJAH.
THE PROBLEM, YOU SEE, WAS THAT JOHN, EVEN THOUGH FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD, EVEN THOUGH HAVING THE GIFT OF PROPHECY, WAS A PERSON, LIKE YOU AND I, AND A PRODUCT OF HIS TIMES AND HIS OWN CULTURE. AND THE MESSIAH, THE ONE WHO WAS TO COME, WAS IN THE POPULAR IMAGINATION A GREAT LEADER WHO WOULD CRUSH THE OPPRESSORS OF THE JEWS, RESTORE THEM TO THE GLORY THEY HAD UNDER DAVID AND SOLOMON. THE MESSIAH WOULD CREATE THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM SPOKEN OF BY EZECHIEL AND OTHER PROPHETS, THE CITY MADE UP OF CRYSTAL AND GOLD AND LIFE GIVING WATER, WHERE ALL NATIONS WOULD COME TO HEAR ABOUT AND SUBMIT TO THE KINGSHIP OF GOD. THE MESSIAH WOULD BE PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING, ONCE AND FOR ALL, AND THERE WOULD NEVER NEED TO BE ANOTHER.
AND JESUS, THE ONE WHO GOD HAD REVEALED TO JOHN WAS THE MESSIAH, WAS JUST NOT ACTING LIKE THAT. THERE WERE MIRACLES, BUT LITTLE ONES, MIRACLES OF HEALING MOSTLY. THERE WAS PREACHING, AND LARGE CROWDS WHO HUNG ON EVERY WORD, BUT THAT HAD HAPPENED BEFORE WITH OTHER PREACHERS, NOTHING SPECIAL. AND JESUS HAD RAPIDLY MADE ENEMIES OF THE PHARISEES AND THE PRIESTHOOD, WHEN THEY SHOULD BE ALLIES, AND HE HUNG OUT WITH TAX COLLECTORS AND PROSTITUTES AND ATE WITH SINNERS – VIOLATING IF NOT THE LETTER, AT LEAST THE SPIRIT, OF THE LAW THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO RESTORE. SO JOHN THROUGH HIS DISCIPLES ASKS, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
AND JESUS GAVE AN ANSWER, BUT PROBABLY NOT THE ANSWER JOHN WAS LOOKING FOR. JESUS SAID, “GO AND TELL JOHN WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN AND HEARD – THE BLIND SEE, THE LAME WALK, THE POOR HAVE THE GOOD NEW PREACHED TO THEM – THESE, THE PROPHETS HAD PREDICTED, WOULD BE THE SIGNS OF THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH, THE COMING OF GOD'S KINGDOM. IN THE END, JOHN, LIKE ALL THE REST OF US, HAD TO ACCEPT JESUS ON FAITH, NOT BECAUSE OF IRRESISTIBLE PROOF.
AND IT GIVES ME HOPE THAT JOHN, WHO DIDN'T QUITE GET IT, WHO DARED TO VOICE HIS DOUBT, WAS NEVERTHELESS CHAMPIONED BY JESUS. JESUS TURNED TO THE CROWDS WHO FOLLOWED HIM AND MADE IT VERY CLEAR TO THEM THAT JOHN WAS A TRUE PROPHET AND MORE THAN THAT, THE GREATEST OF MEN UP TO THAT TIME.
YOU AND I EACH HAVE AN IMAGE OF JESUS; THE JESUS WE THINK WE KNOW. BUT THAT IMAGE CHANGES WITH TIME, WITH OUR OWN EXPERIENCES, AND WITH OUR OWN STRIVING TO KNOW JESUS BETTER. AND SOMETIMES WHEN THINGS AREN'T GOING WELL, AND WE FEEL LET DOWN BY JESUS, WE MIGHT SAY, “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, OR SHALL I LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” BECAUSE THE JESUS WE THINK WE KNOW WOULD CERTAINLY NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME. AND WE PICK OURSELVES UP AND STRUGGLE ON AND LEARN A LITTLE MORE ABOUT JESUS, BUT NEVER ENOUGH, NEVER ENOUGH TO ERASE ALL THE QUESTIONS. AND IN THE END, THERE IS FAITH, THERE IS THAT MOMENT WHEN WE SAY, “LORD, I BELIEVE, HELP MY UNBELIEF”.
AND JESUS CHAMPIONS US AS WELL. WITH OUR IMPERFECT FAITH, WITH OUR DOUBT WHICH COMES SO NATURALLY TO US, WITH THE SEEMINGLY UNBRIDGEABLE GAP BETWEEN WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE KNOW WE SHOULD BE, JESUS TELLS HIS FATHER THAT HE LOVES US, THAT WE ARE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS; THAT WE ARE THE REASON FOR THE HOLES IN HIS HANDS AND FEET, AND THE WOUND IN HIS SIDE, WHICH HE WILL BEAR FOR ALL ETERNITY; AND HE PLEADS FOR US, HE BEGS THE FATHER TO GIVE US EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING WE NEED SO THAT WE CAN SOMEDAY JOIN HIM.
WE WEAR ROSE COLORED VESTMENTS TODAY, BECAUSE THIS IS A DAY OF REJOICING. LET US REJOICE THAT JESUS OVERLOOKS THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE HESITATE, WHEN WE WANT MORE INFORMATION BEFORE WE COMMIT, AND DESPITE OUR IMPERFECTIONS, IS RIGHT NOW, TELLING HIS FATHER, OUR FATHER, THAT WE ARE GREAT, EVEN GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST, BECAUSE WE ARE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
2nd Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 3:1-12
REPENTANCE IS A POOR TRANSLATION OF THE WORD THAT JOHN USED; TO US, TO US IT MEANS TO BE SORRY FOR OUR SINS. THE GREEK WORD IS “METANOIA” WHICH MEANS “TO CHANGE THE MIND”. THERE IS AN ARAMAIC WORD, A WORD THAT JOHN MIGHT HAVE USED HIMSELF, WHICH IS “TOB” AND MEANS “TO FLOW BACK” AND WAS A WORD USED TO DESCRIBE WATER THAT WOULD OVERFLOW THE BANKS OF A RIVER AND THEN FLOW BACK INTO THE RIVER. IT CAME TO MEAN ABOUT THE SAME THING THAT METANOIA MEANS. SO WHY THE LANGUAGE LESSON?
WHEN I AM STUDYING THE SUNDAY GOSPEL, I ALWAYS STOP WHEN I HAVE QUESTIONS AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWER. AND MY QUESTION ABOUT THIS GOSPEL WAS WHY DID JOHN GET SO MAD AT THOSE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES? WHY DID HE CALL THEM SNAKES? WHY DID HE INSULT THEM BY COMPARING THEM WITH ROCKS? AFTER ALL, THEY WERE STANDING IN LINE WAITING TO BE BAPTIZED, JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD COME TO THE BANKS OF THE JORDAN.
CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT. JOHN WAS NOT BAPTIZING PEOPLE WITH THE IDEA OF REMOVING THEIR SINS. I KNOW THE GOSPEL TRANSLATION SEEMS TO SAY THAT, BUT AGAIN, WE ARE LOOKING AT A TRANSLATION OF A TRANSLATION, AND THE ORIGINAL IDEA WAS THAT BEFORE YOU COULD CHANGE YOUR MIND, OR FLOW BACK TO GOD, YOU HAD TO FACE WHAT YOU WERE DOING THAT WAS STANDING IN THE WAY. JOHN SAYS TO THE PEOPLE, “LOOK AT YOUR LIFE AND SEE WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM GOD AND CLOSING YOU OFF FROM LOVE. LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE ASHAMED OF – YOUR SELFISHNESS, YOUR LACK OF WILLPOWER, THE FACT THAT YOU CONSTANTLY KEEP MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES. AND THEN TURN AWAY FROM ALL THAT, TURN TOWARDS WHAT IS BEYOND YOURSELF, TURN TOWARDS GOD.”
THE PHARISEES WERE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY WANTED TO BE PURE, AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY FOLLOWED EVERY LITTLE RULE IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS, ALL 630 OF THEM. AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE. THAT MEANT THAT THEY WERE ALWAYS WASHING AND PURIFYING AND AVOIDING THOSE WHO WEREN'T. AND THEY WOULD GET TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANT TO HONOR THE SABBATH DAY, FOR EXAMPLE. AND ONE WOULD SAY YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 100 STEPS AND ANOTHER WOULD SAY, NO, YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 50 STEPS. AND THE PHARISEES WERE SO DIVIDED AMONG THEMSELVES THAT THEY FORMED GROUPS AROUND DIFFERENT LEADERS; AND VERY MUCH LIKE THE ORTHODOX JEWS TODAY, THEY SPENT ALL THEIR TIME TRYING TO BE HOLY AND NO TIME TRYING TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD AND THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.
THE SADDUCEES WERE LIKEWISE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY LOOKED AT THEIR TRADITIONS AND ANCESTRY AND SAID TO EACH OTHER, THERE IS A LOT OF STUFF THERE THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING ANYMORE. AND THEY LOOKED AT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE SOPHISTICATED GREEK CIVILIZATION SURROUNDING THEM AND SAID, “THERE IS A LOT ABOUT THAT THAT IS GOOD”. AND MANY OF THEM SAID THAT BEING JEWISH WAS JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR PEOPLE TO BE, LIKE BEING ROMAN OR EGYPTIAN OR PERSIAN; AND THEIR RELIGION WAS JUST ANOTHER RELIGION. AND THEY DRESSED LIKE GREEKS AND THEY WENT TO THE GYMNASIUM AND COMMISSIONED STATUES TO BE BUILT AND EVEN ATE PORK AND SHRIMP, ALL IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO THEIR RELIGION'S RULES. AND THE RESULT WAS THAT THE SADDUCEES WERE SO MUCH LIKE THE WORLD AROUND THEM THAT THEY COULD NO LONGER INFLUENCE THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER.
IF YOU READ THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THERE IS A RECURRING THEME – GOD'S PEOPLE ARE TO BE A BEACON IN THE WORLD. THEY ARE TO BE THE SHINING CITY, TO WHICH ALL PEOPLE COME TO WORSHIP GOD. GOD CHOSE THEM AS HIS SPECIAL PEOPLE PRECISELY SO THAT THROUGH THEM, THE WORLD WOULD BE CONVERTED. AND THE PHARISEES, WHO WERE CONSIDERED REALLY GOOD JEWS BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, WERE CLEARLY FAILING; AND THE SADDUCEES, WHO WERE LOOKED AT WITH A LITTLE BIT OF ENVY BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, BECAUSE THEY HAD BROKEN FREE OF THE RESTRICTIONS THAT SEEMED TO HOLD DOWN ORDINARY PEOPLE, THEY WERE CLEARLY FAILING AS WELL.
AND THAT IS WHY JOHN SCOLDS THEM, AND TELLS THEM TO TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, AND COMPLETELY CHANGE THE WAY THEY THINK AND ACT – OR THEY NEVER COULD FIND THEIR WAY TO GOD.
AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO HAVE GIVEN UP ON THE WORLD, AND LIVE IN OUR COCOONS, FIGURING THAT IF WE DON'T SIN AND IF WE PARTICIPATE IN THE SACRAMENTS AND HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THAT DIRTY, SINFUL WORLD OUT THERE, WE WILL MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO DON'T REALLY BELIEVE THAT ABORTION IS THAT WRONG OR THAT THE EUCHARIST IS REALLY THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, OR THAT WE NEED GOD'S FORGIVENESS THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, OR THAT IT ACTUALLY MATTERS WHAT YOU BELIEVE AS LONG AS YOU ARE SINCERE; AND BEING CATHOLIC ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENT THAN BEING A DEMOCRAT OR A PATRIOT'S FAN OR ITALIAN OR IRISH.
AND JOHN SAYS TO THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES OF HIS TIME, AND THE PHARISEE AND SADDUCEE IN EACH ONE OF US, PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT AS EVIDENCE OF YOUR REPENTANCE, OR, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE ONLY WAY TO SHED YOUR PAST AND TURN BACK TO GOD IS TO ACT; WANTING TO DO IT ISN'T ENOUGH. AND MAKE IT YOUR GOAL TO SHOW THE WORLD BY YOUR DEEDS, BY HOW YOU LIVE, BY HOW YOU CARE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR, BY HOW YOU LIVE A PRINCIPLED LIFE FOUNDED ON YOUR FAITH, THAT BEING A CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN IS SOMETHING SPECIAL, SOMETHING ATTRACTIVE, SOMETHING THAT WILL FORCE OTHER PEOPLE TO EXAMINE THEIR OWN LIVES. BECAUSE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE INFLUENCED BY YOUR EXAMPLE, BY YOUR ACTION, SOME WILL REPENT, SOME WILL CHANGE THEIR MINDS, SOME WILL DRAW CLOSER TO JESUS; AND MAYBE ONE WILL EVEN BECOME A GREAT SAINT.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO CHANGE YOUR MIND? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO FLOW BACK TO GOD? BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED WE ARE IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, THERE IS STILL MORE TO DO, STILL MORE TO CHANGE AS LONG AS WE ARE ALIVE. MAKE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO FIND SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE TO GET RID OF, AND ASK GOD TO FILL THAT EMPTY SPACE WITH SOMETHING WONDERFUL.
REPENTANCE IS A POOR TRANSLATION OF THE WORD THAT JOHN USED; TO US, TO US IT MEANS TO BE SORRY FOR OUR SINS. THE GREEK WORD IS “METANOIA” WHICH MEANS “TO CHANGE THE MIND”. THERE IS AN ARAMAIC WORD, A WORD THAT JOHN MIGHT HAVE USED HIMSELF, WHICH IS “TOB” AND MEANS “TO FLOW BACK” AND WAS A WORD USED TO DESCRIBE WATER THAT WOULD OVERFLOW THE BANKS OF A RIVER AND THEN FLOW BACK INTO THE RIVER. IT CAME TO MEAN ABOUT THE SAME THING THAT METANOIA MEANS. SO WHY THE LANGUAGE LESSON?
WHEN I AM STUDYING THE SUNDAY GOSPEL, I ALWAYS STOP WHEN I HAVE QUESTIONS AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE ANSWER. AND MY QUESTION ABOUT THIS GOSPEL WAS WHY DID JOHN GET SO MAD AT THOSE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES? WHY DID HE CALL THEM SNAKES? WHY DID HE INSULT THEM BY COMPARING THEM WITH ROCKS? AFTER ALL, THEY WERE STANDING IN LINE WAITING TO BE BAPTIZED, JUST LIKE ALL THE OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD COME TO THE BANKS OF THE JORDAN.
CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT. JOHN WAS NOT BAPTIZING PEOPLE WITH THE IDEA OF REMOVING THEIR SINS. I KNOW THE GOSPEL TRANSLATION SEEMS TO SAY THAT, BUT AGAIN, WE ARE LOOKING AT A TRANSLATION OF A TRANSLATION, AND THE ORIGINAL IDEA WAS THAT BEFORE YOU COULD CHANGE YOUR MIND, OR FLOW BACK TO GOD, YOU HAD TO FACE WHAT YOU WERE DOING THAT WAS STANDING IN THE WAY. JOHN SAYS TO THE PEOPLE, “LOOK AT YOUR LIFE AND SEE WHAT IS KEEPING YOU FROM GOD AND CLOSING YOU OFF FROM LOVE. LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE ASHAMED OF – YOUR SELFISHNESS, YOUR LACK OF WILLPOWER, THE FACT THAT YOU CONSTANTLY KEEP MAKING THE SAME MISTAKES. AND THEN TURN AWAY FROM ALL THAT, TURN TOWARDS WHAT IS BEYOND YOURSELF, TURN TOWARDS GOD.”
THE PHARISEES WERE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY WANTED TO BE PURE, AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY FOLLOWED EVERY LITTLE RULE IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS, ALL 630 OF THEM. AND THAT MEANT THAT THEY HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH ORDINARY PEOPLE. THAT MEANT THAT THEY WERE ALWAYS WASHING AND PURIFYING AND AVOIDING THOSE WHO WEREN'T. AND THEY WOULD GET TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANT TO HONOR THE SABBATH DAY, FOR EXAMPLE. AND ONE WOULD SAY YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 100 STEPS AND ANOTHER WOULD SAY, NO, YOU CAN'T WALK MORE THAN 50 STEPS. AND THE PHARISEES WERE SO DIVIDED AMONG THEMSELVES THAT THEY FORMED GROUPS AROUND DIFFERENT LEADERS; AND VERY MUCH LIKE THE ORTHODOX JEWS TODAY, THEY SPENT ALL THEIR TIME TRYING TO BE HOLY AND NO TIME TRYING TO HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD AND THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.
THE SADDUCEES WERE LIKEWISE GOOD, WELL-MEANING PEOPLE, FOR THE MOST PART. THEY LOOKED AT THEIR TRADITIONS AND ANCESTRY AND SAID TO EACH OTHER, THERE IS A LOT OF STUFF THERE THAT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING ANYMORE. AND THEY LOOKED AT THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE SOPHISTICATED GREEK CIVILIZATION SURROUNDING THEM AND SAID, “THERE IS A LOT ABOUT THAT THAT IS GOOD”. AND MANY OF THEM SAID THAT BEING JEWISH WAS JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR PEOPLE TO BE, LIKE BEING ROMAN OR EGYPTIAN OR PERSIAN; AND THEIR RELIGION WAS JUST ANOTHER RELIGION. AND THEY DRESSED LIKE GREEKS AND THEY WENT TO THE GYMNASIUM AND COMMISSIONED STATUES TO BE BUILT AND EVEN ATE PORK AND SHRIMP, ALL IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO THEIR RELIGION'S RULES. AND THE RESULT WAS THAT THE SADDUCEES WERE SO MUCH LIKE THE WORLD AROUND THEM THAT THEY COULD NO LONGER INFLUENCE THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER.
IF YOU READ THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THERE IS A RECURRING THEME – GOD'S PEOPLE ARE TO BE A BEACON IN THE WORLD. THEY ARE TO BE THE SHINING CITY, TO WHICH ALL PEOPLE COME TO WORSHIP GOD. GOD CHOSE THEM AS HIS SPECIAL PEOPLE PRECISELY SO THAT THROUGH THEM, THE WORLD WOULD BE CONVERTED. AND THE PHARISEES, WHO WERE CONSIDERED REALLY GOOD JEWS BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, WERE CLEARLY FAILING; AND THE SADDUCEES, WHO WERE LOOKED AT WITH A LITTLE BIT OF ENVY BY THE AVERAGE MAN ON THE STREET, BECAUSE THEY HAD BROKEN FREE OF THE RESTRICTIONS THAT SEEMED TO HOLD DOWN ORDINARY PEOPLE, THEY WERE CLEARLY FAILING AS WELL.
AND THAT IS WHY JOHN SCOLDS THEM, AND TELLS THEM TO TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, AND COMPLETELY CHANGE THE WAY THEY THINK AND ACT – OR THEY NEVER COULD FIND THEIR WAY TO GOD.
AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO HAVE GIVEN UP ON THE WORLD, AND LIVE IN OUR COCOONS, FIGURING THAT IF WE DON'T SIN AND IF WE PARTICIPATE IN THE SACRAMENTS AND HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THAT DIRTY, SINFUL WORLD OUT THERE, WE WILL MAKE IT TO HEAVEN. AND THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO DON'T REALLY BELIEVE THAT ABORTION IS THAT WRONG OR THAT THE EUCHARIST IS REALLY THE BODY AND BLOOD OF JESUS, OR THAT WE NEED GOD'S FORGIVENESS THROUGH THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, OR THAT IT ACTUALLY MATTERS WHAT YOU BELIEVE AS LONG AS YOU ARE SINCERE; AND BEING CATHOLIC ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENT THAN BEING A DEMOCRAT OR A PATRIOT'S FAN OR ITALIAN OR IRISH.
AND JOHN SAYS TO THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES OF HIS TIME, AND THE PHARISEE AND SADDUCEE IN EACH ONE OF US, PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT AS EVIDENCE OF YOUR REPENTANCE, OR, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, THE ONLY WAY TO SHED YOUR PAST AND TURN BACK TO GOD IS TO ACT; WANTING TO DO IT ISN'T ENOUGH. AND MAKE IT YOUR GOAL TO SHOW THE WORLD BY YOUR DEEDS, BY HOW YOU LIVE, BY HOW YOU CARE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR, BY HOW YOU LIVE A PRINCIPLED LIFE FOUNDED ON YOUR FAITH, THAT BEING A CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN IS SOMETHING SPECIAL, SOMETHING ATTRACTIVE, SOMETHING THAT WILL FORCE OTHER PEOPLE TO EXAMINE THEIR OWN LIVES. BECAUSE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE INFLUENCED BY YOUR EXAMPLE, BY YOUR ACTION, SOME WILL REPENT, SOME WILL CHANGE THEIR MINDS, SOME WILL DRAW CLOSER TO JESUS; AND MAYBE ONE WILL EVEN BECOME A GREAT SAINT.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO CHANGE YOUR MIND? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO FLOW BACK TO GOD? BECAUSE NO MATTER HOW ADVANCED WE ARE IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, THERE IS STILL MORE TO DO, STILL MORE TO CHANGE AS LONG AS WE ARE ALIVE. MAKE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO FIND SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE TO GET RID OF, AND ASK GOD TO FILL THAT EMPTY SPACE WITH SOMETHING WONDERFUL.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
First Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 24:37-44
WHEN I WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL I WAS PROBABLY A BIT SLEEP DEPRIVED MOST OF THE TIME. WHEN I STARTED, THE COURSE WORK WAS MORE COMPRESSED, CERTAINLY MORE COMPLICATED, AND I HAD TO STUDY MORE THAN I EVER DID IN COLLEGE. AFTER I GOT USED TO THE PACE, I GOT MARRIED, AND SOON WE WERE EXPECTING A BABY, AND I WAS TRYING TO WORK A LITTLE ON THE SIDE. IT IS NO WONDER THAT I HAD SOME DISTURBING DREAMS. ONE OF THE RECURRENT DREAMS WAS THAT I WOULD GO TO A CLASS AND DISCOVER THAT I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN TO STUDY FOR THE TEST ABOUT TO BE GIVEN. OR, I WOULD COME TO THE END OF THE SEMESTER AND DISCOVER THAT I HAD NEVER ACTUALLY ATTENDED ONE OF THE CLASSES I HAD SIGNED UP FOR. I WOULD HAVE ONE OF THESE DREAMS AND WAKE UP IN A PANIC, AND USUALLY WOULD ALSO WAKE UP MY SOUNDLY SLEEPING WIFE, WHO FOR JUST A MOMENT REGRETTED THAT SHE HAD NOT BECOME A CARMELITE.
THAT FEELING THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETELY MISSED OUT, THAT SOMETHING IS GOING TO END IN TRAGEDY WHEN IT COULD HAVE ENDED IN JOY AND A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT – THAT, IN MY EXPERIENCE WITH MY DREAMS, IS A TERRIBLE FEELING.
THE GOSPEL READING REFERS TO THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S TIME. THE BOOK OF GENESIS DOESN'T PUT THAT MUCH TIME BETWEEN ADAM AND EVE AND NOAH. IN THE IMAGINATION OF THE HEBREWS AND BY THE RECKONING OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS, NOAH WAS ONLY ABOUT 9 GENERATIONS FROM ADAM. SO THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME WERE MUCH CLOSER TO THE CATASTROPHIC EXPULSION FROM PARADISE THAN WE ARE. BUT YET, THEY HAD BECOME COMPLACENT; THEY WENT ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS AS THOUGH THERE WERE INFINITE TOMORROWS. AND ONE DAY WHEN NO ONE EXPECTED IT, THERE WERE SUDDENLY NO TOMORROWS.
WE HAVEN'T CHANGED MUCH. AFTER 9/11, WE AMERICANS ALL PUT PARTISAN POLITICS ASIDE; WE ALL RESOLVED TO QUIT QUARRELING AND WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD. WE DUTIFULLY PAID ATTENTION TO THE TERRORISM ALERTS THAT WERE ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT – DO YOU REMEMBER THE “COLOR CODE” THAT SEEMED TO BE ON THE NEWS EVERY NIGHT? GUESS WHAT – THE GOVERNMENT STILL ISSUES A DAILY ESTIMATE OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF A TERRORIST ATTACK – BUT WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT OR WONDERED WHETHER TODAY WAS YELLOW, PINK, OR RED?
ONE WILL BE TAKEN, AND ONE WILL BE LEFT. WE HAD A PROFESSOR OF BIBLE STUDIES IN COLLEGE WHO SAID THAT MAYBE THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING – MAYBE GOD TAKES THOSE WHO ARE PREPARED FOR HIS COMING AND LEAVES THE REST OF US BEHIND. AFTER ALL, HE COULD CERTAINLY ERASE THE MEMORY OF SOMEONE FROM THE MINDS OF ALL WHO KNEW HER.
JESUS SAYS “YOU CANNOT KNOW THE DAY YOUR LORD IS COMING.” THEREFORE, HE TELLS US, WE MUST BE PREPARED.
WE MUST BE PREPARED BY SAYING “I LOVE YOU” TO THOSE WE LOVE. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY PUTTING DOWN THE NEWSPAPER OR TURNING OFF THE TELEVISION SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A CHILD, A PARENT, A SPOUSE, A FRIEND. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY GIVING A LITTLE OF WHAT WE HAVE SAVED TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NOTHING WITH WHICH TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY FORGIVING SOMEONE WHO OFFENDED US PERHAPS A LONG TIME AGO. SOME OF US, AND I AM PREACHING TO MYSELF, MUST BE PREPARED BY SETTING ASIDE SOME TIME FOR RECREATION, FOR GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL, FOR RECHARGING BATTERIES.
AND IN ADDITION TO MAKING THINGS RIGHT FOR OURSELVES AND WITH THOSE AROUND US, WE NEED TO BE PREPARED BY DEVELOPING A SERIOUS PRAYER LIFE. BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY WE WILL BECOME CLOSE TO GOD IS THROUGH CONVERSATION WITH HIM. AND WE MUST BE PREPARED BY PARTICIPATING IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE – BECAUSE IF WE ARE TO DRAW CLOSE TO GOD, WE NEED TO GET RID OF THE SPIRITUAL BARRIERS BETWEEN US, AND NOTHING DOES THAT AS WELL AS THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE.
JESUS IS COMING. HE PROMISED, OUR CHURCH TEACHES THIS. AND HE IS COMING TOMORROW. IF WE MAKE IT A POINT, WHEN WE GO TO SLEEP EACH NIGHT, TO SAY TO OURSELVES, HE IS COMING TOMORROW, WE WILL NOT BE WRONG. HE COMES IN SOME WAY EVERY TOMORROW, AND IF WE LIVE OUR LIVES PREPARED FOR HIS ENTERING INTO OUR LIFE, AT THAT TIME WE LEAST EXPECT, WHEN THE SON OF MAN PUTS AN END TO ALL THE TOMORROWS, WE WILL BE READY.
BUT IF WE ARE NOT READY, IF WE HAVE LIVED LIKE THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S TIME, IF WE HAVE FALLEN BACK INTO THE COMPLACENCY THAT BELIEVES THAT THERE ARE ENDLESS TOMORROWS, AND WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO BECOME CONVERTED, TO REFORM OUR LIVES, TO MAKE PROGRESS IN OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH, THEN WE RUN THE RISK OF WAKING UP FROM OUR DREAM REALIZING THAT WE HAVE NOT PREPARED FOR THE TEST, WE HAVE NOT EVEN GONE TO CLASS, AND THERE IS NO WAY TO MAKE IT UP. AND THAT AWFUL FEELING OF LOSS AND FAILURE THAT I EXPERIENCED WHEN I WOKE OUT OF MY NIGHTMARES IN MEDICAL SCHOOL WILL NO LONGER LAST A MOMENT, BUT FOREVER.
HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE ADVENT? HOW WILL YOU PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF OUR LORD? WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF WE MADE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO TAKE SOME CONCRETE STEP DURING THIS SEASON SO THAT WHEN WE CELEBRATE THE LORD'S BIRTH, WE WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO BRING TO THE MANGER, TO LAY AT HIS FEET. IT MAY BE THE LAST CHANCE WE WILL HAVE. BE READY, BE AWAKE.
WHEN I WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL I WAS PROBABLY A BIT SLEEP DEPRIVED MOST OF THE TIME. WHEN I STARTED, THE COURSE WORK WAS MORE COMPRESSED, CERTAINLY MORE COMPLICATED, AND I HAD TO STUDY MORE THAN I EVER DID IN COLLEGE. AFTER I GOT USED TO THE PACE, I GOT MARRIED, AND SOON WE WERE EXPECTING A BABY, AND I WAS TRYING TO WORK A LITTLE ON THE SIDE. IT IS NO WONDER THAT I HAD SOME DISTURBING DREAMS. ONE OF THE RECURRENT DREAMS WAS THAT I WOULD GO TO A CLASS AND DISCOVER THAT I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN TO STUDY FOR THE TEST ABOUT TO BE GIVEN. OR, I WOULD COME TO THE END OF THE SEMESTER AND DISCOVER THAT I HAD NEVER ACTUALLY ATTENDED ONE OF THE CLASSES I HAD SIGNED UP FOR. I WOULD HAVE ONE OF THESE DREAMS AND WAKE UP IN A PANIC, AND USUALLY WOULD ALSO WAKE UP MY SOUNDLY SLEEPING WIFE, WHO FOR JUST A MOMENT REGRETTED THAT SHE HAD NOT BECOME A CARMELITE.
THAT FEELING THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETELY MISSED OUT, THAT SOMETHING IS GOING TO END IN TRAGEDY WHEN IT COULD HAVE ENDED IN JOY AND A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT – THAT, IN MY EXPERIENCE WITH MY DREAMS, IS A TERRIBLE FEELING.
THE GOSPEL READING REFERS TO THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S TIME. THE BOOK OF GENESIS DOESN'T PUT THAT MUCH TIME BETWEEN ADAM AND EVE AND NOAH. IN THE IMAGINATION OF THE HEBREWS AND BY THE RECKONING OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS, NOAH WAS ONLY ABOUT 9 GENERATIONS FROM ADAM. SO THE PEOPLE OF THAT TIME WERE MUCH CLOSER TO THE CATASTROPHIC EXPULSION FROM PARADISE THAN WE ARE. BUT YET, THEY HAD BECOME COMPLACENT; THEY WENT ABOUT THEIR BUSINESS AS THOUGH THERE WERE INFINITE TOMORROWS. AND ONE DAY WHEN NO ONE EXPECTED IT, THERE WERE SUDDENLY NO TOMORROWS.
WE HAVEN'T CHANGED MUCH. AFTER 9/11, WE AMERICANS ALL PUT PARTISAN POLITICS ASIDE; WE ALL RESOLVED TO QUIT QUARRELING AND WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD. WE DUTIFULLY PAID ATTENTION TO THE TERRORISM ALERTS THAT WERE ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT – DO YOU REMEMBER THE “COLOR CODE” THAT SEEMED TO BE ON THE NEWS EVERY NIGHT? GUESS WHAT – THE GOVERNMENT STILL ISSUES A DAILY ESTIMATE OF THE LIKELIHOOD OF A TERRORIST ATTACK – BUT WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU THOUGHT ABOUT IT OR WONDERED WHETHER TODAY WAS YELLOW, PINK, OR RED?
ONE WILL BE TAKEN, AND ONE WILL BE LEFT. WE HAD A PROFESSOR OF BIBLE STUDIES IN COLLEGE WHO SAID THAT MAYBE THIS IS ALREADY HAPPENING – MAYBE GOD TAKES THOSE WHO ARE PREPARED FOR HIS COMING AND LEAVES THE REST OF US BEHIND. AFTER ALL, HE COULD CERTAINLY ERASE THE MEMORY OF SOMEONE FROM THE MINDS OF ALL WHO KNEW HER.
JESUS SAYS “YOU CANNOT KNOW THE DAY YOUR LORD IS COMING.” THEREFORE, HE TELLS US, WE MUST BE PREPARED.
WE MUST BE PREPARED BY SAYING “I LOVE YOU” TO THOSE WE LOVE. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY PUTTING DOWN THE NEWSPAPER OR TURNING OFF THE TELEVISION SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A CHILD, A PARENT, A SPOUSE, A FRIEND. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY GIVING A LITTLE OF WHAT WE HAVE SAVED TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NOTHING WITH WHICH TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS. WE MUST BE PREPARED BY FORGIVING SOMEONE WHO OFFENDED US PERHAPS A LONG TIME AGO. SOME OF US, AND I AM PREACHING TO MYSELF, MUST BE PREPARED BY SETTING ASIDE SOME TIME FOR RECREATION, FOR GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL, FOR RECHARGING BATTERIES.
AND IN ADDITION TO MAKING THINGS RIGHT FOR OURSELVES AND WITH THOSE AROUND US, WE NEED TO BE PREPARED BY DEVELOPING A SERIOUS PRAYER LIFE. BECAUSE THE ONLY WAY WE WILL BECOME CLOSE TO GOD IS THROUGH CONVERSATION WITH HIM. AND WE MUST BE PREPARED BY PARTICIPATING IN THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE – BECAUSE IF WE ARE TO DRAW CLOSE TO GOD, WE NEED TO GET RID OF THE SPIRITUAL BARRIERS BETWEEN US, AND NOTHING DOES THAT AS WELL AS THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE.
JESUS IS COMING. HE PROMISED, OUR CHURCH TEACHES THIS. AND HE IS COMING TOMORROW. IF WE MAKE IT A POINT, WHEN WE GO TO SLEEP EACH NIGHT, TO SAY TO OURSELVES, HE IS COMING TOMORROW, WE WILL NOT BE WRONG. HE COMES IN SOME WAY EVERY TOMORROW, AND IF WE LIVE OUR LIVES PREPARED FOR HIS ENTERING INTO OUR LIFE, AT THAT TIME WE LEAST EXPECT, WHEN THE SON OF MAN PUTS AN END TO ALL THE TOMORROWS, WE WILL BE READY.
BUT IF WE ARE NOT READY, IF WE HAVE LIVED LIKE THE PEOPLE OF NOAH'S TIME, IF WE HAVE FALLEN BACK INTO THE COMPLACENCY THAT BELIEVES THAT THERE ARE ENDLESS TOMORROWS, AND WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO BECOME CONVERTED, TO REFORM OUR LIVES, TO MAKE PROGRESS IN OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH, THEN WE RUN THE RISK OF WAKING UP FROM OUR DREAM REALIZING THAT WE HAVE NOT PREPARED FOR THE TEST, WE HAVE NOT EVEN GONE TO CLASS, AND THERE IS NO WAY TO MAKE IT UP. AND THAT AWFUL FEELING OF LOSS AND FAILURE THAT I EXPERIENCED WHEN I WOKE OUT OF MY NIGHTMARES IN MEDICAL SCHOOL WILL NO LONGER LAST A MOMENT, BUT FOREVER.
HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE ADVENT? HOW WILL YOU PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF OUR LORD? WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL IF WE MADE A RESOLUTION TODAY TO TAKE SOME CONCRETE STEP DURING THIS SEASON SO THAT WHEN WE CELEBRATE THE LORD'S BIRTH, WE WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO BRING TO THE MANGER, TO LAY AT HIS FEET. IT MAY BE THE LAST CHANCE WE WILL HAVE. BE READY, BE AWAKE.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Christ the King, cycle C
LUKE 23:35-43
THERE IS A MOTHER WHO SEES HER SON, THE ONE SHE NURSED AND RAISED AND ONE DAY SAID GOODBYE TO HIM AS HE WENT OUT INTO THE WORLD.
ONE OF HIS BEST FRIENDS SEES HIS HERO, HIS TEACHER, HIS COMPANION FOR THREE YEARS OF WALKING THE DUSTY ROADS OF PALESTINE.
A ROMAN SOLDIER NODS IN SATISFACTION; HE SEES A CRIMINAL, A THREAT TO THE STATE, GETTING WHAT HE DESERVES AND SERVING AS AN EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE PEOPLE.
SOME TOURISTS PASS AND SEE THE MAN THE HIGH PRIEST AND THE PHARISEES CALLED A HERETIC, A BLASPHEMER, AND SOMEONE IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL; AND THEY NOD AND THINK THEY MUST HAVE BEEN RIGHT, LOOK AT HIM NOW.
AND THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE, TAX COLLECTORS, SHEPHERDS, SAMARITANS, WIDOWS, ORPHANS, WHO SEE SOMEONE WHO SEEMED TO BE THEIR HOPE – BUT LIKE ALWAYS, THEIR HOPE SEEMED TO BE IN VAIN, AND THEY SADLY FACE THE TASK OF LOOKING FOR ANOTHER ONE IN WHICH TO PLACE THEIR HOPES. .
THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN WHO SEES THE TRUTH – A MAN WHO HAS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE EXCEPT AN HOUR OR TWO OF INCREASINGLY PAINFUL LIFE, A MAN WHO HAS HAD ALL HIS ILLUSIONS STRIPPED AWAY-- AND IN DESPERATION, HE SEES THAT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM IS A KING – AND HE CRIES OUT, “LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM.”
THE GOOD THIEF IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A KING – HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A SAVIOR. HIS LIFE HAS COME DOWN TO THIS – NAKED AND IMPRISONED ON A CROSS, EVERYTHING TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM, INCLUDING HIS LIFE.
WHAT IS A KING? WE DON'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA OF THE IDEAL KING – IT'S AN ALIEN CONCEPT TO US IN THE UNITED STATES, AND EVEN IN COUNTRIES THAT STILL HAVE KINGS AND QUEENS, THEY ARE EITHER FIGUREHEADS, OR THEY ARE DESPOTS, AND PERHAPS THERE REALLY HASN'T BEEN AN IDEAL KING IN HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
BUT THE JEWS HAD LEGENDS OF NEARLY IDEAL KINGS – DAVID, SOLOMON – AND THEY KNEW ABOUT KINGS. AN IDEAL KING WAS FIRST OF ALL, A PROTECTOR. HE SAW TO IT THAT HIS PEOPLE WERE SAFE. HE SAW THAT HIS ARMY WAS WELL ARMED AND WELL TRAINED; HE SAW THAT THE WALLS AROUND HIS CITIES WERE WELL MAINTAINED. HE SAW THAT JUSTICE WAS FAIR, AND THAT THE LAWS WERE ENFORCED, SO THAT THE RICH COULD NOT PREY UPON THE POOR, OR THE STRONG ON THE WEAK.
AN IDEAL KING WORKED TO MAKE HIS PEOPLE PROSPEROUS; HE WANTED THEM TO BE FULFILLED AND RICH. HE DEVELOPED TRADE WITH OTHER KINGDOMS; HE ENCOURAGED FARMERS AND ARTISANS AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THINGS AND SOLD THINGS. HE MADE PROVISION FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT WORK, FOR THE POOR AND THE SICK AND THE MENTALLY ILL.
A KING LEAD HIS PEOPLE BY TEACHING THEM THROUGH WORD AND EXAMPLE. HE TRIES TO FORM THEM INTO A NATION, A PEOPLE, SO THAT THEY WOULD BE PROUD OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR COUNTRY; SO THAT THEY WOULD CARRY OUT HIS IDEALS, AND PROTECT AND SERVE EACH OTHER. THIS WAS THE REASON FOR THE POMP AND CEREMONY, THE ROYAL VISITATIONS, THE PATRIOTIC HOLIDAYS, THE FLAG.
AND AN IDEAL KING WOULD DIE FOR HIS PEOPLE IF IT CAME TO THAT.
THE GOOD THIEF WHO HAS LOST EVERYTHING, AND WOULD SOON LOSE EVEN HIS LIFE, SEES THAT JESUS ON THE CROSS IS THE IDEAL KING HE HAS WAITED FOR ALL HIS LIFE.
AND YOU AND I NEED TO LOOK INTO OUR OWN HEARTS AND SEE THAT WE AREN'T THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE GOOD THIEF. WE THINK WE ARE DIFFERENT; AFTER ALL, WE AREN'T BEING PUT TO DEATH. BUT WE ARE ALL LIKE THE GOOD THIEF. WE ONLY HAVE A FEW MORE WEEKS OR MONTHS OR YEARS TO LIVE. WE REALLY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING; WE COULD LOSE ALL OUR STUFF IN A FIRE OR AN ACT OF ROBBERY, OR A BANKRUPTCY, OR A MAJOR DEPRESSION. BUT EVEN IF WE DON'T, WE WILL LOSE ALL OUR STUFF WHEN WE DIE.
YES, DEATH IS OUR BIG ENEMY, BUT JESUS CONQUERED DEATH, AND DID IT FOR US. DYING, HE DESTROYED OUR DEATH, AND RISING HE RESTORED US TO LIFE, ST. PAUL SAYS.
AND YOU AND I ARE POOR, WE HAVE NOTHING. BUT JESUS GIVES US A SHARE IN HIS DIVINITY – AND THAT MEANS THAT THROUGH HIM WE HAVE EVERYTHING; WE CELEBRATE THIS IN THE HUMBLE CEREMONY WHERE WE ADD A DROP OF WATER TO THE WINE. WE, THE WATER, BECOME PART OF THE WINE WHICH BECOMES TRANSFORMED INTO JESUS. IN HIM, ST PAUL SAYS, WE HAVE EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENS.
AND YOU AND I LONG TO BE A PEOPLE, IN SOLIDARITY WITH EACH OTHER. WE ARE ALL FUNDAMENTALLY ALONE, EVEN THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN FAMILIES. WE CAN FORGET WE ARE ALONE FOR A WHILE, BUT IF WE THINK ABOUT IT, NO ONE ELSE REALLY KNOWS WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND; NO ONE ELSE CAN REALLY SHARE IN MY SUFFERING. BUT JESUS OUR KING FEEDS US HIS BODY AND BLOOD, AND SINCE HIS BODY AND BLOOD CANNOT BE SEPARATED, BROKEN DOWN, SPLIT UP, WHEN WE EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINK THIS BLOOD, WE BECOME ONE WITH EACH OTHER, WITH THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN AND THE SOULS IN PURGATORY. IT IS LEFT FOR US TO COOPERATE WITH THIS GRACE AND MAKE THIS ONENESS A VISIBLE REALITY. JESUS MAKES US A PEOPLE SET APART.
AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT JESUS DIED FOR US HIS PEOPLE. HE MET THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE OF THE GOOD KING; HE EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT, HE GAVE HIMSELF UP.
THE GOOD THIEF LOOKED AT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM. HIS EYES SAW A MAN COVERED WITH BLOOD, WRITHING IN PAIN, HIS ARMS AND LEGS NAILED TO THE WOOD, A CROWN OF THORNS SADISTICALLY DRIVEN INTO HIS HEAD, WELTS ON HIS BODY FROM THE TORTURE THAT HE ENDURED BEFORE HIS CRUCIFIXION. BUT HIS MIND SAW A KING, THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER.
AND LET US LOOK UPON THE CROSS AND PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL REVEAL TO US HOW MUCH WE NEED A KING, AND ALSO HOW, THROUGH THE WONDERFUL FAVOR THE FATHER HAS SHOWN US, WE HAVE THAT KING.
THERE IS A MOTHER WHO SEES HER SON, THE ONE SHE NURSED AND RAISED AND ONE DAY SAID GOODBYE TO HIM AS HE WENT OUT INTO THE WORLD.
ONE OF HIS BEST FRIENDS SEES HIS HERO, HIS TEACHER, HIS COMPANION FOR THREE YEARS OF WALKING THE DUSTY ROADS OF PALESTINE.
A ROMAN SOLDIER NODS IN SATISFACTION; HE SEES A CRIMINAL, A THREAT TO THE STATE, GETTING WHAT HE DESERVES AND SERVING AS AN EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE PEOPLE.
SOME TOURISTS PASS AND SEE THE MAN THE HIGH PRIEST AND THE PHARISEES CALLED A HERETIC, A BLASPHEMER, AND SOMEONE IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL; AND THEY NOD AND THINK THEY MUST HAVE BEEN RIGHT, LOOK AT HIM NOW.
AND THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE, TAX COLLECTORS, SHEPHERDS, SAMARITANS, WIDOWS, ORPHANS, WHO SEE SOMEONE WHO SEEMED TO BE THEIR HOPE – BUT LIKE ALWAYS, THEIR HOPE SEEMED TO BE IN VAIN, AND THEY SADLY FACE THE TASK OF LOOKING FOR ANOTHER ONE IN WHICH TO PLACE THEIR HOPES. .
THERE IS ONLY ONE MAN WHO SEES THE TRUTH – A MAN WHO HAS NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE EXCEPT AN HOUR OR TWO OF INCREASINGLY PAINFUL LIFE, A MAN WHO HAS HAD ALL HIS ILLUSIONS STRIPPED AWAY-- AND IN DESPERATION, HE SEES THAT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM IS A KING – AND HE CRIES OUT, “LORD, REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM.”
THE GOOD THIEF IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A KING – HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS HE NEEDS A SAVIOR. HIS LIFE HAS COME DOWN TO THIS – NAKED AND IMPRISONED ON A CROSS, EVERYTHING TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM, INCLUDING HIS LIFE.
WHAT IS A KING? WE DON'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA OF THE IDEAL KING – IT'S AN ALIEN CONCEPT TO US IN THE UNITED STATES, AND EVEN IN COUNTRIES THAT STILL HAVE KINGS AND QUEENS, THEY ARE EITHER FIGUREHEADS, OR THEY ARE DESPOTS, AND PERHAPS THERE REALLY HASN'T BEEN AN IDEAL KING IN HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF YEARS.
BUT THE JEWS HAD LEGENDS OF NEARLY IDEAL KINGS – DAVID, SOLOMON – AND THEY KNEW ABOUT KINGS. AN IDEAL KING WAS FIRST OF ALL, A PROTECTOR. HE SAW TO IT THAT HIS PEOPLE WERE SAFE. HE SAW THAT HIS ARMY WAS WELL ARMED AND WELL TRAINED; HE SAW THAT THE WALLS AROUND HIS CITIES WERE WELL MAINTAINED. HE SAW THAT JUSTICE WAS FAIR, AND THAT THE LAWS WERE ENFORCED, SO THAT THE RICH COULD NOT PREY UPON THE POOR, OR THE STRONG ON THE WEAK.
AN IDEAL KING WORKED TO MAKE HIS PEOPLE PROSPEROUS; HE WANTED THEM TO BE FULFILLED AND RICH. HE DEVELOPED TRADE WITH OTHER KINGDOMS; HE ENCOURAGED FARMERS AND ARTISANS AND THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THINGS AND SOLD THINGS. HE MADE PROVISION FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT WORK, FOR THE POOR AND THE SICK AND THE MENTALLY ILL.
A KING LEAD HIS PEOPLE BY TEACHING THEM THROUGH WORD AND EXAMPLE. HE TRIES TO FORM THEM INTO A NATION, A PEOPLE, SO THAT THEY WOULD BE PROUD OF THEMSELVES AND THEIR COUNTRY; SO THAT THEY WOULD CARRY OUT HIS IDEALS, AND PROTECT AND SERVE EACH OTHER. THIS WAS THE REASON FOR THE POMP AND CEREMONY, THE ROYAL VISITATIONS, THE PATRIOTIC HOLIDAYS, THE FLAG.
AND AN IDEAL KING WOULD DIE FOR HIS PEOPLE IF IT CAME TO THAT.
THE GOOD THIEF WHO HAS LOST EVERYTHING, AND WOULD SOON LOSE EVEN HIS LIFE, SEES THAT JESUS ON THE CROSS IS THE IDEAL KING HE HAS WAITED FOR ALL HIS LIFE.
AND YOU AND I NEED TO LOOK INTO OUR OWN HEARTS AND SEE THAT WE AREN'T THAT DIFFERENT FROM THE GOOD THIEF. WE THINK WE ARE DIFFERENT; AFTER ALL, WE AREN'T BEING PUT TO DEATH. BUT WE ARE ALL LIKE THE GOOD THIEF. WE ONLY HAVE A FEW MORE WEEKS OR MONTHS OR YEARS TO LIVE. WE REALLY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING; WE COULD LOSE ALL OUR STUFF IN A FIRE OR AN ACT OF ROBBERY, OR A BANKRUPTCY, OR A MAJOR DEPRESSION. BUT EVEN IF WE DON'T, WE WILL LOSE ALL OUR STUFF WHEN WE DIE.
YES, DEATH IS OUR BIG ENEMY, BUT JESUS CONQUERED DEATH, AND DID IT FOR US. DYING, HE DESTROYED OUR DEATH, AND RISING HE RESTORED US TO LIFE, ST. PAUL SAYS.
AND YOU AND I ARE POOR, WE HAVE NOTHING. BUT JESUS GIVES US A SHARE IN HIS DIVINITY – AND THAT MEANS THAT THROUGH HIM WE HAVE EVERYTHING; WE CELEBRATE THIS IN THE HUMBLE CEREMONY WHERE WE ADD A DROP OF WATER TO THE WINE. WE, THE WATER, BECOME PART OF THE WINE WHICH BECOMES TRANSFORMED INTO JESUS. IN HIM, ST PAUL SAYS, WE HAVE EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING IN THE HEAVENS.
AND YOU AND I LONG TO BE A PEOPLE, IN SOLIDARITY WITH EACH OTHER. WE ARE ALL FUNDAMENTALLY ALONE, EVEN THOSE OF US WHO LIVE IN FAMILIES. WE CAN FORGET WE ARE ALONE FOR A WHILE, BUT IF WE THINK ABOUT IT, NO ONE ELSE REALLY KNOWS WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND; NO ONE ELSE CAN REALLY SHARE IN MY SUFFERING. BUT JESUS OUR KING FEEDS US HIS BODY AND BLOOD, AND SINCE HIS BODY AND BLOOD CANNOT BE SEPARATED, BROKEN DOWN, SPLIT UP, WHEN WE EAT THIS BREAD AND DRINK THIS BLOOD, WE BECOME ONE WITH EACH OTHER, WITH THE SAINTS IN HEAVEN AND THE SOULS IN PURGATORY. IT IS LEFT FOR US TO COOPERATE WITH THIS GRACE AND MAKE THIS ONENESS A VISIBLE REALITY. JESUS MAKES US A PEOPLE SET APART.
AND IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT JESUS DIED FOR US HIS PEOPLE. HE MET THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE OF THE GOOD KING; HE EMPTIED HIMSELF OUT, HE GAVE HIMSELF UP.
THE GOOD THIEF LOOKED AT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM. HIS EYES SAW A MAN COVERED WITH BLOOD, WRITHING IN PAIN, HIS ARMS AND LEGS NAILED TO THE WOOD, A CROWN OF THORNS SADISTICALLY DRIVEN INTO HIS HEAD, WELTS ON HIS BODY FROM THE TORTURE THAT HE ENDURED BEFORE HIS CRUCIFIXION. BUT HIS MIND SAW A KING, THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER.
AND LET US LOOK UPON THE CROSS AND PRAY THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL REVEAL TO US HOW MUCH WE NEED A KING, AND ALSO HOW, THROUGH THE WONDERFUL FAVOR THE FATHER HAS SHOWN US, WE HAVE THAT KING.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
33rd Sunday in Ordinary time, cycle C
LUKE 21:5-19
LAST SUNDAY WE WERE OUT ON THE WILBUR CROSS PARKWAY IN CONNECTICUT ON OUR WAY TO VISIT MY DAUGHTER. THE TRAFFIC CAME TO A STANDSTILL AND I COULD SEE FLASHING LIGHTS AHEAD, INSIDE A TUNNEL. AS WE INCHED FORWARD, THE THOUGHT CAME TO MY MIND THAT MAYBE THIS WAS A TERRORIST PLOT, AND OUR ENEMIES WERE TRYING TO PARALYZE THE COUNTRY BY BLOCKING MAJOR ROADS. I IMAGINED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A FEW TUNNELS OR BRIDGES WERE BLOWN UP.
I WORRY MORE THAN I SHOULD. I WORRY ABOUT THE RISING PRICE OF GASOLINE AND WHAT THAT WILL MEAN TO THE FUTURE I'VE TRIED TO PREPARE FOR. I WORRY ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I GOT REALLY SICK AND COULDN'T WORK ANYMORE. I WORRY ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING; WHEN THE SEAS RISE TWENTY FEET OR SO, WILL WE BE UP TO OUR NECKS IN BOSTONIANS FLEEING THE FLOODS? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE RED SOX THEN? I WORRY ABOUT HOW LIFE HAS CHANGED AND CONTINUES TO CHANGE, SEEMINGLY FOR THE WORST, SINCE 9/11. AND I FIND MYSELF MISSING THE “GOOD OLD DAYS” WHEN THE FUTURE SEEMED SO PREDICTABLE, EVEN THOUGH IN TRUTH I WAS PROBABLY WORRYING ABOUT THE COMMUNIST MENACE THEN.
JESUS LIVED IN A TIME WHEN THINGS SEEMED VERY STABLE. GRANTED, SOME THINGS WERE NOT PARTICULARLY DESIRABLE, LIKE THE DOMINATION OF THE ROMANS; BUT EVEN THAT SEEMED BETTER THAN SOME OF THE TYRANTS WHO USED TO RULE THE JEWISH TERRITORIES. THERE WAS PEACE OF SORTS, PEOPLE COULD PLAN, THE LAW WAS THE LAW AND THE ROMANS ENFORCED IT. AND THE JEWS HAD JUST RECENTLY BUILT THE MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE. LIFE SEEMED SAFE, PREDICTABLE, AND UNCHANGING.
AND JESUS OVERHEARS SOME TOURISTS TALKING ABOUT HOW GREAT THE TEMPLE IS, AND TELLS THEM ITS GOING TO BE RAZED TO THE GROUND; IT IS NO MORE PERMANENT THAN A FLOWER THAT BLOOMS AND DIES.
JESUS TELLS US THREE THINGS.
FIRST, THERE IS NO REAL STABILITY. IF YOU THINK SO YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN. THE TEMPLE WILL BE A PILE OF RUBBLE; THERE WILL BE WARS, LIKE IN IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN, AND MAYBE SOON TO COME, IRAN OR PAKISTAN OR VENEZUELA, WHO KNOWS? THERE WILL BE NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS, LIKE THE GULF HURRICANE, LIKE GLOBAL WARMING, LIKE AN OIL TRANSPORT SHIP BLEEDING ITS CONTENTS INTO THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY. AND IT'S ALL UNPREDICTABLE, AND FOR SOME PEOPLE, AT LEAST, LIFE WILL BE COMPLETELY CHANGED, AND ALWAYS FOR THE WORSE. AND EVEN IN OUR OWN LITTLE LIVES, A CAR ACCIDENT, A LUMP IN A BREAST, A SPOT ON THE LUNG, AND EVERYTHING CHANGES.
SECOND, JESUS TELLS US THAT BEING A CHRISTIAN DOES NOT MEAN EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE WONDERFUL FROM THERE ON OUT. JUST THE OPPOSITE, BY BEING CHRISTIANS, WE INVITE PERSECUTION – IN FACT, WE SHOULD PROBABLY ASK WHETHER REAL CHRISTIANS CAN EVEN GET THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT SOME SORT OF PERSECUTION. IF WE'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED A CONDESCENDING STATEMENT ABOUT OUR FAITH, IF WE'VE NEVER FELT SLIGHTLY OUT OF TOUCH BECAUSE OUR BELIEFS SET US APART FROM THOSE AROUND US, IF WE'VE NEVER FELT A TWINGE OF SADNESS WHEN WE HEAR OF ANOTHER PRIEST SCANDAL, THEN MAYBE WE AREN'T REALLY CHRISTIANS. JESUS SAYS WE WILL BE PERSECUTED, AND SOME OF US WILL BE PERSECUTED BY OUR OWN FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, AND IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD, SOME OF US ARE STILL BEING PUT TO DEATH, ALL BECAUSE OF BELIEF IN CHRIST, ALL BECAUSE OF THE DESIRE TO FOLLOW CHRIST.
SO FAR, JESUS DOES NOT SOUND LIKE HE'S MUCH FUN.
BUT FINALLY, JESUS TELLS US THAT THERE IS SOMETHING IN OUR LIVES WHICH WE CAN COUNT ON, WHICH WILL NEVER CHANGE, WHICH CAN RESIST WARS AND NATURAL DISASTERS AND PERSECUTION – THAT IS FAITHFULNESS, PERSERVERANCE. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, WE ARE SAFE – AND WE WILL LIVE, EVEN IF WE DIE. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY – AS LONG AS WE ARE BEARING WITNESS WITH OUR LIVES AND OUR WORDS – BECAUSE JESUS PROMISED THAT HE WILL GIVE US THE WISDOM TO BE AN EXAMPLE TO THE WORLD THAT CANNOT FAIL. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, AND PERSEVERE IN FAITHFULNESS, WORRY SHOULD BE THE LAST THING IN OUR MINDS.
IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THERE WERE PEOPLE RUNNING AROUND PROCLAIMING THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO END, THAT JESUS WAS COMING AGAIN, AND THIS TIME HE WAS REALLY MAD. AND RIGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT THEIR DESCENDANTS CONTINUE TO BOTHER THEIR FELLOW CHRISTIANS WITH WARNINGS ABOUT THE FUTURE. AND TO THEM WISE OLD PAUL SAYS, “WORK QUIETLY, AND EAT YOUR OWN FOOD.”
SOMEONE ONCE ASKED ST FRANCIS WHAT HE WOULD DO IF HE FOUND OUT THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO END IN 15 MINUTES. HER REPLIED THAT HE WOULD KEEP WORKING IN HIS GARDEN.
SO I, AT LEAST, HAD BETTER ASK MYSELF, WHY DO I WORRY? WORRY MEANS THAT I AM AFRAID THINGS WILL CHANGE AND ALL MY PLANS WILL BE FOR NOTHING. BUT THINGS WILL CHANGE, AND I CAN'T DO A THING ABOUT IT. WORRY MEANS THAT I AM AFRAID OF HOW OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT RESTRICT MY FREEDOM, MIGHT MAKE DEMANDS ON ME, MIGHT IN FACT PERSECUTE ME IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER. BUT JESUS SAYS I CAN'T DO A THING ABOUT IT. IF I AM HIS FOLLOWER, I BETTER EXPECT JUST THAT.
AND FINALLY, JESUS PROMISES THAT IF I AM FAITHFUL, I'LL COME THROUGH AT THE END, I'LL HAVE REAL LIFE, WONDERFUL PERMANENCE, AND NO UNCERTAINTY; I'LL NEVER HAVE REASON TO WORRY AGAIN. AND THAT FOR ME IS A GREAT PROMISE.
TODAY TAKE STOCK OF YOUR WORRIES IN THE LIGHT OF THIS GOSPEL. AND AS YOU THINK ABOUT THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU FRET THE MOST, MAYBE YOU WILL REALIZE THAT WORRY IS THE OPPOSITE OF FAITHFULNESS; AND FAITHFULNESS, THE PERSEVERANCE JESUS TALKED ABOUT, IS WHAT WE MUST HAVE TO CLAIM HIS PROMISE, THAT NOT A HAIR ON OUR HEADS WILL BE DESTROYED, THAT THROUGH FAITHFULNESS WE WILL SECURE OUR LIVES, BUT NEVER THROUGH WORRY.
LAST SUNDAY WE WERE OUT ON THE WILBUR CROSS PARKWAY IN CONNECTICUT ON OUR WAY TO VISIT MY DAUGHTER. THE TRAFFIC CAME TO A STANDSTILL AND I COULD SEE FLASHING LIGHTS AHEAD, INSIDE A TUNNEL. AS WE INCHED FORWARD, THE THOUGHT CAME TO MY MIND THAT MAYBE THIS WAS A TERRORIST PLOT, AND OUR ENEMIES WERE TRYING TO PARALYZE THE COUNTRY BY BLOCKING MAJOR ROADS. I IMAGINED WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A FEW TUNNELS OR BRIDGES WERE BLOWN UP.
I WORRY MORE THAN I SHOULD. I WORRY ABOUT THE RISING PRICE OF GASOLINE AND WHAT THAT WILL MEAN TO THE FUTURE I'VE TRIED TO PREPARE FOR. I WORRY ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I GOT REALLY SICK AND COULDN'T WORK ANYMORE. I WORRY ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING; WHEN THE SEAS RISE TWENTY FEET OR SO, WILL WE BE UP TO OUR NECKS IN BOSTONIANS FLEEING THE FLOODS? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE RED SOX THEN? I WORRY ABOUT HOW LIFE HAS CHANGED AND CONTINUES TO CHANGE, SEEMINGLY FOR THE WORST, SINCE 9/11. AND I FIND MYSELF MISSING THE “GOOD OLD DAYS” WHEN THE FUTURE SEEMED SO PREDICTABLE, EVEN THOUGH IN TRUTH I WAS PROBABLY WORRYING ABOUT THE COMMUNIST MENACE THEN.
JESUS LIVED IN A TIME WHEN THINGS SEEMED VERY STABLE. GRANTED, SOME THINGS WERE NOT PARTICULARLY DESIRABLE, LIKE THE DOMINATION OF THE ROMANS; BUT EVEN THAT SEEMED BETTER THAN SOME OF THE TYRANTS WHO USED TO RULE THE JEWISH TERRITORIES. THERE WAS PEACE OF SORTS, PEOPLE COULD PLAN, THE LAW WAS THE LAW AND THE ROMANS ENFORCED IT. AND THE JEWS HAD JUST RECENTLY BUILT THE MAGNIFICENT TEMPLE. LIFE SEEMED SAFE, PREDICTABLE, AND UNCHANGING.
AND JESUS OVERHEARS SOME TOURISTS TALKING ABOUT HOW GREAT THE TEMPLE IS, AND TELLS THEM ITS GOING TO BE RAZED TO THE GROUND; IT IS NO MORE PERMANENT THAN A FLOWER THAT BLOOMS AND DIES.
JESUS TELLS US THREE THINGS.
FIRST, THERE IS NO REAL STABILITY. IF YOU THINK SO YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN. THE TEMPLE WILL BE A PILE OF RUBBLE; THERE WILL BE WARS, LIKE IN IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN, AND MAYBE SOON TO COME, IRAN OR PAKISTAN OR VENEZUELA, WHO KNOWS? THERE WILL BE NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS, LIKE THE GULF HURRICANE, LIKE GLOBAL WARMING, LIKE AN OIL TRANSPORT SHIP BLEEDING ITS CONTENTS INTO THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY. AND IT'S ALL UNPREDICTABLE, AND FOR SOME PEOPLE, AT LEAST, LIFE WILL BE COMPLETELY CHANGED, AND ALWAYS FOR THE WORSE. AND EVEN IN OUR OWN LITTLE LIVES, A CAR ACCIDENT, A LUMP IN A BREAST, A SPOT ON THE LUNG, AND EVERYTHING CHANGES.
SECOND, JESUS TELLS US THAT BEING A CHRISTIAN DOES NOT MEAN EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE WONDERFUL FROM THERE ON OUT. JUST THE OPPOSITE, BY BEING CHRISTIANS, WE INVITE PERSECUTION – IN FACT, WE SHOULD PROBABLY ASK WHETHER REAL CHRISTIANS CAN EVEN GET THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT SOME SORT OF PERSECUTION. IF WE'VE NEVER EXPERIENCED A CONDESCENDING STATEMENT ABOUT OUR FAITH, IF WE'VE NEVER FELT SLIGHTLY OUT OF TOUCH BECAUSE OUR BELIEFS SET US APART FROM THOSE AROUND US, IF WE'VE NEVER FELT A TWINGE OF SADNESS WHEN WE HEAR OF ANOTHER PRIEST SCANDAL, THEN MAYBE WE AREN'T REALLY CHRISTIANS. JESUS SAYS WE WILL BE PERSECUTED, AND SOME OF US WILL BE PERSECUTED BY OUR OWN FAMILIES AND FRIENDS, AND IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD, SOME OF US ARE STILL BEING PUT TO DEATH, ALL BECAUSE OF BELIEF IN CHRIST, ALL BECAUSE OF THE DESIRE TO FOLLOW CHRIST.
SO FAR, JESUS DOES NOT SOUND LIKE HE'S MUCH FUN.
BUT FINALLY, JESUS TELLS US THAT THERE IS SOMETHING IN OUR LIVES WHICH WE CAN COUNT ON, WHICH WILL NEVER CHANGE, WHICH CAN RESIST WARS AND NATURAL DISASTERS AND PERSECUTION – THAT IS FAITHFULNESS, PERSERVERANCE. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, WE ARE SAFE – AND WE WILL LIVE, EVEN IF WE DIE. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY – AS LONG AS WE ARE BEARING WITNESS WITH OUR LIVES AND OUR WORDS – BECAUSE JESUS PROMISED THAT HE WILL GIVE US THE WISDOM TO BE AN EXAMPLE TO THE WORLD THAT CANNOT FAIL. IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, AND PERSEVERE IN FAITHFULNESS, WORRY SHOULD BE THE LAST THING IN OUR MINDS.
IN THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, THERE WERE PEOPLE RUNNING AROUND PROCLAIMING THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO END, THAT JESUS WAS COMING AGAIN, AND THIS TIME HE WAS REALLY MAD. AND RIGHT DOWN TO THE PRESENT THEIR DESCENDANTS CONTINUE TO BOTHER THEIR FELLOW CHRISTIANS WITH WARNINGS ABOUT THE FUTURE. AND TO THEM WISE OLD PAUL SAYS, “WORK QUIETLY, AND EAT YOUR OWN FOOD.”
SOMEONE ONCE ASKED ST FRANCIS WHAT HE WOULD DO IF HE FOUND OUT THAT THE WORLD WAS GOING TO END IN 15 MINUTES. HER REPLIED THAT HE WOULD KEEP WORKING IN HIS GARDEN.
SO I, AT LEAST, HAD BETTER ASK MYSELF, WHY DO I WORRY? WORRY MEANS THAT I AM AFRAID THINGS WILL CHANGE AND ALL MY PLANS WILL BE FOR NOTHING. BUT THINGS WILL CHANGE, AND I CAN'T DO A THING ABOUT IT. WORRY MEANS THAT I AM AFRAID OF HOW OTHER PEOPLE MIGHT RESTRICT MY FREEDOM, MIGHT MAKE DEMANDS ON ME, MIGHT IN FACT PERSECUTE ME IN SOME WAY OR ANOTHER. BUT JESUS SAYS I CAN'T DO A THING ABOUT IT. IF I AM HIS FOLLOWER, I BETTER EXPECT JUST THAT.
AND FINALLY, JESUS PROMISES THAT IF I AM FAITHFUL, I'LL COME THROUGH AT THE END, I'LL HAVE REAL LIFE, WONDERFUL PERMANENCE, AND NO UNCERTAINTY; I'LL NEVER HAVE REASON TO WORRY AGAIN. AND THAT FOR ME IS A GREAT PROMISE.
TODAY TAKE STOCK OF YOUR WORRIES IN THE LIGHT OF THIS GOSPEL. AND AS YOU THINK ABOUT THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU FRET THE MOST, MAYBE YOU WILL REALIZE THAT WORRY IS THE OPPOSITE OF FAITHFULNESS; AND FAITHFULNESS, THE PERSEVERANCE JESUS TALKED ABOUT, IS WHAT WE MUST HAVE TO CLAIM HIS PROMISE, THAT NOT A HAIR ON OUR HEADS WILL BE DESTROYED, THAT THROUGH FAITHFULNESS WE WILL SECURE OUR LIVES, BUT NEVER THROUGH WORRY.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 20:27-38
AN ELDERLY COUPLE CELEBRATED THEIR FIFTIETH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY WITH A TRIP TO THE HOLY LAND. WHILE THEY WERE THERE, THE WIFE DIED. THE UNDERTAKER TOLD THE HUSBAND THAT HE COULD EITHER HAVE HER BURIED THERE OR BRING HER BACK TO THE UNITED STATES, WHICH WOULD COST A LOT MORE. HE SAID HE WOULD BRING HER BACK. “I CAN SEE YOUR POINT,” SAID THE UNDERTAKER. YOU WANT HER TO BE NEAR YOU WHEN YOU GO.” “ITS NOT THAT,” SAID THE OLD MAN. “ITS JUST THAT I HEARD ABOUT SOMEONE WHO WAS BURIED OVER HERE AND THREE DAYS LATER ROSE FROM THE DEAD, AND I JUST CAN’T TAKE THAT CHANCE.”
WHEN MY WIFE AND I WERE NEWLY MARRIED AND MADLY IN LOVE I REMEMBER HEARING THIS GOSPEL AND FEELING SAD THAT THERE WOULD BE NO MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN. IT DIDN’T SEEM RIGHT; I WANTED TO BE WITH HER NOT ONLY DURING MY LIFE, BUT ON INTO ETERNITY. IT SEEMED UNFAIR THAT PRIESTS WERE PRIESTS FOREVER, BUT WE MARRIED PEOPLE WERE NO LONGER MARRIED IN HEAVEN, WHERE THERE IS NEITHER MARRIAGE NOR BEING GIVEN IN MARRIAGE.
I STILL WANT TO BE WITH MY WIFE IN HEAVEN. BUT DURING MY LIFETIME OF BEING MARRIED, I THINK I UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT WHAT MARRIAGE IS IN RELATION TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
THE FIRST THING IS THAT ALTHOUGH GOD DOES NOT KEEP US FROM ENTERING HEAVEN, WE HAVE TO MEET CERTAIN CONDITIONS. NO, THESE AREN’T MORAL CONDITIONS. GREAT SINNERS CAN ACCEPT FORGIVENESS AND ENTER HEAVEN; PEOPLE OF OUTSTANDING MORAL CHARACTER CAN REJECT WHAT GOD OFFERS AND FAIL TO ENTER HEAVEN. THE REAL CONDITION FOR ENTERING HEAVEN IS, NO MATTER HOW WE ACHIEVE IT, TO BECOME ONE WITH CHRIST. JESUS MUST DWELL WITHIN US.
IF JESUS IS TO DWELL WITHIN US, WE MUST MAKE ROOM. TO DO SO, WE HAVE TO EMPTY OURSELVES OUT, WE HAVE TO LET GO OF EVERYTHING TO WHICH WE ARE ATTACHED. AND OFTEN, IT ISN’T THE SUV OR THE HOUSE OR EVEN THOSE WE LOVE WHICH HOLD US BACK, IT IS SOME LITTLE THING, SOMETHING THAT WE CANNOT SEE OURSELVES LIVING WITHOUT. IT IS THE HABIT WHICH WE CAN’T BREAK, THE PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR THAT DOESN’T SEEM SO BAD, BUT WHICH WE CAN’T IMAGINE OURSELVES LIVING IN ANY OTHER WAY. IT IS THE PUTTING OFF OF WHAT WE KNOW WE NEED – AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, FOR EXAMPLE. ALL OF THESE THINGS WHICH WE KNOW WE SHOULDN’T DO BUT WE STILL DO ANYWAY, OR WE KNOW WE SHOULD DO BUT WE DON’T DO ANYWAY, ARE FAILURES OF CONVERSION, AND CONVERSION IS THE FIRST STEP TO EMPTYING OURSELVES.
FORTY TWO YEARS OF A VERY HAPPY MARRIAGE HAS TAUGHT ME THAT THIS STATE OF LIFE IS A WONDERFUL PREPARATION FOR HEAVEN – BECAUSE YOU CAN’T HAVE A GOOD MARRIAGE WITHOUT EMPTYING YOURSELF OUT, WITHOUT DETACHING YOURSELF FROM THOSE THINGS THAT DEFINE YOU. IN MARRIAGE, WE ARE CALLED TO GIVE OURSELVES UP FOR THE PEOPLE WE LOVE, OUR SPOUSES, OUR CHILDREN, AND EVENTUALLY OUR GRANDCHILDREN AND IN-LAWS, ALL TO SOME DEGREE OR ANOTHER. IF WE DO IT RIGHT, AND I HAVEN’T YET, THE DAY WILL COME WHEN WE WILL BE EMPTIED OUT, AND FILLED WITH CHRIST – IT WILL NO LONGER BE ME, BUT CHRIST LIVING WITHIN ME.
SO GOD, I THINK, INVENTED MARRIAGE TO BE A TRAINING GROUND FOR MOST OF US SO THAT WE CAN GET TO HEAVEN. OBVIOUSLY WE CAN BLOW THE OPPORTUNITY. MANY MARRIAGES BREAK UP, AND IN MANY MORE, ONE OF THE SPOUSES TREATS THE OTHER LIKE A SLAVE, OR SEES MARRIAGE AS A STATE IN WHICH YOU GET RATHER THAN GIVE. UNHAPPY AND UNSUCCESSFUL MARRIAGES ALWAYS STEM FROM THE FACT THAT ONE OR BOTH SPOUSES DO NOT WANT TO EMPTY THEMSELVES OUT, BUT RATHER, FILL THEMSELVES UP.
SO WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE WHEN WE RISE FROM THE DEAD AND ENTER THAT STATE WE CALL HEAVEN? IT WILL BE SOMETHING LIKE A GOOD MARRIAGE, SOMETHING LIKE THE BEST PARTS OF A LIFETIME WITH SOMEONE YOU LOVE. IT WILL BE THE COURTSHIP AND THE HONEYMOON AND WATCHING THE CHILDREN GROW UP AND HOLDING YOUR GRANDCHILDREN AND SPENDING TIME JUST BEING TOGETHER OVER A GLASS OF WINE WATCHING THE SUN SET. IT WILL BE SEEING THE INNER BEAUTY OF THE OTHER PERSON EVEN THOUGH AGE AND TIME HAVE HIDDEN THAT BEAUTY FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD. AND IT WILL BE THE SENSE THAT THE OTHER PERSON IS STILL PART OF YOU EVEN AFTER YOU ARE SEPARATED BY DEATH. IT WILL BE ALL THAT ROLLED INTO ONE ETERNAL MOMENT, AND IT WILL NOT ONLY BE WITH THE SPOUSE YOU LIVED WITH THROUGHOUT LIFE, BUT WITH EVERYONE IN HEAVEN. AND FOR MOST OF US MARRIAGE WILL BE THE WAY WE GET THERE.
SO MARRIAGE SHOULD END AT DEATH; IT IS JUST A SMALL FORETASTE OF HEAVEN; IT TRAINS US AND SHAPES US AND FINALLY RELEASES US FOR THAT ETERNAL MARRIAGE TO OUR HEAVENLY SPOUSE.
IF YOU ARE MARRIED, LOOK AT YOUR MARRIAGE WITH NEW EYES, AND ASK WHETHER IT IS HELPING YOU EMPTY YOURSELF OUT, OR WHETHER YOU ARE RESENTFUL BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO BE TAKING PARTS OF YOU AWAY THAT YOU DON’T WANT TO LET GO OF. PRAY THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE GIFT OF MARRIAGE TO BECOME A SAINT. AND IF YOU AREN’T MARRIED PRAY FOR THOSE WHO ARE, SO THAT THEY WILL REFLECT THE ETERNAL MARRIAGE BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH.
AN ELDERLY COUPLE CELEBRATED THEIR FIFTIETH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY WITH A TRIP TO THE HOLY LAND. WHILE THEY WERE THERE, THE WIFE DIED. THE UNDERTAKER TOLD THE HUSBAND THAT HE COULD EITHER HAVE HER BURIED THERE OR BRING HER BACK TO THE UNITED STATES, WHICH WOULD COST A LOT MORE. HE SAID HE WOULD BRING HER BACK. “I CAN SEE YOUR POINT,” SAID THE UNDERTAKER. YOU WANT HER TO BE NEAR YOU WHEN YOU GO.” “ITS NOT THAT,” SAID THE OLD MAN. “ITS JUST THAT I HEARD ABOUT SOMEONE WHO WAS BURIED OVER HERE AND THREE DAYS LATER ROSE FROM THE DEAD, AND I JUST CAN’T TAKE THAT CHANCE.”
WHEN MY WIFE AND I WERE NEWLY MARRIED AND MADLY IN LOVE I REMEMBER HEARING THIS GOSPEL AND FEELING SAD THAT THERE WOULD BE NO MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN. IT DIDN’T SEEM RIGHT; I WANTED TO BE WITH HER NOT ONLY DURING MY LIFE, BUT ON INTO ETERNITY. IT SEEMED UNFAIR THAT PRIESTS WERE PRIESTS FOREVER, BUT WE MARRIED PEOPLE WERE NO LONGER MARRIED IN HEAVEN, WHERE THERE IS NEITHER MARRIAGE NOR BEING GIVEN IN MARRIAGE.
I STILL WANT TO BE WITH MY WIFE IN HEAVEN. BUT DURING MY LIFETIME OF BEING MARRIED, I THINK I UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT WHAT MARRIAGE IS IN RELATION TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
THE FIRST THING IS THAT ALTHOUGH GOD DOES NOT KEEP US FROM ENTERING HEAVEN, WE HAVE TO MEET CERTAIN CONDITIONS. NO, THESE AREN’T MORAL CONDITIONS. GREAT SINNERS CAN ACCEPT FORGIVENESS AND ENTER HEAVEN; PEOPLE OF OUTSTANDING MORAL CHARACTER CAN REJECT WHAT GOD OFFERS AND FAIL TO ENTER HEAVEN. THE REAL CONDITION FOR ENTERING HEAVEN IS, NO MATTER HOW WE ACHIEVE IT, TO BECOME ONE WITH CHRIST. JESUS MUST DWELL WITHIN US.
IF JESUS IS TO DWELL WITHIN US, WE MUST MAKE ROOM. TO DO SO, WE HAVE TO EMPTY OURSELVES OUT, WE HAVE TO LET GO OF EVERYTHING TO WHICH WE ARE ATTACHED. AND OFTEN, IT ISN’T THE SUV OR THE HOUSE OR EVEN THOSE WE LOVE WHICH HOLD US BACK, IT IS SOME LITTLE THING, SOMETHING THAT WE CANNOT SEE OURSELVES LIVING WITHOUT. IT IS THE HABIT WHICH WE CAN’T BREAK, THE PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR THAT DOESN’T SEEM SO BAD, BUT WHICH WE CAN’T IMAGINE OURSELVES LIVING IN ANY OTHER WAY. IT IS THE PUTTING OFF OF WHAT WE KNOW WE NEED – AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE, FOR EXAMPLE. ALL OF THESE THINGS WHICH WE KNOW WE SHOULDN’T DO BUT WE STILL DO ANYWAY, OR WE KNOW WE SHOULD DO BUT WE DON’T DO ANYWAY, ARE FAILURES OF CONVERSION, AND CONVERSION IS THE FIRST STEP TO EMPTYING OURSELVES.
FORTY TWO YEARS OF A VERY HAPPY MARRIAGE HAS TAUGHT ME THAT THIS STATE OF LIFE IS A WONDERFUL PREPARATION FOR HEAVEN – BECAUSE YOU CAN’T HAVE A GOOD MARRIAGE WITHOUT EMPTYING YOURSELF OUT, WITHOUT DETACHING YOURSELF FROM THOSE THINGS THAT DEFINE YOU. IN MARRIAGE, WE ARE CALLED TO GIVE OURSELVES UP FOR THE PEOPLE WE LOVE, OUR SPOUSES, OUR CHILDREN, AND EVENTUALLY OUR GRANDCHILDREN AND IN-LAWS, ALL TO SOME DEGREE OR ANOTHER. IF WE DO IT RIGHT, AND I HAVEN’T YET, THE DAY WILL COME WHEN WE WILL BE EMPTIED OUT, AND FILLED WITH CHRIST – IT WILL NO LONGER BE ME, BUT CHRIST LIVING WITHIN ME.
SO GOD, I THINK, INVENTED MARRIAGE TO BE A TRAINING GROUND FOR MOST OF US SO THAT WE CAN GET TO HEAVEN. OBVIOUSLY WE CAN BLOW THE OPPORTUNITY. MANY MARRIAGES BREAK UP, AND IN MANY MORE, ONE OF THE SPOUSES TREATS THE OTHER LIKE A SLAVE, OR SEES MARRIAGE AS A STATE IN WHICH YOU GET RATHER THAN GIVE. UNHAPPY AND UNSUCCESSFUL MARRIAGES ALWAYS STEM FROM THE FACT THAT ONE OR BOTH SPOUSES DO NOT WANT TO EMPTY THEMSELVES OUT, BUT RATHER, FILL THEMSELVES UP.
SO WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE WHEN WE RISE FROM THE DEAD AND ENTER THAT STATE WE CALL HEAVEN? IT WILL BE SOMETHING LIKE A GOOD MARRIAGE, SOMETHING LIKE THE BEST PARTS OF A LIFETIME WITH SOMEONE YOU LOVE. IT WILL BE THE COURTSHIP AND THE HONEYMOON AND WATCHING THE CHILDREN GROW UP AND HOLDING YOUR GRANDCHILDREN AND SPENDING TIME JUST BEING TOGETHER OVER A GLASS OF WINE WATCHING THE SUN SET. IT WILL BE SEEING THE INNER BEAUTY OF THE OTHER PERSON EVEN THOUGH AGE AND TIME HAVE HIDDEN THAT BEAUTY FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD. AND IT WILL BE THE SENSE THAT THE OTHER PERSON IS STILL PART OF YOU EVEN AFTER YOU ARE SEPARATED BY DEATH. IT WILL BE ALL THAT ROLLED INTO ONE ETERNAL MOMENT, AND IT WILL NOT ONLY BE WITH THE SPOUSE YOU LIVED WITH THROUGHOUT LIFE, BUT WITH EVERYONE IN HEAVEN. AND FOR MOST OF US MARRIAGE WILL BE THE WAY WE GET THERE.
SO MARRIAGE SHOULD END AT DEATH; IT IS JUST A SMALL FORETASTE OF HEAVEN; IT TRAINS US AND SHAPES US AND FINALLY RELEASES US FOR THAT ETERNAL MARRIAGE TO OUR HEAVENLY SPOUSE.
IF YOU ARE MARRIED, LOOK AT YOUR MARRIAGE WITH NEW EYES, AND ASK WHETHER IT IS HELPING YOU EMPTY YOURSELF OUT, OR WHETHER YOU ARE RESENTFUL BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO BE TAKING PARTS OF YOU AWAY THAT YOU DON’T WANT TO LET GO OF. PRAY THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE GIFT OF MARRIAGE TO BECOME A SAINT. AND IF YOU AREN’T MARRIED PRAY FOR THOSE WHO ARE, SO THAT THEY WILL REFLECT THE ETERNAL MARRIAGE BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH.
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