JOHN 13:1-15
IN OUR CHURCH WE CELEBRATE SEVEN SACRAMENTS. MOST OF OUR PROTESTANT BROTHERS CELEBRATE TWO, BAPTISM AND THE EUCHARIST. MANY DENOMINATIONS HAVE RITES LIKE ORDINATION AND MARRIAGE WHICH THEY DO NOT CALL SACRAMENTS, BUT CONSIDER SACRED, NEVERTHELESS. BUT MOST CHRISTIAN BODIES DO NOT CELEBRATE THE WASHING OF FEET, EXCEPT ONCE A YEAR, IF THAT; AND CERTAINLY DON'T SEE IT AS A SACRAMENT. BUT JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO DO THIS, JUST AS HE TOLD THEM TO CELEBRATE THE EUCHARIST, AND TO BAPTIZE ALL NATIONS. I WONDER WHY CHRISTIANS HAVEN'T MADE MUCH OF FOOT-WASHING? OBVIOUSLY, THE HOLY SPIRIT IS INVOLVED, AND HE GUIDES THE CHURCH, SO I'M NOT BEING CRITICAL HERE. BUT I CAN THINK OF SOME REASONS WHY FOOT WASHING NEVER CAUGHT ON LIKE THE SACRAMENTS AND OTHER SACRED RITES.
FIRST OF ALL, IT'S MESSY, AT LEAST THE WAY JESUS DID IT. IT WASN'T SYMBOLIC FOR JESUS. HE GOT DOWN ON HIS KNEES AND SCRUBBED THE FEET OF HIS DISCIPLES. THEY WERE DUSTY AND SMELLY, AND HE SET OUT TO CLEAN THEM. BY THE TIME HE GOT TO THE YOUNGEST APOSTLE, JOHN, THAT TOWEL HE HAD WRAPPED AROUND HIS WAIST MUST HAVE BEEN PRETTY DIRTY, AND THERE WAS PROBABLY A LOT OF WATER THAT HAD BEEN SPILLED ON THE FLOOR. IT WASN'T LIKE THE CEREMONY THAT WE ARE ABOUT TO WITNESS – IF YOU ARE SELECTED TO HAVE YOUR FEET WASHED, I'LL BET THEY ARE THE CLEANEST FEET IN THE CHURCH. THE SOCKS ARE NEW, AND MAYBE YOU'VE EVEN PUT AN ODOR EATER INTO THE SHOE.
SECOND, FOOT-WASHING IS INTIMATE. IN JESUS' TIME IT WAS SOMETHING A WIFE DID FOR HER HUSBAND AND NO ONE ELSE. IF YOU HAD A GUEST WHOM YOU WANTED TO HONOR, WASHING FEET WAS A WAY TO SHOW THAT HONOR – BUT SINCE IT WAS AN INTIMATE ACT, YOU HAD AN ANONYMOUS SERVANT DO IT. REMEMBER THE SHOCK THAT THE BYSTANDERS EXPERIENCED WHEN THE WOMAN WASHED JESUS' FEET – THE WOMAN WHO WAS A GREAT SINNER? THE INTIMACY THAT THIS IMPLIED IS WHAT UPSET THE PEOPLE WHO WITNESSED THIS ACT.
THIRD, FOOT-WASHING IS THREATENING. PETER RECOGNIZED THIS – LORD, YOU WILL NEVER WASH MY FEET! THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WASHER AND THE WASHED IS CHANGED – IN REAL FOOT-WASHING, NOT IN THE SYMBOL. THE ONE BEING WASHED BECOMES VULNERABLE; IN OUR SOCIETY WHERE WE ALWAYS WEAR SOMETHING ON OUR FEET EXCEPT AT THE BEACH, TO REMOVE YOUR FOOTWEAR IN FRONT OF A STRANGER IS A LITTLE LIKE BEING NAKED, AND TO PUT YOUR FOOT IN SOMEONE'S HANDS IS TO GIVE UP A LITTLE OF YOUR AUTONOMY.
AND THAT IS JESUS' POINT. IF WE ARE TO WASH EACH OTHER'S FEET, THIS IMPLIES SOMETHING WE DO, AND SOMETHING WE HAVE DONE TO US. WE NEED TO WASH AND BE WASHED, WE NEED TO SERVE AND BE SERVED. IF ALL WE DO IS SERVE, WE ARE MAKING OURSELVES SUPERIOR TO THOSE WE SERVE. SO EVEN THOSE WHO ARE MODELS OF SERVICE MUST ALLOW THOSE THEY SERVE TO SERVE THEM. JESUS DID AFTER ALL BRING A NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM INTO BEING, ONE WHICH STILL HASN'T CAUGHT ON EXCEPT IN SOME MONASTERIES. IT IS NOT CAPITALISM AND IT IS NOT COMMUNISM. ONE NAME FOR IT IS COMMUNITARIANISM. THERE IS PRIVATE PROPERTY, THERE ARE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PEOPLE IN TERMS OF TALENTS, LEADERSHIP, AND SO ON. BUT EACH PERSON PUTS WHAT IS HIS AT THE SERVICE OF THE OTHER, AND AT THE SAME TIME GLADLY ACCEPTS WHAT THE OTHER CAN GIVE HIM THAT HE DOES NOT HAVE. EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING SHE CAN GIVE, AND EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING SHE NEEDS FROM SOMEONE ELSE. IN JESUS' VISION, TRUE JOY COMES WHEN WE SERVE EACH OTHER.
AND REAL SERVICE IS MESSY. IF WE START OUT TO SERVE SOMEONE'S NEEDS, THE FIRST THING WE FIND OUT IS THAT WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS A NEED IS PROBABLY NOT THE REAL NEED. YOU BRING A HOT MEAL TO SOMEONE, AND NEXT THING YOU KNOW YOU ARE SITTING THERE LISTENING TO THAT PERSON TALKING, BECAUSE THE REAL NEED IS NOT THE MEAL, BUT AN ATTENTIVE EAR. AND IF YOU DECIDE TO VOLUNTEER TO TEACH FAITH FORMATION, IT WILL BE COMPLICATED BY INATTENTIVE KIDS AND DISINTERESTED PARENTS, AND YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF TEACHING MORE BY EXAMPLE THAN BY WORDS.
REAL SERVICE DEMANDS INTIMACY. TO REALLY SERVE SOMEONE, YOU NEED TO KNOW THEM MORE THAN SUPERFICIALLY, BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY WAY TO DISCOVER WHAT HE REALLY NEEDS FROM YOU. AND WHEN YOU SERVE SOMEONE, YOU SHOW HIM SOMETHING OF YOURSELF, SOMETIMES SOMETHING YOU'D RATHER HAVE KEPT HIDDEN.
AND REAL SERVICE THREATENS. YOU MAY MEET HOSTILITY. THE PERSON YOU ASSIST MAY TURN AROUND AND BETRAY YOU. THERE'S BEEN MORE THAN ONE GOOD SAMARITAN WHO GOT SUED BY THE PERSON HE HELPED, AND MORE THAN ONE PERSON WHO GOT TAKEN BY SOMEONE WHO TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HIS GENEROSITY.
MESSY, INTIMATE, AND THREATENING: AND THAT'S JUST WHEN YOU SERVE. WHEN YOU ARE THE ONE BEING SERVED, IT'S EVEN WORSE.
SO THERE ARE A LOT OF IMPLICATIONS IN THIS ACTION OF JESUS, THIS MOMENT WHEN HE TIED A TOWEL AROUND HIS WAIST AND KNELT ON THE FLOOR AND WASHED THOSE DIRTY FEET. AND IT'S EASY TO HEAR THIS GOSPEL BUT NOT QUITE REGISTER THOSE WORDS HE ADDRESSES TO THE DISCIPLES AND TO US: WASH EACH OTHER'S FEET.
TODAY WE CELEBRATE THE INSTITUTION OF THE PRIESTHOOD AND THE INSTITUTION OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST. WHEN YOU THINK OF THE SCRIPTURES WE HEARD TODAY, OR ALL THROUGH THE YEAR; WHEN YOU THINK OF THE RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE WITH THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST, WHETHER IT IS BARELY THERE OR VERY DEEP AND INTIMATE; WHEN YOU THINK OF THE ONGOING EFFORT OF THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST ON EARTH, TO REMAKE THE WORLD INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN DESPITE SETBACKS AND ALL-TOO-HUMAN LEADERS AND LUKEWARM FOLLOWERS, IT IS THE PRIESTHOOD AND THE EUCHARIST THAT HOLD THE ENTERPRISE TOGETHER, THAT TRANSMIT THE TEACHINGS OF OUR LORD, THAT BRING HIS PRESENCE BEFORE US SUNDAY AFTER SUNDAY. THE PRIESTHOOD IS NOTHING WITHOUT THE EUCHARIST, AND THE EUCHARIST CANNOT BE WITHOUT THE PRIESTHOOD. A TRUE PRIEST IS THE VERY IMAGE OF JESUS SERVING HIS DISCIPLES, AND A MODEL FOR OUR OWN CALL TO SERVICE.
SO LET US GO FORTH TONIGHT RECOGNIZING THAT CALL TO SERVE, AND THAT CALL TO BE SERVED; LET US GO RESOLVED TO MAKE THIS COMMUNITY OF SAINT MARY'S AN EXAMPLE TO EVERYONE OF HOW JESUS WANTS US TO LIVE. LET US FOLLOW THAT EXAMPLE OF TRUE SERVICE, MESSY, INTIMATE, AND THREATENING – BUT WHEN WE GET IT RIGHT, WE FIND THAT JESUS LIVES IN US, AND WE MEET HIM IN THOSE WE SERVE. WHAT COULD BE BETTER THAN THAT?
Friday, April 22, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Palm Sunday, cycle A
MATTHEW 26:14 - 27:66
“I DO NOT KNOW THE MAN!”
PETER SAYS THIS OUT OF FEAR, BUT WE CAN HARDLY BLAME HIM. IT'S PRETTY CLEAR IN THE PASSION STORY THAT NO ONE REALLY KNOWS THIS MAN. THE DISCIPLES WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING HIM EXPECTED TRIUMPH. DURING THOSE THREE YEARS, THEY GRADUALLY REALIZED THAT JESUS HAD A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER, SO MUCH SO THAT HE COULD CALL HIMSELF THE SON. AND YET, HERE HE WAS ABOUT TO BE CRUCIFIED. AND AS THEY HIDE, THEY MUST HAVE SAID TO THEMSELVES, “WE DON'T KNOW THE MAN”.
JUDAS ISCARIOT'S LAST NAME MEANT “LITTLE SWORD”, AND INDICATED THAT HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A JEWISH PATRIOT WHO BELONGED TO AN ORGANIZATION THAT ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE ROMANS. AND HE LOOKED FORWARD TO JESUS LEADING AN ARMED UPRISING AGAINST THE OCCUPIERS, AND A RETURN TO AN INDEPENDENT ISRAEL. AND HE HAD COME TO REALIZE THAT THIS WASN'T JESUS' WAY; AND HE REALIZED THAT HE DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
THE PHARISEES HAD ALWAYS HAD A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. SOMETIMES THEY FOUND THEMSELVES LISTENING TO HIM WITH RAPT ATTENTION, AND OTHER TIMES HE HORRIFIED THEM. AND THERE WERE ARGUMENTS AMONG THEM ABOUT WHETHER JESUS WAS OF GOD OR OF SATAN. HE CURED PEOPLE – THAT WAS GOD-LIKE; BUT HE DID SO ON THE SABBATH – THAT WAS DEMONIC. JESUS VERY PRESENCE UPSET THEIR TIDY WORLD, AND MOST WERE GLAD TO BE RID OF HIM. THEY DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
AND PILATE? IT'S HARD TO FIGURE HIM OUT. SOMETIMES HE SEEMS TO BE CYNICAL AND CALCULATING – HE SAYS, “WHAT IS TRUTH?” AND HE OFFERS THE CROWD THE CHOICE OF JESUS OR BARABBAS. JUSTICE MATTERS LITTLE TO HIM. IN ANOTHER PLACE THOUGH, HE INSISTS THAT HE IS INNOCENT OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS. BUT WHATEVER ELSE YOU CAN SAY ABOUT PILATE, JESUS DIDN'T MATTER TO HIM. HE DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
AND SO IT GOES, EVEN DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY. YOU AND I ON ASH WEDNESDAY RECEIVED A BLACK SMUDGE ON OUR FOREHEADS AND WERE TOLD THAT JUST AS WE CAME FROM DUST, WE ARE GOING BACK TO DUST. A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW WE WON'T EVEN BE REMEMBERED. AND WE'VE JOURNEYED THROUGH LENT, AND SEEN JESUS AT WORK. WE SAW HIM TRANSFIGURED. WE SAW HIM HEAL A MAN BLIND FROM BIRTH. WE SAW HIM RAISE A MAN FROM THE DEAD, A MAN WHO HAD BEEN ROTTING IN THE GRAVE FOR FOUR DAYS. AND TODAY WE SEE HIM TAKE UP HIS CROSS AND SUFFER AND DIE SO THAT THE REAL PERSON WHO IS YOU AND I WILL NOT CRUMBLE INTO DUST; THE REAL PERSON WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN, BECAUSE WE WILL LIVE FOREVER. AND UNLIKE THOSE APOSTLES AND OTHERS WE HEARD ABOUT TODAY, WE KNOW HOW THE STORY WILL END, WE KNOW JESUS HIMSELF WILL RISE.
BUT LET US BE CLEAR; IF WE ARE NOT CHANGED BY WHAT WE'VE HEARD AND WHAT WE KNOW – IF WE AREN'T MOVED TO RESPOND TO GOD'S WONDERFUL GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH HIS SON, WELL, THEN, WE WILL JOIN PETER AND PILATE AND JUDAS AND THE PHARISEES – BECAUSE IF WE AREN'T CHANGED, THEN IT IS CLEAR THAT WE DO NOT KNOW THE MAN, WE'VE MISSED THE WHOLE POINT.
MAY JESUS NOT HAVE DIED FOR US IN VAIN.
“I DO NOT KNOW THE MAN!”
PETER SAYS THIS OUT OF FEAR, BUT WE CAN HARDLY BLAME HIM. IT'S PRETTY CLEAR IN THE PASSION STORY THAT NO ONE REALLY KNOWS THIS MAN. THE DISCIPLES WHO HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING HIM EXPECTED TRIUMPH. DURING THOSE THREE YEARS, THEY GRADUALLY REALIZED THAT JESUS HAD A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER, SO MUCH SO THAT HE COULD CALL HIMSELF THE SON. AND YET, HERE HE WAS ABOUT TO BE CRUCIFIED. AND AS THEY HIDE, THEY MUST HAVE SAID TO THEMSELVES, “WE DON'T KNOW THE MAN”.
JUDAS ISCARIOT'S LAST NAME MEANT “LITTLE SWORD”, AND INDICATED THAT HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A JEWISH PATRIOT WHO BELONGED TO AN ORGANIZATION THAT ATTEMPTED TO ASSASSINATE ROMANS. AND HE LOOKED FORWARD TO JESUS LEADING AN ARMED UPRISING AGAINST THE OCCUPIERS, AND A RETURN TO AN INDEPENDENT ISRAEL. AND HE HAD COME TO REALIZE THAT THIS WASN'T JESUS' WAY; AND HE REALIZED THAT HE DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
THE PHARISEES HAD ALWAYS HAD A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS. SOMETIMES THEY FOUND THEMSELVES LISTENING TO HIM WITH RAPT ATTENTION, AND OTHER TIMES HE HORRIFIED THEM. AND THERE WERE ARGUMENTS AMONG THEM ABOUT WHETHER JESUS WAS OF GOD OR OF SATAN. HE CURED PEOPLE – THAT WAS GOD-LIKE; BUT HE DID SO ON THE SABBATH – THAT WAS DEMONIC. JESUS VERY PRESENCE UPSET THEIR TIDY WORLD, AND MOST WERE GLAD TO BE RID OF HIM. THEY DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
AND PILATE? IT'S HARD TO FIGURE HIM OUT. SOMETIMES HE SEEMS TO BE CYNICAL AND CALCULATING – HE SAYS, “WHAT IS TRUTH?” AND HE OFFERS THE CROWD THE CHOICE OF JESUS OR BARABBAS. JUSTICE MATTERS LITTLE TO HIM. IN ANOTHER PLACE THOUGH, HE INSISTS THAT HE IS INNOCENT OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS. BUT WHATEVER ELSE YOU CAN SAY ABOUT PILATE, JESUS DIDN'T MATTER TO HIM. HE DID NOT KNOW THE MAN.
AND SO IT GOES, EVEN DOWN TO THE PRESENT DAY. YOU AND I ON ASH WEDNESDAY RECEIVED A BLACK SMUDGE ON OUR FOREHEADS AND WERE TOLD THAT JUST AS WE CAME FROM DUST, WE ARE GOING BACK TO DUST. A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW WE WON'T EVEN BE REMEMBERED. AND WE'VE JOURNEYED THROUGH LENT, AND SEEN JESUS AT WORK. WE SAW HIM TRANSFIGURED. WE SAW HIM HEAL A MAN BLIND FROM BIRTH. WE SAW HIM RAISE A MAN FROM THE DEAD, A MAN WHO HAD BEEN ROTTING IN THE GRAVE FOR FOUR DAYS. AND TODAY WE SEE HIM TAKE UP HIS CROSS AND SUFFER AND DIE SO THAT THE REAL PERSON WHO IS YOU AND I WILL NOT CRUMBLE INTO DUST; THE REAL PERSON WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN, BECAUSE WE WILL LIVE FOREVER. AND UNLIKE THOSE APOSTLES AND OTHERS WE HEARD ABOUT TODAY, WE KNOW HOW THE STORY WILL END, WE KNOW JESUS HIMSELF WILL RISE.
BUT LET US BE CLEAR; IF WE ARE NOT CHANGED BY WHAT WE'VE HEARD AND WHAT WE KNOW – IF WE AREN'T MOVED TO RESPOND TO GOD'S WONDERFUL GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH HIS SON, WELL, THEN, WE WILL JOIN PETER AND PILATE AND JUDAS AND THE PHARISEES – BECAUSE IF WE AREN'T CHANGED, THEN IT IS CLEAR THAT WE DO NOT KNOW THE MAN, WE'VE MISSED THE WHOLE POINT.
MAY JESUS NOT HAVE DIED FOR US IN VAIN.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Fifth Sunday of Lent, cycle A
JOHN 11:1-45
I'VE SPENT MY CAREER TAKING CARE OF CANCER PATIENTS, AND AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, I'VE ACCOMPANIED A LOT OF PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES ON THAT LAST JOURNEY, BECAUSE WE STILL HAVEN'T BEATEN CANCER. SOME PEOPLE DIE IN OLD AGE, FULL OF YEARS, AND WHILE WE ALL HATE TO SEE A LOVED ONE DIE, SOMETIMES IT SEEMS RIGHT. SOME PEOPLE DIE AFTER A LONG TIME OF BEING DISABLED AND HELPLESS, RELYING ON DRUGS TO STAY OUT OF PAIN. SOMETIMES DEATH COMES AS A RELIEF. BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN DEATH SEEMS WRONG, SO WRONG.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO I MET A YOUNG WOMAN WHO WAS A DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAD SEVERAL CHILDREN, AND WERE VERY ACTIVE IN THEIR CHURCH, AND THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT. THIS COUPLE HELPED US WHEN WE WERE TEACHING NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING. AFTER JOAN AND I STOPPED TEACHING, WE LOST TOUCH. ONE DAY I GOT A CALL TO DO A CONSULTATION AND SHE WAS THE PATIENT. HER FACE WAS ALMOST LIKE A SKULL, AND SHE HAD LOST ALL HER HAIR; HER LEGS WERE BLOATED WITH FLUID, AND SHE WAS BARELY ABLE TO MOVE AROUND. SHE AND HER HUSBAND, AND ALL HER MANY FRIENDS AND THE MEMBERS OF HER CHURCH WERE PRAYING DESPERATELY – HOPING FOR A MIRACLE, A MIRACLE THAT JESUS SEEMED TO HAVE PROMISED HIS FOLLOWERS, WHEN HE SAID “ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE,” AND “WHATEVER YOU ASK THE FATHER IN MY NAME WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU.” BUT TO NO AVAIL. A WEEK AFTER I SAW HER, THIS GENEROUS, LOVING WIFE AND MOTHER OF SEVERAL YOUNG CHILDREN DIED.
WHERE WAS JESUS?
I DOUBT THAT ANY SERIOUS CHRISTIAN HAS GONE THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT ASKING THAT QUESTION. BECAUSE LIFE HAS TRAGEDIES, AND SOMETIMES WE CAN SEE THEM COMING. AND WHEN WE DO, WE PRAY THAT GOD WILL COME TO OUR RESCUE, GOD WILL AVERT THE DISASTER; MAYBE JUST A LITTLE MIRACLE THAT MIGHT SAVE MY BUSINESS, THAT MIGHT HEAL MY CHILD, THAT MIGHT SAVE MY MARRIAGE. AND YOUR BUSINESS FAILS, AND YOUR CHILD DIES, AND YOUR MARRIAGE FALLS APART.
WHERE WAS JESUS?
MARTHA AND MARY HAD LOST THEIR BROTHER. HE HAD BEEN SICK AND EVERYTHING HAD BEEN GETTING WORSE. THEY PRAYED TO GOD AND LAZARUS GOT WORSE. AND FINALLY THEY DECIDED TO CALL ON THEIR FRIEND, JESUS. AFTER ALL, HE WAS A HEALER; MAYBE IF HE COULD JUST COME AND LAY HIS HANDS ON LAZARUS. BUT DAYS WENT BY AND LAZARUS DIED. HE WAS IN THE GROUND FOUR DAYS BEFORE JESUS FINALLY SHOWED UP. AND MARY SPOKE FOR ALL CHRISTIANS WHO CALL UPON JESUS WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING WRONG: “LORD, IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE, MY BROTHER WOULD NEVER HAVE DIED.”
WHY DOES IT SAY THAT JESUS WEPT? WAS IT BECAUSE LAZARUS HAD DIED? BUT JESUS SURELY KNEW THAT LAZARUS WOULD RISE AGAIN AT HIS CALL – AFTER ALL, HE JUST TOLD MARTHA THAT HE WAS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. WAS IT BECAUSE JESUS, THE MOST PERFECT HUMAN BEING WHO EVER LIVED, SO POWERFULLY FELT THE GRIEF OF THE TWO WOMEN WHO WERE AMONG HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS? OR WAS IT BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF FAITH AMONG THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BETTER THAN ANYONE – AND HAD NOT YET ACCEPTED THAT HE WAS GOD IN THE FLESH? I DON'T THINK ANY OF THESE REASONS ARE WHY JESUS WEPT. I THINK JESUS WEPT BECAUSE HE LONGED FOR WHAT HE KNEW WOULD SOMEDAY COME – A WORLD WHEN THERE WOULD BE NO MORE PAIN, NO MORE FAILURE, NO MORE DEATH. DO YOU REMEMBER? ONCE JESUS SAID, “I CAME TO BRING FIRE UPON THE EARTH, AND HOW I LONG FOR IT TO BE KINDLED!” AND ANOTHER TIME HE SAID, “HOW LONG MUST I PUT UP WITH THIS GENERATION?” JESUS KNEW WHAT WAS TO COME, AND WANTED THIS WITH HIS WHOLE BEING.
AND HE CALLED LAZARUS FROM THE TOMB, AND LAZARUS, WHOSE LAST MEMORY WAS OF PANIC AND PAIN AS HIS LIFE LEFT HIS BODY, WOKE UP AND STRUGGLED TO HIS FEET AND WALKED TOWARDS THAT VOICE, THE VOICE THAT HE COULD NOT RESIST EVEN WHEN DEAD, THE VOICE OF HIS FRIEND, THE VOICE OF GOD.
JESUS WEPT, BECAUSE HE REMEMBERS FORWARD, JUST AS WE REMEMBER BACKWARD. JESUS BEING THE SON OF GOD KNOWS HOW IT WILL ALL TURN OUT. HE KNOWS THAT LIFE ON EARTH IS ONLY THE PRELUDE TO REAL LIFE. AND HE SEES SO MANY OF US WHO LIVE AS THOUGH THIS IS ALL THERE IS, AS WE STRUGGLE TO MAKE SURE WE ARE SECURE, HEALTHY, COMFORTABLE. AND HE SEES US SETTLING, SETTLING FOR THE APPETIZER, WHEN WE SHOULD BE GETTING READY FOR THE FULL COURSE SUPPER. HOW MANY OF US REMEMBER FORWARD, BELIEVING, REALLY BELIEVING, THAT WHAT HE PROMISED IS TRUE? CHRISTIAN MARTYRS BELIEVED THIS. THOMAS MORE, TO NAME ONE, HAD NO DOUBT, AND CHOSE TO DIE WHEN HE COULD HAVE SAVED HIMSELF. HE REMEMBERED FORWARD.
AND WHEN JESUS CALLED LAZARUS FORTH FROM THE TOMB, HE DID NOT DO IT BECAUSE HE LOVED MARTHA AND MARY AND THEIR BROTHER. HE DID IT TO SHOW THOSE AROUND HIM WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE, WHEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD WAS FULLY REALIZED. HE DID IT SO THAT YOU AND I WOULD KNOW THAT WHEN WE GO DOWN INTO THE GRAVE, IT ISN'T THE LAST WORD, IT ISN'T THE END. LIKE LAZARUS ALL OF US, IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, IF WE ARE HIS FRIENDS, CAN WITH CONFIDENCE FALL ASLEEP AT THE END OF OUR LIVES KNOWING THAT THE NEXT VOICE WE HEAR WILL BE HIS VOICE, CALLING US OUT OF THE GRAVE.
WHERE IS JESUS? WHERE IS HE IN THE MIDST OF PAIN AND SUFFERING AND DEATH? HE COMES ACCORDING TO HIS SCHEDULE, NOT OURS. BUT HE COMES. AND BECAUSE HE CAME INTO THE WORLD, BECAUSE HE SHARES OUR HUMAN NATURE, BECAUSE HE HAS ALREADY GONE THROUGH THE GATES OF DEATH AND RISEN AGAIN, WE CAN BE ASSURED THAT HE COMES FOR US, AND THAT OUR PAIN WILL TURN TO JOY, OUR WEEPING TO LAUGHTER, OUR DEATH TO LIFE.
LAZARUS DID DIE, YOU KNOW. I DON'T KNOW WHEN HE DIED, OR HOW OLD HE WAS, OR UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES. WE CAN BE SURE THAT HE DIED AFTER JESUS HIMSELF DIED. LAZARUS AND HIS SISTERS WERE AMONG THE FIRST CHRISTIANS. AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT WHEN LAZARUS DIED THAT SECOND TIME, PERHAPS WITH MARTHA AND MARY AT HIS SIDE, THERE WAS NO FEAR, THERE WAS ONLY ANTICIPATION. BECAUSE JESUS HAD ALREADY SHOWN THAT HE WAS GREATER THAN DEATH, THAT TO HIM DEATH WAS NOTHING. AND THIS TIME LAZARUS AND MARTHA AND MARY KNEW THAT JESUS WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF DEATH, AND WAITING FOR EACH OF THEM.
WHERE WAS JESUS?
TODAY, AND EVERY DAY IF WE ARE SUFFERING, HE IS THERE; IF WE ARE IN PAIN, HE IS THERE; AND IF WE ARE DYING, HE IS THERE, CALLING US FORTH FROM THE GRAVE INTO NEW LIFE.
I'VE SPENT MY CAREER TAKING CARE OF CANCER PATIENTS, AND AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, I'VE ACCOMPANIED A LOT OF PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES ON THAT LAST JOURNEY, BECAUSE WE STILL HAVEN'T BEATEN CANCER. SOME PEOPLE DIE IN OLD AGE, FULL OF YEARS, AND WHILE WE ALL HATE TO SEE A LOVED ONE DIE, SOMETIMES IT SEEMS RIGHT. SOME PEOPLE DIE AFTER A LONG TIME OF BEING DISABLED AND HELPLESS, RELYING ON DRUGS TO STAY OUT OF PAIN. SOMETIMES DEATH COMES AS A RELIEF. BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN DEATH SEEMS WRONG, SO WRONG.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO I MET A YOUNG WOMAN WHO WAS A DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. SHE AND HER HUSBAND HAD SEVERAL CHILDREN, AND WERE VERY ACTIVE IN THEIR CHURCH, AND THE PRO-LIFE MOVEMENT. THIS COUPLE HELPED US WHEN WE WERE TEACHING NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING. AFTER JOAN AND I STOPPED TEACHING, WE LOST TOUCH. ONE DAY I GOT A CALL TO DO A CONSULTATION AND SHE WAS THE PATIENT. HER FACE WAS ALMOST LIKE A SKULL, AND SHE HAD LOST ALL HER HAIR; HER LEGS WERE BLOATED WITH FLUID, AND SHE WAS BARELY ABLE TO MOVE AROUND. SHE AND HER HUSBAND, AND ALL HER MANY FRIENDS AND THE MEMBERS OF HER CHURCH WERE PRAYING DESPERATELY – HOPING FOR A MIRACLE, A MIRACLE THAT JESUS SEEMED TO HAVE PROMISED HIS FOLLOWERS, WHEN HE SAID “ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE,” AND “WHATEVER YOU ASK THE FATHER IN MY NAME WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU.” BUT TO NO AVAIL. A WEEK AFTER I SAW HER, THIS GENEROUS, LOVING WIFE AND MOTHER OF SEVERAL YOUNG CHILDREN DIED.
WHERE WAS JESUS?
I DOUBT THAT ANY SERIOUS CHRISTIAN HAS GONE THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT ASKING THAT QUESTION. BECAUSE LIFE HAS TRAGEDIES, AND SOMETIMES WE CAN SEE THEM COMING. AND WHEN WE DO, WE PRAY THAT GOD WILL COME TO OUR RESCUE, GOD WILL AVERT THE DISASTER; MAYBE JUST A LITTLE MIRACLE THAT MIGHT SAVE MY BUSINESS, THAT MIGHT HEAL MY CHILD, THAT MIGHT SAVE MY MARRIAGE. AND YOUR BUSINESS FAILS, AND YOUR CHILD DIES, AND YOUR MARRIAGE FALLS APART.
WHERE WAS JESUS?
MARTHA AND MARY HAD LOST THEIR BROTHER. HE HAD BEEN SICK AND EVERYTHING HAD BEEN GETTING WORSE. THEY PRAYED TO GOD AND LAZARUS GOT WORSE. AND FINALLY THEY DECIDED TO CALL ON THEIR FRIEND, JESUS. AFTER ALL, HE WAS A HEALER; MAYBE IF HE COULD JUST COME AND LAY HIS HANDS ON LAZARUS. BUT DAYS WENT BY AND LAZARUS DIED. HE WAS IN THE GROUND FOUR DAYS BEFORE JESUS FINALLY SHOWED UP. AND MARY SPOKE FOR ALL CHRISTIANS WHO CALL UPON JESUS WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING WRONG: “LORD, IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE, MY BROTHER WOULD NEVER HAVE DIED.”
WHY DOES IT SAY THAT JESUS WEPT? WAS IT BECAUSE LAZARUS HAD DIED? BUT JESUS SURELY KNEW THAT LAZARUS WOULD RISE AGAIN AT HIS CALL – AFTER ALL, HE JUST TOLD MARTHA THAT HE WAS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. WAS IT BECAUSE JESUS, THE MOST PERFECT HUMAN BEING WHO EVER LIVED, SO POWERFULLY FELT THE GRIEF OF THE TWO WOMEN WHO WERE AMONG HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS? OR WAS IT BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF FAITH AMONG THOSE WHO KNEW HIM BETTER THAN ANYONE – AND HAD NOT YET ACCEPTED THAT HE WAS GOD IN THE FLESH? I DON'T THINK ANY OF THESE REASONS ARE WHY JESUS WEPT. I THINK JESUS WEPT BECAUSE HE LONGED FOR WHAT HE KNEW WOULD SOMEDAY COME – A WORLD WHEN THERE WOULD BE NO MORE PAIN, NO MORE FAILURE, NO MORE DEATH. DO YOU REMEMBER? ONCE JESUS SAID, “I CAME TO BRING FIRE UPON THE EARTH, AND HOW I LONG FOR IT TO BE KINDLED!” AND ANOTHER TIME HE SAID, “HOW LONG MUST I PUT UP WITH THIS GENERATION?” JESUS KNEW WHAT WAS TO COME, AND WANTED THIS WITH HIS WHOLE BEING.
AND HE CALLED LAZARUS FROM THE TOMB, AND LAZARUS, WHOSE LAST MEMORY WAS OF PANIC AND PAIN AS HIS LIFE LEFT HIS BODY, WOKE UP AND STRUGGLED TO HIS FEET AND WALKED TOWARDS THAT VOICE, THE VOICE THAT HE COULD NOT RESIST EVEN WHEN DEAD, THE VOICE OF HIS FRIEND, THE VOICE OF GOD.
JESUS WEPT, BECAUSE HE REMEMBERS FORWARD, JUST AS WE REMEMBER BACKWARD. JESUS BEING THE SON OF GOD KNOWS HOW IT WILL ALL TURN OUT. HE KNOWS THAT LIFE ON EARTH IS ONLY THE PRELUDE TO REAL LIFE. AND HE SEES SO MANY OF US WHO LIVE AS THOUGH THIS IS ALL THERE IS, AS WE STRUGGLE TO MAKE SURE WE ARE SECURE, HEALTHY, COMFORTABLE. AND HE SEES US SETTLING, SETTLING FOR THE APPETIZER, WHEN WE SHOULD BE GETTING READY FOR THE FULL COURSE SUPPER. HOW MANY OF US REMEMBER FORWARD, BELIEVING, REALLY BELIEVING, THAT WHAT HE PROMISED IS TRUE? CHRISTIAN MARTYRS BELIEVED THIS. THOMAS MORE, TO NAME ONE, HAD NO DOUBT, AND CHOSE TO DIE WHEN HE COULD HAVE SAVED HIMSELF. HE REMEMBERED FORWARD.
AND WHEN JESUS CALLED LAZARUS FORTH FROM THE TOMB, HE DID NOT DO IT BECAUSE HE LOVED MARTHA AND MARY AND THEIR BROTHER. HE DID IT TO SHOW THOSE AROUND HIM WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE, WHEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD WAS FULLY REALIZED. HE DID IT SO THAT YOU AND I WOULD KNOW THAT WHEN WE GO DOWN INTO THE GRAVE, IT ISN'T THE LAST WORD, IT ISN'T THE END. LIKE LAZARUS ALL OF US, IF WE ARE FAITHFUL, IF WE ARE HIS FRIENDS, CAN WITH CONFIDENCE FALL ASLEEP AT THE END OF OUR LIVES KNOWING THAT THE NEXT VOICE WE HEAR WILL BE HIS VOICE, CALLING US OUT OF THE GRAVE.
WHERE IS JESUS? WHERE IS HE IN THE MIDST OF PAIN AND SUFFERING AND DEATH? HE COMES ACCORDING TO HIS SCHEDULE, NOT OURS. BUT HE COMES. AND BECAUSE HE CAME INTO THE WORLD, BECAUSE HE SHARES OUR HUMAN NATURE, BECAUSE HE HAS ALREADY GONE THROUGH THE GATES OF DEATH AND RISEN AGAIN, WE CAN BE ASSURED THAT HE COMES FOR US, AND THAT OUR PAIN WILL TURN TO JOY, OUR WEEPING TO LAUGHTER, OUR DEATH TO LIFE.
LAZARUS DID DIE, YOU KNOW. I DON'T KNOW WHEN HE DIED, OR HOW OLD HE WAS, OR UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES. WE CAN BE SURE THAT HE DIED AFTER JESUS HIMSELF DIED. LAZARUS AND HIS SISTERS WERE AMONG THE FIRST CHRISTIANS. AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT WHEN LAZARUS DIED THAT SECOND TIME, PERHAPS WITH MARTHA AND MARY AT HIS SIDE, THERE WAS NO FEAR, THERE WAS ONLY ANTICIPATION. BECAUSE JESUS HAD ALREADY SHOWN THAT HE WAS GREATER THAN DEATH, THAT TO HIM DEATH WAS NOTHING. AND THIS TIME LAZARUS AND MARTHA AND MARY KNEW THAT JESUS WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF DEATH, AND WAITING FOR EACH OF THEM.
WHERE WAS JESUS?
TODAY, AND EVERY DAY IF WE ARE SUFFERING, HE IS THERE; IF WE ARE IN PAIN, HE IS THERE; AND IF WE ARE DYING, HE IS THERE, CALLING US FORTH FROM THE GRAVE INTO NEW LIFE.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Fourth Sunday of Lent, Cycle A
JOHN 9:1-41
SOME PEOPLE SPEND A LOT OF MENTAL ENERGY TRYING TO IGNORE THE OBVIOUS. SAM HARRIS, A PROMINENT ATHEIST, ARGUES THAT HE AND CHRISTIANS AREN'T TOO FAR APART – OF ALL THE GODS THAT THE HUMAN RACE HAS WORSHIPED, CHRISTIANS ONLY BELIEVE IN ONE, AND HE BELIEVES IN NONE. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, ANOTHER ATHEIST, TRIED TO SHOW THAT RELIGION IS A FORCE FOR EVIL, AND THAT ANYONE YOU COULD POINT TO WHO WAS RELIGIOUS AND WORTHY OF IMITATING WASN'T REALLY IN TUNE WITH THEIR RELIGION – AFTER ALL, YOU CAN FIND WRITINGS IN THE SCRIPTURES OF ISLAM, CHRISTIANITY, AND JUDAISM WHICH SEEM TO CONDONE AND EVEN BLESS VIOLENCE, SO IF SOMEONE IS NOT VIOLENT, THEY CLEARLY AREN'T LISTENING TO THEIR OWN SCRIPTURES. AND RICHARD DAWKINS ARGUES AGAINST RELIGION BECAUSE OF EVOLUTION – BY HIS REASONING, IF GOD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE, HE CAN'T BE A VERY SMART GOD BECAUSE IN THE COURSE OF CREATING THE HUMAN RACE THOUSANDS OF SPECIES BECAME EXTINCT, MILLIONS OF YEARS WENT BY, AND ALL LIFE ON EARTH, INCLUDING HUMAN BEINGS, HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO UNIMAGINABLE PAIN AND DESTRUCTION AND DEATH ALL THROUGH THE HISTORY OF LIFE. THESE GENTLEMEN AND MANY OTHERS HAVE THEIR POINTS. IN FACT, I THINK THAT ANYONE WHO DOESN'T ONCE IN A WHILE DOUBT THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IS PROBABLY NOT THINKING VERY HARD. MAYBE THAT'S A GOOD THING, BUT I'VE BEEN THERE, AND THOSE MOMENTS STILL HAPPEN TO ME.
THE BLIND MAN WE MEET TODAY IS A GOOD ANSWER TO DOUBT. HOW MUST HE HAVE FELT, BEING BORN BLIND? WHAT DID HIS PARENTS DO? BECAUSE EVERYONE KNEW THAT THE SINS OF THE PARENTS WOULD BE VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN; AND BEING BLIND WAS A REAL CURSE. I WONDER IF HE EVER FELT HOPELESS? HE WAS COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON OTHERS JUST TO SURVIVE; AND EVERY DAY HE HAD TO HUMILIATE HIMSELF BY BEGGING. HE COULD HEAR PEOPLE WALKING BY, SOMETIMES TALKING ABOUT HIM, SOMETIMES CURSING HIM. NOW AND THEN A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS WOULD TIPTOE UP TO HIM AND SHOUT IN HIS FACE, OR HIT HIM. AND NO ONE MINDED TOO MUCH, BECAUSE IF GOD TREATED THIS MAN IN THIS WAY, HE WAS OBVIOUSLY CURSED.
THE BLIND MAN IS HEALED OF HIS BLINDNESS. THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF IT, SO THEY BRING HIM TO THE PHARISEES. AND WE HAVE THIS WONDERFUL CONVERSATION.
THE PHARISEES TRY TO FIND HOLES IN HIS STORY – MAYBE HE'S NOT REALLY THE MAN WHO WAS BORN BLIND, MAYBE HE JUST LOOKS LIKE HIM. MAYBE HE WASN'T REALLY BORN BLIND – CALL HIS PARENTS AND LETS QUESTION THEM. AFTER ALL, JESUS IS A SINNER, AND SINNERS CAN'T DO MIRACLES. SOMETHING IS FISHY HERE.
BUT THE BLIND MAN CLINGS TO HIS EXPERIENCE. “ALL I KNOW,” HE SAYS, “IS THAT I WAS BLIND, AND THIS MAN SMEARED SOME MUD IN MY EYES, AND NOW I CAN SEE.” AND WHEN THEY TELL HIM THAT THE MAN WHO HEALED HIM IS A SINNER, HE REPLIES, “I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT, BUT I DO KNOW THAT HE HEALED ME”. AND FINALLY, HE SAYS WHAT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE WITNESSED THIS: “GOD DOES NOT LISTEN TO SINNERS. HE ONLY LISTENS TO THE DEVOUT. IF THIS MAN WERE NOT OF GOD, HE COULD NOT HAVE OPENED MY EYES.”
THE BEDROCK OF OUR FAITH IS OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. EVERY ONE OF US HAS EXPERIENCED GOOD, EVERY ONE OF US HAS PERSONALLY RECEIVED SOMETHING IN LIFE WE DID NOT DESERVE, WE DID NOT EARN. IT MAY HAVE BEEN, AS IN MY CASE, A WONDERFUL SPOUSE. IT MAY HAVE BEEN BEING BORN HERE, RATHER THAN IN LIBYA, MAYBE AT THIS TIME IN MY LIFE I DON'T HAVE MUCH IN THE WAY OF BLESSINGS, BUT THEY'VE BEEN THERE IN THE PAST. AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE BLIND MAN SHOULD BE OURS AS WELL. “YOU MAKE A GOOD ARGUMENT, SAM HARRIS, CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, RICHARD DAWKINS; BUT ALL I KNOW IS THAT I'VE BEEN BLESSED – I CAN POINT TO SO MANY GOOD THINGS THAT HAVE GRACED MY LIFE. AND I CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT THERE IS SOMEONE WHO IS GOOD, WHO HAS GIVEN ME WHAT I DON'T DESERVE, WHAT I HAVEN'T EARNED, BEGINNING WITH LIFE ITSELF. THE REAL PROBLEM WITH ATHEISM, OR FOR THAT MATTER, PEOPLE WHO TRY TO ARGUE WITH ATHEISTS, IS THAT NEITHER SIDE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT WHEN THEY USE THE WORD “GOD”. I DON'T KNOW MYSELF – DO YOU? WE CAN MAKE DEFINITIONS – GOD IS ALL POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING, ALL MERCIFUL – BUT THAT DOESN'T HELP BECAUSE WE ARE JUST PROJECTING HUMAN QUALITIES ON GOD AND MAGNIFYING THEM TO THE FULLEST. EVEN WHEN WE SAY “GOD IS THE SUPREME BEING” IT IMPLIES THAT GOD IS A BEING LIKE YOU AND I. AND THAT'S NOT TRUE EITHER. WE CAN'T DEFINE GOD AS AN OBJECT, AS SOMETHING SET APART THAT WE CAN EXAMINE. TO DEFINE MEANS TO DESCRIBE WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T. IF I DEFINE A PIANO, I CAN THEN TELL WHAT IS A PIANO AND WHAT IS NOT. WE CAN'T DO THAT WITH GOD, BECAUSE ALTHOUGH GOD IS DISTINCT FROM CREATION, GOD IS EVERYWHERE CREATION IS.
I RECENTLY READ AN ARTICLE BY A HINDU. WE ALL THINK THAT HINDUS BELIEVE IN MANY GODS, AND IN A SENSE, THEY DO. BUT AN EDUCATED HINDU WOULD TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE REALLY MONOTHEISTS; ALL THOSE GODS ARE JUST VARIOUS WAYS THE ONLY GOD SHOWS HIMSELF – BECAUSE THAT GOD CANNOT BE DESCRIBED IN AND OF HIMSELF.
IN THE STORY OF THE MAN BORN BLIND, THE REASON THE PHARISEES GOT SO UPSET IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE CURE. I'M SURE THERE HAD BEEN OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD LOST THEIR SIGHT AND REGAINED IT. BUT FOR SOMEONE WHO HAD NEVER HAD SIGHT TO GET SIGHT – THAT'S A GOD-LIKE ACT, THAT'S AN ACT OF CREATION. AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT BEING BORN BLIND WAS A SIGN OF SIN, EITHER ON THE PART OF THE PARENTS OR THE INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF, THEN SOMEONE WHO GAVE YOU SIGHT COULD ALSO FORGIVE SIN. IF THIS EVENT HAPPENED, THEN THE ONE WHO MADE IT HAPPEN IS OF GOD – PERHAPS GOD HIMSELF.
THE MAN BORN BLIND IS SUCH A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE TO US. “ALL I KNOW,” HE SAYS, “IS THAT I WAS BLIND, AND THIS MAN MADE ME SEE.”
WE CAN'T DEFINE GOD. WE CAN'T IMAGINE GOD. BUT WE CAN SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF GOD IN OUR LIVES, AS DID THIS BLIND MAN. AND LIKE THE BLIND MAN, ALL WE CAN DO IS TO LOOK AT THOSE TRACES OF GOD IN OUR OWN EXPERIENCE, AND FALL ON OUR KNEES AND SAY, “I DO BELIEVE, LORD.”
BECAUSE WHILE WE CAN'T GRASP WHAT GOD IS, WHAT GOD DOES – WE DO KNOW ONE THING, AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS TOLD PHILIP SO LONG AGO. “IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER.” YOU AND I HAVE SEEN JESUS, WE'VE EXPERIENCED HIM IN OUR LIVES; AND THEREFORE NO ONE CAN CONVINCE US THAT THERE IS NO GOD.
SOME PEOPLE SPEND A LOT OF MENTAL ENERGY TRYING TO IGNORE THE OBVIOUS. SAM HARRIS, A PROMINENT ATHEIST, ARGUES THAT HE AND CHRISTIANS AREN'T TOO FAR APART – OF ALL THE GODS THAT THE HUMAN RACE HAS WORSHIPED, CHRISTIANS ONLY BELIEVE IN ONE, AND HE BELIEVES IN NONE. CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, ANOTHER ATHEIST, TRIED TO SHOW THAT RELIGION IS A FORCE FOR EVIL, AND THAT ANYONE YOU COULD POINT TO WHO WAS RELIGIOUS AND WORTHY OF IMITATING WASN'T REALLY IN TUNE WITH THEIR RELIGION – AFTER ALL, YOU CAN FIND WRITINGS IN THE SCRIPTURES OF ISLAM, CHRISTIANITY, AND JUDAISM WHICH SEEM TO CONDONE AND EVEN BLESS VIOLENCE, SO IF SOMEONE IS NOT VIOLENT, THEY CLEARLY AREN'T LISTENING TO THEIR OWN SCRIPTURES. AND RICHARD DAWKINS ARGUES AGAINST RELIGION BECAUSE OF EVOLUTION – BY HIS REASONING, IF GOD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE, HE CAN'T BE A VERY SMART GOD BECAUSE IN THE COURSE OF CREATING THE HUMAN RACE THOUSANDS OF SPECIES BECAME EXTINCT, MILLIONS OF YEARS WENT BY, AND ALL LIFE ON EARTH, INCLUDING HUMAN BEINGS, HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO UNIMAGINABLE PAIN AND DESTRUCTION AND DEATH ALL THROUGH THE HISTORY OF LIFE. THESE GENTLEMEN AND MANY OTHERS HAVE THEIR POINTS. IN FACT, I THINK THAT ANYONE WHO DOESN'T ONCE IN A WHILE DOUBT THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IS PROBABLY NOT THINKING VERY HARD. MAYBE THAT'S A GOOD THING, BUT I'VE BEEN THERE, AND THOSE MOMENTS STILL HAPPEN TO ME.
THE BLIND MAN WE MEET TODAY IS A GOOD ANSWER TO DOUBT. HOW MUST HE HAVE FELT, BEING BORN BLIND? WHAT DID HIS PARENTS DO? BECAUSE EVERYONE KNEW THAT THE SINS OF THE PARENTS WOULD BE VISITED ON THEIR CHILDREN; AND BEING BLIND WAS A REAL CURSE. I WONDER IF HE EVER FELT HOPELESS? HE WAS COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON OTHERS JUST TO SURVIVE; AND EVERY DAY HE HAD TO HUMILIATE HIMSELF BY BEGGING. HE COULD HEAR PEOPLE WALKING BY, SOMETIMES TALKING ABOUT HIM, SOMETIMES CURSING HIM. NOW AND THEN A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS WOULD TIPTOE UP TO HIM AND SHOUT IN HIS FACE, OR HIT HIM. AND NO ONE MINDED TOO MUCH, BECAUSE IF GOD TREATED THIS MAN IN THIS WAY, HE WAS OBVIOUSLY CURSED.
THE BLIND MAN IS HEALED OF HIS BLINDNESS. THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF IT, SO THEY BRING HIM TO THE PHARISEES. AND WE HAVE THIS WONDERFUL CONVERSATION.
THE PHARISEES TRY TO FIND HOLES IN HIS STORY – MAYBE HE'S NOT REALLY THE MAN WHO WAS BORN BLIND, MAYBE HE JUST LOOKS LIKE HIM. MAYBE HE WASN'T REALLY BORN BLIND – CALL HIS PARENTS AND LETS QUESTION THEM. AFTER ALL, JESUS IS A SINNER, AND SINNERS CAN'T DO MIRACLES. SOMETHING IS FISHY HERE.
BUT THE BLIND MAN CLINGS TO HIS EXPERIENCE. “ALL I KNOW,” HE SAYS, “IS THAT I WAS BLIND, AND THIS MAN SMEARED SOME MUD IN MY EYES, AND NOW I CAN SEE.” AND WHEN THEY TELL HIM THAT THE MAN WHO HEALED HIM IS A SINNER, HE REPLIES, “I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT, BUT I DO KNOW THAT HE HEALED ME”. AND FINALLY, HE SAYS WHAT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE WITNESSED THIS: “GOD DOES NOT LISTEN TO SINNERS. HE ONLY LISTENS TO THE DEVOUT. IF THIS MAN WERE NOT OF GOD, HE COULD NOT HAVE OPENED MY EYES.”
THE BEDROCK OF OUR FAITH IS OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. EVERY ONE OF US HAS EXPERIENCED GOOD, EVERY ONE OF US HAS PERSONALLY RECEIVED SOMETHING IN LIFE WE DID NOT DESERVE, WE DID NOT EARN. IT MAY HAVE BEEN, AS IN MY CASE, A WONDERFUL SPOUSE. IT MAY HAVE BEEN BEING BORN HERE, RATHER THAN IN LIBYA, MAYBE AT THIS TIME IN MY LIFE I DON'T HAVE MUCH IN THE WAY OF BLESSINGS, BUT THEY'VE BEEN THERE IN THE PAST. AND THE ATTITUDE OF THE BLIND MAN SHOULD BE OURS AS WELL. “YOU MAKE A GOOD ARGUMENT, SAM HARRIS, CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, RICHARD DAWKINS; BUT ALL I KNOW IS THAT I'VE BEEN BLESSED – I CAN POINT TO SO MANY GOOD THINGS THAT HAVE GRACED MY LIFE. AND I CAN ONLY CONCLUDE THAT THERE IS SOMEONE WHO IS GOOD, WHO HAS GIVEN ME WHAT I DON'T DESERVE, WHAT I HAVEN'T EARNED, BEGINNING WITH LIFE ITSELF. THE REAL PROBLEM WITH ATHEISM, OR FOR THAT MATTER, PEOPLE WHO TRY TO ARGUE WITH ATHEISTS, IS THAT NEITHER SIDE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT WHEN THEY USE THE WORD “GOD”. I DON'T KNOW MYSELF – DO YOU? WE CAN MAKE DEFINITIONS – GOD IS ALL POWERFUL, ALL KNOWING, ALL MERCIFUL – BUT THAT DOESN'T HELP BECAUSE WE ARE JUST PROJECTING HUMAN QUALITIES ON GOD AND MAGNIFYING THEM TO THE FULLEST. EVEN WHEN WE SAY “GOD IS THE SUPREME BEING” IT IMPLIES THAT GOD IS A BEING LIKE YOU AND I. AND THAT'S NOT TRUE EITHER. WE CAN'T DEFINE GOD AS AN OBJECT, AS SOMETHING SET APART THAT WE CAN EXAMINE. TO DEFINE MEANS TO DESCRIBE WHAT IS AND WHAT ISN'T. IF I DEFINE A PIANO, I CAN THEN TELL WHAT IS A PIANO AND WHAT IS NOT. WE CAN'T DO THAT WITH GOD, BECAUSE ALTHOUGH GOD IS DISTINCT FROM CREATION, GOD IS EVERYWHERE CREATION IS.
I RECENTLY READ AN ARTICLE BY A HINDU. WE ALL THINK THAT HINDUS BELIEVE IN MANY GODS, AND IN A SENSE, THEY DO. BUT AN EDUCATED HINDU WOULD TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE REALLY MONOTHEISTS; ALL THOSE GODS ARE JUST VARIOUS WAYS THE ONLY GOD SHOWS HIMSELF – BECAUSE THAT GOD CANNOT BE DESCRIBED IN AND OF HIMSELF.
IN THE STORY OF THE MAN BORN BLIND, THE REASON THE PHARISEES GOT SO UPSET IS NOT BECAUSE OF THE CURE. I'M SURE THERE HAD BEEN OTHER PEOPLE WHO HAD LOST THEIR SIGHT AND REGAINED IT. BUT FOR SOMEONE WHO HAD NEVER HAD SIGHT TO GET SIGHT – THAT'S A GOD-LIKE ACT, THAT'S AN ACT OF CREATION. AND IF YOU BELIEVE THAT BEING BORN BLIND WAS A SIGN OF SIN, EITHER ON THE PART OF THE PARENTS OR THE INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF, THEN SOMEONE WHO GAVE YOU SIGHT COULD ALSO FORGIVE SIN. IF THIS EVENT HAPPENED, THEN THE ONE WHO MADE IT HAPPEN IS OF GOD – PERHAPS GOD HIMSELF.
THE MAN BORN BLIND IS SUCH A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE TO US. “ALL I KNOW,” HE SAYS, “IS THAT I WAS BLIND, AND THIS MAN MADE ME SEE.”
WE CAN'T DEFINE GOD. WE CAN'T IMAGINE GOD. BUT WE CAN SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF GOD IN OUR LIVES, AS DID THIS BLIND MAN. AND LIKE THE BLIND MAN, ALL WE CAN DO IS TO LOOK AT THOSE TRACES OF GOD IN OUR OWN EXPERIENCE, AND FALL ON OUR KNEES AND SAY, “I DO BELIEVE, LORD.”
BECAUSE WHILE WE CAN'T GRASP WHAT GOD IS, WHAT GOD DOES – WE DO KNOW ONE THING, AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS TOLD PHILIP SO LONG AGO. “IF YOU HAVE SEEN ME, YOU HAVE SEEN THE FATHER.” YOU AND I HAVE SEEN JESUS, WE'VE EXPERIENCED HIM IN OUR LIVES; AND THEREFORE NO ONE CAN CONVINCE US THAT THERE IS NO GOD.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Third Sunday of Lent, Cycle A
JOHN 4:5-42
SOMETIMES WHEN YOU READ A GOSPEL STORY SLOWLY AND TRY TO HEAR IT AS IF YOU'D NEVER HEARD IT BEFORE, YOU COME UP WITH QUESTIONS. AND THE QUESTIONS LEAD YOU TO OTHER QUESTIONS, AND YOU CAN SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO FIND THE ANSWERS. THAT HAPPENED TO ME AS I STUDIED TODAY'S GOSPEL, DURING THE WEEK THAT THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH TAYLOR WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS. THE SAMARITAN WOMAN HAD FIVE HUSBANDS. ELIZABETH TAYLOR HAD HER BEAT – SHE HAD EIGHT HUSBANDS. BUT IN JESUS' TIME, HOW COULD A WOMAN EVER HAVE FIVE HUSBANDS, ESPECIALLY IN A LITTLE TOWN IN THE NORTHERN PART OF WHAT IS NOW ISRAEL? IF ONE AFTER THE OTHER HUSBAND HAD DIED, IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE MEN WOULD HAVE WISED UP QUICKLY AND WOULD WONDER IF SHE WAS AN AX MURDERER OR SOMETHING. AND IF THOSE FIRST COUPLE OF HUSBANDS HAD DIVORCED HER, A PROCESS THAT WAS PRETTY EASY IN THOSE DAYS, SHE WOULD HAVE DEVELOPED A REPUTATION AS BEING VERY HARD TO LIVE WITH, AND WHO WOULD WANT TO BOTHER. SO IT MAY BE THAT JOHN IS WRITING ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL, AS HE DOES THROUGHOUT HIS GOSPEL. JOHN NEVER SPEAKS ABOUT JESUS INSTITUTING THE EUCHARIST AT THE LAST SUPPER; BUT IN JOHN, JESUS SPENDS A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT HIMSELF AS THE EUCHARIST, AS THE BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN. SO MAYBE THIS STORY NEEDS TO BE UNDERSTOOD AT A DEEPER LEVEL.
FIVE HUSBANDS. IT TURNS OUT THAT THAT ISN'T TOO HARD TO FIGURE OUT. ABOUT A CENTURY AFTER KING DAVID, THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE TOOK THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL LEADERS OF ISRAEL INTO EXILE, AND THEN SETTLED FIVE PAGAN TRIBES ON THE LAND. OVER TIME, THE JEWS AND PAGANS INTERMARRIED, AND ADOPTED EACH OTHERS CUSTOMS, AND OVER TIME THE SAMARITAN RELIGION DEVELOPED. TO THE JEWS, WHO LOOKED DOWN ON INTERMARRIAGE WITH NON JEWS, AND WHO BELIEVED THAT THE ONLY PLACE YOU COULD WORSHIP GOD PROPERLY WAS THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, THE SAMARITANS WERE AN INSULT, AN ABOMINATION. THEY REPRESENTED WHAT WAS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST OF HUMANKIND. SO, FIVE HUSBANDS, FIVE PAGAN TRIBES, FIVE SETS OF RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS, NONE OF WHICH WORKED; AND NOW, A RELIGION OF SORTS, BUT NOT LEGITIMATE.
AND HERE'S ANOTHER THING. JESUS MEETS THE WOMAN AT A WELL. TO THE JEWS, THAT BROUGHT MEMORIES – ABRAHAM SENT HIS SERVANT TO FIND A WIFE FOR HIS SON ISAAC, AND THE SERVANT FINDS HER AT A WELL. ISAAC'S SON JACOB FINDS HIS WIFE, RACHEL, AT A WELL. MOSES FINDS HIS WIFE, ZIPPORAH, AT A WELL. IN EACH CASE, BY THE WAY, THE MAN DOES SOMETHING TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THE WOMAN TO GET AT THE WATER. SO PEOPLE HEARING JOHN'S STORY WOULD BE TUNED IN TO THIS IDEA. AND JESUS PROMISES THE WOMAN LIVING WATER – HE MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR HER TO HAVE THE WATER WHICH SHE CAN'T GET OTHERWISE.
WHEN JOHN WAS AN OLD MAN, MAYBE 70 YEARS AFTER JESUS HAD DIED, THERE WAS A FLOURISHING CHURCH, ALREADY FULL OF TRADITIONS. JOHN WROTE HIS GOSPEL FOR A COMMUNITY OF CHRISTIANS WHO WERE MADE UP OF JEWS AND GENTILES. PERHAPS THERE WAS SOME RESIDUAL TENSION IN THE COMMUNITY. AND PERHAPS THIS STORY WAS JOHN'S WAY OF DEALING WITH THAT TENSION. THE IDEA THAT THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST MUST HAVE ALREADY BEEN WIDELY CIRCULATED, BECAUSE PAUL, WHO WROTE HIS LETTERS LONG BEFORE JOHN WROTE HIS GOSPEL, TALKS ABOUT THAT IN THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS; AND IN THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES, THE IDEA OF GOD BEING THE HUSBAND OF HIS PEOPLE IS EVIDENT THROUGHOUT, AND HERE IN THE STORY OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN, JESUS MEETS HIS FUTURE BRIDE AT THE WELL, AND PROVIDES HER WITH LIVING WATER. THE FUTURE BRIDE IS A SAMARITAN, A COMBINATION OF JEW AND GENTILE, NOW WORSHIPING WHAT SHE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND; SHE WAS ESTRANGED FROM GOD; THE ONE SHE WAS LIVING WITH WAS NOT HER HUSBAND. AND WHEN THE WOMAN ACCEPTS JESUS AS MESSIAH, SHE LEAVES HER BUCKET, HAVING NO MORE NEED OF IT SINCE NOW SHE HAS THE LIVING WATER. THE SAMARITAN WOMAN REPRESENTS THE CHURCH – WHERE THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GENTILE; A CHURCH MADE UP OF PEOPLE CALLED OUT OF THE DARKNESS, WHETHER JEW OR GENTILE IN THE PAST, THEY NOW WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH, NO LONGER IN THE TEMPLE OR ON THE MOUNTAIN.
THERE IS ANOTHER IDEA IN THIS STORY THAT'S WORTH THINKING ABOUT. THE FIRST THING THE WOMAN DOES WHEN SHE RECOGNIZES JESUS IS RUSH TO BRING OTHERS TO HIM. FROM THE MOMENT THE CHURCH BEGINS, THIS MISSIONARY IMPULSE IS PRESENT. IF MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH FIND JESUS, IF THEY TRULY ENTER INTO THIS NUPTUAL RELATIONSHIP WHERE JESUS IS THE GROOM AND THE CHURCH IS HIS BRIDE, THEN THEY SHOULD WANT TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH OTHERS; THEY SHOULD WANT TO BEAR FRUIT. IF I HAVE BEEN TAKEN INTO THE EMBRACE OF THE INFINITE GOD, SURELY I WILL SHARE HIS DESIRE TO BRING EVERYONE INTO THAT RELATIONSHIP. THE BRIDE WILL TRULY BEGIN TO BE WORTHY OF HER HUSBAND WHEN THE CHURCH BECOMES WHAT HE DESIRES HER TO BE – HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, JOHN'S COMMUNITY HEARD THIS STORY READ TO THEM, THIS STORY WHICH IS DENSE WITH MEANING; AND THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT WE DON'T, AT LEAST WITHOUT HELP. AND THEY SAW THEMSELVES IN THE SAMARITAN WOMAN, AND THEY SAW SOMETHING ABOUT THE LOVE JESUS HAD FOR THEM IN THE STORY OF THE WELL, THE LOVE LIKE A HUSBAND FOR HIS WIFE. AND THEY SAW THAT THERE WAS NO NEED TO FEAR, BECAUSE THEY HAD THE LIVING WATER, AND IT COULDN'T BE TAKEN FROM THEM. AND THEY FELT JOY IN THEIR HEARTS, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY HAD TO TELL THEIR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND INVITE THEM TO COME AND SEE, TO MEET THE MESSIAH, SO THAT THEY TOO COULD ENTER THIS RELATIONSHIP.
AND I HOPE I'VE GIVEN YOU A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT THIS STORY. I THINK IT'S PROBABLY NOT TOO FAR FROM THE WAY JOHN WOULD HAVE WANTED HIS COMMUNITY TO LOOK AT IT SO LONG AGO. AND AS WE THINK ABOUT IT, MAYBE WE WILL BE MOVED TO REALIZE WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN, AND WE ALSO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP THE GOOD NEWS TO OURSELVES. AND MAYBE WE WILL THINK OF SOMEONE WHO COULD USE THE GOOD NEWS, SOMEONE WHOM WE CAN BRING TO THE DIVINE BRIDEGROOM, WHO CAN THEN SAY, “I BELIEVE NO LONGER BECAUSE OF YOUR WORD, BUT BECAUSE OF WHAT I HAVE HEARD FOR MYSELF; HE IS TRULY THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.”
SOMETIMES WHEN YOU READ A GOSPEL STORY SLOWLY AND TRY TO HEAR IT AS IF YOU'D NEVER HEARD IT BEFORE, YOU COME UP WITH QUESTIONS. AND THE QUESTIONS LEAD YOU TO OTHER QUESTIONS, AND YOU CAN SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO FIND THE ANSWERS. THAT HAPPENED TO ME AS I STUDIED TODAY'S GOSPEL, DURING THE WEEK THAT THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH TAYLOR WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS. THE SAMARITAN WOMAN HAD FIVE HUSBANDS. ELIZABETH TAYLOR HAD HER BEAT – SHE HAD EIGHT HUSBANDS. BUT IN JESUS' TIME, HOW COULD A WOMAN EVER HAVE FIVE HUSBANDS, ESPECIALLY IN A LITTLE TOWN IN THE NORTHERN PART OF WHAT IS NOW ISRAEL? IF ONE AFTER THE OTHER HUSBAND HAD DIED, IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE MEN WOULD HAVE WISED UP QUICKLY AND WOULD WONDER IF SHE WAS AN AX MURDERER OR SOMETHING. AND IF THOSE FIRST COUPLE OF HUSBANDS HAD DIVORCED HER, A PROCESS THAT WAS PRETTY EASY IN THOSE DAYS, SHE WOULD HAVE DEVELOPED A REPUTATION AS BEING VERY HARD TO LIVE WITH, AND WHO WOULD WANT TO BOTHER. SO IT MAY BE THAT JOHN IS WRITING ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL, AS HE DOES THROUGHOUT HIS GOSPEL. JOHN NEVER SPEAKS ABOUT JESUS INSTITUTING THE EUCHARIST AT THE LAST SUPPER; BUT IN JOHN, JESUS SPENDS A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT HIMSELF AS THE EUCHARIST, AS THE BREAD COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN. SO MAYBE THIS STORY NEEDS TO BE UNDERSTOOD AT A DEEPER LEVEL.
FIVE HUSBANDS. IT TURNS OUT THAT THAT ISN'T TOO HARD TO FIGURE OUT. ABOUT A CENTURY AFTER KING DAVID, THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE TOOK THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL LEADERS OF ISRAEL INTO EXILE, AND THEN SETTLED FIVE PAGAN TRIBES ON THE LAND. OVER TIME, THE JEWS AND PAGANS INTERMARRIED, AND ADOPTED EACH OTHERS CUSTOMS, AND OVER TIME THE SAMARITAN RELIGION DEVELOPED. TO THE JEWS, WHO LOOKED DOWN ON INTERMARRIAGE WITH NON JEWS, AND WHO BELIEVED THAT THE ONLY PLACE YOU COULD WORSHIP GOD PROPERLY WAS THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, THE SAMARITANS WERE AN INSULT, AN ABOMINATION. THEY REPRESENTED WHAT WAS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST OF HUMANKIND. SO, FIVE HUSBANDS, FIVE PAGAN TRIBES, FIVE SETS OF RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS, NONE OF WHICH WORKED; AND NOW, A RELIGION OF SORTS, BUT NOT LEGITIMATE.
AND HERE'S ANOTHER THING. JESUS MEETS THE WOMAN AT A WELL. TO THE JEWS, THAT BROUGHT MEMORIES – ABRAHAM SENT HIS SERVANT TO FIND A WIFE FOR HIS SON ISAAC, AND THE SERVANT FINDS HER AT A WELL. ISAAC'S SON JACOB FINDS HIS WIFE, RACHEL, AT A WELL. MOSES FINDS HIS WIFE, ZIPPORAH, AT A WELL. IN EACH CASE, BY THE WAY, THE MAN DOES SOMETHING TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THE WOMAN TO GET AT THE WATER. SO PEOPLE HEARING JOHN'S STORY WOULD BE TUNED IN TO THIS IDEA. AND JESUS PROMISES THE WOMAN LIVING WATER – HE MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR HER TO HAVE THE WATER WHICH SHE CAN'T GET OTHERWISE.
WHEN JOHN WAS AN OLD MAN, MAYBE 70 YEARS AFTER JESUS HAD DIED, THERE WAS A FLOURISHING CHURCH, ALREADY FULL OF TRADITIONS. JOHN WROTE HIS GOSPEL FOR A COMMUNITY OF CHRISTIANS WHO WERE MADE UP OF JEWS AND GENTILES. PERHAPS THERE WAS SOME RESIDUAL TENSION IN THE COMMUNITY. AND PERHAPS THIS STORY WAS JOHN'S WAY OF DEALING WITH THAT TENSION. THE IDEA THAT THE CHURCH IS THE BRIDE OF CHRIST MUST HAVE ALREADY BEEN WIDELY CIRCULATED, BECAUSE PAUL, WHO WROTE HIS LETTERS LONG BEFORE JOHN WROTE HIS GOSPEL, TALKS ABOUT THAT IN THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS; AND IN THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES, THE IDEA OF GOD BEING THE HUSBAND OF HIS PEOPLE IS EVIDENT THROUGHOUT, AND HERE IN THE STORY OF THE SAMARITAN WOMAN, JESUS MEETS HIS FUTURE BRIDE AT THE WELL, AND PROVIDES HER WITH LIVING WATER. THE FUTURE BRIDE IS A SAMARITAN, A COMBINATION OF JEW AND GENTILE, NOW WORSHIPING WHAT SHE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND; SHE WAS ESTRANGED FROM GOD; THE ONE SHE WAS LIVING WITH WAS NOT HER HUSBAND. AND WHEN THE WOMAN ACCEPTS JESUS AS MESSIAH, SHE LEAVES HER BUCKET, HAVING NO MORE NEED OF IT SINCE NOW SHE HAS THE LIVING WATER. THE SAMARITAN WOMAN REPRESENTS THE CHURCH – WHERE THERE IS NEITHER JEW NOR GENTILE; A CHURCH MADE UP OF PEOPLE CALLED OUT OF THE DARKNESS, WHETHER JEW OR GENTILE IN THE PAST, THEY NOW WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH, NO LONGER IN THE TEMPLE OR ON THE MOUNTAIN.
THERE IS ANOTHER IDEA IN THIS STORY THAT'S WORTH THINKING ABOUT. THE FIRST THING THE WOMAN DOES WHEN SHE RECOGNIZES JESUS IS RUSH TO BRING OTHERS TO HIM. FROM THE MOMENT THE CHURCH BEGINS, THIS MISSIONARY IMPULSE IS PRESENT. IF MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH FIND JESUS, IF THEY TRULY ENTER INTO THIS NUPTUAL RELATIONSHIP WHERE JESUS IS THE GROOM AND THE CHURCH IS HIS BRIDE, THEN THEY SHOULD WANT TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH OTHERS; THEY SHOULD WANT TO BEAR FRUIT. IF I HAVE BEEN TAKEN INTO THE EMBRACE OF THE INFINITE GOD, SURELY I WILL SHARE HIS DESIRE TO BRING EVERYONE INTO THAT RELATIONSHIP. THE BRIDE WILL TRULY BEGIN TO BE WORTHY OF HER HUSBAND WHEN THE CHURCH BECOMES WHAT HE DESIRES HER TO BE – HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, JOHN'S COMMUNITY HEARD THIS STORY READ TO THEM, THIS STORY WHICH IS DENSE WITH MEANING; AND THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT WE DON'T, AT LEAST WITHOUT HELP. AND THEY SAW THEMSELVES IN THE SAMARITAN WOMAN, AND THEY SAW SOMETHING ABOUT THE LOVE JESUS HAD FOR THEM IN THE STORY OF THE WELL, THE LOVE LIKE A HUSBAND FOR HIS WIFE. AND THEY SAW THAT THERE WAS NO NEED TO FEAR, BECAUSE THEY HAD THE LIVING WATER, AND IT COULDN'T BE TAKEN FROM THEM. AND THEY FELT JOY IN THEIR HEARTS, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY HAD TO TELL THEIR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND INVITE THEM TO COME AND SEE, TO MEET THE MESSIAH, SO THAT THEY TOO COULD ENTER THIS RELATIONSHIP.
AND I HOPE I'VE GIVEN YOU A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT THIS STORY. I THINK IT'S PROBABLY NOT TOO FAR FROM THE WAY JOHN WOULD HAVE WANTED HIS COMMUNITY TO LOOK AT IT SO LONG AGO. AND AS WE THINK ABOUT IT, MAYBE WE WILL BE MOVED TO REALIZE WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN, AND WE ALSO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO KEEP THE GOOD NEWS TO OURSELVES. AND MAYBE WE WILL THINK OF SOMEONE WHO COULD USE THE GOOD NEWS, SOMEONE WHOM WE CAN BRING TO THE DIVINE BRIDEGROOM, WHO CAN THEN SAY, “I BELIEVE NO LONGER BECAUSE OF YOUR WORD, BUT BECAUSE OF WHAT I HAVE HEARD FOR MYSELF; HE IS TRULY THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.”
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Second Sunday in Lent, Cycle A
MATTHEW 17:1-9
WE'VE HEARD THE STORY OF THE TRANSFIGURATION ONCE AGAIN. THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS. IF JOHN WAS THERE, WHY IS THERE NO ACCOUNT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION IN HIS GOSPEL, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN THE OTHER THREE? IF THE THREE APOSTLES HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD AND SAW THE TRANSFIGURED JESUS, AND HEARD THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE JEWISH RELIGION TALKING ABOUT HIS CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION, WHY WERE THEY AFRAID WHEN THAT ALL BEGAN TO HAPPEN? WHY WERE THEY SURPRISED WHEN JESUS APPEARED TO THEM AFTER HIS DEATH? I HAVE TO WARN YOU RIGHT NOW, I DON'T HAVE ANSWERS TO THESE AND THE MANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT THIS EVENT RAISES IN MY MIND. I GUESS THE BIGGEST QUESTION OF ALL IS THAT THE TRANSFIGURATION SEEMED TO HAVE HAD SO LITTLE EFFECT ON THE BEHAVIOR OF PETER, JAMES AND JOHN AFTERWORDS AND THEY SAW IT HAPPEN. WHAT IS EXPECTED OF US WHO ONLY HEAR THE STORY?
IN A SMALL TOWN THAT DIDN'T AMOUNT TO MUCH, IN A COUNTRY THAT DIDN'T AMOUNT TO MUCH EITHER, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO AN ORDINARY JEWISH TEENAGE GIRL AND DECLARED THAT SHE WAS FULL OF GRACE, AND THAT THE LORD WAS WITH HER. FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND EVEN HER PARENTS COULD NOT SEE THIS. TO THEM SHE WAS LOVED AND CHERISHED, BUT CERTAINLY NO ONE EXPECTED HER TO DO MORE THAN LEARN HOW TO KEEP HOUSE AND MARRY AND BEAR CHILDREN. BUT SHE WAS BLESSED AMONG WOMEN.
FAST FORWARD. A YOUNG MAN, THE SON OF A RICH MERCHANT, DECIDES TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE AS A HIRED SOLDIER. HE ISN'T TOO GOOD AT IT, AND ENDS UP IN PRISON. WHEN HE GETS OUT HE HAS A VISION, TELLING HIM TO REPAIR THE CHURCH. YOUNG FRANCIS BEGINS TO REPAIR A RUINED CHURCH, BUT SOON GETS THE MESSAGE THAT THIS ISN'T QUITE WHAT THE HEAVENLY VOICE HAD IN MIND. AND THE REST IS HISTORY. EVERYONE WHO KNEW FRANCIS SAW A SPOILED RICH KID WHO DIDN'T SEEM TO MAKE VERY GOOD CHOICES – AND INDEED, EVEN AFTER HIS CONVERSION HIS IMPULSIVENESS AND IMPRACTICALITY WERE ALWAYS GETTING HIM INTO TROUBLE, SO MUCH SO THAT THE ORDER HE FOUNDED EVENTUALLY EASED HIM OUT AS THEIR LEADER. BUT GOD SAW SOMETHING IN HIM THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW, AND THE ORDER HE FOUNDED IS OLDER THAN MOST OF THE COUNTRIES ON EARTH.
AND THERE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN IN FRANCE WHO WAS ONE OF MANY CHILDREN RAISED IN A VERY CATHOLIC FAMILY. HER DESIRE WAS TO FOLLOW HER OLDER SISTER INTO THE CARMELITE ORDER, AND, AFTER MANY TRIALS, SHE WAS FINALLY ACCEPTED. SHE KNEW SHE DIDN'T HAVE GREAT LEARNING OR A VERY STRONG CONSTITUTION, AND IT WAS EVEN HARD FOR HER TO LIVE THE DISCIPLINE OF THE ORDER. SO SHE FOUND HER OWN SPIRITUALITY, WHICH COMES DOWN TO US AS THE “LITTLE WAY” OF SAINT THERESA. SHE LIVED AND DIED IN OBSCURITY, BUT NOW SHE IS A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH. GOD SAW SOMETHING IN HER THAT EVEN THE NUNS SHE LIVED WITH DID NOT.
AND THERE ARE SO MANY MORE STORIES ABOUT THE SAINTS. WHEN I GET TO KNOW A SAINT MY FIRST REACTION IS AMAZEMENT – AFTER ALL, EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE COUNTLESS SAINTS WE WILL NEVER KNOW UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE, THE SAINTS WHO ARE CANONIZED ARE SELECTED PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY STAND OUT, AND WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM, AND THEY ARE WORTHY OF BEING IMITATED. MY FIRST REACTION IS – HOW HOLY, HOW BRAVE, HOW ENTERPRISING, HOW LEARNED. THE BRILLIANCE OF THOMAS AQUINAS; THE MISSIONARY TRAVELS OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER; THE BRAVERY OF THOMAS MORE, WHO WENT TO HIS DEATH INSTEAD OF GOING ALONG WITH HIS KING; THE INCREDIBLE ENTERPRISES OF MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, WHO RAN A HUGE PUBLISHING EMPIRE AS WELL AS THE LARGEST MONASTERY IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME; WHO FOUNDED A WORLD-WIDE LAY ASSOCIATION, WHO ESTABLISHED A THRIVING CATHOLIC CENTER IN JAPAN. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE SAINTS ARE ADMIRABLE. BUT MY SECOND REACTION IS – THEY DIDN'T GET THAT WAY BY THEMSELVES – IN FACT, SAINTS ARE JUST TELESCOPES THAT ALLOW US TO SEE GOD WORKING IN THE WORLD. AND THEN THE QUESTION MIGHT BE ASKED, “WHAT DID GOD SEE IN THEM?”
JESUS WAS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN. HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS WITNESSED MIRACLES, HEARD HIS PREACHING, AND EVEN ONE OF THEM HAD DECLARED THAT JESUS WAS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. BUT PROPHET HE MIGHT BE, HE STILL ATE AND DRANK AND HAD TO SLEEP; HE STILL CAME IN FROM A DAY'S WORK GRIMY AND SWEATY. AND THEN ONE DAY ON A MOUNTAIN TOP THREE OF HIS FRIENDS SAW WHAT GOD SAW IN HIM AND WERE SPEECHLESS, IN FACT, ALMOST KNOCKED SENSELESS BY THIS VISION.
AND I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE TRANSFIGURATION TEACHES US. GOD SAW SOMETHING IN JESUS THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW; AND JESUS SAW SOMETHING IN THOSE FIRST DISCIPLES THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW. AND WE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS HAVE TO CULTIVATE THAT SAME VISION, WE HAVE TO STRUGGLE TO SEE WHAT GOD SEES IN EVERY PERSON.
SO KEEP THAT IN MIND THIS WEEK AS YOU GO OUT INTO THE WORLD. THAT MAN ON THE STREET PUSHING A STOLEN SHOPPING CART FULL OF ALL HIS POSSESSIONS – HOW DOES HE LOOK TO GOD? THAT CO-WORKER YOU CAN BARELY STAND, OR THAT RUDE WOMAN IN THE CHECK-OUT LINE AT THE SUPERMARKET – WHAT DOES GOD SEE IN THEM? THAT SPOUSE YOU TAKE FOR GRANTED, OR THE PARENT WHO IS SLOWLY SLIPPING INTO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, OR THE CHILD WHO HAS MADE SOME DISAPPOINTING CHOICES IN LIFE – IF WE COULD SEE THEM WITH GOD'S EYES, WOULD THEY BE TRANSFIGURED? WOULD WE BE ABLE TO SEE THE GARMENTS SO WHITE THAT WE COULD NOT DIRECTLY GAZE ON THEM, THE FACE SHINING WITH LIGHT?
HOW WONDERFUL WE MUST ALL APPEAR TO GOD, GOD WHO LOVES US BEYOND ANYTHING WE CAN IMAGINE, GOD WHO DIED FOR US SO THAT WE COULD BE WITH HIM FOREVER.
THERE ON THE MOUNTAINTOP JESUS SHOWED HIS THREE FRIENDS HOW THE FATHER SAW HIM. THE FATHER SEES US NOT AS WE ARE NOW, NOT WITH OUR FAULTS AND IMPERFECTIONS, NOT EVEN WITH OUR SINS, WHICH HE IS WILLING TO FORGIVE AND FORGET IF WE TURN TO HIM AND ASK. THE FATHER SEES US AS WE CAN BE – AS WE WILL BE IF WE ACCEPT THE INVITATION OF HIS SON TO BE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, TO UNITE WITH HIM IN HIS PASSION AND DEATH. AND WE CAN SEE EACH OTHER TRANSFIGURED, JUST AS JESUS COULD, JUST AS THE GREAT SAINTS COULD. FOR HOW ELSE COULD FRANCIS HAVE KISSED THE WOUNDS OF A LEPER? HOW ELSE COULD MOTHER THERESA SPEND HER LIFE TENDING TO PEOPLE WHO MEANT NOTHING AT ALL TO THE SOCIETY IN WHICH THEY LIVED?
SO OUR MISSION, THIS SECOND SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT, IS TO DEVELOP THAT VISION THAT ALLOWS US TO SEE EACH OTHER AS THE FATHER SEES US – TO SEE THE REAL PERSON THAT GOD SEES. AND WE SHOULD LOOK AT OURSELVES AS WELL, FOR GOD SEES US TRANSFIGURED AS WELL, GOD, WHO SEES WHAT WE COULD BE IF WE COOPERATE WITH HIS GRACE.
WE'VE HEARD THE STORY OF THE TRANSFIGURATION ONCE AGAIN. THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS. IF JOHN WAS THERE, WHY IS THERE NO ACCOUNT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION IN HIS GOSPEL, EVEN THOUGH IT IS IN THE OTHER THREE? IF THE THREE APOSTLES HEARD THE VOICE OF GOD AND SAW THE TRANSFIGURED JESUS, AND HEARD THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE JEWISH RELIGION TALKING ABOUT HIS CRUCIFIXION AND RESURRECTION, WHY WERE THEY AFRAID WHEN THAT ALL BEGAN TO HAPPEN? WHY WERE THEY SURPRISED WHEN JESUS APPEARED TO THEM AFTER HIS DEATH? I HAVE TO WARN YOU RIGHT NOW, I DON'T HAVE ANSWERS TO THESE AND THE MANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT THIS EVENT RAISES IN MY MIND. I GUESS THE BIGGEST QUESTION OF ALL IS THAT THE TRANSFIGURATION SEEMED TO HAVE HAD SO LITTLE EFFECT ON THE BEHAVIOR OF PETER, JAMES AND JOHN AFTERWORDS AND THEY SAW IT HAPPEN. WHAT IS EXPECTED OF US WHO ONLY HEAR THE STORY?
IN A SMALL TOWN THAT DIDN'T AMOUNT TO MUCH, IN A COUNTRY THAT DIDN'T AMOUNT TO MUCH EITHER, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO AN ORDINARY JEWISH TEENAGE GIRL AND DECLARED THAT SHE WAS FULL OF GRACE, AND THAT THE LORD WAS WITH HER. FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND EVEN HER PARENTS COULD NOT SEE THIS. TO THEM SHE WAS LOVED AND CHERISHED, BUT CERTAINLY NO ONE EXPECTED HER TO DO MORE THAN LEARN HOW TO KEEP HOUSE AND MARRY AND BEAR CHILDREN. BUT SHE WAS BLESSED AMONG WOMEN.
FAST FORWARD. A YOUNG MAN, THE SON OF A RICH MERCHANT, DECIDES TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE AS A HIRED SOLDIER. HE ISN'T TOO GOOD AT IT, AND ENDS UP IN PRISON. WHEN HE GETS OUT HE HAS A VISION, TELLING HIM TO REPAIR THE CHURCH. YOUNG FRANCIS BEGINS TO REPAIR A RUINED CHURCH, BUT SOON GETS THE MESSAGE THAT THIS ISN'T QUITE WHAT THE HEAVENLY VOICE HAD IN MIND. AND THE REST IS HISTORY. EVERYONE WHO KNEW FRANCIS SAW A SPOILED RICH KID WHO DIDN'T SEEM TO MAKE VERY GOOD CHOICES – AND INDEED, EVEN AFTER HIS CONVERSION HIS IMPULSIVENESS AND IMPRACTICALITY WERE ALWAYS GETTING HIM INTO TROUBLE, SO MUCH SO THAT THE ORDER HE FOUNDED EVENTUALLY EASED HIM OUT AS THEIR LEADER. BUT GOD SAW SOMETHING IN HIM THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW, AND THE ORDER HE FOUNDED IS OLDER THAN MOST OF THE COUNTRIES ON EARTH.
AND THERE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN IN FRANCE WHO WAS ONE OF MANY CHILDREN RAISED IN A VERY CATHOLIC FAMILY. HER DESIRE WAS TO FOLLOW HER OLDER SISTER INTO THE CARMELITE ORDER, AND, AFTER MANY TRIALS, SHE WAS FINALLY ACCEPTED. SHE KNEW SHE DIDN'T HAVE GREAT LEARNING OR A VERY STRONG CONSTITUTION, AND IT WAS EVEN HARD FOR HER TO LIVE THE DISCIPLINE OF THE ORDER. SO SHE FOUND HER OWN SPIRITUALITY, WHICH COMES DOWN TO US AS THE “LITTLE WAY” OF SAINT THERESA. SHE LIVED AND DIED IN OBSCURITY, BUT NOW SHE IS A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH. GOD SAW SOMETHING IN HER THAT EVEN THE NUNS SHE LIVED WITH DID NOT.
AND THERE ARE SO MANY MORE STORIES ABOUT THE SAINTS. WHEN I GET TO KNOW A SAINT MY FIRST REACTION IS AMAZEMENT – AFTER ALL, EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE COUNTLESS SAINTS WE WILL NEVER KNOW UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE, THE SAINTS WHO ARE CANONIZED ARE SELECTED PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY STAND OUT, AND WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM, AND THEY ARE WORTHY OF BEING IMITATED. MY FIRST REACTION IS – HOW HOLY, HOW BRAVE, HOW ENTERPRISING, HOW LEARNED. THE BRILLIANCE OF THOMAS AQUINAS; THE MISSIONARY TRAVELS OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER; THE BRAVERY OF THOMAS MORE, WHO WENT TO HIS DEATH INSTEAD OF GOING ALONG WITH HIS KING; THE INCREDIBLE ENTERPRISES OF MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, WHO RAN A HUGE PUBLISHING EMPIRE AS WELL AS THE LARGEST MONASTERY IN THE WORLD AT THAT TIME; WHO FOUNDED A WORLD-WIDE LAY ASSOCIATION, WHO ESTABLISHED A THRIVING CATHOLIC CENTER IN JAPAN. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE SAINTS ARE ADMIRABLE. BUT MY SECOND REACTION IS – THEY DIDN'T GET THAT WAY BY THEMSELVES – IN FACT, SAINTS ARE JUST TELESCOPES THAT ALLOW US TO SEE GOD WORKING IN THE WORLD. AND THEN THE QUESTION MIGHT BE ASKED, “WHAT DID GOD SEE IN THEM?”
JESUS WAS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN. HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS WITNESSED MIRACLES, HEARD HIS PREACHING, AND EVEN ONE OF THEM HAD DECLARED THAT JESUS WAS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. BUT PROPHET HE MIGHT BE, HE STILL ATE AND DRANK AND HAD TO SLEEP; HE STILL CAME IN FROM A DAY'S WORK GRIMY AND SWEATY. AND THEN ONE DAY ON A MOUNTAIN TOP THREE OF HIS FRIENDS SAW WHAT GOD SAW IN HIM AND WERE SPEECHLESS, IN FACT, ALMOST KNOCKED SENSELESS BY THIS VISION.
AND I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE TRANSFIGURATION TEACHES US. GOD SAW SOMETHING IN JESUS THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW; AND JESUS SAW SOMETHING IN THOSE FIRST DISCIPLES THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW. AND WE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS HAVE TO CULTIVATE THAT SAME VISION, WE HAVE TO STRUGGLE TO SEE WHAT GOD SEES IN EVERY PERSON.
SO KEEP THAT IN MIND THIS WEEK AS YOU GO OUT INTO THE WORLD. THAT MAN ON THE STREET PUSHING A STOLEN SHOPPING CART FULL OF ALL HIS POSSESSIONS – HOW DOES HE LOOK TO GOD? THAT CO-WORKER YOU CAN BARELY STAND, OR THAT RUDE WOMAN IN THE CHECK-OUT LINE AT THE SUPERMARKET – WHAT DOES GOD SEE IN THEM? THAT SPOUSE YOU TAKE FOR GRANTED, OR THE PARENT WHO IS SLOWLY SLIPPING INTO ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, OR THE CHILD WHO HAS MADE SOME DISAPPOINTING CHOICES IN LIFE – IF WE COULD SEE THEM WITH GOD'S EYES, WOULD THEY BE TRANSFIGURED? WOULD WE BE ABLE TO SEE THE GARMENTS SO WHITE THAT WE COULD NOT DIRECTLY GAZE ON THEM, THE FACE SHINING WITH LIGHT?
HOW WONDERFUL WE MUST ALL APPEAR TO GOD, GOD WHO LOVES US BEYOND ANYTHING WE CAN IMAGINE, GOD WHO DIED FOR US SO THAT WE COULD BE WITH HIM FOREVER.
THERE ON THE MOUNTAINTOP JESUS SHOWED HIS THREE FRIENDS HOW THE FATHER SAW HIM. THE FATHER SEES US NOT AS WE ARE NOW, NOT WITH OUR FAULTS AND IMPERFECTIONS, NOT EVEN WITH OUR SINS, WHICH HE IS WILLING TO FORGIVE AND FORGET IF WE TURN TO HIM AND ASK. THE FATHER SEES US AS WE CAN BE – AS WE WILL BE IF WE ACCEPT THE INVITATION OF HIS SON TO BE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, TO UNITE WITH HIM IN HIS PASSION AND DEATH. AND WE CAN SEE EACH OTHER TRANSFIGURED, JUST AS JESUS COULD, JUST AS THE GREAT SAINTS COULD. FOR HOW ELSE COULD FRANCIS HAVE KISSED THE WOUNDS OF A LEPER? HOW ELSE COULD MOTHER THERESA SPEND HER LIFE TENDING TO PEOPLE WHO MEANT NOTHING AT ALL TO THE SOCIETY IN WHICH THEY LIVED?
SO OUR MISSION, THIS SECOND SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT, IS TO DEVELOP THAT VISION THAT ALLOWS US TO SEE EACH OTHER AS THE FATHER SEES US – TO SEE THE REAL PERSON THAT GOD SEES. AND WE SHOULD LOOK AT OURSELVES AS WELL, FOR GOD SEES US TRANSFIGURED AS WELL, GOD, WHO SEES WHAT WE COULD BE IF WE COOPERATE WITH HIS GRACE.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
First Sunday of Lent, Cycle A
MATTHEW 4:1-11
IN THE FIRST READING, WE HEAR ABOUT THE TEMPTATION OF ADAM AND EVE. WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT CAME OUT. THEY COULDN'T RESIST. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER PART OF THAT STORY WHICH YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD. AFTER EVE ATE THE FRUIT, GOD TOLD HER SHE WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE PARADISE. AS SHE WALKED AWAY, ADAM LOOKED AROUND – THERE WAS A GORILLA OVER THERE, A GIRAFFE OVER THERE … AND FINALLY HE PICKED UP THE FRUIT AND TOOK A BITE HIMSELF. GOD TOLD HIM HE WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE AS WELL. AS ADAM WAS LEAVING THE GARDEN, HE ASKED GOD, “WHY DID YOU MAKE HER SO BEAUTIFUL? HERE I AM, GIVING UP PARADISE TO BE WITH HER.” GOD ANSWERED, “I HAD TO MAKE HER BEAUTIFUL SO THAT YOU WOULD FALL IN LOVE WITH HER.” ADAM WALKED ON. THEN HE ASKED, “GOD, JUST ONE MORE QUESTION. “ WHY DID YOU MAKE HER SO STUPID? SHE GAVE UP PARADISE JUST TO TASTE A PIECE OF FRUIT!” AND GOD ANSWERED, “WELL, SHE HAD TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU KNOW.”
IN THE GOSPEL STORY, JESUS IS LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE DESERT, WHERE HE WILL FAST AND BE TEMPTED. IN THE VERSION IN MARK, IT SAYS THAT THE SPIRIT DROVE HIM INTO THE DESERT – MUCH MORE FORCEFUL. BUT WHY? I THINK THIS MOMENT IS SUPREMELY IMPORTANT IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS. THIS IS THE MOMENT WHEN HE CHOSE – YES, CHOSE – TO UNDERTAKE THE MISSION GOD HAD GIVEN HIM. SOMETIMES WE THINK THAT THE SON OF GOD CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND SORT OF WALKED THROUGH THIRTY THREE YEARS OF A LIFETIME THAT COULD NOT HAVE GONE ANY OTHER WAY. IT WAS ALMOST LIKE HE WAS ACTING ON A STAGE, EVERY STEP, EVERY WORD, EVERY GESTURE, PLOTTED IN ADVANCE. BUT THAT COULD NOT BE THE CASE. JESUS WAS FULLY HUMAN, AND WE HUMANS CAN CHOOSE NOT TO OBEY GOD ANY TIME WE WANT. SOMETIMES OUR DISOBEDIENCE MAY NOT SEEM TO HAVE GREAT CONSEQUENCES – FAILURE TO DO SOMETHING OFTEN SEEMS MUCH LESS SERIOUS THAN ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING THAT GOD FORBIDS. SO I SUSPECT JESUS COULD HAVE CHOSEN OTHERWISE – HE EVEN HINTED AT IT WHEN HE WAS IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE WHEN HE PRAYED, “NOT MY WILL, BUT THY WILL BE DONE”. THAT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE IN HIS HUMAN NATURE HE MAY HAVE WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN THE HORRIBLE DEATH HE KNEW AWAITED HIM. HE WOULDN'T BE HUMAN OTHERWISE.
AND HERE, JESUS HAS CHOSEN TO BEGIN HIS MINISTRY. AND THE FATHER SAYS, IN EFFECT, “NOT SO FAST, SON! HAVE YOU THOUGHT THIS THROUGH? WHY ARE YOU CHOOSING TO DO THIS? IS IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO EXERCISE YOUR DIVINE POWER? IS IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE FAMOUS? IS IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BRING ABOUT MY KINGDOM, BUT IN YOUR OWN WAY? WHY DO YOU WANT TO ENTER THIS MINISTRY THAT I HAVE PUT BEFORE YOU?” AND THAT IS THE REASON FOR THE FORTY DAYS IN THE DESERT – BEFORE STARTING OUT ON THIS TASK, IT WAS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT JESUS BEGIN HIS MINISTRY FOR THE RIGHT REASONS, BECAUSE ONLY THEN CAN IT BE SUCCESSFUL. IF IT IS UNDERTAKEN TO DO GOD'S WILL, THEN IT WILL FLY – EVENTUALLY. IF IT IS UNDERTAKEN FOR ANY OTHER REASON, EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE SAME MINISTRY, IT WILL FAIL.
EVERY YEAR THE CHURCH TELLS HER CHILDREN TO GO OUT IN THE DESERT, NOT JUST FOR A DAY OR TWO, BUT FOR FORTY DAYS. FORTY DAYS IN WHICH WE WILL UNDERTAKE SOMETHING THAT WILL CONSTANTLY REMIND US THAT WE ARE IN THE DESERT – GIVING UP THAT TIME IN THE EVENING WHEN WE WATCH TELEVISION, AND CHOOSING TO READ A SPIRITUAL BOOK INSTEAD. MAKING IT A POINT TO GET TO MASS ON A WEEKDAY, OR THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS ON FRIDAY EVENINGS. ATTENDING FATHER RIANDEAU'S PRESENTATIONS – BUT SOMETHING THAT WILL SHAKE US UP, MOVE US OUT OF OUR RUTS.
AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS LENT IS THE SAME PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE SPIRIT LED JESUS INTO THE DESERT. ARE WE WILLING TO UNDERTAKE THE MISSION GOD HAS GIVEN US, AND UNDER HIS OWN TERMS? BECAUSE BEING A CHRISTIAN IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF BEING A NICE PERSON. SAINT JEROME AND SAINT PIO WERE PROBABLY NOT NICE PERSONS AS WE UNDERSTAND THEM. SAINT JEROME HAD A GIFT FOR SARCASM. AND SAINT PIO WAS KNOWN TO LEAVE THE CONFESSIONAL AND CONFRONT THE PENITENT WHO WAS NOT TELLING HIM THE TRUTH, SOMETIMES IN A RAGE. BEING A CHRISTIAN IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF HAVING BEEN BAPTIZED AND RAISED IN A CHRISTIAN CHURCH, OR BELIEVING CERTAIN SPIRITUAL TRUTHS. SATAN, AFTER ALL, BELIEVES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD AND THAT HE IS PRESENT IN HIS HUMANITY AND DIVINITY IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST. YOU CAN'T BE A CHRISTIAN AND COAST ALONG FROM DAY TO DAY AND YEAR TO YEAR, EVEN IF YOU ARE IN CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY, EVEN IF YOU NEVER DO ANYTHING PARTICULARLY SINFUL, EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM BELIEVING WHAT SCRIPTURE AND THE CHURCH TEACHES. BEING A CHRISTIAN REQUIRES THAT WE CONSTANTLY ASK THE SAME QUESTION THAT JESUS MUST HAVE ASKED HIMSELF: AM I DOING THIS FOR THE RIGHT REASON?
WHY ARE YOU A LAWYER? YOU CAN BE A LAWYER WITH THE INTENTION OF SERVING GOD THROUGH YOUR PROFESSION – OR YOU CAN HAVE OTHER REASONS FOR PRACTICING LAW. WHICH ARE YOUR REASONS? IF YOU ARE A HOMEMAKER RAISING CHILDREN, YOU CAN BE DOING THIS WITH THE INTENTION OF SERVING GOD, OR PERHAPS BECAUSE YOU LOVE YOUR CHILDREN AND AND WANT THE BEST FOR THEM. BUT EVEN THOUGH THE SECOND REASON SOUNDS GOOD, GOD STILL HAS TO COME FIRST.
IF WE ARE TO BECOME SAINTS, WE HAVE TO CONSTANTLY PURIFY OUR INTENTIONS; WE HAVE TO EXAMINE WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO, AND WORK TO ELIMINATE THOSE REASONS WHICH SERVE OURSELVES, OR EVEN SERVE OTHERS. OUR GOAL IS TO DO EVERYTHING FOR GOD, FOR THE HONOR AND GLORY OF GOD. AND THIS PROCESS CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT PRAYER AND SACRIFICE, WITHOUT EFFORT. EVEN JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, HAD TO GO OUT INTO THE DESERT AND PRAY AND FAST AND BE TEMPTED, SO THAT WHEN HE CAME BACK TO CIVILIZATION, HE COULD UNDERTAKE HIS MISSION WITH THE PUREST OF INTENTIONS – AS HE SAID ONE TIME, “MY FOOD AND DRINK IS TO DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER.” AND ONCE WE PURIFY OUR OWN INTENTIONS, SO THAT EVERYTHING WE UNDERTAKE IS FOR THE SAKE OF GOD'S KINGDOM, WE WILL DISCOVER A CERTAIN CLARITY. WE MAY BE DOING THE SAME THINGS WE DID YESTERDAY – BUT WE WILL SEE THAT IN THE COURSE OF OUR DAY, THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WHAT WE INTEND TO DO IS JUST NOT THE WAY GOD WANTS THINGS. THAT'S THE HOLY SPIRIT. AND GRADUALLY WE WILL BECOME THE PERSON JESUS WANTS US TO BE – NOT A DIFFERENT PERSON, BUT A PERSON WHO LIVES TO DO GOD'S WILL. AND THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF A SAINT.
SO LET US PRAY THIS FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN THE GRACE TO PURIFY OUR OWN INTENTIONS, SO THAT EVERYTHING WE DO – THE FUN THINGS, THE LOVING THINGS, THE DIFFICULT THINGS – EVERYTHING WE DO IS FOR THE SAKE OF THE FATHER.
IN THE FIRST READING, WE HEAR ABOUT THE TEMPTATION OF ADAM AND EVE. WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT CAME OUT. THEY COULDN'T RESIST. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER PART OF THAT STORY WHICH YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD. AFTER EVE ATE THE FRUIT, GOD TOLD HER SHE WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE PARADISE. AS SHE WALKED AWAY, ADAM LOOKED AROUND – THERE WAS A GORILLA OVER THERE, A GIRAFFE OVER THERE … AND FINALLY HE PICKED UP THE FRUIT AND TOOK A BITE HIMSELF. GOD TOLD HIM HE WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE AS WELL. AS ADAM WAS LEAVING THE GARDEN, HE ASKED GOD, “WHY DID YOU MAKE HER SO BEAUTIFUL? HERE I AM, GIVING UP PARADISE TO BE WITH HER.” GOD ANSWERED, “I HAD TO MAKE HER BEAUTIFUL SO THAT YOU WOULD FALL IN LOVE WITH HER.” ADAM WALKED ON. THEN HE ASKED, “GOD, JUST ONE MORE QUESTION. “ WHY DID YOU MAKE HER SO STUPID? SHE GAVE UP PARADISE JUST TO TASTE A PIECE OF FRUIT!” AND GOD ANSWERED, “WELL, SHE HAD TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU KNOW.”
IN THE GOSPEL STORY, JESUS IS LED BY THE SPIRIT INTO THE DESERT, WHERE HE WILL FAST AND BE TEMPTED. IN THE VERSION IN MARK, IT SAYS THAT THE SPIRIT DROVE HIM INTO THE DESERT – MUCH MORE FORCEFUL. BUT WHY? I THINK THIS MOMENT IS SUPREMELY IMPORTANT IN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS. THIS IS THE MOMENT WHEN HE CHOSE – YES, CHOSE – TO UNDERTAKE THE MISSION GOD HAD GIVEN HIM. SOMETIMES WE THINK THAT THE SON OF GOD CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN AND SORT OF WALKED THROUGH THIRTY THREE YEARS OF A LIFETIME THAT COULD NOT HAVE GONE ANY OTHER WAY. IT WAS ALMOST LIKE HE WAS ACTING ON A STAGE, EVERY STEP, EVERY WORD, EVERY GESTURE, PLOTTED IN ADVANCE. BUT THAT COULD NOT BE THE CASE. JESUS WAS FULLY HUMAN, AND WE HUMANS CAN CHOOSE NOT TO OBEY GOD ANY TIME WE WANT. SOMETIMES OUR DISOBEDIENCE MAY NOT SEEM TO HAVE GREAT CONSEQUENCES – FAILURE TO DO SOMETHING OFTEN SEEMS MUCH LESS SERIOUS THAN ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING THAT GOD FORBIDS. SO I SUSPECT JESUS COULD HAVE CHOSEN OTHERWISE – HE EVEN HINTED AT IT WHEN HE WAS IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE WHEN HE PRAYED, “NOT MY WILL, BUT THY WILL BE DONE”. THAT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE IN HIS HUMAN NATURE HE MAY HAVE WANTED SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN THE HORRIBLE DEATH HE KNEW AWAITED HIM. HE WOULDN'T BE HUMAN OTHERWISE.
AND HERE, JESUS HAS CHOSEN TO BEGIN HIS MINISTRY. AND THE FATHER SAYS, IN EFFECT, “NOT SO FAST, SON! HAVE YOU THOUGHT THIS THROUGH? WHY ARE YOU CHOOSING TO DO THIS? IS IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO EXERCISE YOUR DIVINE POWER? IS IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BE FAMOUS? IS IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO BRING ABOUT MY KINGDOM, BUT IN YOUR OWN WAY? WHY DO YOU WANT TO ENTER THIS MINISTRY THAT I HAVE PUT BEFORE YOU?” AND THAT IS THE REASON FOR THE FORTY DAYS IN THE DESERT – BEFORE STARTING OUT ON THIS TASK, IT WAS VITALLY IMPORTANT THAT JESUS BEGIN HIS MINISTRY FOR THE RIGHT REASONS, BECAUSE ONLY THEN CAN IT BE SUCCESSFUL. IF IT IS UNDERTAKEN TO DO GOD'S WILL, THEN IT WILL FLY – EVENTUALLY. IF IT IS UNDERTAKEN FOR ANY OTHER REASON, EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE SAME MINISTRY, IT WILL FAIL.
EVERY YEAR THE CHURCH TELLS HER CHILDREN TO GO OUT IN THE DESERT, NOT JUST FOR A DAY OR TWO, BUT FOR FORTY DAYS. FORTY DAYS IN WHICH WE WILL UNDERTAKE SOMETHING THAT WILL CONSTANTLY REMIND US THAT WE ARE IN THE DESERT – GIVING UP THAT TIME IN THE EVENING WHEN WE WATCH TELEVISION, AND CHOOSING TO READ A SPIRITUAL BOOK INSTEAD. MAKING IT A POINT TO GET TO MASS ON A WEEKDAY, OR THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS ON FRIDAY EVENINGS. ATTENDING FATHER RIANDEAU'S PRESENTATIONS – BUT SOMETHING THAT WILL SHAKE US UP, MOVE US OUT OF OUR RUTS.
AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS LENT IS THE SAME PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE SPIRIT LED JESUS INTO THE DESERT. ARE WE WILLING TO UNDERTAKE THE MISSION GOD HAS GIVEN US, AND UNDER HIS OWN TERMS? BECAUSE BEING A CHRISTIAN IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF BEING A NICE PERSON. SAINT JEROME AND SAINT PIO WERE PROBABLY NOT NICE PERSONS AS WE UNDERSTAND THEM. SAINT JEROME HAD A GIFT FOR SARCASM. AND SAINT PIO WAS KNOWN TO LEAVE THE CONFESSIONAL AND CONFRONT THE PENITENT WHO WAS NOT TELLING HIM THE TRUTH, SOMETIMES IN A RAGE. BEING A CHRISTIAN IS NOT JUST A MATTER OF HAVING BEEN BAPTIZED AND RAISED IN A CHRISTIAN CHURCH, OR BELIEVING CERTAIN SPIRITUAL TRUTHS. SATAN, AFTER ALL, BELIEVES THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD AND THAT HE IS PRESENT IN HIS HUMANITY AND DIVINITY IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST. YOU CAN'T BE A CHRISTIAN AND COAST ALONG FROM DAY TO DAY AND YEAR TO YEAR, EVEN IF YOU ARE IN CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY, EVEN IF YOU NEVER DO ANYTHING PARTICULARLY SINFUL, EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO PROBLEM BELIEVING WHAT SCRIPTURE AND THE CHURCH TEACHES. BEING A CHRISTIAN REQUIRES THAT WE CONSTANTLY ASK THE SAME QUESTION THAT JESUS MUST HAVE ASKED HIMSELF: AM I DOING THIS FOR THE RIGHT REASON?
WHY ARE YOU A LAWYER? YOU CAN BE A LAWYER WITH THE INTENTION OF SERVING GOD THROUGH YOUR PROFESSION – OR YOU CAN HAVE OTHER REASONS FOR PRACTICING LAW. WHICH ARE YOUR REASONS? IF YOU ARE A HOMEMAKER RAISING CHILDREN, YOU CAN BE DOING THIS WITH THE INTENTION OF SERVING GOD, OR PERHAPS BECAUSE YOU LOVE YOUR CHILDREN AND AND WANT THE BEST FOR THEM. BUT EVEN THOUGH THE SECOND REASON SOUNDS GOOD, GOD STILL HAS TO COME FIRST.
IF WE ARE TO BECOME SAINTS, WE HAVE TO CONSTANTLY PURIFY OUR INTENTIONS; WE HAVE TO EXAMINE WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO, AND WORK TO ELIMINATE THOSE REASONS WHICH SERVE OURSELVES, OR EVEN SERVE OTHERS. OUR GOAL IS TO DO EVERYTHING FOR GOD, FOR THE HONOR AND GLORY OF GOD. AND THIS PROCESS CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT PRAYER AND SACRIFICE, WITHOUT EFFORT. EVEN JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, HAD TO GO OUT INTO THE DESERT AND PRAY AND FAST AND BE TEMPTED, SO THAT WHEN HE CAME BACK TO CIVILIZATION, HE COULD UNDERTAKE HIS MISSION WITH THE PUREST OF INTENTIONS – AS HE SAID ONE TIME, “MY FOOD AND DRINK IS TO DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER.” AND ONCE WE PURIFY OUR OWN INTENTIONS, SO THAT EVERYTHING WE UNDERTAKE IS FOR THE SAKE OF GOD'S KINGDOM, WE WILL DISCOVER A CERTAIN CLARITY. WE MAY BE DOING THE SAME THINGS WE DID YESTERDAY – BUT WE WILL SEE THAT IN THE COURSE OF OUR DAY, THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WHAT WE INTEND TO DO IS JUST NOT THE WAY GOD WANTS THINGS. THAT'S THE HOLY SPIRIT. AND GRADUALLY WE WILL BECOME THE PERSON JESUS WANTS US TO BE – NOT A DIFFERENT PERSON, BUT A PERSON WHO LIVES TO DO GOD'S WILL. AND THAT IS THE DEFINITION OF A SAINT.
SO LET US PRAY THIS FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN THE GRACE TO PURIFY OUR OWN INTENTIONS, SO THAT EVERYTHING WE DO – THE FUN THINGS, THE LOVING THINGS, THE DIFFICULT THINGS – EVERYTHING WE DO IS FOR THE SAKE OF THE FATHER.
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