LUKE 4:1-13
TODAY WE HEAR THE FAMILIAR STORY OF JESUS' TEMPTATIONS WHICH OCCURRED AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS PUBIC MINISTRY. LUKE PICKS THESE TEMPTATIONS FOR THEOLOGICAL REASONS; JESUS WILL NOT USE HIS POWER TO FEED HIMSELF, BUT WE READERS KNOW THAT HE WILL MULTIPLY BREAD TO FEED OTHERS. JESUS WILL NOT WORSHIP SATAN, EVEN THOUGH IT WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO BRING ABOUT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IN AN INSTANT; NOTHING IS WORTH DISRUPTING HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER. JESUS WILL NOT USE HIS POWER OVER THE ANGELS TO DEMONSTRATE HIS DIVINITY, EVEN THOUGH THAT WOULD IMMEDIATELY CREATE A LARGE FOLLOWING OF THOSE WHO WITNESSED THIS MIRACLE. JESUS WILL NOT DO ANYTHING TO FORCE US TO BELIEVE. THE TEMPTATIONS TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT JESUS, AND IN TURN SOMETHING ABOUT THE FATHER IN HEAVEN. AND OF COURSE, THEY ENCOURAGE US TO IMITATE JESUS IN OUR OWN RESPONSE TO TEMPTATION.
BUT THINK ABOUT THIS. JESUS WAS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN. THAT MEANS THAT HE WAS TEMPTED LIKE US, HE EXPERIENCED NOT ONLY THESE TEMPTATIONS, BUT UNDOUBTEDLY, MANY OTHERS. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN TEMPTED TO EAT WAY MORE THAN WAS GOOD FOR YOU BECAUSE THE FOOD WAS SO GOOD, SO WAS JESUS. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN TEMPTED TO YELL AT SOMEONE FOR DOING SOMETHING STUPID, SO WAS JESUS. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN TEMPTED TO THINK ABOUT SOMEONE OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN A LESS THAN PURE WAY, WELL, SO WAS JESUS. HE WAS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS, BUT SIN. HE HAD ALL OUR TEMPTATIONS, BUT UNLIKE YOU AND I HE NEVER GAVE IN TO THEM; HE NEVER LET THEM LEAD HIM INTO SIN. WHEN JESUS TAUGHT US THE LORD'S PRAYER, A PRAYER HE MAY HAVE SAID HIMSELF IN PRIVATE, HE BEGGED NOT TO BE LEAD INTO TEMPTATION; BECAUSE ALTHOUGH JESUS NEVER GAVE IN TO TEMPTATION, IT WOULD NOT BE A TEMPTATION FOR HIM IF THE TEMPTATION DID NOT TROUBLE HIM, JUST AS SEVERELY AS TEMPTATION TROUBLES US.
FIFTY YEARS AGO, NIKOS KAZANTZAKIS PUBLISHED A NOVEL CALLED “THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST”. THIS WAS LATER MADE INTO A MOVIE, WHICH CAUSED A GREAT DEAL OF CONTROVERSY BECAUSE OF SOME OF ITS R-RATED SCENES. BUT THE NOVEL WAS ACTUALLY A VERY PROFOUND AND VERY SPIRITUAL BOOK. IT PORTRAYED JESUS AS A PERSON WHO WENT ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE BEING TEMPTED, A JESUS WHO WAS RELUCTANT TO FOLLOW THE DESTINY CHOSEN FOR HIM BY GOD. WE HEAR A LITTLE HINT OF THIS PERHAPS WHEN JESUS SAYS “FATHER, IF YOU ARE WILLING, LET THIS CUP PASS FROM ME.” IN THE END, JESUS TRIUMPHS, HAVING ACCOMPLISHED WHAT GOD WANTED OF HIM DESPITE THE TEMPTATIONS – AND THE NOVEL GIVES YOU A FRESH APPRECIATION FOR WHAT JESUS DID – AND THE FACT THAT THE PASSION HE ENDURED STARTED WHEN HE WAS BORN, NOT ON HOLY THURSDAY NIGHT.
BUT THE GREAT SCENE IN THE BOOK AND IN THE MOVIE IS WHEN JESUS IS HANGING ON THE CROSS, AND HE HAS A VISION; HE SEES HIMSELF AS AN OLD MAN, SURROUNDED BY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN, AND HE IS COMFORTABLE, HE IS NOT POOR; AND HIS WIFE IS MARY MAGDALENE, WHO IN THE STORY WAS ENGAGED TO HIM BEFORE HE BEGAN HIS PUBLIC LIFE. AND AS JESUS DWELLS ON THIS VISION HE UNDERSTANDS THAT THIS LIFE COULD BE HIS, EVEN NOW, BECAUSE HE HAS THE POWER OF GOD. HE COULD STEP DOWN FROM THE CROSS, GET MARRIED, HAVE CHILDREN, WORK AT THE TRADE HE KNEW WELL, AND LIVE A QUIET, NORMAL LIFE. AND THAT WAS THE HARDEST TEMPTATION OF ALL FOR JESUS. AND HE OVERCAME THAT TEMPTATION AS WELL, AND GAVE HIMSELF UP TO DEATH FOR US, IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS FATHER.
THE TEMPTATION TO NORMALCY. I THINK THAT IS A STRONG TEMPTATION FOR EACH OF US AS WELL. MOST OF US AREN'T TEMPTED TO MURDER OR STEAL OR COMMIT ADULTERY OR IF WE ARE, WE ARE SUFFICIENTLY AFRAID OF THE CONSEQUENCES SO THAT WE DON'T CARRY OUT THOSE TEMPTATIONS. BUT MOST OF US WANT A COMFORTABLE LIFE, A NICE HOME, A RELIABLE CAR, DAYS IN WHICH THE GOOD PARTS OUTNUMBER THE BAD PARTS. WE ARE TEMPTED TO LIVE IN A COCOON OF OUR OWN MAKING, WHERE OUR FIRST PRIORITY IS TO OURSELVES AND OUR FAMILIES. WE DON'T THINK ABOUT ALL THE THINGS OVER WHICH WE HAVE SO LITTLE CONTROL; THE PEOPLE WHO ARE DYING OF HUNGER; THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE LIKE ANIMALS; THE GRADUAL DESTRUCTION OF OUR WORLD BECAUSE OF OUR GREED. WE HOPE AGAINST HOPE THAT WE CAN LIVE OUT OUR LIVES BEFORE ANY OF THESE PROBLEMS GET SO BIG THAT WE CAN'T IGNORE THEM ANYMORE; AND WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS TO OUR LITTLE WORLD, WHEN OUR NORMALCY IS THREATENED, WE GET DEPRESSED, WE FEEL AS THOUGH OUR WORLD HAS COME TO AN END. ALL IT TAKES IS A BROKEN BONE, OR A CHILD WHO GETS IN TROUBLE WITH THE LAW, OR THE LOSS OF A JOB, AND WE COME TO REALIZE HOW TRUE IT IS THAT WHERE OUR HEARTS ARE, THERE IS OUR TREASURE.
WE ARE TEMPTED TO NORMALCY, AND WE CAN'T REALLY SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH WANTING A NORMAL UNEXCITING COMFORTABLE LIFE. AND PART OF OUR NORMALCY IS TO SUPPORT OUR CHURCH, MAYBE TO GIVE SOME OF OUR TIME TO A GOOD CAUSE; THOSE THINGS FILL A NEED, AND MAKE US FEEL USEFUL OR VIRTUOUS. AND THAT'S NOT WRONG EITHER.
BUT I THINK ALL OF US HEAR IN OUR HEARTS NOW AND THEN, “IS THIS ALL THERE IS?” “IS THIS THE REASON GOD GAVE ME LIFE?” “AM I DRAWING CLOSER TO GOD OR FURTHER AWAY?” “AM I LIVING FOR GOD OR FOR MYSELF?”
AND MAYBE OUR REACTION IS TO PLUNGE DEEPER INTO NORMALCY SO THAT WE CAN'T HEAR THOSE VOICES, SO THAT ONE DAY FOLLOWS THE NEXT AND WE DISTRACT OURSELVES WITH OUR TOYS AND OUR GAMES AND THEN ONE DAY ITS ALL OVER. AND THE TEMPTATION TO NORMALCY HAS SUCCEEDED; ITS KEPT US FROM BECOMING WHAT GOD WANTS OF US.
JESUS RESISTED THE STRONGEST OF TEMPTATIONS, THE TEMPTATION TO LIVE A NORMAL QUIET PLEASANT LIFE, SO THAT HE COULD DO GOD'S WILL, NOT HIS OWN. SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT EACH OF US IS LIKE A PART OF A BODY, AND THAT SOMEHOW OUR FULFILLMENT IS WHEN WE WORK WITH EACH OTHER WITH CHRIST AS OUR HEAD, DIRECTING THE WHOLE PROJECT. AND EACH OF US IS UNIQUE, EACH OF US HAS AN IRREPLACEABLE PART IN GOD'S PLAN.
SO DURING THIS LENT LET US EXAMINE OURSELVES AND SEE WHETHER WE HAVE GIVEN IN TO THE TEMPTATION TO NORMALCY, AND IF SO, WHAT CAN WE DO TO ONCE AGAIN HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD AND PUT OURSELVES AT HIS SERVICE, AND LIVE LIVES FILLED WITH MEANING, FILLED WITH THE FIRE THAT SHOULD BURN WITHIN THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 6:17; 20-26
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. IN OUR COUNTRY WE HARDLY REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS A SAINT VALENTINE ONCE. VALENTINE'S DAY FOR US CELEBRATES ROMANCE. IF YOU GO TO A SUPERMARKET AND GET STUCK IN A LINE WHERE THEY ARE TRAINING A NEW CASHIER, YOU CAN SEE ALL KINDS OF MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS DETAILING THE LATEST ANTICS OF JEN OR BRANGELINA OR LINDSEY OR BRITTANY, OR WHICHEVER POP STAR HAS DONE SOMETHING EVEN MORE OUTRAGEOUS THAN LAST WEEK, USUALLY HAVING TO DO WITH HOOKING UP OR BREAKING UP OR HAVING A BABY OUT OF WEDLOCK WITH SOMEBODY WHO IS MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE. AND IF WE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT WE MEAN BY ROMANCE, THAT WOULD NOT BE IT. AND I THINK THE REASON WE INSTINCTIVELY RECOGNIZE THIS IS BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO US THAT ALL THESE POOR SOULS ARE MOTIVATED BY SELFISHNESS. THAT MAY NOT BE TRUE, BUT IT SURE IS REPRESENTED THAT WAY.
ROMANCE BETWEEN A WOMAN AND A MAN SEEMS TO NEED A COMPONENT OF UNSELFISHNESS, OF SELF-GIVING, WHICH IS SYMBOLIZED BY ROSES, A BOX OF CANDY, A VALENTINE CARD. AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH ROMANCE KNOW THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP GROWS WHEN WE ARE SELF-GIVING AND SHRINKS WHEN WE ARE SELFISH.
ONE THING ABOUT CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY, CERTAINLY SHARED BY SOME OTHER BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY, BUT NOT ALL, IS THE IDEA THAT GOD'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PEOPLE IS LIKE A ROMANCE. THE FATHER EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT IN JESUS CHRIST, WHO IN TURN GIVES HIMSELF UP FOR US. THIS LOVING ACTION, THIS SELF-GIVING, IS NOT WITHOUT PURPOSE; IT IS DONE PRECISELY SO THAT GOD CAN TAKE US BACK TO HIMSELF, SO THAT WE CAN DWELL WITH HIM FOREVER. BUT IN A ROMANCE, THERE MUST BE MUTUAL SELF-GIVING. AND THAT IS WHERE TODAY'S GOSPEL COMES IN.
YOU REMEMBER THE BEATITUDES IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR JUSTICE, AND SO ON. VERY SPIRITUAL. BUT LUKE'S BEATITUDES ARE STRAIGHTFORWARD; BLESSED ARE THE POOR, BLESSED ARE THE HUNGRY, BLESSED ARE YOU WHO WEEP. AND LUKE'S BLESSEDS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY WOES, WOES TO THOSE WHO ARE FILLED UP, WOES TO THOSE WHO LAUGH, WOES TO THE RICH.
THIS GOSPEL REMINDS US THAT IF WE ARE TO ENTER INTO THAT ROMANCE OF ALL ROMANCES WITH OUR GOD, WE TOO NEED TO EMPTY OURSELVES OUT, WE NEED TO MAKE ROOM FOR GOD TO ACT IN US.
LENT IS A GREAT TIME TO WORK ON THE PROJECT OF EMPTYING OURSELVES OUT. WE IN LONGMEADOW CERTAINLY CAN'T BE CALLED POOR, NOT JUST COMPARED TO THOSE IN HAITI, BUT EVEN THOSE IN SPRINGFIELD OR CHICOPEE. WE ARE RICH, LETS FACE IT. BUT WE CAN LET GO OF OUR ATTACHMENTS; WE CAN INCREASE OUR GIVING TO CHARITY; WE CAN FORGO ANOTHER SET OF NEW CLOTHES OR SHOES; WE CAN LET GO OF THINGS IN OUR ATTICS OR BASEMENTS WHICH WE HAVE BEEN SAVING FOR NO REASON, AND ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE TO MAKE USE OF THEM.
AND WE ARE CERTAINLY NOT HUNGRY. BUT WE CAN FAST. THE FAST THAT THE CHURCH USED TO ASK OF HER CHILDREN WAS TO EAT ONE FULL MEAL A DAY, AND TWO OTHER MEALS WHICH TOGETHER DID NOT EQUAL THE FULL MEAL. NOW SHE ONLY SAYS TO FAST ON ASH WEDNESDAY AND GOOD FRIDAY. BUT ITS A WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL EXERCISE TO FAST, TO FORGO THAT DAILY COCKTAIL, TO SKIP LUNCH ONE DAY A WEEK; OR WE CAN FAST BY CUTTING OUT SOMETHING WE REALLY LIKE TO EAT FROM OUR DIET, FOR THE NEXT SIX WEEKS. SOME OF US, MYSELF INCLUDED, COULD EVEN FAST ENOUGH TO LOSE A FEW POUNDS. AND YOU CAN FAST FOR SPIRITUAL REASONS AND FOR HEALTH REASONS; THEY DON'T EXCLUDE EACH OTHER.
WE CAN WEEP. WE HUMANS ARE DESIGNED TO SEEK PLEASURE. IT'S NOT PLEASANT TO CONFRONT THINGS THAT BREAK OUR HEARTS. BUT ONCE IN A WHILE, WE SHOULD LOOK AT OUR LIVES AND SEE WHETHER WE ARE LIVING LIVES THAT PLEASE GOD. AND WHERE WE AREN'T, WHERE OUR SELFISHNESS AND BAD HABITS ARE KEEPING US FROM THAT KIND OF LIFE, THAT SHOULD MOVE US EMOTIONALLY. BECAUSE IF WE AREN'T PLEASING THE ONE WHO LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE DIED FOR US, AND IT DOESN'T MAKE US SAD, THEN SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
AND LASTLY, MAYBE WE SHOULD ASK WHY WE ARE NOT HATED? JESUS PROMISED THAT HIS FOLLOWERS WOULD BE HATED, WOULD BE PERSECUTED, WOULD EVEN BE PUT TO DEATH. NOT JUST IN THIS READING DID HE PROMISE THIS, BUT ALL THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES. AND WE KNOW WHAT WE COULD DO TO BE HATED – WE COULD STAND UP FOR WHAT WE SAY WE BELIEVE. WE HAVE ALL KINDS OF OPPORTUNITIES. WE CAN BE MORE VOCAL ABOUT BEING PRO-LIFE, PRO-MARRIAGE, PRO-FAITH, PRO-JUSTICE, WHEN WE GET IN CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS. WE CAN SPEND MORE TIME LEARNING WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES SO THAT WE CAN BE BETTER PROPHETS IN THE WORLD. WE CAN DO OUR PART TO MAKE THE WORLD MORE LIKE THE KINGDOM OF GOD, PROVIDED WE KNOW WHAT THAT KINGDOM LOOKS LIKE. AND IF WE DO THESE THINGS, SOMEONE WILL PERSECUTE US, SOMEONE WILL HATE US. AND THAT WILL BE GOOD.
AND WOE TO US IF WE KEEP ON GOING THE WAY WE ARE GOING, IF WE ARE RICH, IF WE ARE FULL, IF WE LAUGH, IF WE ARE SPOKEN WELL OF. BECAUSE THEN THERE WILL BE NO ROMANCE; THERE WILL BE NO EMPTYING OURSELVES OUT SO THAT GOD CAN FILL US UP. AND FOR THOSE OF US WHO MAKE NO EFFORT, JESUS CHRIST WILL HAVE GIVEN HIMSELF UP TO SUFFERING AND DEATH FOR NO PURPOSE.
START ON THIS ASH WEDNESDAY. DO SOMETHING TO MAKE LENT DIFFERENT THIS YEAR; FIND SOME WAY TO FAST; AND PERSEVERE UNTIL EASTER SUNDAY. AND IF YOU DO, THAT WILL BE THE DAY YOU CAN LEAP FOR JOY, FOR YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A PLACE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED INTO THAT INCOMPARABLE ROMANCE TO WHICH EACH OF US ARE INVITED, THE ROMANCE WHERE THE MORE WE GIVE OURSELVES UP, THE MORE WE EMPTY OURSELVES OUT, THE MORE GOD, WHO HAS ALREADY GIVEN ALL THAT HE CAN GIVE, CAN ENTER INTO US AND BRING US ETERNAL JOY.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY. IN OUR COUNTRY WE HARDLY REMEMBER THAT THERE WAS A SAINT VALENTINE ONCE. VALENTINE'S DAY FOR US CELEBRATES ROMANCE. IF YOU GO TO A SUPERMARKET AND GET STUCK IN A LINE WHERE THEY ARE TRAINING A NEW CASHIER, YOU CAN SEE ALL KINDS OF MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS DETAILING THE LATEST ANTICS OF JEN OR BRANGELINA OR LINDSEY OR BRITTANY, OR WHICHEVER POP STAR HAS DONE SOMETHING EVEN MORE OUTRAGEOUS THAN LAST WEEK, USUALLY HAVING TO DO WITH HOOKING UP OR BREAKING UP OR HAVING A BABY OUT OF WEDLOCK WITH SOMEBODY WHO IS MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE. AND IF WE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT WE MEAN BY ROMANCE, THAT WOULD NOT BE IT. AND I THINK THE REASON WE INSTINCTIVELY RECOGNIZE THIS IS BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO US THAT ALL THESE POOR SOULS ARE MOTIVATED BY SELFISHNESS. THAT MAY NOT BE TRUE, BUT IT SURE IS REPRESENTED THAT WAY.
ROMANCE BETWEEN A WOMAN AND A MAN SEEMS TO NEED A COMPONENT OF UNSELFISHNESS, OF SELF-GIVING, WHICH IS SYMBOLIZED BY ROSES, A BOX OF CANDY, A VALENTINE CARD. AND THOSE OF US WHO HAVE SOME PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH ROMANCE KNOW THAT OUR RELATIONSHIP GROWS WHEN WE ARE SELF-GIVING AND SHRINKS WHEN WE ARE SELFISH.
ONE THING ABOUT CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY, CERTAINLY SHARED BY SOME OTHER BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY, BUT NOT ALL, IS THE IDEA THAT GOD'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS PEOPLE IS LIKE A ROMANCE. THE FATHER EMPTIES HIMSELF OUT IN JESUS CHRIST, WHO IN TURN GIVES HIMSELF UP FOR US. THIS LOVING ACTION, THIS SELF-GIVING, IS NOT WITHOUT PURPOSE; IT IS DONE PRECISELY SO THAT GOD CAN TAKE US BACK TO HIMSELF, SO THAT WE CAN DWELL WITH HIM FOREVER. BUT IN A ROMANCE, THERE MUST BE MUTUAL SELF-GIVING. AND THAT IS WHERE TODAY'S GOSPEL COMES IN.
YOU REMEMBER THE BEATITUDES IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR JUSTICE, AND SO ON. VERY SPIRITUAL. BUT LUKE'S BEATITUDES ARE STRAIGHTFORWARD; BLESSED ARE THE POOR, BLESSED ARE THE HUNGRY, BLESSED ARE YOU WHO WEEP. AND LUKE'S BLESSEDS ARE ACCOMPANIED BY WOES, WOES TO THOSE WHO ARE FILLED UP, WOES TO THOSE WHO LAUGH, WOES TO THE RICH.
THIS GOSPEL REMINDS US THAT IF WE ARE TO ENTER INTO THAT ROMANCE OF ALL ROMANCES WITH OUR GOD, WE TOO NEED TO EMPTY OURSELVES OUT, WE NEED TO MAKE ROOM FOR GOD TO ACT IN US.
LENT IS A GREAT TIME TO WORK ON THE PROJECT OF EMPTYING OURSELVES OUT. WE IN LONGMEADOW CERTAINLY CAN'T BE CALLED POOR, NOT JUST COMPARED TO THOSE IN HAITI, BUT EVEN THOSE IN SPRINGFIELD OR CHICOPEE. WE ARE RICH, LETS FACE IT. BUT WE CAN LET GO OF OUR ATTACHMENTS; WE CAN INCREASE OUR GIVING TO CHARITY; WE CAN FORGO ANOTHER SET OF NEW CLOTHES OR SHOES; WE CAN LET GO OF THINGS IN OUR ATTICS OR BASEMENTS WHICH WE HAVE BEEN SAVING FOR NO REASON, AND ALLOW OTHER PEOPLE TO MAKE USE OF THEM.
AND WE ARE CERTAINLY NOT HUNGRY. BUT WE CAN FAST. THE FAST THAT THE CHURCH USED TO ASK OF HER CHILDREN WAS TO EAT ONE FULL MEAL A DAY, AND TWO OTHER MEALS WHICH TOGETHER DID NOT EQUAL THE FULL MEAL. NOW SHE ONLY SAYS TO FAST ON ASH WEDNESDAY AND GOOD FRIDAY. BUT ITS A WONDERFUL SPIRITUAL EXERCISE TO FAST, TO FORGO THAT DAILY COCKTAIL, TO SKIP LUNCH ONE DAY A WEEK; OR WE CAN FAST BY CUTTING OUT SOMETHING WE REALLY LIKE TO EAT FROM OUR DIET, FOR THE NEXT SIX WEEKS. SOME OF US, MYSELF INCLUDED, COULD EVEN FAST ENOUGH TO LOSE A FEW POUNDS. AND YOU CAN FAST FOR SPIRITUAL REASONS AND FOR HEALTH REASONS; THEY DON'T EXCLUDE EACH OTHER.
WE CAN WEEP. WE HUMANS ARE DESIGNED TO SEEK PLEASURE. IT'S NOT PLEASANT TO CONFRONT THINGS THAT BREAK OUR HEARTS. BUT ONCE IN A WHILE, WE SHOULD LOOK AT OUR LIVES AND SEE WHETHER WE ARE LIVING LIVES THAT PLEASE GOD. AND WHERE WE AREN'T, WHERE OUR SELFISHNESS AND BAD HABITS ARE KEEPING US FROM THAT KIND OF LIFE, THAT SHOULD MOVE US EMOTIONALLY. BECAUSE IF WE AREN'T PLEASING THE ONE WHO LOVES US SO MUCH THAT HE DIED FOR US, AND IT DOESN'T MAKE US SAD, THEN SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
AND LASTLY, MAYBE WE SHOULD ASK WHY WE ARE NOT HATED? JESUS PROMISED THAT HIS FOLLOWERS WOULD BE HATED, WOULD BE PERSECUTED, WOULD EVEN BE PUT TO DEATH. NOT JUST IN THIS READING DID HE PROMISE THIS, BUT ALL THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES. AND WE KNOW WHAT WE COULD DO TO BE HATED – WE COULD STAND UP FOR WHAT WE SAY WE BELIEVE. WE HAVE ALL KINDS OF OPPORTUNITIES. WE CAN BE MORE VOCAL ABOUT BEING PRO-LIFE, PRO-MARRIAGE, PRO-FAITH, PRO-JUSTICE, WHEN WE GET IN CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR FRIENDS AND CO-WORKERS. WE CAN SPEND MORE TIME LEARNING WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES SO THAT WE CAN BE BETTER PROPHETS IN THE WORLD. WE CAN DO OUR PART TO MAKE THE WORLD MORE LIKE THE KINGDOM OF GOD, PROVIDED WE KNOW WHAT THAT KINGDOM LOOKS LIKE. AND IF WE DO THESE THINGS, SOMEONE WILL PERSECUTE US, SOMEONE WILL HATE US. AND THAT WILL BE GOOD.
AND WOE TO US IF WE KEEP ON GOING THE WAY WE ARE GOING, IF WE ARE RICH, IF WE ARE FULL, IF WE LAUGH, IF WE ARE SPOKEN WELL OF. BECAUSE THEN THERE WILL BE NO ROMANCE; THERE WILL BE NO EMPTYING OURSELVES OUT SO THAT GOD CAN FILL US UP. AND FOR THOSE OF US WHO MAKE NO EFFORT, JESUS CHRIST WILL HAVE GIVEN HIMSELF UP TO SUFFERING AND DEATH FOR NO PURPOSE.
START ON THIS ASH WEDNESDAY. DO SOMETHING TO MAKE LENT DIFFERENT THIS YEAR; FIND SOME WAY TO FAST; AND PERSEVERE UNTIL EASTER SUNDAY. AND IF YOU DO, THAT WILL BE THE DAY YOU CAN LEAP FOR JOY, FOR YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE A PLACE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, YOU WILL KNOW THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED INTO THAT INCOMPARABLE ROMANCE TO WHICH EACH OF US ARE INVITED, THE ROMANCE WHERE THE MORE WE GIVE OURSELVES UP, THE MORE WE EMPTY OURSELVES OUT, THE MORE GOD, WHO HAS ALREADY GIVEN ALL THAT HE CAN GIVE, CAN ENTER INTO US AND BRING US ETERNAL JOY.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 5:1-11
I WONDER WHY PETER AGREED TO GO OUT AND TRY AGAIN AT THE REQUEST OF JESUS? PETER AND HIS COMPANIONS MADE THEIR LIVING BY BEING EXPERT FISHERMEN. THEY KNEW WHERE THE FISH WERE LIKELY TO BE; THEY COULD READ THE WATER LIKE A BOOK. IN FACT, IT WAS BEST TO FISH BY MOONLIGHT, AS THEY DID, SINCE THE FISH WOULD COME TO THE SURFACE AND THEIR SILVERY SCALES WOULD BE VISIBLE. SO HERE WAS A MAN WHO OBVIOUSLY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT FISHING, REQUESTING THAT PETER TRY ONCE MORE. AND IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, WHEN THE FISH SWIM OUT INTO DEEPER WATER.
AND IT WASN’T JUST A MATTER OF DROPPING A LINE IN THE WATER. THE NETS HAD BEEN CLEANED AND REPAIRED AND WERE FOLDED UP WAITING FOR THE NEXT EVENING. THESE NETS WERE HEAVY AND UNWIELDY, WITH WEIGHTS ON THE CORNERS. YOU HAD TO THROW THEM OUT JUST RIGHT, LET THEM SINK INTO THE WATER, THEN PULL THEM UP AGAIN. HARD WORK. AND WHEN YOU WERE ALL THROUGH YOU HAD TO SPEND AN HOUR OR SO CLEANING AND FOLDING THEM AGAIN. IN ADDITION TO BEING AN EXPERT, I SUSPECT PETER REALLY LIKED TO FISH. AFTER JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, AND THE APOSTLES WERE WONDERING WHAT TO DO NEXT, PETER TOLD THEM HE WAS GOING TO GO FISHING.
AND AT FIRST PETER WAS GOING TO TELL JESUS TO STICK TO PREACHING, BECAUSE IF PETER HADN’T CAUGHT ANYTHING, NOTHING COULD BE CAUGHT. BUT SOMETHING IN JESUS’ TONE, SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE LOOKED AT PETER – MAYBE SOMETHING HE HAD SAID IN HIS SERMON TO THE PEOPLE MADE PETER ACT AGAINST HIS INITIAL IMPULSE – “AT YOUR WORD WE’LL TRY AGAIN.”
MOST OF US HAVE AT LEAST ONE TALENT OR SKILL IN WHICH WE TAKE PRIDE. AND WHEN WE ARE EXERCISING THAT SKILL, WE RESENT IT WHEN SOMEONE TELLS US HOW WE COULD DO IT BETTER. EVEN IF IT’S TRIVIAL, THE SKILL IS PART OF OUR SELF IMAGE, AND DOING WHAT WE DO BEST IS A REWARD IN ITSELF. AND THIS IS THE LAST PLACE WE WANT GOD TO TOUCH OUR LIVES; IT’S WHERE OUR CREATIVITY, OUR SENSE OF WORTH, OUR INDEPENDENCE ALL COMES TO A POINT. WE DON’T MIND ASKING GOD FOR HELP WITH THINGS WE DON’T DO WELL OR THAT WE CAN'T CONTROL, BUT WE’D RATHER HE JUST STOOD ASIDE WHEN WE ARE ENGAGED IN SOMETHING WE REALLY DO WELL.
BUT JESUS SHOWS PETER TWO THINGS IN THIS MIRACLE. FIRST, A TIME WILL COME WHEN HOW YOU DEFINE YOURSELF WILL BE SHAKEN TO THE CORE. SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN THAT WILL SHOW YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT INDEPENDENT, THAT THE WAY YOU SEE YOURSELF IS NOT REALITY. PETER SAW HIMSELF AS A MASTER FISHERMAN, BUT THIS TIME ALL HIS SKILLS HAD BEEN FOR NOTHING. WAS HE THINKING ABOUT HOW HE WAS GOING TO SUPPORT HIS FAMILY IF HE COULD NO LONGER FISH? WAS HE WONDERING IF HE COULD HIRE HIMSELF OUT TO WORK ON A FARM IF HE HAD TO GIVE UP HIS INDEPENDENT BUSINESS?
AND IN THIS MOMENT JESUS REVEALS TO HIM A RADICAL TRUTH; YOU REALLY CAN’T DO ANYTHING, PETER, WITHOUT GOD’S HELP; BUT WITH HIS HELP, YOU CAN DO FAR MORE THAN YOU EVER COULD ON YOUR OWN.
AND THAT IS A LESSON MOST OF US STILL NEED TO LEARN; NOT JUST AGREE IN PRINCIPLE, BUT UNDERSTAND DEEP IN OUR SOULS THAT WE ARE BETTER OFF BEING SLAVES OF GOD THAN OUR OWN BOSSES; WE BECOME REALLY EFFECTIVE, REALLY POWERFUL, WHEN WE TURN EVERYTHING OVER TO JESUS; BUT IT IS HIS POWER, HIS EFFECTIVENESS THAT WORKS IN US, NOT OUR OWN. THAT IS WHY PETER’S FIRST REACTION IS TO SAY, “DEPART FROM ME” BECAUSE THE HARDEST THING FOR A HUMAN BEING TO DO IS TO SURRENDER EVERYTHING TO ANOTHER PERSON, EVEN IF THAT PERSON IS GOD HIMSELF. IT IS MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE TO AVOID THE CHALLENGE, TO HIDE, TO ERECT BARRIERS – ANYTHING TO GUARD OUR INDEPENDENCE, OUR EGO, OUR PLACE IN THE CENTER OF OUR OWN UNIVERSE.
AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, I’M LIKE PETER. I REALLY DON’T SEE HOW JESUS COULD WANT ME TO BE HIS INSTRUMENT; I’M FLAWED, I’M A REAL MESS WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT; I’M NOT ONLY A SINFUL MAN, BUT I DON’T EVEN WANT TO CHANGE.
BUT JESUS GIVES PETER AND HIS FRIENDS A CHALLENGE; FOLLOW ME, AND WHAT YOU VALUE NOW, WHAT YOU THINK DEFINES YOU, WILL SEEM LIKE NOTHING. LET GO OF YOUR BOAT AND YOUR NETS AND EVEN THOSE SKILLS YOU’VE DEVELOPED OVER A LIFETIME, AND LET ME BE THE CENTER OF YOUR LIFE, LET ME DEFINE YOU. GIVE UP BEING SIMON THE FISHERMAN AND I WILL MAKE YOU PETER, THE ONE WHO WINS SOULS, THE ONE WHO FEEDS MY LAMBS AND MY SHEEP, THE ONE WHO WILL BE THE ROCK ON WHICH I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.
JESUS HAD ANOTHER ENCOUNTER, PROBABLY MORE THAN ONE, BUT AT LEAST ONE, IN WHICH HE OFFERED A SIMILAR CHALLENGE TO A RICH YOUNG MAN. “IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE PERFECT,” HE SAID, “SELL ALL YOU HAVE, GIVE TO THE POOR, AND COME AND FOLLOW ME.”
THE RICH YOUNG MAN WENT AWAY SORROWING, BECAUSE HE HAD MANY POSSESSIONS. PETER LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW JESUS.
LORD JESUS, DON’T GIVE UP ON US. PETER DIDN’T BECOME WHAT YOU WANTED HIM TO BE OVERNIGHT; YOU HAD TO TEACH HIM AND FORGIVE HIM AND EVEN AFTER YOU LEFT HIM IN CHARGE OF THE CHURCH, HE WAS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS UNTIL HE DIED. HELP US TO LEAVE WHAT HOLDS US BACK AND FOLLOW YOU; AND NOT GO AWAY SORROWING BECAUSE WE CAN’T.
I WONDER WHY PETER AGREED TO GO OUT AND TRY AGAIN AT THE REQUEST OF JESUS? PETER AND HIS COMPANIONS MADE THEIR LIVING BY BEING EXPERT FISHERMEN. THEY KNEW WHERE THE FISH WERE LIKELY TO BE; THEY COULD READ THE WATER LIKE A BOOK. IN FACT, IT WAS BEST TO FISH BY MOONLIGHT, AS THEY DID, SINCE THE FISH WOULD COME TO THE SURFACE AND THEIR SILVERY SCALES WOULD BE VISIBLE. SO HERE WAS A MAN WHO OBVIOUSLY KNEW NOTHING ABOUT FISHING, REQUESTING THAT PETER TRY ONCE MORE. AND IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, WHEN THE FISH SWIM OUT INTO DEEPER WATER.
AND IT WASN’T JUST A MATTER OF DROPPING A LINE IN THE WATER. THE NETS HAD BEEN CLEANED AND REPAIRED AND WERE FOLDED UP WAITING FOR THE NEXT EVENING. THESE NETS WERE HEAVY AND UNWIELDY, WITH WEIGHTS ON THE CORNERS. YOU HAD TO THROW THEM OUT JUST RIGHT, LET THEM SINK INTO THE WATER, THEN PULL THEM UP AGAIN. HARD WORK. AND WHEN YOU WERE ALL THROUGH YOU HAD TO SPEND AN HOUR OR SO CLEANING AND FOLDING THEM AGAIN. IN ADDITION TO BEING AN EXPERT, I SUSPECT PETER REALLY LIKED TO FISH. AFTER JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, AND THE APOSTLES WERE WONDERING WHAT TO DO NEXT, PETER TOLD THEM HE WAS GOING TO GO FISHING.
AND AT FIRST PETER WAS GOING TO TELL JESUS TO STICK TO PREACHING, BECAUSE IF PETER HADN’T CAUGHT ANYTHING, NOTHING COULD BE CAUGHT. BUT SOMETHING IN JESUS’ TONE, SOMETHING IN THE WAY HE LOOKED AT PETER – MAYBE SOMETHING HE HAD SAID IN HIS SERMON TO THE PEOPLE MADE PETER ACT AGAINST HIS INITIAL IMPULSE – “AT YOUR WORD WE’LL TRY AGAIN.”
MOST OF US HAVE AT LEAST ONE TALENT OR SKILL IN WHICH WE TAKE PRIDE. AND WHEN WE ARE EXERCISING THAT SKILL, WE RESENT IT WHEN SOMEONE TELLS US HOW WE COULD DO IT BETTER. EVEN IF IT’S TRIVIAL, THE SKILL IS PART OF OUR SELF IMAGE, AND DOING WHAT WE DO BEST IS A REWARD IN ITSELF. AND THIS IS THE LAST PLACE WE WANT GOD TO TOUCH OUR LIVES; IT’S WHERE OUR CREATIVITY, OUR SENSE OF WORTH, OUR INDEPENDENCE ALL COMES TO A POINT. WE DON’T MIND ASKING GOD FOR HELP WITH THINGS WE DON’T DO WELL OR THAT WE CAN'T CONTROL, BUT WE’D RATHER HE JUST STOOD ASIDE WHEN WE ARE ENGAGED IN SOMETHING WE REALLY DO WELL.
BUT JESUS SHOWS PETER TWO THINGS IN THIS MIRACLE. FIRST, A TIME WILL COME WHEN HOW YOU DEFINE YOURSELF WILL BE SHAKEN TO THE CORE. SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN THAT WILL SHOW YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT INDEPENDENT, THAT THE WAY YOU SEE YOURSELF IS NOT REALITY. PETER SAW HIMSELF AS A MASTER FISHERMAN, BUT THIS TIME ALL HIS SKILLS HAD BEEN FOR NOTHING. WAS HE THINKING ABOUT HOW HE WAS GOING TO SUPPORT HIS FAMILY IF HE COULD NO LONGER FISH? WAS HE WONDERING IF HE COULD HIRE HIMSELF OUT TO WORK ON A FARM IF HE HAD TO GIVE UP HIS INDEPENDENT BUSINESS?
AND IN THIS MOMENT JESUS REVEALS TO HIM A RADICAL TRUTH; YOU REALLY CAN’T DO ANYTHING, PETER, WITHOUT GOD’S HELP; BUT WITH HIS HELP, YOU CAN DO FAR MORE THAN YOU EVER COULD ON YOUR OWN.
AND THAT IS A LESSON MOST OF US STILL NEED TO LEARN; NOT JUST AGREE IN PRINCIPLE, BUT UNDERSTAND DEEP IN OUR SOULS THAT WE ARE BETTER OFF BEING SLAVES OF GOD THAN OUR OWN BOSSES; WE BECOME REALLY EFFECTIVE, REALLY POWERFUL, WHEN WE TURN EVERYTHING OVER TO JESUS; BUT IT IS HIS POWER, HIS EFFECTIVENESS THAT WORKS IN US, NOT OUR OWN. THAT IS WHY PETER’S FIRST REACTION IS TO SAY, “DEPART FROM ME” BECAUSE THE HARDEST THING FOR A HUMAN BEING TO DO IS TO SURRENDER EVERYTHING TO ANOTHER PERSON, EVEN IF THAT PERSON IS GOD HIMSELF. IT IS MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE TO AVOID THE CHALLENGE, TO HIDE, TO ERECT BARRIERS – ANYTHING TO GUARD OUR INDEPENDENCE, OUR EGO, OUR PLACE IN THE CENTER OF OUR OWN UNIVERSE.
AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, I’M LIKE PETER. I REALLY DON’T SEE HOW JESUS COULD WANT ME TO BE HIS INSTRUMENT; I’M FLAWED, I’M A REAL MESS WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT; I’M NOT ONLY A SINFUL MAN, BUT I DON’T EVEN WANT TO CHANGE.
BUT JESUS GIVES PETER AND HIS FRIENDS A CHALLENGE; FOLLOW ME, AND WHAT YOU VALUE NOW, WHAT YOU THINK DEFINES YOU, WILL SEEM LIKE NOTHING. LET GO OF YOUR BOAT AND YOUR NETS AND EVEN THOSE SKILLS YOU’VE DEVELOPED OVER A LIFETIME, AND LET ME BE THE CENTER OF YOUR LIFE, LET ME DEFINE YOU. GIVE UP BEING SIMON THE FISHERMAN AND I WILL MAKE YOU PETER, THE ONE WHO WINS SOULS, THE ONE WHO FEEDS MY LAMBS AND MY SHEEP, THE ONE WHO WILL BE THE ROCK ON WHICH I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.
JESUS HAD ANOTHER ENCOUNTER, PROBABLY MORE THAN ONE, BUT AT LEAST ONE, IN WHICH HE OFFERED A SIMILAR CHALLENGE TO A RICH YOUNG MAN. “IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BE PERFECT,” HE SAID, “SELL ALL YOU HAVE, GIVE TO THE POOR, AND COME AND FOLLOW ME.”
THE RICH YOUNG MAN WENT AWAY SORROWING, BECAUSE HE HAD MANY POSSESSIONS. PETER LEFT EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW JESUS.
LORD JESUS, DON’T GIVE UP ON US. PETER DIDN’T BECOME WHAT YOU WANTED HIM TO BE OVERNIGHT; YOU HAD TO TEACH HIM AND FORGIVE HIM AND EVEN AFTER YOU LEFT HIM IN CHARGE OF THE CHURCH, HE WAS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS UNTIL HE DIED. HELP US TO LEAVE WHAT HOLDS US BACK AND FOLLOW YOU; AND NOT GO AWAY SORROWING BECAUSE WE CAN’T.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 4:21-30
WHY DID THEY GET SO MAD AT HIM? WHY DID HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, THE PEOPLE HE GREW UP WITH, THE PEOPLE WHO AT FIRST WERE AMAZED AT THE GRACIOUS WORDS WHICH FELL FROM HIS LIPS – WHY DID THEY SUDDENLY TURN ON HIM – NOT JUST REPRIMANDING HIM, NOT JUST EXPELLING HIM FROM THE SYNAGOGUE, BUT MAKING AN ATTEMPT TO KILL HIM? WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
IF YOU WERE JEWISH, IN JESUS' TIME, YOU HAD A DEEP-SEATED PREJUDICE AGAINST PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T JEWS, EVEN PEOPLE WHO WERE VERY MUCH LIKE JEWS, SUCH AS THE SAMARITANS. WE LEARN THROUGH OTHER SOURCES THAT THE JEWS WERE DIVIDED EVEN AMONG THEMSELVES; WE KNOW ABOUT THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES. BUT THERE WERE MANY OTHER DIVISIONS. THERE WERE THE ZEALOTS, THOSE WHO REMEMBERED JUDAH MACABEE AND THE ALMOST SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN FOR THEIR FREEDOM. THEY REMEMBERED THE MASS SUICIDE AT MASADAH, WHEN THE SURVIVING JEWS, HOLED UP ON A MOUNTAIN, KILLED THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN, AND THEN THEMSELVES, RATHER THAN SURRENDER. THE ZEALOTS WERE FEW IN NUMBER, BUT THEY WANTED TO GO TO WAR WITH THE ROMANS, AND SHAKE OFF THEIR RULE OR DIE TRYING. THERE WERE THE ESSENES, POSSIBLY PEOPLE WHO MIGHT HAVE INFLUENCED JOHN THE BAPTIST. THEY FELT THAT IN ORDER TO BE JEWISH YOU HAD TO COMPLETELY SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM THE WORLD. THEY WERE MORE SEPARATIST THAN THE PHARISEES. THEY LIVED IN THE DESERT IN A SORT OF MONASTIC COMMUNITY. THERE WERE THE JEWS WHO LIVED THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE, THE ONES WHO WORSHIPED IN SYNAGOGUES AND USED A GREEK TRANSLATION OF SACRED SCRIPTURE. THEY WERE LOOKED DOWN ON BY THE HEBREW SPEAKING JEWS IN JUDAH, WHO CONSIDERED THEM LESS THAN PURE. AND THE GREEK-SPEAKING JEWS LOOKED AT THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM, AND CONSIDERED THEM BACKWARD AND INSULAR. BUT ALL THESE DIVISIONS ASIDE, ALL OF THEM BELIEVED THAT EVEN THE LOWEST JEW WAS BETTER THAN THE GREATEST GENTILE. AFTER ALL, THE JEWS WERE GOD'S SPECIAL PEOPLE, AND RIGHT THERE IN SCRIPTURE, YOU COULD READ WHAT GOD INTENDED TO DO TO THE GENTILES, AND IT WASN'T PRETTY.
SO HERE COMES JESUS, WHO DELIVERS AN INSULT WHICH IS ALMOST BLASPHEMOUS. HE MENTIONS TWO MIRACLES, DONE BY TWO GREAT PROPHETS, TWO MIRACLES WHICH BYPASSED THE JEWS WHO COULD HAVE USED THEM, AND HEALED GENTILES. THE CONGREGATION HAD BEEN THINKING THAT WITH JESUS, THEIR KINSMAN, THE KID WHO GREW UP IN THEIR TOWN, WHO CLAIMED TO BE ACTING FOR GOD – CERTAINLY HE WOULD DO EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR THINGS IN THEIR MIDST THAN HE HAD BEEN DOING IN OTHER JEWISH TOWNS. AND JESUS LETS THEM KNOW THAT THEIR SENSE OF PRIVILEGE, AS JEWS, AS HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, ENTITLES THEM TO NOTHING AT ALL. IT ISN'T BECAUSE HE IS THE CARPENTER'S SON THAT THEY TRY TO KILL HIM; IT'S BECAUSE IN THEIR HEARING, HE SEEMS TO HAVE BLASPHEMED, HE SEEMS TO HAVE CHALLENGED THEIR VIEW THAT THEY ARE GOD'S SPECIAL PEOPLE. INSULTING THEM IS THE SAME AS INSULTING GOD.
BUT JESUS WILL DO THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN, TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES, TO GROUPS OF PHARISEES AND SCRIBES. IT WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF MORE THAN ONE PARABLE – THE CLASSIC BEING THE STORY OF THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. AND HIS MIRACULOUS CURES ARE FREELY GIVEN, BUT THERE IS NO LOGIC AS TO WHY HE CURES THIS ONE AND NOT THAT ONE, EXCEPT THAT IN THE GOSPEL STORIES, IT SEEMS THAT ALL HIS MIRACLES ARE DONE TO MAKE A POINT. JESUS IS COMPASSIONATE, JESUS HAS PITY ON PEOPLE; BUT THOSE ARE NOT THE MAIN REASONS HE HEALS.
THE PEOPLE IN JESUS' HOME TOWN SEE JESUS AS A SORT OF WALKING HOSPITAL BUT THEY DON'T SEE HIM WITH EYES OF FAITH, THEY DON'T SEE THE UNDERLYING REALITY HERE, THE REALITY THAT MADE THE BLIND MAN AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AND PETER AND COUNTLESS OTHERS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AS LORD, EVEN AS THE SON OF GOD. THEY ARE BLINDED BY THE FACT THAT HE IS THE CARPENTER'S SON.
CHRISTIANS HAVE DIFFERENT ATTITUDES TOWARDS MIRACLES. SOME OF US ARE WILLING TO ADMIT THAT THEY HAPPEN, AND THAT THEY DID HAPPEN IN THE PAST, BUT WE HAVE VARIOUS REASONS WHY WE NEVER SEEM TO WITNESS THEM TODAY. SOME OF US FEEL THAT IT IS A MATTER OF FAITH, AND WE FEEL GUILTY BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH TO GET GOD TO CURE US OR OUR LOVED ONE. SOME OF US FEEL THAT THE MIRACLES OF JESUS DID WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO – GET THE CHURCH STARTED – AND NOW THERE IS NO REASON FOR MIRACLES, BECAUSE THE CHURCH HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.. AND THERE ARE CHRISTIANS WHO INSIST THAT MIRACLES ARE ALL AROUND US, ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS CLAIM THEM, OR PRAY FOR THEM IN THE NAME OF JESUS. AND IF WE ARE RIGHT WITH GOD, WE CAN EXPECT MIRACLES. THERE ARE EVEN BOOKS OUT THERE THAT TEACH US HOW TO GET MIRACLES.
BUT JESUS WORKED MIRACLES TO SHOW PEOPLE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WAS AT HAND, TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HE HAD GOD'S POWER. AND THAT CONDITIONED EVERY MIRACLE HE WORKED. IF THE MIRACLE COULD NOT TEACH HIS DISCIPLES SOMETHING, OR REVEAL SOMETHING TO THE CROWDS WHO FOLLOWED HIM, THEN IT WASN'T SOMETHING HE DID. JESUS IS THE GOD OF NATURE, AND AS NATURE'S GOD, DISTURBS THE NATURAL ORDER AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. OR, PERHAPS ANOTHER WAY TO PUT IT IS TO SAY THAT WHAT IS NATURAL IS THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF ALL.
NONE OF US GOES THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT AT LEAST ONCE OR TWICE WISHING FOR A MIRACLE; WE PRAY FOR THE HEALING OF A LOVED ONE; WE PRAY THAT GOD WILL SAVE THE LIFE OF A LITTLE CHILD, OR A DEAR FRIEND; OR HEAL A PARENT OF A CRIPPLING INJURY. AND WE WONDER WHY HE DOES NOT ANSWER. AND THEN WE REMEMBER THE STORY OF JESUS IN HIS HOME TOWN. I THINK GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO US IS OUR FREEDOM, AND GOD DESIRES THAT WE USE THAT FREEDOM TO RESPOND TO HIS LOVE. BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO. AND IF WE ARE TRULY FREE, THEN WHAT WE DO MUST HAVE CONSEQUENCES, OR ELSE OUR FREEDOM IS JUST A SHAM. AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH MIRACLES. THEY CAN HAPPEN, I BELIEVE THAT. BUT A MIRACLE, SOMETHING THAT DISTURBS THE NATURAL ORDER, HASTHE POTENTIAL TO DIMINISH THE FREEDOM WE ARE GIVEN, AND IRONICALLY, THAT'S THE PROBLEM.
SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO? WE REMEMBER THAT JESUS DIED FOR US OUT OF LOVE, AND WE HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS FITS INTO HIS LOVING PLAN. AND WE CAN ASK FOR MIRACLES, BUT REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE PURE GIFT, AND IF A PRAYER SEEMS NOT TO BE ANSWERED, IT DOESN'T MEAN OUR FAITH IS WEAK, OR WE AREN'T LOVED BY GOD. IT ONLY MEANS THAT GOD HAS SOMETHING GREATER IN STORE, SOMETHING WE WILL LEARN IS SO MUCH MORE THAN WHAT WE HAD THOUGHT ONE TIME WOULD HAVE BEEN OUR GREATEST DESIRE.
WHY DID THEY GET SO MAD AT HIM? WHY DID HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, THE PEOPLE HE GREW UP WITH, THE PEOPLE WHO AT FIRST WERE AMAZED AT THE GRACIOUS WORDS WHICH FELL FROM HIS LIPS – WHY DID THEY SUDDENLY TURN ON HIM – NOT JUST REPRIMANDING HIM, NOT JUST EXPELLING HIM FROM THE SYNAGOGUE, BUT MAKING AN ATTEMPT TO KILL HIM? WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
IF YOU WERE JEWISH, IN JESUS' TIME, YOU HAD A DEEP-SEATED PREJUDICE AGAINST PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T JEWS, EVEN PEOPLE WHO WERE VERY MUCH LIKE JEWS, SUCH AS THE SAMARITANS. WE LEARN THROUGH OTHER SOURCES THAT THE JEWS WERE DIVIDED EVEN AMONG THEMSELVES; WE KNOW ABOUT THE PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES MENTIONED IN THE SCRIPTURES. BUT THERE WERE MANY OTHER DIVISIONS. THERE WERE THE ZEALOTS, THOSE WHO REMEMBERED JUDAH MACABEE AND THE ALMOST SUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGN FOR THEIR FREEDOM. THEY REMEMBERED THE MASS SUICIDE AT MASADAH, WHEN THE SURVIVING JEWS, HOLED UP ON A MOUNTAIN, KILLED THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN, AND THEN THEMSELVES, RATHER THAN SURRENDER. THE ZEALOTS WERE FEW IN NUMBER, BUT THEY WANTED TO GO TO WAR WITH THE ROMANS, AND SHAKE OFF THEIR RULE OR DIE TRYING. THERE WERE THE ESSENES, POSSIBLY PEOPLE WHO MIGHT HAVE INFLUENCED JOHN THE BAPTIST. THEY FELT THAT IN ORDER TO BE JEWISH YOU HAD TO COMPLETELY SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM THE WORLD. THEY WERE MORE SEPARATIST THAN THE PHARISEES. THEY LIVED IN THE DESERT IN A SORT OF MONASTIC COMMUNITY. THERE WERE THE JEWS WHO LIVED THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE, THE ONES WHO WORSHIPED IN SYNAGOGUES AND USED A GREEK TRANSLATION OF SACRED SCRIPTURE. THEY WERE LOOKED DOWN ON BY THE HEBREW SPEAKING JEWS IN JUDAH, WHO CONSIDERED THEM LESS THAN PURE. AND THE GREEK-SPEAKING JEWS LOOKED AT THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM, AND CONSIDERED THEM BACKWARD AND INSULAR. BUT ALL THESE DIVISIONS ASIDE, ALL OF THEM BELIEVED THAT EVEN THE LOWEST JEW WAS BETTER THAN THE GREATEST GENTILE. AFTER ALL, THE JEWS WERE GOD'S SPECIAL PEOPLE, AND RIGHT THERE IN SCRIPTURE, YOU COULD READ WHAT GOD INTENDED TO DO TO THE GENTILES, AND IT WASN'T PRETTY.
SO HERE COMES JESUS, WHO DELIVERS AN INSULT WHICH IS ALMOST BLASPHEMOUS. HE MENTIONS TWO MIRACLES, DONE BY TWO GREAT PROPHETS, TWO MIRACLES WHICH BYPASSED THE JEWS WHO COULD HAVE USED THEM, AND HEALED GENTILES. THE CONGREGATION HAD BEEN THINKING THAT WITH JESUS, THEIR KINSMAN, THE KID WHO GREW UP IN THEIR TOWN, WHO CLAIMED TO BE ACTING FOR GOD – CERTAINLY HE WOULD DO EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR THINGS IN THEIR MIDST THAN HE HAD BEEN DOING IN OTHER JEWISH TOWNS. AND JESUS LETS THEM KNOW THAT THEIR SENSE OF PRIVILEGE, AS JEWS, AS HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, ENTITLES THEM TO NOTHING AT ALL. IT ISN'T BECAUSE HE IS THE CARPENTER'S SON THAT THEY TRY TO KILL HIM; IT'S BECAUSE IN THEIR HEARING, HE SEEMS TO HAVE BLASPHEMED, HE SEEMS TO HAVE CHALLENGED THEIR VIEW THAT THEY ARE GOD'S SPECIAL PEOPLE. INSULTING THEM IS THE SAME AS INSULTING GOD.
BUT JESUS WILL DO THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN, TO JEWISH COMMUNITIES, TO GROUPS OF PHARISEES AND SCRIBES. IT WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF MORE THAN ONE PARABLE – THE CLASSIC BEING THE STORY OF THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN. AND HIS MIRACULOUS CURES ARE FREELY GIVEN, BUT THERE IS NO LOGIC AS TO WHY HE CURES THIS ONE AND NOT THAT ONE, EXCEPT THAT IN THE GOSPEL STORIES, IT SEEMS THAT ALL HIS MIRACLES ARE DONE TO MAKE A POINT. JESUS IS COMPASSIONATE, JESUS HAS PITY ON PEOPLE; BUT THOSE ARE NOT THE MAIN REASONS HE HEALS.
THE PEOPLE IN JESUS' HOME TOWN SEE JESUS AS A SORT OF WALKING HOSPITAL BUT THEY DON'T SEE HIM WITH EYES OF FAITH, THEY DON'T SEE THE UNDERLYING REALITY HERE, THE REALITY THAT MADE THE BLIND MAN AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AND PETER AND COUNTLESS OTHERS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AS LORD, EVEN AS THE SON OF GOD. THEY ARE BLINDED BY THE FACT THAT HE IS THE CARPENTER'S SON.
CHRISTIANS HAVE DIFFERENT ATTITUDES TOWARDS MIRACLES. SOME OF US ARE WILLING TO ADMIT THAT THEY HAPPEN, AND THAT THEY DID HAPPEN IN THE PAST, BUT WE HAVE VARIOUS REASONS WHY WE NEVER SEEM TO WITNESS THEM TODAY. SOME OF US FEEL THAT IT IS A MATTER OF FAITH, AND WE FEEL GUILTY BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FAITH TO GET GOD TO CURE US OR OUR LOVED ONE. SOME OF US FEEL THAT THE MIRACLES OF JESUS DID WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO – GET THE CHURCH STARTED – AND NOW THERE IS NO REASON FOR MIRACLES, BECAUSE THE CHURCH HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED.. AND THERE ARE CHRISTIANS WHO INSIST THAT MIRACLES ARE ALL AROUND US, ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS CLAIM THEM, OR PRAY FOR THEM IN THE NAME OF JESUS. AND IF WE ARE RIGHT WITH GOD, WE CAN EXPECT MIRACLES. THERE ARE EVEN BOOKS OUT THERE THAT TEACH US HOW TO GET MIRACLES.
BUT JESUS WORKED MIRACLES TO SHOW PEOPLE THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WAS AT HAND, TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HE HAD GOD'S POWER. AND THAT CONDITIONED EVERY MIRACLE HE WORKED. IF THE MIRACLE COULD NOT TEACH HIS DISCIPLES SOMETHING, OR REVEAL SOMETHING TO THE CROWDS WHO FOLLOWED HIM, THEN IT WASN'T SOMETHING HE DID. JESUS IS THE GOD OF NATURE, AND AS NATURE'S GOD, DISTURBS THE NATURAL ORDER AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. OR, PERHAPS ANOTHER WAY TO PUT IT IS TO SAY THAT WHAT IS NATURAL IS THE GREATEST MIRACLE OF ALL.
NONE OF US GOES THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT AT LEAST ONCE OR TWICE WISHING FOR A MIRACLE; WE PRAY FOR THE HEALING OF A LOVED ONE; WE PRAY THAT GOD WILL SAVE THE LIFE OF A LITTLE CHILD, OR A DEAR FRIEND; OR HEAL A PARENT OF A CRIPPLING INJURY. AND WE WONDER WHY HE DOES NOT ANSWER. AND THEN WE REMEMBER THE STORY OF JESUS IN HIS HOME TOWN. I THINK GOD'S GREATEST GIFT TO US IS OUR FREEDOM, AND GOD DESIRES THAT WE USE THAT FREEDOM TO RESPOND TO HIS LOVE. BUT WE DON'T HAVE TO. AND IF WE ARE TRULY FREE, THEN WHAT WE DO MUST HAVE CONSEQUENCES, OR ELSE OUR FREEDOM IS JUST A SHAM. AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM WITH MIRACLES. THEY CAN HAPPEN, I BELIEVE THAT. BUT A MIRACLE, SOMETHING THAT DISTURBS THE NATURAL ORDER, HASTHE POTENTIAL TO DIMINISH THE FREEDOM WE ARE GIVEN, AND IRONICALLY, THAT'S THE PROBLEM.
SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO? WE REMEMBER THAT JESUS DIED FOR US OUT OF LOVE, AND WE HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS FITS INTO HIS LOVING PLAN. AND WE CAN ASK FOR MIRACLES, BUT REMEMBER THAT THEY ARE PURE GIFT, AND IF A PRAYER SEEMS NOT TO BE ANSWERED, IT DOESN'T MEAN OUR FAITH IS WEAK, OR WE AREN'T LOVED BY GOD. IT ONLY MEANS THAT GOD HAS SOMETHING GREATER IN STORE, SOMETHING WE WILL LEARN IS SO MUCH MORE THAN WHAT WE HAD THOUGHT ONE TIME WOULD HAVE BEEN OUR GREATEST DESIRE.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
LUKE 1: 1-4; 4: 14-21
WHEN MY CHILDREN WERE SMALL, THERE WERE MANY TIMES WHEN MY WIFE OR I WOULD TRY TO GET ONE OF THEM TO TRY SOMETHING THAT WE ENJOYED. SOMETIMES THIS WORKED AND SOMETIMES NOT. I REMEMBER A TIME WHEN WE LIVED IN AN APARTMENT IN BUFFALO WHEN I WAS IN MY TRAINING. OF COURSE I CHOSE THAT TIME TO GET INTERESTED IN MAKING WINE. ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS WANTED TO HELP, SO WE SET OUT TO FERMENT THE JUICE, LET IT SETTLE FOR A FEW DAYS, TRANSFER IT TO A STORAGE VESSEL, AND FINALLY, BOTTLE IT. ALL OF THESE STEPS REQUIRED THAT WE COMMANDEER THE BATHROOM, WHERE THERE WAS A TUB.
MY DAUGHTER WAS ABOUT FIVE YEARS OLD. THERE WERE MANY TIMES IN THE PROCESS WHEN I REALIZED I COULD DO THE JOB BETTER, FASTER, AND WITH LESS SPILLAGE IF I DID IT MYSELF. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT SHE WAS ENJOYING HERSELF IMMENSELY, AND I FOUND THAT TO BE PART OF THE FUN.
I WAS REMINDED OF THAT WHEN I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE GOSPEL TODAY. THE WAY IT SOUNDS TO US, JESUS POPS UP OUT OF NOWHERE, AND, FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT, COMES BACK TO HIS HOME TOWN AND DELIVERS A SERMON OF SORTS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. BUT WE SKIPPED OVER THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS OF LUKE'S GOSPEL, THE STORY OF THE ANNUNCIATION, THE VISITATION, THE BIRTH OF THE LORD, THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD IN THE TEMPLE, AND THE FINDING OF OUR LORD IN THE TEMPLE, NOT TO MENTION THE BIRTH OF JOHN, THE BAPTISM OF JESUS, AND JESUS' TEMPTATION IN THE DESERT. CLEARLY THE CHURCH WANTS US TO LOOK AT THIS PARTICULAR SECTION OF SCRIPTURE, AND REALIZE THAT NOW THAT ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED, JESUS IS MORE OR LESS LAUNCHING HIS MINISTRY. HE'S ALREADY BEEN PREACHING, HEALING PEOPLE, WORKING MIRACLES. THAT'S WHY NEWS ABOUT HIM HAS SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE COUNTRYSIDE. HE'S THE HOME TOWN BOY WHO MADE GOOD, AND EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE IS EAGER TO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY. IT DOESN'T SAY IT IN THE SCRIPTURE, BUT THINK ABOUT IT – HIS MOTHER WAS PROBABLY THERE IN THE SYNAGOGUE, SITTING IN THE BACK WITH THE WOMEN; BUT THE VILLAGE ITSELF WAS FAMILY, AND JESUS FOR THE MOMENT WAS THE STAR.
JESUS MUST HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH THE SCRIPTURES. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN AT A JEWISH WORSHIP SERVICE, YOU WOULD SEE THE HUGE SCROLLS WHICH ARE KEPT IN A SORT OF TABERNACLE. WHEN THEY ARE READ, THE SCROLL IS BROUGHT OUT, REMOVED FROM ITS VELVET COVERING, PUT ON A SPECIAL TABLE, AND WITH THE HELP OF ASSISTANTS, IT IS ROLLED FROM ONE END AND UNROLLED FROM THE OTHER UNTIL THE RABBI FINDS THE PASSAGE HE WILL PROCLAIM. NOTHING HAS CHANGED MUCH IN 2000 YEARS, AND YOU CAN ALMOST SEE JESUS ROLLING THROUGH THE SCROLL TO THE PASSAGE.
AND AFTER HE READS THE PASSAGE, HE SITS DOWN, AND SAYS THOSE WORDS, “TODAY, THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING.” JESUS HAS BEEN OUT DOING EXACTLY WHAT THE SCRIPTURE PREDICTS. HE HAS BEEN TELLING THE POOR GOOD NEWS, THAT GOD LOVES THEM LIKE A FATHER; HE'S BEEN WORKING MIRACLES OF HEALING, GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND, HEARING TO THE DEAF – BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE'S BEEN OPENING PEOPLE'S EYES TO THE TRUTH. HE'S HEALED PARALYZED PEOPLE, FREED THEM FROM THE PRISON OF THEIR BODIES, BUT HE'S ALSO BEEN TELLING PEOPLE THAT GOD IS ON THEIR SIDE, SO WHY SHOULD THEY FEAR ANYONE WHO CAN AT BEST DESTROY THE BODY, BUT NEVER TOUCH THE SOUL? HE HAS PROCLAIMED THAT THEY ARE FREE, RADICALLY FREE, NO MATTER WHAT THE ROMANS SAY, OR THE CHIEF PRIESTS.
ALL THIS IS IMPRESSIVE, WONDERFUL; BUT IF YOU GO BACK AND READ THE CHAPTER IN ISAIAH FROM WHICH THIS PASSAGE IS TAKEN, THE PICTURE THERE IS MUCH MORE GLORIOUS THAN WHAT JESUS HAS DONE SO FAR, OR IN FACT WHAT HE WILL DO IN THE REMAINDER OF HIS LIFE. SO WHAT DOES HE MEAN, “THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED?” STARTED, MAYBE, BUT CERTAINLY NOT FULFILLED.
WHAT JESUS IS SAYING, THOUGH, IS THAT IT IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING; AND THE WORD “HEARING” MEANS SOMETHING LIKE “DOING WHAT YOU HEAR YOU ARE TO DO” IN GREEK. SO IF WE HEAR WHAT ISAIAH SAYS AS A REQUEST FROM GOD, IF WE LEAVE OUR COMFORT ZONE, OUR TELEVISION SET, OUR COMPUTER, OUR GOLF GAME, AND DO WHAT JESUS DID, TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY, THE SCRIPTURE WILL BE FULFILLED.
JESUS, BEING GOD, COULD HAVE DONE IT ALL HIMSELF. HE COULD HAVE BROUGHT ABOUT THE DREAM OF ISAIAH, NOT ONLY THE LIBERATION OF PEOPLE FROM WHAT KEEPS THEM FROM BEING TRULY HUMAN, THE PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIAL BURDENS WE ALL CARRY; BUT ISAIAH TALKED ABOUT A TIME WHEN THE LION LAYS DOWN WITH THE LAMB, AND THE LITTLE CHILD PETS THE SNAKE WITHOUT GETTING BITTEN. WHEN THE HOLY MOUNTAIN IS A PLACE WHERE EVERY CREATURE CAN BE SAFE AND HAPPY, WHEN THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM IS A BEACON OF HOPE AND A HOME FOR ALL NATIONS. JESUS COULD DO THAT.
AND THAT IS WHY JESUS CAME INTO OUR MIDST; HIS PURPOSE IS TO FULFILL THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. AND JESUS FINDS JOY IN DOING WHAT THE FATHER SENT HIM TO DO. JOY IS ALWAYS THERE WHEN WE ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE, THE RIGHT TIME, DOING WHAT WE ARE MEANT TO DO. JESUS' JOY COMES FROM BEING UNITED TO THE PURE CREATIVE ACT OF GOD, WHO BEGAN THE UNIVERSE, AND CONTINUES TO CREATE WITHIN IT UNTIL ITS FULFILLMENT.
BUT IN THE SAME WAY I FOUND JOY IN ALLOWING MY DAUGHTER TO HELP ME MAKE WINE IN A BATHTUB SOME 38 YEARS AGO, EVEN THOUGH I COULD HAVE DONE IT FASTER AND WITH LESS SPILLAGE, JESUS SHOWS US BY HIS ACTIONS AND HIS PROCLAMATION WHAT WILL GIVE US JOY, AND STANDS BACK, AND OFFERS US THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENTER INTO HIS OWN WORK. AND IF WE TAKE HIM UP ON THAT OFFER, WE WON'T DO IT QUITE RIGHT, WE MAY MAKE A MESS OF IT LIKE CHILDREN DO, WE WILL GET TIRED AND DISCOURAGED, BUT WE WILL FIND JOY, WE WILL SHARE IN THE JOY OF GOD HIMSELF AS WE TAKE ON WHAT HE OFFERS TO SHARE WITH US. AND WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR, GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND, SETTING PRISONERS FREE, – DOING ALL THOSE THINGS THAT JESUS SHOWED US, WE WILL HAVE THE SATISFACTION OF JESUS HIMSELF, AND OUR LIVES WILL HAVE MEANT SOMETHING, OUR LIVES WILL HAVE BROUGHT THE WORLD A LITTLE CLOSER TO THE DREAM OF ISAIAH AND OF JESUS.
WHEN MY CHILDREN WERE SMALL, THERE WERE MANY TIMES WHEN MY WIFE OR I WOULD TRY TO GET ONE OF THEM TO TRY SOMETHING THAT WE ENJOYED. SOMETIMES THIS WORKED AND SOMETIMES NOT. I REMEMBER A TIME WHEN WE LIVED IN AN APARTMENT IN BUFFALO WHEN I WAS IN MY TRAINING. OF COURSE I CHOSE THAT TIME TO GET INTERESTED IN MAKING WINE. ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS WANTED TO HELP, SO WE SET OUT TO FERMENT THE JUICE, LET IT SETTLE FOR A FEW DAYS, TRANSFER IT TO A STORAGE VESSEL, AND FINALLY, BOTTLE IT. ALL OF THESE STEPS REQUIRED THAT WE COMMANDEER THE BATHROOM, WHERE THERE WAS A TUB.
MY DAUGHTER WAS ABOUT FIVE YEARS OLD. THERE WERE MANY TIMES IN THE PROCESS WHEN I REALIZED I COULD DO THE JOB BETTER, FASTER, AND WITH LESS SPILLAGE IF I DID IT MYSELF. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT SHE WAS ENJOYING HERSELF IMMENSELY, AND I FOUND THAT TO BE PART OF THE FUN.
I WAS REMINDED OF THAT WHEN I WAS THINKING ABOUT THE GOSPEL TODAY. THE WAY IT SOUNDS TO US, JESUS POPS UP OUT OF NOWHERE, AND, FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT, COMES BACK TO HIS HOME TOWN AND DELIVERS A SERMON OF SORTS IN THE SYNAGOGUE. BUT WE SKIPPED OVER THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS OF LUKE'S GOSPEL, THE STORY OF THE ANNUNCIATION, THE VISITATION, THE BIRTH OF THE LORD, THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD IN THE TEMPLE, AND THE FINDING OF OUR LORD IN THE TEMPLE, NOT TO MENTION THE BIRTH OF JOHN, THE BAPTISM OF JESUS, AND JESUS' TEMPTATION IN THE DESERT. CLEARLY THE CHURCH WANTS US TO LOOK AT THIS PARTICULAR SECTION OF SCRIPTURE, AND REALIZE THAT NOW THAT ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED, JESUS IS MORE OR LESS LAUNCHING HIS MINISTRY. HE'S ALREADY BEEN PREACHING, HEALING PEOPLE, WORKING MIRACLES. THAT'S WHY NEWS ABOUT HIM HAS SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE COUNTRYSIDE. HE'S THE HOME TOWN BOY WHO MADE GOOD, AND EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE IS EAGER TO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY. IT DOESN'T SAY IT IN THE SCRIPTURE, BUT THINK ABOUT IT – HIS MOTHER WAS PROBABLY THERE IN THE SYNAGOGUE, SITTING IN THE BACK WITH THE WOMEN; BUT THE VILLAGE ITSELF WAS FAMILY, AND JESUS FOR THE MOMENT WAS THE STAR.
JESUS MUST HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR WITH THE SCRIPTURES. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN AT A JEWISH WORSHIP SERVICE, YOU WOULD SEE THE HUGE SCROLLS WHICH ARE KEPT IN A SORT OF TABERNACLE. WHEN THEY ARE READ, THE SCROLL IS BROUGHT OUT, REMOVED FROM ITS VELVET COVERING, PUT ON A SPECIAL TABLE, AND WITH THE HELP OF ASSISTANTS, IT IS ROLLED FROM ONE END AND UNROLLED FROM THE OTHER UNTIL THE RABBI FINDS THE PASSAGE HE WILL PROCLAIM. NOTHING HAS CHANGED MUCH IN 2000 YEARS, AND YOU CAN ALMOST SEE JESUS ROLLING THROUGH THE SCROLL TO THE PASSAGE.
AND AFTER HE READS THE PASSAGE, HE SITS DOWN, AND SAYS THOSE WORDS, “TODAY, THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING.” JESUS HAS BEEN OUT DOING EXACTLY WHAT THE SCRIPTURE PREDICTS. HE HAS BEEN TELLING THE POOR GOOD NEWS, THAT GOD LOVES THEM LIKE A FATHER; HE'S BEEN WORKING MIRACLES OF HEALING, GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND, HEARING TO THE DEAF – BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, HE'S BEEN OPENING PEOPLE'S EYES TO THE TRUTH. HE'S HEALED PARALYZED PEOPLE, FREED THEM FROM THE PRISON OF THEIR BODIES, BUT HE'S ALSO BEEN TELLING PEOPLE THAT GOD IS ON THEIR SIDE, SO WHY SHOULD THEY FEAR ANYONE WHO CAN AT BEST DESTROY THE BODY, BUT NEVER TOUCH THE SOUL? HE HAS PROCLAIMED THAT THEY ARE FREE, RADICALLY FREE, NO MATTER WHAT THE ROMANS SAY, OR THE CHIEF PRIESTS.
ALL THIS IS IMPRESSIVE, WONDERFUL; BUT IF YOU GO BACK AND READ THE CHAPTER IN ISAIAH FROM WHICH THIS PASSAGE IS TAKEN, THE PICTURE THERE IS MUCH MORE GLORIOUS THAN WHAT JESUS HAS DONE SO FAR, OR IN FACT WHAT HE WILL DO IN THE REMAINDER OF HIS LIFE. SO WHAT DOES HE MEAN, “THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED?” STARTED, MAYBE, BUT CERTAINLY NOT FULFILLED.
WHAT JESUS IS SAYING, THOUGH, IS THAT IT IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING; AND THE WORD “HEARING” MEANS SOMETHING LIKE “DOING WHAT YOU HEAR YOU ARE TO DO” IN GREEK. SO IF WE HEAR WHAT ISAIAH SAYS AS A REQUEST FROM GOD, IF WE LEAVE OUR COMFORT ZONE, OUR TELEVISION SET, OUR COMPUTER, OUR GOLF GAME, AND DO WHAT JESUS DID, TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY, THE SCRIPTURE WILL BE FULFILLED.
JESUS, BEING GOD, COULD HAVE DONE IT ALL HIMSELF. HE COULD HAVE BROUGHT ABOUT THE DREAM OF ISAIAH, NOT ONLY THE LIBERATION OF PEOPLE FROM WHAT KEEPS THEM FROM BEING TRULY HUMAN, THE PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND SOCIAL BURDENS WE ALL CARRY; BUT ISAIAH TALKED ABOUT A TIME WHEN THE LION LAYS DOWN WITH THE LAMB, AND THE LITTLE CHILD PETS THE SNAKE WITHOUT GETTING BITTEN. WHEN THE HOLY MOUNTAIN IS A PLACE WHERE EVERY CREATURE CAN BE SAFE AND HAPPY, WHEN THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM IS A BEACON OF HOPE AND A HOME FOR ALL NATIONS. JESUS COULD DO THAT.
AND THAT IS WHY JESUS CAME INTO OUR MIDST; HIS PURPOSE IS TO FULFILL THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH. AND JESUS FINDS JOY IN DOING WHAT THE FATHER SENT HIM TO DO. JOY IS ALWAYS THERE WHEN WE ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE, THE RIGHT TIME, DOING WHAT WE ARE MEANT TO DO. JESUS' JOY COMES FROM BEING UNITED TO THE PURE CREATIVE ACT OF GOD, WHO BEGAN THE UNIVERSE, AND CONTINUES TO CREATE WITHIN IT UNTIL ITS FULFILLMENT.
BUT IN THE SAME WAY I FOUND JOY IN ALLOWING MY DAUGHTER TO HELP ME MAKE WINE IN A BATHTUB SOME 38 YEARS AGO, EVEN THOUGH I COULD HAVE DONE IT FASTER AND WITH LESS SPILLAGE, JESUS SHOWS US BY HIS ACTIONS AND HIS PROCLAMATION WHAT WILL GIVE US JOY, AND STANDS BACK, AND OFFERS US THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENTER INTO HIS OWN WORK. AND IF WE TAKE HIM UP ON THAT OFFER, WE WON'T DO IT QUITE RIGHT, WE MAY MAKE A MESS OF IT LIKE CHILDREN DO, WE WILL GET TIRED AND DISCOURAGED, BUT WE WILL FIND JOY, WE WILL SHARE IN THE JOY OF GOD HIMSELF AS WE TAKE ON WHAT HE OFFERS TO SHARE WITH US. AND WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR, GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND, SETTING PRISONERS FREE, – DOING ALL THOSE THINGS THAT JESUS SHOWED US, WE WILL HAVE THE SATISFACTION OF JESUS HIMSELF, AND OUR LIVES WILL HAVE MEANT SOMETHING, OUR LIVES WILL HAVE BROUGHT THE WORLD A LITTLE CLOSER TO THE DREAM OF ISAIAH AND OF JESUS.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, cycle C
JOHN 2:1-12
A NUTRITIONIST WAS GIVING A LECTURE. RED MEAT IS VERY BAD FOR YOU, HE TOLD HIS AUDIENCE. AND THAT MSG IN CHINESE FOOD, THAT'S BAD. AND COCA COLA, IT CAN EAT YOUR STOMACH LINING. BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT FOOD CAN GIVE YOU GRIEF FOR YEARS AND YEARS? AN OLD MAN IN THE AUDIENCE STOOD UP AND REPLIED, “WEDDING CAKE!”
THE PEOPLE OF JESUS' TIME CONSIDERED WEDDINGS AS PEAK EXPERIENCES. THIS WEDDING WAS NO DIFFERENT. IT WAS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST THING THAT HAD HAPPENED IN THAT LITTLE TOWN FOR MANY MONTHS, OR EVEN YEARS. THESE TOWNS HAD POPULATIONS OF MAYBE 50 FAMILIES OR LESS, SO A WEDDINGS DIDN'T HAPPEN THAT OFTEN. SO THE WHOLE TOWN WAS INVITED. AND JESUS, AND HIS MOTHER, AND HIS DISCIPLES. IT WAS ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE SOMEONE INVITED JESUS' MOTHER – MAYBE A RELATIVE OF HERS – AND SHE SAID, BRING YOUR SON, THERE WILL BE SOME NICE GIRLS HERE? AND WHEN MARY TOLD JESUS HE WAS INVITED, HE SAID, COULD I BRING SOME OF MY NEW FRIENDS? AND SHE SAID, OF COURSE, THE MORE, THE MERRIER. AFTER ALL, THE WHOLE TOWN WAS COMING, WHAT WERE A FEW MORE PEOPLE?
THESE WEDDINGS LASTED FOR SEVERAL DAYS. USUALLY THE GROOM AND HIS FRIENDS STARTED THE PARTY. THE BRIDE AND HER FRIENDS WERE HAVING THEIR OWN PARTY, BUT IT WOULD BE MUCH QUIETER. THEN, AT SOME POINT DECIDED ONLY BY THE GROOM, MAYBE AFTER HE HAD WORKED UP HIS COURAGE WITH THE URGING OF HIS FRIENDS AND A LITTLE WINE, THE GROOM AND HIS FRIENDS WOULD GO OFF TO GET THE BRIDE. SOME OF THE BRIDES FRIENDS WOULD BE WAITING, SO THAT WHEN THEY SPOTTED THE GROOM THEY COULD ESCORT HIM, AND ONE OF THEM WOULD RUN BACK TO THE BRIDE TO WARN HER THAT THE GROOM WAS COMING.
AND THEN THE BRIDE AND GROOM AND THEIR FRIENDS WOULD GO TO WHEREVER THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE THE REAL PARTY, AND THEY WOULD BE MARRIED, THE CONTRACT SIGNED, AND THE GLASS BROKEN, AND THE CELEBRATION WOULD START, AND GO ON AS LONG AS THERE WAS WINE AND MUSIC AND FOOD AND DANCING.
WE DON'T HAVE WEDDINGS LIKE THAT ANYMORE. OURS ARE VERY TAME BY COMPARISON. AND THAT IS THE CONTEXT IN WHICH JESUS WORKED HIS FIRST SIGN. WE COULD SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE SIX JARS OF WATER – SIX IS A NUMBER REPRESENTING IMPERFECTION. WE COULD POINT OUT THAT THE WATER WAS USED FOR PURIFICATION, AND JESUS SHOWS US THAT THE OLD LAW IS OVER AND THE NEW ONE IS HERE. WE COULD TALK ABOUT HOW THIS WHOLE EVENT SHOWS THAT JESUS BLESSES MARRIED LIFE, OR THAT JESUS LISTENS TO HIS MOTHER. BUT I AM STRUCK BY THE WILD PARTY, THE MUSIC, THE PEOPLE CONSUMED WITH HAVING A GOOD TIME, AND THEN, ONLY A FEW PEOPLE NOTICE, BUT THEN, MARY LEARNS THAT THE WINE WON'T LAST; THE PARTY HAS JUST BEGUN, AND THERE ISN'T ANY MORE WINE. AND ONLY A FEW SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. MARY, OF COURSE; THE SERVANTS WHO FILLED THE JARS WITH WATER AT JESUS' REQUEST; AND THE APOSTLES, WHO HAD ONLY KNOWN HIM FOR A FEW DAYS, IF WE FOLLOW THE STORY IN JOHN. AND ALL JESUS DOES IS TELL THE SERVANTS TO BRING SOME OF THE WATER TO THE MAN IN CHARGE OF THE PARTY, WHO IS AMAZED AT THE QUALITY OF WHAT WAS NOW WINE. AND THE PARTY GOES ON.
THE APOSTLES GOT IT. THEY PROVED IN THE COURSE OF THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH JESUS THAT THEY DIDN'T ALWAYS GET IT, OR GOT IT WRONG, BUT THIS TIME, THEY GOT IT. UP TILL NOW, THEY WERE FOLLOWING HIM OUT OF CURIOSITY, ATTRACTED BY HIS IDEAS, HIS CHARISMA. BUT NOW THEY SAW HIS GLORY. NOW THEY WERE COMMITTED, THEY WOULD CARRY THE MEMORY OF THIS EVENT TO THE ENDS OF THEIR LIVES. THEY WOULD GO THROUGH THE WORLD, TO ROME, TO TURKEY, GREECE, PERSIA, INDIA, TELLING EVERYONE THEY MET ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY AND WHAT IT MEANT.
WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT THEY FELT. THERE ARE TWO THINGS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES, WHICH RECUR CONSTANTLY. ONE IS THAT GOD LOVES HIS PEOPLE LIKE A GROOM LOVES HIS BRIDE, AND A WEDDING, A JEWISH WEDDING, A WEDDING THAT WENT ON UNTIL THE WINE RAN OUT, WAS A SYMBOL OF THAT LOVE. AND WINE – THE SCRIPTURES ARE FULL OF REFERENCES TO WINE. IT GLADDENS THE HEART, SAYS THE PSALMS. IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, IT WILL FLOW LIKE WATER. IN A JEWISH WEDDING IN JESUS' TIME, THE PARTY WOULD GO ON UNTIL THE WINE WAS GONE.
AND JESUS SHOWED THE APOSTLES THAT THE WINE WOULD NEVER RUN OUT. WHAT HAD BEEN 180 GALLONS OF WATER BECAME 180 GALLONS OF WINE, THE BEST WINE ANYONE HAD EVER TASTED. THE PARTY WOULD NEVER END.
IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, THERE ARE SEVEN SIGNS, SEVEN MIRACLES. EACH OF THEM DISCLOSES TO US SOMETHING ABOUT GOD. BUT THE FIRST OF THESE SIGNS, THE SIGN THAT CONVINCED THE APOSTLES, WAS WHAT HAPPENED IN A SLEEPY LITTLE TOWN IN PALESTINE, AT THE WEDDING OF A COUPLE WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT KNOWN, AMONG PEOPLE WHO SCRATCHED THEIR LIVING OUT OF THE GROUND.
GOD WAS AMONG THEM, GOD HAD FINALLY COME INTO THE WORLD, TO MARRY HIS BRIDE, TO START THE CELEBRATION THAT WOULD GO ON UNTIL THE WINE RAN OUT. AND THE WINE WOULD NEVER RUN OUT.
TODAY USED TO BE CALLED THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY. IT IS STILL A GOOD NAME SINCE THE MIRACLE OF CANA REVEALED SOMETHING ABOUT GOD.
TODAY IS ALSO THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME. AND OUR LIVES ARE FOR THE MOST PART, ORDINARY. DAY FOLLOWS DAY, AND SOON WE ARE OLD, AND WE LOOK BACK ON A LIFETIME OF WORKING, OF PROVIDING FOR OUR FAMILIES, OF PUTTING OFF THINGS WE REALLY WANTED TO DO, AND WE WONDER, WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT? WHY DO WE HAVE REGRETS, REGRETS FOR WHAT WE COULD HAVE DONE, REGRETS FOR THE MOMENTS WE SHOULD HAVE SPENT WITH OUR CHILDREN, OUR PARENTS, OUR SPOUSES; REGRETS FOR DECISIONS WE MADE THAT LOOKING BACK WE SHOULD HAVE MADE DIFFERENTLY; IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU CAN LOOK BACK AND REGRET SO MANY MOMENTS.
BUT THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA TELLS US THAT WE SHOULD LOOK FORWARD, FORWARD TO THAT MOMENT WHEN WE WILL ENTER INTO THAT JOYOUS FEAST, THAT PARTY THAT NEVER ENDS, THE TIME WHEN THE LAMB OF GOD COMES TO CLAIM HIS BRIDE, THE CHURCH. AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS STILL TO COME, THAT GOD HAS WITHHELD THE GOOD WINE UNTIL THE END, SHOULD GIVE US JOY AND A SENSE OF ANTICIPATION. AND AS WE CELEBRATE THIS EUCHARIST, MAY WE REALIZE THAT THIS IS A FORETASTE OF WHAT WE HAVE WAITING FOR US, AT THE GREAT WEDDING FEAST, WHEN THE CELEBRATION WILL BE LIKE NO CELEBRATION WE'VE EVER EXPERIENCED, WHEN THE WINE WILL NEVER RUN OUT.
A NUTRITIONIST WAS GIVING A LECTURE. RED MEAT IS VERY BAD FOR YOU, HE TOLD HIS AUDIENCE. AND THAT MSG IN CHINESE FOOD, THAT'S BAD. AND COCA COLA, IT CAN EAT YOUR STOMACH LINING. BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT FOOD CAN GIVE YOU GRIEF FOR YEARS AND YEARS? AN OLD MAN IN THE AUDIENCE STOOD UP AND REPLIED, “WEDDING CAKE!”
THE PEOPLE OF JESUS' TIME CONSIDERED WEDDINGS AS PEAK EXPERIENCES. THIS WEDDING WAS NO DIFFERENT. IT WAS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST THING THAT HAD HAPPENED IN THAT LITTLE TOWN FOR MANY MONTHS, OR EVEN YEARS. THESE TOWNS HAD POPULATIONS OF MAYBE 50 FAMILIES OR LESS, SO A WEDDINGS DIDN'T HAPPEN THAT OFTEN. SO THE WHOLE TOWN WAS INVITED. AND JESUS, AND HIS MOTHER, AND HIS DISCIPLES. IT WAS ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE SOMEONE INVITED JESUS' MOTHER – MAYBE A RELATIVE OF HERS – AND SHE SAID, BRING YOUR SON, THERE WILL BE SOME NICE GIRLS HERE? AND WHEN MARY TOLD JESUS HE WAS INVITED, HE SAID, COULD I BRING SOME OF MY NEW FRIENDS? AND SHE SAID, OF COURSE, THE MORE, THE MERRIER. AFTER ALL, THE WHOLE TOWN WAS COMING, WHAT WERE A FEW MORE PEOPLE?
THESE WEDDINGS LASTED FOR SEVERAL DAYS. USUALLY THE GROOM AND HIS FRIENDS STARTED THE PARTY. THE BRIDE AND HER FRIENDS WERE HAVING THEIR OWN PARTY, BUT IT WOULD BE MUCH QUIETER. THEN, AT SOME POINT DECIDED ONLY BY THE GROOM, MAYBE AFTER HE HAD WORKED UP HIS COURAGE WITH THE URGING OF HIS FRIENDS AND A LITTLE WINE, THE GROOM AND HIS FRIENDS WOULD GO OFF TO GET THE BRIDE. SOME OF THE BRIDES FRIENDS WOULD BE WAITING, SO THAT WHEN THEY SPOTTED THE GROOM THEY COULD ESCORT HIM, AND ONE OF THEM WOULD RUN BACK TO THE BRIDE TO WARN HER THAT THE GROOM WAS COMING.
AND THEN THE BRIDE AND GROOM AND THEIR FRIENDS WOULD GO TO WHEREVER THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE THE REAL PARTY, AND THEY WOULD BE MARRIED, THE CONTRACT SIGNED, AND THE GLASS BROKEN, AND THE CELEBRATION WOULD START, AND GO ON AS LONG AS THERE WAS WINE AND MUSIC AND FOOD AND DANCING.
WE DON'T HAVE WEDDINGS LIKE THAT ANYMORE. OURS ARE VERY TAME BY COMPARISON. AND THAT IS THE CONTEXT IN WHICH JESUS WORKED HIS FIRST SIGN. WE COULD SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE SIX JARS OF WATER – SIX IS A NUMBER REPRESENTING IMPERFECTION. WE COULD POINT OUT THAT THE WATER WAS USED FOR PURIFICATION, AND JESUS SHOWS US THAT THE OLD LAW IS OVER AND THE NEW ONE IS HERE. WE COULD TALK ABOUT HOW THIS WHOLE EVENT SHOWS THAT JESUS BLESSES MARRIED LIFE, OR THAT JESUS LISTENS TO HIS MOTHER. BUT I AM STRUCK BY THE WILD PARTY, THE MUSIC, THE PEOPLE CONSUMED WITH HAVING A GOOD TIME, AND THEN, ONLY A FEW PEOPLE NOTICE, BUT THEN, MARY LEARNS THAT THE WINE WON'T LAST; THE PARTY HAS JUST BEGUN, AND THERE ISN'T ANY MORE WINE. AND ONLY A FEW SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. MARY, OF COURSE; THE SERVANTS WHO FILLED THE JARS WITH WATER AT JESUS' REQUEST; AND THE APOSTLES, WHO HAD ONLY KNOWN HIM FOR A FEW DAYS, IF WE FOLLOW THE STORY IN JOHN. AND ALL JESUS DOES IS TELL THE SERVANTS TO BRING SOME OF THE WATER TO THE MAN IN CHARGE OF THE PARTY, WHO IS AMAZED AT THE QUALITY OF WHAT WAS NOW WINE. AND THE PARTY GOES ON.
THE APOSTLES GOT IT. THEY PROVED IN THE COURSE OF THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH JESUS THAT THEY DIDN'T ALWAYS GET IT, OR GOT IT WRONG, BUT THIS TIME, THEY GOT IT. UP TILL NOW, THEY WERE FOLLOWING HIM OUT OF CURIOSITY, ATTRACTED BY HIS IDEAS, HIS CHARISMA. BUT NOW THEY SAW HIS GLORY. NOW THEY WERE COMMITTED, THEY WOULD CARRY THE MEMORY OF THIS EVENT TO THE ENDS OF THEIR LIVES. THEY WOULD GO THROUGH THE WORLD, TO ROME, TO TURKEY, GREECE, PERSIA, INDIA, TELLING EVERYONE THEY MET ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY AND WHAT IT MEANT.
WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT THEY FELT. THERE ARE TWO THINGS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES, WHICH RECUR CONSTANTLY. ONE IS THAT GOD LOVES HIS PEOPLE LIKE A GROOM LOVES HIS BRIDE, AND A WEDDING, A JEWISH WEDDING, A WEDDING THAT WENT ON UNTIL THE WINE RAN OUT, WAS A SYMBOL OF THAT LOVE. AND WINE – THE SCRIPTURES ARE FULL OF REFERENCES TO WINE. IT GLADDENS THE HEART, SAYS THE PSALMS. IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, IT WILL FLOW LIKE WATER. IN A JEWISH WEDDING IN JESUS' TIME, THE PARTY WOULD GO ON UNTIL THE WINE WAS GONE.
AND JESUS SHOWED THE APOSTLES THAT THE WINE WOULD NEVER RUN OUT. WHAT HAD BEEN 180 GALLONS OF WATER BECAME 180 GALLONS OF WINE, THE BEST WINE ANYONE HAD EVER TASTED. THE PARTY WOULD NEVER END.
IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, THERE ARE SEVEN SIGNS, SEVEN MIRACLES. EACH OF THEM DISCLOSES TO US SOMETHING ABOUT GOD. BUT THE FIRST OF THESE SIGNS, THE SIGN THAT CONVINCED THE APOSTLES, WAS WHAT HAPPENED IN A SLEEPY LITTLE TOWN IN PALESTINE, AT THE WEDDING OF A COUPLE WHOSE NAMES ARE NOT KNOWN, AMONG PEOPLE WHO SCRATCHED THEIR LIVING OUT OF THE GROUND.
GOD WAS AMONG THEM, GOD HAD FINALLY COME INTO THE WORLD, TO MARRY HIS BRIDE, TO START THE CELEBRATION THAT WOULD GO ON UNTIL THE WINE RAN OUT. AND THE WINE WOULD NEVER RUN OUT.
TODAY USED TO BE CALLED THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY. IT IS STILL A GOOD NAME SINCE THE MIRACLE OF CANA REVEALED SOMETHING ABOUT GOD.
TODAY IS ALSO THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME. AND OUR LIVES ARE FOR THE MOST PART, ORDINARY. DAY FOLLOWS DAY, AND SOON WE ARE OLD, AND WE LOOK BACK ON A LIFETIME OF WORKING, OF PROVIDING FOR OUR FAMILIES, OF PUTTING OFF THINGS WE REALLY WANTED TO DO, AND WE WONDER, WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT? WHY DO WE HAVE REGRETS, REGRETS FOR WHAT WE COULD HAVE DONE, REGRETS FOR THE MOMENTS WE SHOULD HAVE SPENT WITH OUR CHILDREN, OUR PARENTS, OUR SPOUSES; REGRETS FOR DECISIONS WE MADE THAT LOOKING BACK WE SHOULD HAVE MADE DIFFERENTLY; IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU CAN LOOK BACK AND REGRET SO MANY MOMENTS.
BUT THE WEDDING FEAST AT CANA TELLS US THAT WE SHOULD LOOK FORWARD, FORWARD TO THAT MOMENT WHEN WE WILL ENTER INTO THAT JOYOUS FEAST, THAT PARTY THAT NEVER ENDS, THE TIME WHEN THE LAMB OF GOD COMES TO CLAIM HIS BRIDE, THE CHURCH. AND THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS STILL TO COME, THAT GOD HAS WITHHELD THE GOOD WINE UNTIL THE END, SHOULD GIVE US JOY AND A SENSE OF ANTICIPATION. AND AS WE CELEBRATE THIS EUCHARIST, MAY WE REALIZE THAT THIS IS A FORETASTE OF WHAT WE HAVE WAITING FOR US, AT THE GREAT WEDDING FEAST, WHEN THE CELEBRATION WILL BE LIKE NO CELEBRATION WE'VE EVER EXPERIENCED, WHEN THE WINE WILL NEVER RUN OUT.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Baptism of the Lord, 2010
LUKE 3: 15-16, 21-22
ONE QUESTION WHICH HAS TROUBLED CHRISTIANS ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING IS WHY JESUS SUBMITTED TO BAPTISM. EVEN JOHN SEEM TO HAVE PROBLEMS; WE HEAR HIM SAY IN ANOTHER PLACE THAT JESUS SHOULD BE BAPTIZING HIM, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, AND JESUS REPLIES, LET IT BE SO FOR NOW. WE KNOW THAT JOHN WAS GIVING A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE, THAT IS, THOSE WHO WERE BAPTIZED WERE DEMONSTRATING THEIR REGRET FOR THE WAY THEY HAD BEEN LIVING THEIR LIVES, AND THE INTENTION TO TURN THINGS AROUND. AND SO AS WE TRY TO GET OUR MINDS AROUND THE FACT OF JESUS, WHO IS BOTH GOD AND MAN, WHO IS SINLESS, UNDERGOING THE BAPTISM OF JOHN, WE KEEP COMING UP WITH POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS; MAYBE HE WASN'T REALLY GOD UNTIL THE BAPTISM – AFTER ALL, THAT SEEMS TO BE WHEN GOD CLAIMS HIM AS HIS SON. BUT WE KNOW THAT ISN'T RIGHT. WELL, MAYBE HE IS JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS; BUT THAT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE SOMETHING SOMEONE WHO CLAIMED TO BE “THE TRUTH” WOULD DO. OR, MAYBE HE IS SANCTIFYING THE WATER WITH WHICH WE WILL BE BAPTIZED. OR, AS SOME SCHOLARS MAINTAIN, THE BAPTISM TOOK PLACE IN THE JORDAN RIVER, NEAR THE SPOT WHERE THE WANDERING HEBREWS HAD CROSSED OVER INTO THE PROMISED LAND WHEN JOSHUA WAS LEADING THEM. WHEN THEY TOOK POSSESSION OF THE LAND, THE WANDERING FUGITIVE SLAVES BECAME A NATION; AND THE PEOPLE BEING BAPTIZED BY JOHN WERE RE-ENACTING THAT MOMENT AS A SIGN OF THEIR REDEDICATION TO GOD AS JEWS. IF THIS WERE THE SITUATION, JESUS COULD CERTAINLY PARTICIPATE IN THAT SORT OF BAPTISM WITHOUT RAISING ANY QUESTIONS.
BUT AS I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS GOSPEL, THIS BAPTISM OF JESUS, IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT MAYBE THE EXPLANATION IS SIMPLER THAN ANY OF THESE. MAYBE JESUS DID UNDERGO THE BAPTISM OF JOHN, THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE, PRECISELY BECAUSE IT WAS A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE. JESUS REALLY WANTED TO REPENT.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, WE ARE TOLD THAT JESUS IS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS EXCEPT SIN. ALL THINGS. JESUS IS THE COMPLETE HUMAN BEING, THE FULFILLED HUMAN BEING, THE HUMAN BEING WHO IS THE WAY GOD MEANT US TO BE. THE REST OF US ARE, TO VARYING DEGREES, INCOMPLETE. AND IN OUR FALLEN HUMANITY, WHAT KEEPS US FROM FULLY REALIZING OUR HUMAN NATURE IS ALWAYS, SIN. YOU AND I STRUGGLE TO OVERCOME SIN AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU PROBABLY KEEP STRUGGLING, BUT LONG AGO GAVE UP HOPE THAT THE STRUGGLE WOULD END ANYTIME BEFORE DYING. EVERY TIME WE OVERCOME ONE SINFUL TRAIT WE DISCOVER ANOTHER, AND WE KNOW THAT THE GREATEST OF SAINTS BECAME SPIRITUALLY SADDENED BY EVEN THINGS THAT WOULD SEEM TRIVIAL TO YOU AND I – THE MORE “PERFECT” THEY BECAME, THE MORE SENSITIVE THEY BECAME TO EVEN TINY IMPERFECTIONS. OUR STRUGGLE, OUR SENSITIVITY TO THE EFFECTS OF SIN IN US NO MATTER HOW HOLY WE MAY BECOME, IS A SIGN OF BEING LESS THAN FULLY HUMAN. AND FOR US TO REPENT IS FOR US TO HAVE AN INNER STATE WHICH SAYS THAT WE KNOW WE'VE NOT MET THE MARK IN THE PAST, AND WE WILL TAKE STEPS TO DO BETTER IN THE FUTURE. REPENTANCE SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING THAT MAKES US MORE HUMAN RATHER THAN LESS HUMAN, AND JESUS, WHO HAD NOTHING TO REPENT ABOUT, TAKES ON THE STATE OF REPENTANCE THAT IS PRESENT MOST STRONGLY IN THOSE WHO ARE MOST ADVANCED IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE; THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SIN KEEPS US FROM REALIZING OUR TRUE DESTINY AS HUMAN BEINGS, AND THE SADNESS THAT THIS IS SO. JESUS, WHO IS GOD BECOME MAN, IS SO TRULY MAN THAT HE SHARES WITH US, HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, HIS OWN FLESH AND BLOOD, THIS SENSE.
AND JESUS WHO IS SINLESS, NEVERTHELESS SHOWS IN HIS LIFE THAT BECAUSE OF SIN EVEN HE MUST SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. FIRST OF ALL, HE LIVES HIS LIFE CONFINED TO A HUMAN BODY, SUBJECT TO DECAY, INJURY, PAIN; EVEN WHEN WE ARE YOUNG AND HEALTHY, WE QUICKLY REALIZE THAT OUR BODIES ARE LIMITS, THEY HOLD US BACK, THEY KEEP US FROM DOING WHAT WE WANT TO DO. I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHY I HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN THE ABILITY TO FLY LIKE SUPERMAN. MY BODY HELD ME BACK. SECOND, JESUS MEETS PEOPLE WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND HIM, SOMETIMES THROUGH IGNORANCE, SOMETIMES WILLFULLY; COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE SHOULD BE CRYSTAL CLEAR, AND NEVER FILTERED THROUGH ATTITUDES AND UPBRINGING, NEVER MISUNDERSTOOD OUT OF IGNORANCE. THAT'S A CONSEQUENCE OF SIN AS WELL. AND JESUS OBVIOUSLY SUFFERED AND DIED. THAT IS THE ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. SO JESUS CAN REPENT THOUGH HE IS SINLESS. YOU AND I REPENT WHEN WE REALIZE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS. JESUS LIKEWISE REALIZES THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS IN HIS OWN LIFE AND DEATH. AND SO HE GOES TO JOHN AND RECEIVES THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE.
SO AS WE MEDITATE ON THE STRANGE SCENE OF GOD BEING BAPTIZED IN A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE BY ONE OF HIS CREATURES, PERHAPS WE SHOULD SAY, HOW REAL, HOW DEEP IS OUR OWN REPENTANCE. LIKE JESUS WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE SIN, OUR OWN SINS AND THE SINS OF EVERY ONE WHO HAS EVER LIVED AND EVER WILL LIVE, HOLDS US BACK FROM BECOMING THE HUMAN BEINGS THAT GOD CREATED US TO BE. THE FIRST STEP IS TO REALIZE THIS, DEEP IN OUR HEARTS. THE SECOND IS TO FEEL REGRET, TO BE SORRY, NOT ONLY FOR OUR SINS, BUT FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD. JESUS IS SINLESS, BUT SINCE HE TOOK ON OUR NATURE, HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REGRET THE SINS CAUSED BY THAT NATURE. THE THIRD PART OF REPENTANCE IS TO RESOLVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SITUATION, AND WHAT WE CAN ALWAYS DO IS TO DEAL WITH OUR OWN SINS, -- BUT SOMETIMES WE ARE CALLED TO DEAL WITH THE SINS OF HUMANITY AS A WHOLE, THE INJUSTICE, THE POVERTY, THE IGNORANCE THAT NEED NOT HAVE BEEN. AND DEALING WITH PERSONAL AND SOCIAL SIN IS THE HARDEST PART.
JESUS WAS BAPTIZED IN A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE, BUT ORDERED HIS APOSTLES TO BAPTIZE ALL IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND OUR BAPTISMS, THE BAPTISM THAT JESUS HANDED DOWN TO US, GIVE US THE GRACE TO MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF THE REPENTANCE THAT WE FEEL. SO ON THIS DAY WHEN WE REMEMBER THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD, LET US ASK FOR A RENEWAL OF OUR OWN BAPTISMAL GRACES, SO THAT WE CAN RESPOND TO THE FATHER WHO CALLS US ALL NOT TO BE DIVINE, BUT TO BE FULLY HUMAN.
ONE QUESTION WHICH HAS TROUBLED CHRISTIANS ALMOST FROM THE BEGINNING IS WHY JESUS SUBMITTED TO BAPTISM. EVEN JOHN SEEM TO HAVE PROBLEMS; WE HEAR HIM SAY IN ANOTHER PLACE THAT JESUS SHOULD BE BAPTIZING HIM, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND, AND JESUS REPLIES, LET IT BE SO FOR NOW. WE KNOW THAT JOHN WAS GIVING A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE, THAT IS, THOSE WHO WERE BAPTIZED WERE DEMONSTRATING THEIR REGRET FOR THE WAY THEY HAD BEEN LIVING THEIR LIVES, AND THE INTENTION TO TURN THINGS AROUND. AND SO AS WE TRY TO GET OUR MINDS AROUND THE FACT OF JESUS, WHO IS BOTH GOD AND MAN, WHO IS SINLESS, UNDERGOING THE BAPTISM OF JOHN, WE KEEP COMING UP WITH POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS; MAYBE HE WASN'T REALLY GOD UNTIL THE BAPTISM – AFTER ALL, THAT SEEMS TO BE WHEN GOD CLAIMS HIM AS HIS SON. BUT WE KNOW THAT ISN'T RIGHT. WELL, MAYBE HE IS JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS; BUT THAT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE SOMETHING SOMEONE WHO CLAIMED TO BE “THE TRUTH” WOULD DO. OR, MAYBE HE IS SANCTIFYING THE WATER WITH WHICH WE WILL BE BAPTIZED. OR, AS SOME SCHOLARS MAINTAIN, THE BAPTISM TOOK PLACE IN THE JORDAN RIVER, NEAR THE SPOT WHERE THE WANDERING HEBREWS HAD CROSSED OVER INTO THE PROMISED LAND WHEN JOSHUA WAS LEADING THEM. WHEN THEY TOOK POSSESSION OF THE LAND, THE WANDERING FUGITIVE SLAVES BECAME A NATION; AND THE PEOPLE BEING BAPTIZED BY JOHN WERE RE-ENACTING THAT MOMENT AS A SIGN OF THEIR REDEDICATION TO GOD AS JEWS. IF THIS WERE THE SITUATION, JESUS COULD CERTAINLY PARTICIPATE IN THAT SORT OF BAPTISM WITHOUT RAISING ANY QUESTIONS.
BUT AS I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS GOSPEL, THIS BAPTISM OF JESUS, IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT MAYBE THE EXPLANATION IS SIMPLER THAN ANY OF THESE. MAYBE JESUS DID UNDERGO THE BAPTISM OF JOHN, THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE, PRECISELY BECAUSE IT WAS A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE. JESUS REALLY WANTED TO REPENT.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, WE ARE TOLD THAT JESUS IS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS EXCEPT SIN. ALL THINGS. JESUS IS THE COMPLETE HUMAN BEING, THE FULFILLED HUMAN BEING, THE HUMAN BEING WHO IS THE WAY GOD MEANT US TO BE. THE REST OF US ARE, TO VARYING DEGREES, INCOMPLETE. AND IN OUR FALLEN HUMANITY, WHAT KEEPS US FROM FULLY REALIZING OUR HUMAN NATURE IS ALWAYS, SIN. YOU AND I STRUGGLE TO OVERCOME SIN AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. IF YOU ARE LIKE ME, YOU PROBABLY KEEP STRUGGLING, BUT LONG AGO GAVE UP HOPE THAT THE STRUGGLE WOULD END ANYTIME BEFORE DYING. EVERY TIME WE OVERCOME ONE SINFUL TRAIT WE DISCOVER ANOTHER, AND WE KNOW THAT THE GREATEST OF SAINTS BECAME SPIRITUALLY SADDENED BY EVEN THINGS THAT WOULD SEEM TRIVIAL TO YOU AND I – THE MORE “PERFECT” THEY BECAME, THE MORE SENSITIVE THEY BECAME TO EVEN TINY IMPERFECTIONS. OUR STRUGGLE, OUR SENSITIVITY TO THE EFFECTS OF SIN IN US NO MATTER HOW HOLY WE MAY BECOME, IS A SIGN OF BEING LESS THAN FULLY HUMAN. AND FOR US TO REPENT IS FOR US TO HAVE AN INNER STATE WHICH SAYS THAT WE KNOW WE'VE NOT MET THE MARK IN THE PAST, AND WE WILL TAKE STEPS TO DO BETTER IN THE FUTURE. REPENTANCE SEEMS TO BE SOMETHING THAT MAKES US MORE HUMAN RATHER THAN LESS HUMAN, AND JESUS, WHO HAD NOTHING TO REPENT ABOUT, TAKES ON THE STATE OF REPENTANCE THAT IS PRESENT MOST STRONGLY IN THOSE WHO ARE MOST ADVANCED IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE; THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SIN KEEPS US FROM REALIZING OUR TRUE DESTINY AS HUMAN BEINGS, AND THE SADNESS THAT THIS IS SO. JESUS, WHO IS GOD BECOME MAN, IS SO TRULY MAN THAT HE SHARES WITH US, HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, HIS OWN FLESH AND BLOOD, THIS SENSE.
AND JESUS WHO IS SINLESS, NEVERTHELESS SHOWS IN HIS LIFE THAT BECAUSE OF SIN EVEN HE MUST SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN. FIRST OF ALL, HE LIVES HIS LIFE CONFINED TO A HUMAN BODY, SUBJECT TO DECAY, INJURY, PAIN; EVEN WHEN WE ARE YOUNG AND HEALTHY, WE QUICKLY REALIZE THAT OUR BODIES ARE LIMITS, THEY HOLD US BACK, THEY KEEP US FROM DOING WHAT WE WANT TO DO. I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS VERY YOUNG I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHY I HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN THE ABILITY TO FLY LIKE SUPERMAN. MY BODY HELD ME BACK. SECOND, JESUS MEETS PEOPLE WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND HIM, SOMETIMES THROUGH IGNORANCE, SOMETIMES WILLFULLY; COMMUNICATION BETWEEN PEOPLE SHOULD BE CRYSTAL CLEAR, AND NEVER FILTERED THROUGH ATTITUDES AND UPBRINGING, NEVER MISUNDERSTOOD OUT OF IGNORANCE. THAT'S A CONSEQUENCE OF SIN AS WELL. AND JESUS OBVIOUSLY SUFFERED AND DIED. THAT IS THE ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. SO JESUS CAN REPENT THOUGH HE IS SINLESS. YOU AND I REPENT WHEN WE REALIZE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS. JESUS LIKEWISE REALIZES THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS IN HIS OWN LIFE AND DEATH. AND SO HE GOES TO JOHN AND RECEIVES THE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE.
SO AS WE MEDITATE ON THE STRANGE SCENE OF GOD BEING BAPTIZED IN A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE BY ONE OF HIS CREATURES, PERHAPS WE SHOULD SAY, HOW REAL, HOW DEEP IS OUR OWN REPENTANCE. LIKE JESUS WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE SIN, OUR OWN SINS AND THE SINS OF EVERY ONE WHO HAS EVER LIVED AND EVER WILL LIVE, HOLDS US BACK FROM BECOMING THE HUMAN BEINGS THAT GOD CREATED US TO BE. THE FIRST STEP IS TO REALIZE THIS, DEEP IN OUR HEARTS. THE SECOND IS TO FEEL REGRET, TO BE SORRY, NOT ONLY FOR OUR SINS, BUT FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD. JESUS IS SINLESS, BUT SINCE HE TOOK ON OUR NATURE, HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REGRET THE SINS CAUSED BY THAT NATURE. THE THIRD PART OF REPENTANCE IS TO RESOLVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SITUATION, AND WHAT WE CAN ALWAYS DO IS TO DEAL WITH OUR OWN SINS, -- BUT SOMETIMES WE ARE CALLED TO DEAL WITH THE SINS OF HUMANITY AS A WHOLE, THE INJUSTICE, THE POVERTY, THE IGNORANCE THAT NEED NOT HAVE BEEN. AND DEALING WITH PERSONAL AND SOCIAL SIN IS THE HARDEST PART.
JESUS WAS BAPTIZED IN A BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE, BUT ORDERED HIS APOSTLES TO BAPTIZE ALL IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND OUR BAPTISMS, THE BAPTISM THAT JESUS HANDED DOWN TO US, GIVE US THE GRACE TO MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF THE REPENTANCE THAT WE FEEL. SO ON THIS DAY WHEN WE REMEMBER THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD, LET US ASK FOR A RENEWAL OF OUR OWN BAPTISMAL GRACES, SO THAT WE CAN RESPOND TO THE FATHER WHO CALLS US ALL NOT TO BE DIVINE, BUT TO BE FULLY HUMAN.
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