MATTHEW 3:1-12
JOHN THE BAPTIST TELLS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE FOLLOWING HIM TO REPENT. TO MANY OF US, REPENTANCE MEANS THAT WE SHOULD BE SORRY FOR OUR SINS AND RESOLVE TO DO BETTER. OF COURSE WE SHOULD DO THAT, BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT JOHN HAD IN MIND. JOHN SPOKE IN ARAMAIC, BUT THE EARLIEST COPIES OF THE GOSPELS WERE IN GREEK, AND THE WORD USED HERE IS “METANOIA”. METANOIA MORE OR LESS MEANS “ABOVE OR BEYOND ONE'S MIND.” THE GREEKS USED THE WORD TO DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF THINKING A NEW WAY OR ADOPTING A DIFFERENT WAY OF LOOKING AT THINGS.
SO IT'S NOT BEING SORRY FOR YOUR SINS THAT JOHN WANTS, IT'S SOMETHING DIFFERENT. HE CALLS US TO CHANGE OUR POINT OF VIEW. BUT TO WHAT? ONCE I HEARD A TALK IN WHICH THE PREACHER SAID THAT WE HAD TO ALWAYS REPENT, REPENTANCE WAS A LIFELONG PROJECT. BUT HE NEVER ANSWERED THE QUESTION – WHAT IS THE GOAL OF REPENTANCE, OF METANOIA? HOW CAN WE DO THIS IF WE DON'T KNOW WHERE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO END UP?
OFF THE COAST OF MARYLAND AND VIRGINIA ARE TWO BARRIER ISLANDS. EVER SINCE THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY THERE HAVE BEEN HORSES ON THESE ISLANDS. THEY THINK THEY MAY HAVE GOTTEN THERE FROM A SPANISH GALLEON THAT SANK NEARBY. OVER THE YEARS, THESE WILD HORSES HAVE GOTTEN SMALLER AND STOCKIER. THEY CAN'T GET OFF THE ISLANDS, AND THEY LIVE ON THE LOCAL VEGETATION, WHICH IS NOT A VERY GOOD FOOD FOR HORSES; SEA GRASSES AND VARIOUS WEEDS LACK SOME OF THE NUTRIENTS THAT HORSES NEED, SO THE WILD HORSES DEVELOP SOFT BONES AND ARTHRITIS. SANDSTORMS ARE FREQUENT, AND BECAUSE SAND DUST IS EVERYWHERE, THEY WEAR THEIR TEETH DOWN FASTER THAN HORSES ON THE MAINLAND WOULD. THEY ALSO GET DENTAL PROBLEMS. AND FLIES AND FLEAS AND VARIOUS OTHER PESTS ARE ALWAYS BITING. HORSES THAT ARE PLAGUED BY PESTS WILL SOMETIMES DIVE INTO WATER TO DROWN THE BITING INSECTS. THESE HORSES CAN ONLY IMMERSE THEMSELVES IN SALT WATER, AND WHEN THAT DRIES, IT IRRITATES THEIR SKIN EVEN MORE. IN OTHER WORDS, THESE WILD HORSES HAVE KIND OF A LOUSY LIFE.
EVERY SUMMER SINCE 1925, THE HERD OF HORSES ARE CHASED ACROSS A SHALLOW BODY OF WATER ONTO THE ISLAND OF CHINCATEAGUE, WHERE SEVERAL OF THE FOALS AND YEARLINGS ARE AUCTIONED OFF USUALLY TO BECOME PETS. IN THEIR NEW LIVES, THEY GET FED REGULARLY AND ARE GIVEN THE RIGHT KIND OF DIET; THEIR NEW OWNERS GROOM THEM AND KEEP THEIR COATS CLEAN; AND THEY HAVE SHELTER FROM THE WIND AND THE RAIN, AND ACCESS TO FRESH WATER. AND THEY ARE “BROKEN”, A SOMEWHAT DIFFICULT PROCESS IN WHICH THEY LEARN TO OBEY COMMANDS AND CARRY A RIDER, OR PULL A CARRIAGE.
IN SUMMARY, THE HORSE ON THE ISLAND LIVES FOR ITSELF, BUT THE HORSE THAT BECOMES DOMESTICATED LIVES FOR SOMEONE ELSE.
I KNOW THAT'S A SILLY EXAMPLE, BUT THAT IS WHAT JOHN, AND LATER, JESUS, MEANS BY REPENTANCE. WE STOP LIVING FOR OURSELVES, AND WE LIVE FOR SOMEONE ELSE. WE QUIT TRYING TO GUIDE OUR OWN LIVES AND WE LET GOD GUIDE US. AND THAT IS A LIFETIME'S WORTH OF WORK, BUT AT LEAST WE NOW KNOW WHERE WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GO, WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO WHEN WE GO THROUGH “METANOIA” WHEN WE CHANGE OUR POINT OF VIEW.
JOHN'S CALL IS NOT A NEW ONE. THE CALL TO REPENTANCE IS AS OLD AS MANKIND. ADAM AND EVE WERE CALLED, BUT CHOSE TO LIVE FOR THEMSELVES. ABRAHAM WAS CALLED, AND CHOSE TO LIVE FOR GOD, TO LET GOD LEAD HIS LIFE FOR HIM. AND THE CALL CONTINUES DOWN THROUGH THE PRESENT DAY; EVERY PERSON IS CALLED, AND EVERY PERSON CAN MAKE THE CHOICE – TO CONTINUE TO LIVE FOR HIMSELF, OR TO ALLOW GOD TO TAKE OVER HIS LIFE.
THINK BACK TO THOSE HORSES FOR A MINUTE. WE HUMAN BEINGS STILL FEEL A LITTLE UNEASY ABOUT THOSE HORSES WHO GET DOMESTICATED. AFTER ALL, THEY SEEM TO BE GIVING UP THEIR FREEDOM. PROBABLY THIS DOESN'T BOTHER THE HORSE, BUT WE HUMAN BEINGS TREASURE OUR INDEPENDENCE, AND IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IF WE GIVE OUR LIVES TO GOD, WE GIVE SOMETHING UP. BUT THAT'S AN ILLUSION. IN SOME MYSTERIOUS WAY THAT IS ONLY APPARENT TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS PROCESS, LETTING GOD LEAD YOUR LIFE IS REAL FREEDOM; JUST ASK A SAINT. WE LIKE FREEDOM BECAUSE IT ALLOWS US TO CHOOSE WHAT WE SEE AS GOOD. BUT IF GOD IS LEADING OUR LIFE, WE ALREADY HAVE THE GREATEST GOOD. LIKE THE HORSE THAT NEEDS TO BE BROKEN, TO LET GOD LIVE OUR LIVES IS GOING TO TAKE A LITTLE PAIN AND READJUSTMENT, AND THE MORE WE OPEN UP TO GOD, THE MORE WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS BREAKING IN PROCESS.
TO A DOMESTICATED HORSE, NOT ONLY IS THERE A GREAT IMPROVEMENT IN HEALTH, BUT POSSIBILITIES ARE OPENED UP WHICH WOULD NEVER OCCUR TO THE WILD HORSE. AND THE DOMESTICATED HORSE WILL LIVE ABOUT TWICE AS LONG AS HE WOULD HAVE IN THE WILD, ON THE BARRIER ISLAND OFF THE COAST OF VIRGINIA.
REPENTANCE, METANOIA, CHANGING OUR POINT OF VIEW; IF WE STOP LIVING FOR OURSELVES AND BEGIN LETTING GOD LIVE IN US, LIVING FOR GOD, OUR LIVES WILL CHANGE FOR THE BETTER; WE WILL FIND OURSELVES CAUGHT UP IN A CAUSE GREATER THAN ANYTHING WE CAN IMAGINE; WE WILL BECOME POWERFUL AND ABLE TO DO WHAT WE COULD NEVER DO BY OURSELVES; AND WE WILL HAVE ABUNDANT LIFE. IT'S ALL THERE IN THE WORDS OF JESUS.
JOHN CALLED ON HIS FOLLOWERS TO REPENT. HE WAS A GOOD PSYCHOLOGIST. HE KNEW THAT MANY WHO HEARD HIM WOULD DESIRE TO REPENT, TO ENTER INTO THIS WONDERFUL RELATIONSHIP SO FAR BETTER THAN ANYTHING THEY COULD ACHIEVE ON THEIR OWN. BUT DESIRE IS NEVER ENOUGH, DESIRE DOESN'T MAKE A CHANGE. IT'S NECESSARY TO DO MORE, TO PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT. IF YOU REALLY WANT TO LET GOD TAKE OVER YOUR LIFE, IF YOU WANT TO ACCEPT THE WONDERFUL INVITATION GOD HOLDS OUT TO YOU, YOU HAVE TO LIVE AS THOUGH YOU ARE ALREADY THERE. ONE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF LIVING FOR GOD IS THAT GOD BEGINS TO USE YOU TO BRING ABOUT WHAT GOD WANTS TO HAPPEN. THAT MEANS GOOD WORKS. SO JOHN TELLS HIS FOLLOWERS, “PRODUCE GOOD FRUIT AS EVIDENCE OF YOUR REPENTANCE.” WE WILL NEVER GET TO HEAVEN BY DOING GOOD THINGS. BUT IF WE BEGIN TO ACT AS JESUS ACTED, WE WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE, TO GIVE OUR LIVES TO GOD.
SO ACCEPT JOHN'S CHALLENGE. CHANGE YOUR LIFE, TURN AROUND. STOP LIVING FOR YOUR SELF, AND GIVE YOUR WHOLE SELF TO GOD. AND DO GOOD WORKS AS EVIDENCE. AND YOUR LIFE WILL BE BETTER THAN ANYTHING YOU HAVE EVER IMAGINED.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
First Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 24:37-44
SEVERAL YEARS AGO I TOOK CARE OF A PATIENT WITH A FATAL LIVER DISEASE. HE HAD A FEW YEARS LEFT, BUT IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE VERY MUCH SINCE HE WASN'T THAT OLD. THE ONLY CURE WOULD BE A LIVER TRANSPLANT, SO I ARRANGED FOR HIM TO SEE THE TRANSPLANT PROGRAM AT A BOSTON HOSPITAL. THERE THEY DID ALL KINDS OF TESTS, SOME TO DETERMINE HIS TISSUE TYPE – SOMETHING LIKE A BLOOD TYPE, SO THEY COULD SELECT A COMPATIBLE DONOR; AND SOME TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH DAMAGE HAD BEEN DONE TO HIS HEART AND LUNGS BY THE LIVER DISEASE, SINCE IF THERE WAS TOO MUCH DAMAGE, IT WOULDN'T MAKE SENSE TO TRANSPLANT A NEW LIVER. AND AFTER THAT, THEY TOLD HIM TO WAIT. AND WAIT HE DID. HE HAD TO CHANGE HIS WHOLE ROUTINE. IN THE DAYS BEFORE CELL PHONES, HE MADE SURE SOMEONE WAS ALWAYS HOME TO ANSWER THE PHONE, AND HE CHECKED IN EVERY HALF HOUR WHEN HE WAS AWAY. HE COULD NO LONGER GO ON TRIPS OUT OF THE AREA; HE HAD TO BE WITHIN AN HOUR'S RIDE TO THE HOSPITAL AT ALL TIMES. HE HAD TO BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL ABOUT CATCHING COLDS, SINCE THEY WOULDN'T DO THE TRANSPLANT IF HE WAS SICK. AND TWO YEARS WENT BY, AND ONE NIGHT, HE RECEIVED THE CALL – A PERSON HAD BEEN IN A FATAL CAR ACCIDENT, HAD ARRIVED IN AN EMERGENCY ROOM BRAIN DEAD, AND HIS LIVER WAS BEING RUSHED TO THE TRANSPLANT CENTER. AND MY PATIENT GRABBED THE BAG THAT HAD BEEN PACKED AND READY, AND WENT TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE WITHIN A FEW HOURS, HE HAD A NEW LIVER.
WHAT IF, AFTER A YEAR OR SO OF WAITING, HE HAD SLACKED OFF, HE HAD STOPPED BEING READY? WHEN THE CALL CAME, WOULD HE SAY, “I CAN'T MAKE IT NOW, HOW ABOUT FRIDAY?” OR HE MIGHT HAVE MISSED THE CALL COMPLETELY, AND THE LIVER WOULD GO TO THE NEXT AVAILABLE PATIENT.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAVE GONE BY, AND WE ARE STILL WAITING. THE EARLY CHRISTIANS HAD A MUCH GREATER SENSE OF ANTICIPATION; WHEN YOU READ THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE MESSAGE SEEMS TO BE, “THE LORD IS COMING SOON!” AND WITH THAT IN YOUR MIND ALL THE TIME, EVERYTHING TOOK ON A NEW PERSPECTIVE. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES DESCRIBE THE EARLY CHURCH HOLDING THINGS IN COMMON. WHAT GOOD WOULD IT DO TO HOARD UP RICHES IF THE LORD WAS COMING SOON? AND MARTYRS WENT TO THEIR DEATHS JOYFUL AND SOMETIMES EVEN SINGING – WHAT DID A FEW MORE YEARS OF LIFE MATTER IF THE LORD WAS COMING SOON? AND MEN AND WOMEN WENT OUT ON MISSION TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS, LEAVING THE COMFORT OF HOME AND FAMILY – THOSE THINGS DIDN'T SEEM THAT IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE LORD WAS COMING SOON.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAVE GONE BY AND WE ARE STILL WAITING. BUT JESUS TELLS US TO LIVE IN EXPECTATION, TO BE ALERT, TO BE READY, TO HAVE OUR BAGS PACKED. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO MEN IN THE FIELD OR THE WOMEN IN THE KITCHEN IS THAT ONE WAS WAITING, ONE WAS NOT.
ADVENT IS MEANT TO RESTORE THAT SENSE OF EXPECTATION IN US. THE OPPOSITE OF BEING WATCHFUL, BEING EXPECTANT, IS TO BE IN A RUT. AND WE ALL GET INTO RUTS. I GET UP IN THE MORNING, GO THROUGH A ROUTINE; I READ THE PAPER AND DRINK SOME COFFEE; I GO TO WORK, DO THE SAME THINGS DAY AFTER DAY, COME HOME AND ENTER MY EVENING ROUTINE. WHEN SOMETHING DISTURBS MY ROUTINE, MY RUT, I GET BOTHERED. AND I EXPECT TOMORROW WILL BE A LOT LIKE TODAY, AND NEXT WEEK LIKE THIS WEEK.
BUT IF I WANT TO RESTORE MY WATCHFULNESS, MY SENSE OF ANTICIPATION, I HAVE TO BREAK OUT. THERE ARE THREE STEPS.
FIRST, WE IDENTIFY TIME IN OUR DAY THAT IS BEING WASTED, OR THAT WE ARE DEVOTING TO TASKS THAT ARE NO LONGER NECESSARY. YOU MAY SAY THAT EVERYTHING YOU DO IS NECESSARY, BUT WHEN WE STEP BACK, WE ALL NOTICE THAT MAYBE WE COULD BE MORE EFFICIENT, MAYBE WE DON'T REALLY NEED TO VACUUM THE CARPET EVERY DAY NOW THAT THE KIDS ARE GROWN UP; MAYBE WE AREN'T REALLY GETTING TOO MUCH OUT OF THE TELEVISION PROGRAMS IN THE EVENING ANYMORE.
SECOND, WE CREATE SPACE IN OUR DAY – WE REMOVE A PART OF THE RUT WE ARE IN. IF WE NORMALLY TURN THE TELEVISION ON AT EIGHT, MAYBE WE TURN IT ON AT NINE.
THIRD, HAVING IDENTIFIED AND CREATED SPACE, WE CONSCIOUSLY AND PRAYERFULLY INTRODUCE SOMETHING NEW INTO THAT SPACE. NOW IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE COULD USE THE TIME TO MEDITATE OR PRAY OR READ FROM SCRIPTURE; BUT IF YOU DON'T DO THAT ALREADY IT MAY NOT BE THE BEST PLACE TO START. INSTEAD, THINK OF SOMETHING YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO, BUT YOU'VE PUT OFF BECAUSE YOU NEVER HAD TIME. I LIKE TO GIVE MYSELF A PROJECT, USUALLY INVOLVING LEARNING A NEW SUBJECT. SOME PEOPLE MAY TAKE UP A NEW HOBBY OR RESUME AN OLD ONE. YOU MAY WANT TO LEARN HOW TO USE A COMPUTER OR PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW; YOU MAY WANT TO DELIBERATELY SET OUT TO FIND YOUR OLD HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATES, OR DIG INTO YOUR GENEOLOGY. THE IDEA IS TO PUT SOMETHING IN THAT SPACE WHICH ATTRACTS YOU, WHICH SHAKES YOU UP, WHICH MAKES YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT TIME. NOW OBVIOUSLY IT'S A GOOD THING AS YOU ENTER INTO THE SPACE YOU'VE MADE TO OFFER A LITTLE PRAYER OF GRATITUDE; THAT KEEPS IT HOLY.
WHAT I'VE DESCRIBED IS AN EXERCISE. IT ISN'T A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOUR PRAYER LIFE, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S IMPORTANT. ALL IT IS IS A WAY TO BREAK OUT OF YOUR ROUTINE SO THAT YOU WILL BE MORE WATCHFUL.
MAYBE YOU THINK THAT THIS ISN'T VERY SPIRITUAL. ACTUALLY, GREAT SAINTS WERE ALWAYS SHAKING THEMSELVES UP, BREAKING OUT OF RUTS IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THOMAS AQUINAS COMPOSED POETRY AND HYMNS WHEN HE WASN'T WRITING THEOLOGY AND TEACHING. SAINT MARGARET OF SCOTLAND TAUGHT POOR YOUNG WOMEN HOW TO MAKE LACE SO THEY WOULD HAVE A MARKETABLE SKILL. JOHN PAUL II AS WE ALL KNOW, LOVED TO GET AWAY TO SKI OR HIKE OR CAMP UNTIL HE GOT TOO OLD AND FRAGILE TO DO THESE THINGS ANYMORE.
IN OUR ADVENT LITURGY WE CHANGE TO PURPLE COLORS. IN LENT, THIS SYMBOLIZES PENANCE, BUT IN ADVENT, IT IS A SIGN OF WAITING, OF HOPE, OF THE ROYAL PURPLE OF THE KING WHO IS TO COME. OUR ADVENT WREATH COUNTS DOWN THE WEEKS, ANOTHER SIGN OF ANTICIPATION. AND OUR READINGS ARE FULL OF SUCH THOUGHTS.
THIS YEAR, AS YOU BEGIN ADVENT, FIND A WAY TO SHAKE UP YOUR LIFE, TO RECOVER SOME OF THAT SENSE OF ANTICIPATION, SO THAT YOU WILL BE AWAKE, SO THAT YOU WILL BE READY. WE MAY HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS, BUT AS SAINT PAUL TELLS US, “OUR SALVATION IS NEARER NOW THAN WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED.”
SEVERAL YEARS AGO I TOOK CARE OF A PATIENT WITH A FATAL LIVER DISEASE. HE HAD A FEW YEARS LEFT, BUT IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE VERY MUCH SINCE HE WASN'T THAT OLD. THE ONLY CURE WOULD BE A LIVER TRANSPLANT, SO I ARRANGED FOR HIM TO SEE THE TRANSPLANT PROGRAM AT A BOSTON HOSPITAL. THERE THEY DID ALL KINDS OF TESTS, SOME TO DETERMINE HIS TISSUE TYPE – SOMETHING LIKE A BLOOD TYPE, SO THEY COULD SELECT A COMPATIBLE DONOR; AND SOME TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH DAMAGE HAD BEEN DONE TO HIS HEART AND LUNGS BY THE LIVER DISEASE, SINCE IF THERE WAS TOO MUCH DAMAGE, IT WOULDN'T MAKE SENSE TO TRANSPLANT A NEW LIVER. AND AFTER THAT, THEY TOLD HIM TO WAIT. AND WAIT HE DID. HE HAD TO CHANGE HIS WHOLE ROUTINE. IN THE DAYS BEFORE CELL PHONES, HE MADE SURE SOMEONE WAS ALWAYS HOME TO ANSWER THE PHONE, AND HE CHECKED IN EVERY HALF HOUR WHEN HE WAS AWAY. HE COULD NO LONGER GO ON TRIPS OUT OF THE AREA; HE HAD TO BE WITHIN AN HOUR'S RIDE TO THE HOSPITAL AT ALL TIMES. HE HAD TO BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL ABOUT CATCHING COLDS, SINCE THEY WOULDN'T DO THE TRANSPLANT IF HE WAS SICK. AND TWO YEARS WENT BY, AND ONE NIGHT, HE RECEIVED THE CALL – A PERSON HAD BEEN IN A FATAL CAR ACCIDENT, HAD ARRIVED IN AN EMERGENCY ROOM BRAIN DEAD, AND HIS LIVER WAS BEING RUSHED TO THE TRANSPLANT CENTER. AND MY PATIENT GRABBED THE BAG THAT HAD BEEN PACKED AND READY, AND WENT TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE WITHIN A FEW HOURS, HE HAD A NEW LIVER.
WHAT IF, AFTER A YEAR OR SO OF WAITING, HE HAD SLACKED OFF, HE HAD STOPPED BEING READY? WHEN THE CALL CAME, WOULD HE SAY, “I CAN'T MAKE IT NOW, HOW ABOUT FRIDAY?” OR HE MIGHT HAVE MISSED THE CALL COMPLETELY, AND THE LIVER WOULD GO TO THE NEXT AVAILABLE PATIENT.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAVE GONE BY, AND WE ARE STILL WAITING. THE EARLY CHRISTIANS HAD A MUCH GREATER SENSE OF ANTICIPATION; WHEN YOU READ THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE MESSAGE SEEMS TO BE, “THE LORD IS COMING SOON!” AND WITH THAT IN YOUR MIND ALL THE TIME, EVERYTHING TOOK ON A NEW PERSPECTIVE. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES DESCRIBE THE EARLY CHURCH HOLDING THINGS IN COMMON. WHAT GOOD WOULD IT DO TO HOARD UP RICHES IF THE LORD WAS COMING SOON? AND MARTYRS WENT TO THEIR DEATHS JOYFUL AND SOMETIMES EVEN SINGING – WHAT DID A FEW MORE YEARS OF LIFE MATTER IF THE LORD WAS COMING SOON? AND MEN AND WOMEN WENT OUT ON MISSION TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS, LEAVING THE COMFORT OF HOME AND FAMILY – THOSE THINGS DIDN'T SEEM THAT IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE LORD WAS COMING SOON.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS HAVE GONE BY AND WE ARE STILL WAITING. BUT JESUS TELLS US TO LIVE IN EXPECTATION, TO BE ALERT, TO BE READY, TO HAVE OUR BAGS PACKED. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO MEN IN THE FIELD OR THE WOMEN IN THE KITCHEN IS THAT ONE WAS WAITING, ONE WAS NOT.
ADVENT IS MEANT TO RESTORE THAT SENSE OF EXPECTATION IN US. THE OPPOSITE OF BEING WATCHFUL, BEING EXPECTANT, IS TO BE IN A RUT. AND WE ALL GET INTO RUTS. I GET UP IN THE MORNING, GO THROUGH A ROUTINE; I READ THE PAPER AND DRINK SOME COFFEE; I GO TO WORK, DO THE SAME THINGS DAY AFTER DAY, COME HOME AND ENTER MY EVENING ROUTINE. WHEN SOMETHING DISTURBS MY ROUTINE, MY RUT, I GET BOTHERED. AND I EXPECT TOMORROW WILL BE A LOT LIKE TODAY, AND NEXT WEEK LIKE THIS WEEK.
BUT IF I WANT TO RESTORE MY WATCHFULNESS, MY SENSE OF ANTICIPATION, I HAVE TO BREAK OUT. THERE ARE THREE STEPS.
FIRST, WE IDENTIFY TIME IN OUR DAY THAT IS BEING WASTED, OR THAT WE ARE DEVOTING TO TASKS THAT ARE NO LONGER NECESSARY. YOU MAY SAY THAT EVERYTHING YOU DO IS NECESSARY, BUT WHEN WE STEP BACK, WE ALL NOTICE THAT MAYBE WE COULD BE MORE EFFICIENT, MAYBE WE DON'T REALLY NEED TO VACUUM THE CARPET EVERY DAY NOW THAT THE KIDS ARE GROWN UP; MAYBE WE AREN'T REALLY GETTING TOO MUCH OUT OF THE TELEVISION PROGRAMS IN THE EVENING ANYMORE.
SECOND, WE CREATE SPACE IN OUR DAY – WE REMOVE A PART OF THE RUT WE ARE IN. IF WE NORMALLY TURN THE TELEVISION ON AT EIGHT, MAYBE WE TURN IT ON AT NINE.
THIRD, HAVING IDENTIFIED AND CREATED SPACE, WE CONSCIOUSLY AND PRAYERFULLY INTRODUCE SOMETHING NEW INTO THAT SPACE. NOW IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE COULD USE THE TIME TO MEDITATE OR PRAY OR READ FROM SCRIPTURE; BUT IF YOU DON'T DO THAT ALREADY IT MAY NOT BE THE BEST PLACE TO START. INSTEAD, THINK OF SOMETHING YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO, BUT YOU'VE PUT OFF BECAUSE YOU NEVER HAD TIME. I LIKE TO GIVE MYSELF A PROJECT, USUALLY INVOLVING LEARNING A NEW SUBJECT. SOME PEOPLE MAY TAKE UP A NEW HOBBY OR RESUME AN OLD ONE. YOU MAY WANT TO LEARN HOW TO USE A COMPUTER OR PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW; YOU MAY WANT TO DELIBERATELY SET OUT TO FIND YOUR OLD HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATES, OR DIG INTO YOUR GENEOLOGY. THE IDEA IS TO PUT SOMETHING IN THAT SPACE WHICH ATTRACTS YOU, WHICH SHAKES YOU UP, WHICH MAKES YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT TIME. NOW OBVIOUSLY IT'S A GOOD THING AS YOU ENTER INTO THE SPACE YOU'VE MADE TO OFFER A LITTLE PRAYER OF GRATITUDE; THAT KEEPS IT HOLY.
WHAT I'VE DESCRIBED IS AN EXERCISE. IT ISN'T A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOUR PRAYER LIFE, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT'S IMPORTANT. ALL IT IS IS A WAY TO BREAK OUT OF YOUR ROUTINE SO THAT YOU WILL BE MORE WATCHFUL.
MAYBE YOU THINK THAT THIS ISN'T VERY SPIRITUAL. ACTUALLY, GREAT SAINTS WERE ALWAYS SHAKING THEMSELVES UP, BREAKING OUT OF RUTS IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THOMAS AQUINAS COMPOSED POETRY AND HYMNS WHEN HE WASN'T WRITING THEOLOGY AND TEACHING. SAINT MARGARET OF SCOTLAND TAUGHT POOR YOUNG WOMEN HOW TO MAKE LACE SO THEY WOULD HAVE A MARKETABLE SKILL. JOHN PAUL II AS WE ALL KNOW, LOVED TO GET AWAY TO SKI OR HIKE OR CAMP UNTIL HE GOT TOO OLD AND FRAGILE TO DO THESE THINGS ANYMORE.
IN OUR ADVENT LITURGY WE CHANGE TO PURPLE COLORS. IN LENT, THIS SYMBOLIZES PENANCE, BUT IN ADVENT, IT IS A SIGN OF WAITING, OF HOPE, OF THE ROYAL PURPLE OF THE KING WHO IS TO COME. OUR ADVENT WREATH COUNTS DOWN THE WEEKS, ANOTHER SIGN OF ANTICIPATION. AND OUR READINGS ARE FULL OF SUCH THOUGHTS.
THIS YEAR, AS YOU BEGIN ADVENT, FIND A WAY TO SHAKE UP YOUR LIFE, TO RECOVER SOME OF THAT SENSE OF ANTICIPATION, SO THAT YOU WILL BE AWAKE, SO THAT YOU WILL BE READY. WE MAY HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR TWO THOUSAND YEARS, BUT AS SAINT PAUL TELLS US, “OUR SALVATION IS NEARER NOW THAN WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED.”
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Christ the King, Cycle C
LUKE 23:35-43
WHEN WE HEAR THIS FAMOUS GOSPEL, WE USUALLY CONCENTRATE ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN JESUS AND THE SO-CALLED “GOOD THIEF”. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER VOICE HERE, THE VOICE OF THE OTHER THIEF. “ARE YOU NOT THE CHRIST? SAVE YOURSELF AND US.” THE GOSPEL WRITER TELLS US THAT THE OTHER THIEF “REVILED” HIM, WHICH IN SOME TRANSLATIONS, COMES ACROSS AS “MOCKED”. SO THAT BAD THIEF SPOKE THOSE WORDS IN A MOCKING VOICE, A VOICE THAT MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE DID NOT BELIEVE JESUS COULD DO ANYTHING OF THE KIND.
WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH THIS MAN'S MIND? HE KNEW HE WAS GOING TO DIE A MISERABLE DEATH. HE KNEW THAT BECAUSE OF HIS CRIMES AND THE WAY HE WAS GOING TO DIE, HE WAS AN OUTCAST FROM HIS COMMUNITY. IN THOSE DAYS SOME JEWS BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION; OF THESE, SOME BELIEVED THAT ONLY THE GOOD WOULD RISE. AND OTHER BELIEVED IN NO RESURRECTION AT ALL. WHAT DID HE BELIEVE, THIS MAN WHO MOCKED JESUS WITH HIS LAST BREATH? WHEN HE BECAME A THIEF, HAD HE ABANDONED ANY HOPE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH? OR HAD HE SORT OF FIGURED THAT SOMEDAY, AFTER HE MADE ENOUGH FROM HIS PROFESSION, THERE WOULD BE TIME FOR ATTENDING TO HIS SOUL?
IN OUR COUNTRY, IF A PERSON IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH, SOMETIMES IT TAKES YEARS BEFORE THE ACTUAL EVENT TAKES PLACE. WE HAVE APPEALS COURTS AND STATE SUPREME COURTS, AND MOTIONS THAT CAN BE FILED, AND APPEALS FOR CLEMENCY THAT MUST BE CONSIDERED. PEOPLE ON DEATH ROW ARE USUALLY THERE LONG ENOUGH TO COMPLETELY CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR, TO REPENT OF WHAT THEY DID, AND SOMETIMES, TO WRITE BOOKS. THE PERSON YOU PUT TO DEATH IS SOMETIMES A VERY DIFFERENT PERSON THAN THE ONE WHO DID THE CRIME.
IN JESUS TIME, AS WE KNOW FROM HIS OWN TRIAL, VERY LITTLE TIME ELAPSED BETWEEN WHEN YOU WERE CONDEMNED AND WHEN YOU WERE PUT TO DEATH. DID OUR BAD THIEF EVEN HAVE TIME TO FULLY APPRECIATE THAT HE WAS GOING TO DIE, THAT THERE WAS NO ESCAPE, NO CLEMENCY? OR WAS HE STILL IN SHOCK?
DID HE THINK THAT BY MOCKING JESUS, BY JOINING IN WITH THE CROWDS WHO WERE MOCKING HIM, SOMEONE MIGHT TAKE PITY ON HIM? MAYBE THERE WAS STILL TIME TO GET HIS SENTENCE COMMUTED; MAYBE THE AUTHORITIES WHO PUT JESUS TO DEATH WOULD LOOK FAVORABLY ON HIS OBVIOUS AGREEMENT WITH THEIR SENTENCE. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH HIS MIND? WHAT WERE HIS THOUGHTS AS HE WRITHED ON HIS OWN CROSS, TRYING TO CATCH HIS BREATH, TRYING TO RELIEVE HIS PAIN?
OR AFTER HE MOCKED JESUS, MAYBE HE SLIPPED INTO A PLACE DEEP IN HIS MIND, A PLACE WHERE HE WAS A CHILD ONCE AGAIN, PROTECTED BY A FATHER, LOVED BY A MOTHER. IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR DYING PEOPLE TO DO THAT, TO WITHDRAW AND IMAGINE THEMSELVES IN A BETTER PLACE, A BETTER TIME.
THE GOOD THIEF SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE AWARE OF HIS SITUATION. HE KNEW WHY HE WAS ON THE CROSS, HE KNEW THAT HIS PUNISHMENT WAS DESERVED, AND HE KNEW HIS LIFE WAS OVER. AND MAYBE THIS JESUS REALLY WAS A PROPHET, OR AS SOME SAID, THE VERY SON OF GOD, THE ONE WHO PROMISED RESURRECTION, THE ONE WHO CLAIMED THAT HE HIMSELF WOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD AS EVIDENCE THAT WHAT HE TAUGHT WAS TRUE. AND HE IS THE ONE WHO FIRST OF ALL WITNESSES HIS FAITH BY HIS WORDS; HE RECOGNIZES THAT JESUS IS INNOCENT AND THAT HE HAS POWER, THAT HE IS A KING. AND WITHOUT MUCH HOPE, HE CALLS OUT, “REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM.”
SO THERE ARE TWO THIEVES, EACH OF WHOM HAS REACHED THE END OF HIS LIFE. A DAY OR TWO AGO, THEY WERE FREE, THEY WERE PROBABLY ENJOYING A DRINK SOMEWHERE, PLOTTING THEIR NEXT CAPER. NEITHER HAD THE FAINTEST EXPECTATION THAT HE WOULD BE HANGING ON A CROSS ON THAT FRIDAY LONG AGO.
YOU AND I ARE NOT MUCH DIFFERENT. WE GO ABOUT OUR LIVES, ONE DAY LEADING TO THE NEXT. WE DON'T THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE MIGHT HAVE ONLY A DAY OR TWO. MAYBE WE CONSOLE OURSELVES WITH THE THOUGHT THAT THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF TIME TO GET RIGHT WITH GOD; THAT WHEN THE END COMES, WE WILL HAVE TIME TO REPENT, TO CONFESS OUR SINS, TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST ONE LAST TIME; WHEN THE END COMES WE WILL BE SENT OFF WITH THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH IN THE BOSOM OF OUR FAMILY, GOING TO SLEEP IN THIS WORLD, WAKING UP IN THE NEXT.
SO WHY DID GOD ARRANGE IT SO THAT ONE THIEF IS PROMISED PARADISE, AND THE OTHER – WELL, WE DON'T KNOW HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION – BUT HE CERTAINLY RECEIVED NO PROMISE. BUT EACH HAD THE CHANCE, EACH HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROFESS HIS FAITH, TO ASK FOR MERCY. ONE CHOSE TO DO SO, THE OTHER DID NOT.
TO ME THIS IS A FRIGHTENING GOSPEL. I THINK IT FRIGHTENS ME SINCE I AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH DEATH. I'VE SEEN SO MANY PEOPLE DIE OF CANCER, AND I'VE SEEN VERY FEW DEATHBED CONVERSIONS. THE WAY YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE IS GENERALLY THE WAY YOU DIE. LIKE THE BAD THIEF, VERY FEW PEOPLE CAN ACCEPT THAT THIS IS THE END, THAT THERE WILL BE NO MORE CHANCES.
JESUS IS THERE, OFFERING THE MERCY OF GOD TO ANYONE WHO ASKS IT. THAT IS SOMETHING TO HANG ON TO; HE WILL BE THERE AT YOUR END AND MY END AS WELL. BUT WE HAVE TO ASK FOR THAT MERCY. AND EVEN THOUGH JESUS IS THERE, EVEN THOUGH THE BAD THIEF HAS NOTHING TO LOSE, HE CHOOSES TO MOCK JESUS RATHER THAN BEG HIS MERCY.
THE GOOD THIEF, IT IS SAID, STOLE HEAVEN. HE RECOGNIZED THAT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM WAS TRULY A KING, THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE, THE ONE WHO WOULD REIGN FOREVER. THE BAD THIEF SAW ONLY A MAN, SOMEONE WHO HAD GONE ABOUT DOING GOOD, BUT ULTIMATELY MEETING FAILURE AND CONDEMNATION. TO HIM THIS WAS NO KING, NO LORD, NO ONE TO PUT YOUR TRUST IN.
THIS IS THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING, CHRIST WHO HOLDS THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM, CHRIST WHO WAITS FOR YOU AND I TO RECOGNIZE HIM RIGHT NOW, AS WE OURSELVES JOURNEY TO OUR OWN CALVARY, OUR OWN MOMENT WHEN THERE WILL BE NO MORE CHANCES. HOW ARE WE RECOGNIZING HIM? HOW ARE WE TURNING OURSELVES OVER TO HIS WILL? GOD FORBID THAT WE WILL BE LIKE THAT BAD THIEF, FAILING TO RECOGNIZE HIM WHEN THAT MOMENT ARRIVES IN OUR OWN LIVES.
WHEN WE HEAR THIS FAMOUS GOSPEL, WE USUALLY CONCENTRATE ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN JESUS AND THE SO-CALLED “GOOD THIEF”. BUT THERE IS ANOTHER VOICE HERE, THE VOICE OF THE OTHER THIEF. “ARE YOU NOT THE CHRIST? SAVE YOURSELF AND US.” THE GOSPEL WRITER TELLS US THAT THE OTHER THIEF “REVILED” HIM, WHICH IN SOME TRANSLATIONS, COMES ACROSS AS “MOCKED”. SO THAT BAD THIEF SPOKE THOSE WORDS IN A MOCKING VOICE, A VOICE THAT MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE DID NOT BELIEVE JESUS COULD DO ANYTHING OF THE KIND.
WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH THIS MAN'S MIND? HE KNEW HE WAS GOING TO DIE A MISERABLE DEATH. HE KNEW THAT BECAUSE OF HIS CRIMES AND THE WAY HE WAS GOING TO DIE, HE WAS AN OUTCAST FROM HIS COMMUNITY. IN THOSE DAYS SOME JEWS BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION; OF THESE, SOME BELIEVED THAT ONLY THE GOOD WOULD RISE. AND OTHER BELIEVED IN NO RESURRECTION AT ALL. WHAT DID HE BELIEVE, THIS MAN WHO MOCKED JESUS WITH HIS LAST BREATH? WHEN HE BECAME A THIEF, HAD HE ABANDONED ANY HOPE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH? OR HAD HE SORT OF FIGURED THAT SOMEDAY, AFTER HE MADE ENOUGH FROM HIS PROFESSION, THERE WOULD BE TIME FOR ATTENDING TO HIS SOUL?
IN OUR COUNTRY, IF A PERSON IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH, SOMETIMES IT TAKES YEARS BEFORE THE ACTUAL EVENT TAKES PLACE. WE HAVE APPEALS COURTS AND STATE SUPREME COURTS, AND MOTIONS THAT CAN BE FILED, AND APPEALS FOR CLEMENCY THAT MUST BE CONSIDERED. PEOPLE ON DEATH ROW ARE USUALLY THERE LONG ENOUGH TO COMPLETELY CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR, TO REPENT OF WHAT THEY DID, AND SOMETIMES, TO WRITE BOOKS. THE PERSON YOU PUT TO DEATH IS SOMETIMES A VERY DIFFERENT PERSON THAN THE ONE WHO DID THE CRIME.
IN JESUS TIME, AS WE KNOW FROM HIS OWN TRIAL, VERY LITTLE TIME ELAPSED BETWEEN WHEN YOU WERE CONDEMNED AND WHEN YOU WERE PUT TO DEATH. DID OUR BAD THIEF EVEN HAVE TIME TO FULLY APPRECIATE THAT HE WAS GOING TO DIE, THAT THERE WAS NO ESCAPE, NO CLEMENCY? OR WAS HE STILL IN SHOCK?
DID HE THINK THAT BY MOCKING JESUS, BY JOINING IN WITH THE CROWDS WHO WERE MOCKING HIM, SOMEONE MIGHT TAKE PITY ON HIM? MAYBE THERE WAS STILL TIME TO GET HIS SENTENCE COMMUTED; MAYBE THE AUTHORITIES WHO PUT JESUS TO DEATH WOULD LOOK FAVORABLY ON HIS OBVIOUS AGREEMENT WITH THEIR SENTENCE. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH HIS MIND? WHAT WERE HIS THOUGHTS AS HE WRITHED ON HIS OWN CROSS, TRYING TO CATCH HIS BREATH, TRYING TO RELIEVE HIS PAIN?
OR AFTER HE MOCKED JESUS, MAYBE HE SLIPPED INTO A PLACE DEEP IN HIS MIND, A PLACE WHERE HE WAS A CHILD ONCE AGAIN, PROTECTED BY A FATHER, LOVED BY A MOTHER. IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR DYING PEOPLE TO DO THAT, TO WITHDRAW AND IMAGINE THEMSELVES IN A BETTER PLACE, A BETTER TIME.
THE GOOD THIEF SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE AWARE OF HIS SITUATION. HE KNEW WHY HE WAS ON THE CROSS, HE KNEW THAT HIS PUNISHMENT WAS DESERVED, AND HE KNEW HIS LIFE WAS OVER. AND MAYBE THIS JESUS REALLY WAS A PROPHET, OR AS SOME SAID, THE VERY SON OF GOD, THE ONE WHO PROMISED RESURRECTION, THE ONE WHO CLAIMED THAT HE HIMSELF WOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD AS EVIDENCE THAT WHAT HE TAUGHT WAS TRUE. AND HE IS THE ONE WHO FIRST OF ALL WITNESSES HIS FAITH BY HIS WORDS; HE RECOGNIZES THAT JESUS IS INNOCENT AND THAT HE HAS POWER, THAT HE IS A KING. AND WITHOUT MUCH HOPE, HE CALLS OUT, “REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM.”
SO THERE ARE TWO THIEVES, EACH OF WHOM HAS REACHED THE END OF HIS LIFE. A DAY OR TWO AGO, THEY WERE FREE, THEY WERE PROBABLY ENJOYING A DRINK SOMEWHERE, PLOTTING THEIR NEXT CAPER. NEITHER HAD THE FAINTEST EXPECTATION THAT HE WOULD BE HANGING ON A CROSS ON THAT FRIDAY LONG AGO.
YOU AND I ARE NOT MUCH DIFFERENT. WE GO ABOUT OUR LIVES, ONE DAY LEADING TO THE NEXT. WE DON'T THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE MIGHT HAVE ONLY A DAY OR TWO. MAYBE WE CONSOLE OURSELVES WITH THE THOUGHT THAT THERE IS STILL PLENTY OF TIME TO GET RIGHT WITH GOD; THAT WHEN THE END COMES, WE WILL HAVE TIME TO REPENT, TO CONFESS OUR SINS, TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST ONE LAST TIME; WHEN THE END COMES WE WILL BE SENT OFF WITH THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH IN THE BOSOM OF OUR FAMILY, GOING TO SLEEP IN THIS WORLD, WAKING UP IN THE NEXT.
SO WHY DID GOD ARRANGE IT SO THAT ONE THIEF IS PROMISED PARADISE, AND THE OTHER – WELL, WE DON'T KNOW HIS ULTIMATE DESTINATION – BUT HE CERTAINLY RECEIVED NO PROMISE. BUT EACH HAD THE CHANCE, EACH HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROFESS HIS FAITH, TO ASK FOR MERCY. ONE CHOSE TO DO SO, THE OTHER DID NOT.
TO ME THIS IS A FRIGHTENING GOSPEL. I THINK IT FRIGHTENS ME SINCE I AM VERY FAMILIAR WITH DEATH. I'VE SEEN SO MANY PEOPLE DIE OF CANCER, AND I'VE SEEN VERY FEW DEATHBED CONVERSIONS. THE WAY YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE IS GENERALLY THE WAY YOU DIE. LIKE THE BAD THIEF, VERY FEW PEOPLE CAN ACCEPT THAT THIS IS THE END, THAT THERE WILL BE NO MORE CHANCES.
JESUS IS THERE, OFFERING THE MERCY OF GOD TO ANYONE WHO ASKS IT. THAT IS SOMETHING TO HANG ON TO; HE WILL BE THERE AT YOUR END AND MY END AS WELL. BUT WE HAVE TO ASK FOR THAT MERCY. AND EVEN THOUGH JESUS IS THERE, EVEN THOUGH THE BAD THIEF HAS NOTHING TO LOSE, HE CHOOSES TO MOCK JESUS RATHER THAN BEG HIS MERCY.
THE GOOD THIEF, IT IS SAID, STOLE HEAVEN. HE RECOGNIZED THAT THE MAN ON THE CROSS NEXT TO HIM WAS TRULY A KING, THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE, THE ONE WHO WOULD REIGN FOREVER. THE BAD THIEF SAW ONLY A MAN, SOMEONE WHO HAD GONE ABOUT DOING GOOD, BUT ULTIMATELY MEETING FAILURE AND CONDEMNATION. TO HIM THIS WAS NO KING, NO LORD, NO ONE TO PUT YOUR TRUST IN.
THIS IS THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING, CHRIST WHO HOLDS THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM, CHRIST WHO WAITS FOR YOU AND I TO RECOGNIZE HIM RIGHT NOW, AS WE OURSELVES JOURNEY TO OUR OWN CALVARY, OUR OWN MOMENT WHEN THERE WILL BE NO MORE CHANCES. HOW ARE WE RECOGNIZING HIM? HOW ARE WE TURNING OURSELVES OVER TO HIS WILL? GOD FORBID THAT WE WILL BE LIKE THAT BAD THIEF, FAILING TO RECOGNIZE HIM WHEN THAT MOMENT ARRIVES IN OUR OWN LIVES.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Thirty second Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C
LUKE 20:27-38
OUR ANCESTORS IN FAITH DIDN'T ALWAYS BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER DEATH, AND WHEN THEY DID, IT WASN'T WHAT WE BELIEVE. THERE WAS AN EVOLUTION. WHEN YOU READ THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, WHICH THE PEOPLE IN JESUS TIME CONSIDERED TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY MOSES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN HOPED TO LIVE ON THROUGH THEIR CHILDREN. GOD PROMISED ABRAHAM THAT HIS DESCENDANTS WOULD BE AS NUMEROUS AS THE STARS IN THE SKY OR THE SAND ON THE SEASHORE; HE NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH. SARAH REFERRED TO HERSELF AS DEAD, BECAUSE SHE WAS BARREN; AND SHE REJOICED WHEN SHE FINALLY LEARNED THAT SHE WOULD BEAR A CHILD. YOU LIVED ON IN YOUR CHILDREN. BY THE TIME YOU GET TO KING DAVID, THERE WAS A GENERAL CONSENSUS THAT THERE WAS A LIFE AFTER DEATH; YOU WENT TO A PLACE CALLED “SHEOL” WHERE THINGS WERE KIND OF LIKE THEY ARE ON THE EARTH, EXCEPT EVERYTHING WAS GHOSTLY, SHADOWY, WITHOUT COLOR, WITHOUT HOPE OR IN FACT WITHOUT ANY EMOTION. THAT BELIEF IS REFLECTED IN THE STORY WHERE KING SAUL HAS A WITCH RAISE THE SPIRIT OF THE PROPHET SAMUEL, AND IN THE PSALMS, WHERE THERE IS FREQUENT REFERENCE TO THE IDEA OF SHEOL. BY THE TIME THE LATER PROPHETS COME AROUND, THERE IS BELIEF IN RESURRECTION, WHICH MEANT THAT YOU DIED, AND AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, GOD RESTORED YOU TO LIFE, BODY AND SOUL. ONLY IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES DO WE SEE PEOPLE BEGINNING TO BELIEVE IN A HEAVEN, WHERE YOUR SOUL WOULD GO WHILE YOUR BODY WAITED FOR THE RESURRECTION.
THE SADDUCEES FIGURED THAT THE ONLY SCRIPTURES WORTH READING WERE THE ONES WRITTEN BY MOSES, AND IN THOSE BOOKS, THERE ISN'T ANY OBVIOUS REFERENCE TO LIVING ON AFTER DEATH IN ANY FORM. AND THE LAW THAT SAYS A MAN MUST MARRY HIS BROTHER'S WIFE IF THE BROTHER DIES WITHOUT CHILDREN WAS A LAW GIVEN BY MOSES; AND SO OBVIOUSLY MOSES DIDN'T BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER DEATH, BECAUSE AS THEY POINT OUT, THE WOMAN HAD BEEN MARRIED TO EACH BROTHER, BUT SHE COULD ONLY HAVE ONE HUSBAND, SO WHAT HAPPENS IN THE RESURRECTION? THE ONLY WAY THE LAW OF MOSES COULD MAKE ANY SENSE IS IF THERE IS NO LIFE AFTER DEATH.
THE SADDUCEES WERE VERY CONSERVATIVE; MOST OF THE WORLD IN JESUS TIME BELIEVED IN LIFE AFTER DEATH, ESPECIALLY THE PHARISEES. WHEN WE READ THE BIBLE THE PHARISEES GET A BAD RAP, BUT THEY WERE MOSTLY VERY GOOD PEOPLE. IN ORDER TO OBEY THE LAW AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, THEY STUDIED IT, ARGUED ABOUT IT, TRIED TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT; IF IT CAME FROM GOD, IT HAD TO BE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY. OH, THERE WERE EXCESSES, AND THERE WAS HYPOCRISY. BUT THE PHARISEES FOR THE MOST PART WERE ABOUT AS GOOD AS YOU CAN GET ON YOUR OWN, WHICH IS PROBABLY WHY JESUS PICKED ON THEM. HE FIGURED THAT THEY WOULD BE THE ONES WHO WOULD GET HIS MESSAGE, THEY WOULD BE THE GROUP WHO WOULD BE HIS MOST ARDENT FOLLOWERS. (AND HE WAS RIGHT; MANY OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS, INCLUDING SAINT PAUL, WERE FORMER PHARISEES) AND THE PHARISEES, WHO ACCEPTED ALL THE SCRIPTURES, DID BELIEVE IN RESURRECTION.
BUT THE SADDUCEES HAD A POINT. AND JESUS ANSWERS THEIR ARGUMENT IN TWO WAYS. FIRST, HE SAYS THAT THE NEXT LIFE WON'T BE ANYTHING LIKE THIS LIFE; ALL THE LAWS, ALL THE RELATIONSHIPS, THAT EXIST IN THIS LIFE WILL BE NULL AND VOID. THERE WON'T BE MARRIAGE, DEATH, HUNGER, ONE PERSON BELONGING TO ANOTHER. IF YOU THINK IT WILL BE ANYTHING LIKE THIS LIFE, YOU ARE WRONG. AND SECOND, IT WASN'T LOGICAL TO SAY THAT THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH IN THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES; TO GOD ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB WERE ALIVE, BECAUSE HE TOLD MOSES, “I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB” AND IF THEY WERE DEAD, IF THEY WERE NOTHING BUT DIRT, HOW COULD GOD BE THEIR GOD RIGHT NOW? AND I THINK THERE IS ANOTHER POINT HERE AS WELL; GOD MADE PROMISES TO THESE PATRIARCHS; IT WOULD SEEM FITTING THAT THEY WOULD BE AROUND TO SEE THOSE PROMISES CARRIED OUT.
BECAUSE THE SADDUCEES DIDN'T BELIEVE IN RESURRECTION, THEY DIDN'T TAKE THE LAW VERY SERIOUSLY. AFTER ALL, WHETHER YOU WERE GOOD OR BAD, YOU'D END UP IN THE SAME PLACE. MIGHT AS WELL GET WHAT YOU CAN OUT OF LIFE. MIGHT AS WELL FORGET ALL THOSE SILLY JEWISH RULES AND REGULATIONS, AND LIVE LIKE THE GREEKS AND THE ROMANS, WHO HAD THE POWER, AND WHO WERE SOPHISTICATED AND KNEW HOW TO ENJOY LIFE. FOLLOWING THE JEWISH LAW WAS FOR THE BUMPKINS; MOST OF THOSE 613 RULES DIDN'T MAKE MUCH SENSE ANYWAY. I MEAN, YOU CAN'T EAT A LOBSTER? YOU CAN'T PUT CHEESE ON YOUR SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS? YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SEPARATE SET OF DISHES FOR DAIRY AND FOR MEAT?
THE PHARISEES BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION. THEY ALSO BELIEVED THAT THOSE WHO WOULD ENJOY BEING RESURRECTED WERE THE ONES WHO FAITHFULLY KEPT GOD'S LAW. THE PHARISEES SAW THE BIG PICTURE, AND IF IT MEANT BEING PERSECUTED, OR DENYING ONESELF VARIOUS PLEASURES ON THIS EARTH, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT IN THE LONG RUN. AND SO IF THE LAW SAID YOU COULDN'T WORK ON THE SABBATH, THEY WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANT; WAS WALKING “WORK” AND IF SO, HOW FAR BEFORE YOU BROKE THE LAW? COULD YOU COOK FOOD? OR WAS IT BETTER TO PREPARE ALL THE FOOD THE DAY BEFORE? AND THEY DID GET A LITTLE BOGGED DOWN IN DETAILS, BUT THEIR HEARTS WERE IN THE RIGHT PLACE, MOSTLY.
AND FOR JESUS, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION. IT COLORED YOUR WHOLE LIFE, IT KEPT YOU POINTED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION; IT GAVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO PERSEVERE EVEN IF THE WORLD SAID YOU WERE A FOOL. AND BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION MEANT THAT YOU OBEYED GOD'S LAW EVEN WHEN IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE, EVEN WHEN IT WOULD GET YOU IN TROUBLE. JESUS WANTED HIS FOLLOWERS TO HAVE THE BIG PICTURE.
IF YOU WERE TO WALK DOWN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM, YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE ROMAN EMPIRE. AND YOU COULDN'T TELL A A SADDUCCEE FROM A GREEK. BUT YOU COULD ALWAYS PICK OUT A PHARISEE. THEY WORE DISTINCTIVE CLOTHING OF COURSE; BUT THEY LIVED THEIR LIVES ACCORDING TO THE LAW, NOT ACCORDING TO THE TIMES.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO NOW. DO WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION? DO WE REALLY BELIEVE, STRONGLY ENOUGH TO FOLLOW GOD'S LAW EVEN IF WE DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND IT? ARE WE WILLING TO BE UNPOPULAR, TO STICK UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT EVEN IF IT MEANS LOSING FRIENDS? DO WE SPEND ANY TIME WORRYING ABOUT WHETHER WE ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH, WHETHER OUR LIVES ARE GOVERNED BY JESUS CHRIST? DO WE WORK DILIGENTLY TO OVERCOME THOSE HABITS OF THE HEART THAT LEAD US TO SIN?
OR DO WE NOT BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION, ONLY GIVE IT LIP SERVICE? AND CAN ANYONE TELL WHETHER WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY LOOKING AT OUR LIVES? LET'S RESOLVE TODAY TO SEE OUR EVERY ACTION, OUR EVERY THOUGHT, IN THE LIGHT OF THE RESURRECTION WHICH AWAITS US. NOTHING ELSE REALLY MATTERS.
OUR ANCESTORS IN FAITH DIDN'T ALWAYS BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER DEATH, AND WHEN THEY DID, IT WASN'T WHAT WE BELIEVE. THERE WAS AN EVOLUTION. WHEN YOU READ THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, WHICH THE PEOPLE IN JESUS TIME CONSIDERED TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY MOSES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN HOPED TO LIVE ON THROUGH THEIR CHILDREN. GOD PROMISED ABRAHAM THAT HIS DESCENDANTS WOULD BE AS NUMEROUS AS THE STARS IN THE SKY OR THE SAND ON THE SEASHORE; HE NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH. SARAH REFERRED TO HERSELF AS DEAD, BECAUSE SHE WAS BARREN; AND SHE REJOICED WHEN SHE FINALLY LEARNED THAT SHE WOULD BEAR A CHILD. YOU LIVED ON IN YOUR CHILDREN. BY THE TIME YOU GET TO KING DAVID, THERE WAS A GENERAL CONSENSUS THAT THERE WAS A LIFE AFTER DEATH; YOU WENT TO A PLACE CALLED “SHEOL” WHERE THINGS WERE KIND OF LIKE THEY ARE ON THE EARTH, EXCEPT EVERYTHING WAS GHOSTLY, SHADOWY, WITHOUT COLOR, WITHOUT HOPE OR IN FACT WITHOUT ANY EMOTION. THAT BELIEF IS REFLECTED IN THE STORY WHERE KING SAUL HAS A WITCH RAISE THE SPIRIT OF THE PROPHET SAMUEL, AND IN THE PSALMS, WHERE THERE IS FREQUENT REFERENCE TO THE IDEA OF SHEOL. BY THE TIME THE LATER PROPHETS COME AROUND, THERE IS BELIEF IN RESURRECTION, WHICH MEANT THAT YOU DIED, AND AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE, GOD RESTORED YOU TO LIFE, BODY AND SOUL. ONLY IN NEW TESTAMENT TIMES DO WE SEE PEOPLE BEGINNING TO BELIEVE IN A HEAVEN, WHERE YOUR SOUL WOULD GO WHILE YOUR BODY WAITED FOR THE RESURRECTION.
THE SADDUCEES FIGURED THAT THE ONLY SCRIPTURES WORTH READING WERE THE ONES WRITTEN BY MOSES, AND IN THOSE BOOKS, THERE ISN'T ANY OBVIOUS REFERENCE TO LIVING ON AFTER DEATH IN ANY FORM. AND THE LAW THAT SAYS A MAN MUST MARRY HIS BROTHER'S WIFE IF THE BROTHER DIES WITHOUT CHILDREN WAS A LAW GIVEN BY MOSES; AND SO OBVIOUSLY MOSES DIDN'T BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER DEATH, BECAUSE AS THEY POINT OUT, THE WOMAN HAD BEEN MARRIED TO EACH BROTHER, BUT SHE COULD ONLY HAVE ONE HUSBAND, SO WHAT HAPPENS IN THE RESURRECTION? THE ONLY WAY THE LAW OF MOSES COULD MAKE ANY SENSE IS IF THERE IS NO LIFE AFTER DEATH.
THE SADDUCEES WERE VERY CONSERVATIVE; MOST OF THE WORLD IN JESUS TIME BELIEVED IN LIFE AFTER DEATH, ESPECIALLY THE PHARISEES. WHEN WE READ THE BIBLE THE PHARISEES GET A BAD RAP, BUT THEY WERE MOSTLY VERY GOOD PEOPLE. IN ORDER TO OBEY THE LAW AS WELL AS POSSIBLE, THEY STUDIED IT, ARGUED ABOUT IT, TRIED TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT; IF IT CAME FROM GOD, IT HAD TO BE TAKEN VERY SERIOUSLY. OH, THERE WERE EXCESSES, AND THERE WAS HYPOCRISY. BUT THE PHARISEES FOR THE MOST PART WERE ABOUT AS GOOD AS YOU CAN GET ON YOUR OWN, WHICH IS PROBABLY WHY JESUS PICKED ON THEM. HE FIGURED THAT THEY WOULD BE THE ONES WHO WOULD GET HIS MESSAGE, THEY WOULD BE THE GROUP WHO WOULD BE HIS MOST ARDENT FOLLOWERS. (AND HE WAS RIGHT; MANY OF THE FIRST CHRISTIANS, INCLUDING SAINT PAUL, WERE FORMER PHARISEES) AND THE PHARISEES, WHO ACCEPTED ALL THE SCRIPTURES, DID BELIEVE IN RESURRECTION.
BUT THE SADDUCEES HAD A POINT. AND JESUS ANSWERS THEIR ARGUMENT IN TWO WAYS. FIRST, HE SAYS THAT THE NEXT LIFE WON'T BE ANYTHING LIKE THIS LIFE; ALL THE LAWS, ALL THE RELATIONSHIPS, THAT EXIST IN THIS LIFE WILL BE NULL AND VOID. THERE WON'T BE MARRIAGE, DEATH, HUNGER, ONE PERSON BELONGING TO ANOTHER. IF YOU THINK IT WILL BE ANYTHING LIKE THIS LIFE, YOU ARE WRONG. AND SECOND, IT WASN'T LOGICAL TO SAY THAT THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH IN THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES; TO GOD ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB WERE ALIVE, BECAUSE HE TOLD MOSES, “I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB” AND IF THEY WERE DEAD, IF THEY WERE NOTHING BUT DIRT, HOW COULD GOD BE THEIR GOD RIGHT NOW? AND I THINK THERE IS ANOTHER POINT HERE AS WELL; GOD MADE PROMISES TO THESE PATRIARCHS; IT WOULD SEEM FITTING THAT THEY WOULD BE AROUND TO SEE THOSE PROMISES CARRIED OUT.
BECAUSE THE SADDUCEES DIDN'T BELIEVE IN RESURRECTION, THEY DIDN'T TAKE THE LAW VERY SERIOUSLY. AFTER ALL, WHETHER YOU WERE GOOD OR BAD, YOU'D END UP IN THE SAME PLACE. MIGHT AS WELL GET WHAT YOU CAN OUT OF LIFE. MIGHT AS WELL FORGET ALL THOSE SILLY JEWISH RULES AND REGULATIONS, AND LIVE LIKE THE GREEKS AND THE ROMANS, WHO HAD THE POWER, AND WHO WERE SOPHISTICATED AND KNEW HOW TO ENJOY LIFE. FOLLOWING THE JEWISH LAW WAS FOR THE BUMPKINS; MOST OF THOSE 613 RULES DIDN'T MAKE MUCH SENSE ANYWAY. I MEAN, YOU CAN'T EAT A LOBSTER? YOU CAN'T PUT CHEESE ON YOUR SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS? YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SEPARATE SET OF DISHES FOR DAIRY AND FOR MEAT?
THE PHARISEES BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION. THEY ALSO BELIEVED THAT THOSE WHO WOULD ENJOY BEING RESURRECTED WERE THE ONES WHO FAITHFULLY KEPT GOD'S LAW. THE PHARISEES SAW THE BIG PICTURE, AND IF IT MEANT BEING PERSECUTED, OR DENYING ONESELF VARIOUS PLEASURES ON THIS EARTH, IT WAS ALL WORTH IT IN THE LONG RUN. AND SO IF THE LAW SAID YOU COULDN'T WORK ON THE SABBATH, THEY WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANT; WAS WALKING “WORK” AND IF SO, HOW FAR BEFORE YOU BROKE THE LAW? COULD YOU COOK FOOD? OR WAS IT BETTER TO PREPARE ALL THE FOOD THE DAY BEFORE? AND THEY DID GET A LITTLE BOGGED DOWN IN DETAILS, BUT THEIR HEARTS WERE IN THE RIGHT PLACE, MOSTLY.
AND FOR JESUS, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION. IT COLORED YOUR WHOLE LIFE, IT KEPT YOU POINTED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION; IT GAVE YOU THE STRENGTH TO PERSEVERE EVEN IF THE WORLD SAID YOU WERE A FOOL. AND BELIEF IN THE RESURRECTION MEANT THAT YOU OBEYED GOD'S LAW EVEN WHEN IT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE, EVEN WHEN IT WOULD GET YOU IN TROUBLE. JESUS WANTED HIS FOLLOWERS TO HAVE THE BIG PICTURE.
IF YOU WERE TO WALK DOWN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM, YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE ROMAN EMPIRE. AND YOU COULDN'T TELL A A SADDUCCEE FROM A GREEK. BUT YOU COULD ALWAYS PICK OUT A PHARISEE. THEY WORE DISTINCTIVE CLOTHING OF COURSE; BUT THEY LIVED THEIR LIVES ACCORDING TO THE LAW, NOT ACCORDING TO THE TIMES.
AND THAT BRINGS US TO NOW. DO WE BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION? DO WE REALLY BELIEVE, STRONGLY ENOUGH TO FOLLOW GOD'S LAW EVEN IF WE DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND IT? ARE WE WILLING TO BE UNPOPULAR, TO STICK UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT EVEN IF IT MEANS LOSING FRIENDS? DO WE SPEND ANY TIME WORRYING ABOUT WHETHER WE ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH, WHETHER OUR LIVES ARE GOVERNED BY JESUS CHRIST? DO WE WORK DILIGENTLY TO OVERCOME THOSE HABITS OF THE HEART THAT LEAD US TO SIN?
OR DO WE NOT BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION, ONLY GIVE IT LIP SERVICE? AND CAN ANYONE TELL WHETHER WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY LOOKING AT OUR LIVES? LET'S RESOLVE TODAY TO SEE OUR EVERY ACTION, OUR EVERY THOUGHT, IN THE LIGHT OF THE RESURRECTION WHICH AWAITS US. NOTHING ELSE REALLY MATTERS.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
THIRTY FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, CYCLE C
LUKE 19:1-10
NOBODY REALLY LIKES TAX COLLECTORS. IT’S TRUE NOW, AND IT WAS TRUE IN JESUS’ TIME. THE WAY THINGS WORKED WAS THAT THE ROMAN EMPEROR WOULD DECIDE HOW MUCH TAX HE WOULD REQUIRE FROM HIS SUBJECTS. THIS AMOUNT WOULD BE DIVIDED UP AMONG THE LOCAL GOVERNORS, WHO IN TURN WOULD DECIDE ON HOW MUCH TAX EACH INDIVIDUAL ADULT MALE HAD TO COME UP WITH. THE COLLECTION OF THESE TAXES WOULD BE TURNED OVER TO A NATIVE, WHO WOULD BE GIVEN A CONTINGENT OF ROMAN SOLDIERS TO HELP WITH THE COLLECTION. THE TAX COLLECTOR WOULD LOSE HIS JOB AND POSSIBLY MORE, IF HE DID NOT COLLECT THE REQUIRED TAXES. ON THE OTHER HAND, ANYTHING HE COLLECTED IN EXCESS HE COULD KEEP; THAT WAS HIS PAY. AND HE COULD DEFINITELY INCREASE THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE ROMAN SOLDIERS TO HELP COLLECT TAXES BY SHARING SOME OF THE EXCESS WITH THEM. ALTHOUGH ROMAN LAW SPECIFIED THE PERCENTAGE OF THE TAKE THAT THE TAX COLLECTOR COULD KEEP, IN DAYS WHEN TAXES WERE OFTEN MEASURED IN GRAIN AND CATTLE, AND PEOPLE WERE ILLITERATE, AND THERE WAS NO REAL ENFORCEMENT, TAX COLLECTORS COULD BECOME QUITE WEALTHY.
THERE WERE PROBABLY HONEST TAX COLLECTORS, AND PERHAPS ZACCHEUS WAS ONE; OUR GOSPEL PASSAGE DOESN’T REALLY SAY. BUT ONE THING IS SURE; IF HE WAS THE CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR, AND IF HE WAS A RICH MAN, HE WAS NOT REGARDED AS HONEST, AND HE HAD FEW FRIENDS AMONG HIS FELLOW JEWS. HE MAY HAVE BEEN BARRED FROM ATTENDING THE SYNAGOGUE; HE PROBABLY DIDN’T VENTURE OUT IN PUBLIC UNLESS HE HAD HIS ROMAN SOLDIERS WITH HIM; AND IN GENERAL, HE MUST HAVE LED A LONELY LIFE. BUT ZACCHEUS MAY HAVE FIGURED IT WAS ALL WORTH IT; HE HAD MONEY TO BURN.
SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS WAS A GREAT SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, AND IN FACT WORKED WITH SAINT THERESA OF AVILA, AMONG MANY OTHERS. A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR IS SOMEONE WHO TRIES TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE BECOME CLOSER TO GOD, REFORM THEIR LIVES, AND REALIZE THEIR POTENTIAL AS SPIRITUAL PEOPLE. MOST SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS START BY EXAMINING THE LIFE OF THE DIRECTEE, OR CLIENT. USUALLY IT’S NOT HARD TO FIND AN AREA WHERE THINGS ARE LACKING; WHERE THERE IS SELFISHNESS, DISHONESTY, LAZINESS, DISTRACTION – ALL THOSE HABITS WHICH BOG PEOPLE DOWN AND LEAD THEM INTO SIN. AND WHEN THESE ARE POINTED OUT, AND PLANS ARE MADE TO OVERCOME THEM, THE CLIENT REVIEWS HIS PROGRESS WITH THE DIRECTOR, AND THE DIRECTOR TRIES TO HELP THE CLIENT SEE WHERE GOD IS WORKING IN HIS LIFE. IT IS A GOOD SYSTEM. BUT JOHN OF THE CROSS DID IT DIFFERENTLY. HE STARTED OUT BY FINDING THE VERY BEST THING ABOUT THE PERSON BEING DIRECTED. HE CONCENTRATED ON THAT, AND ENCOURAGED THE PERSON TO DEVELOP AND EXPAND THAT PART OF HIS SOUL. IF THE PERSON HAD A GREAT TALENT, WELL, HOW CAN IT BE HONED AND MADE BETTER, FOR GOD’S SAKE? AND BY CONCENTRATING ON THIS, THE FAULTS AND BAD HABITS GRADUALLY DISAPPEARED. AFTER ALL, IF IT WAS EASY TO OVERCOME BAD HABITS, WE’D DO IT. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT’S MUCH MORE PLEASANT TO BUILD UP WHAT IS ALREADY GOOD; SOMETIMES ALL WE NEED IS ENCOURAGEMENT AND PERMISSION.
JESUS SEES ZACCHEUS IN A TREE; HE IS A SMALL MAN, BOTH IN PHYSICAL SIZE, AND PROBABLY IN HIS SOUL. HE KNOWS EVERYONE HATES HIM, AND HE HAS DECIDED HE DOESN’T CARE. HE GOES HOME AND COUNTS HIS MONEY AND HIS POSSESSIONS, IGNORING THAT DESIRE FOR HUMAN COMPANIONSHIP, FOR A CLOSE FRIEND. AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT JESUS KNOWS ABOUT ZACCHEUS; SOME OF HIS COMPANIONS HAVE PROBABLY ALREADY IDENTIFIED THE MAN IN THE TREE, PERHAPS WITH A FEW CURSES. AND JESUS SEES HOW ISOLATED AND LONELY THE LITTLE MAN IS, AND RATHER THAN CONDEMN HIM, OFFERS HIM HIS FRIENDSHIP, OFFERS TABLE FELLOWSHIP. “COME DOWN,” HE SAYS, “FOR I MUST STAY IN YOUR HOUSE.”
ZACCHEUS IS NOT ONLY UP A TREE, HE IS ON THE FENCE. HE HAD BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT JESUS; HE HAD BEEN A WILLING BYSTANDER. BUT NOW HE HAS A DECISION TO MAKE. DOES HE ACCEPT THE OFFER? AND IN ACCEPTING, ZACCHEUS CHANGES. JESUS SEES THAT THERE IS GOOD IN THE MAN, AND ZACCHEUS RESPONDS FROM HIS GOOD NATURE. “I WILL GIVE HALF MY WEALTH TO THE POOR, AND IF I HAVE CHEATED ANYONE, I WILL REPAY THEM FOUR TIMES OVER.” AND DESPITE THE GRUMBLING OF THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THE TOWN, JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES JOIN ZACCHEUS, AND PROBABLY OTHER OUTCASTS, IN A BANQUET IN ZACCHEUS’ HOME – MAYBE THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS THAT ZACCHEUS WAS SURROUNDED BY FRIENDLY PEOPLE AND GOOD CHEER.
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, A FATHER OF THE CHURCH WHO LIVED ABOUT 150 YEARS AFTER CHRIST, SAID THAT ZACCHEUS WAS THE APOSTLE NAMED MATTHIAS, WHO WAS APPOINTED TO REPLACE JUDAS ISCARIOT AFTER THE RESURRECTION. THERE IS ANOTHER STORY FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH THAT ZACCHEUS WAS THE FIRST BISHOP OF CASAREA. IN ANY EVENT, THE ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS CHANGED HIS LIFE.
JESUS GIVES US A VERY PRACTICAL LESSON HERE. LOOK AT THE PEOPLE YOU MEET, AND FIND THE GOOD IN THEM. CALL OUT TO THAT GOOD, AND THEY WILL BECOME BETTER PEOPLE. LOOK AT THE BAD, ON THE OTHER HAND, AND THEY CAN ONLY BECOME WORSE. AN OLD SAYING: “TREAT SOMEONE AS THEY ARE, AND THEY WILL BECOME WORSE; TREAT THEM AS THEY OUGHT TO BE, AND THEY WILL BECOME BETTER.” AND ANOTHER LESSON: JESUS LOOKS AT WHAT IS GOOD IN YOU AND I, AND INVITES US TO BECOME BETTER; HE DOES NOT LOOK AT WHAT IS BAD AND CONDEMN US.
LUKE 19:1-10
NOBODY REALLY LIKES TAX COLLECTORS. IT’S TRUE NOW, AND IT WAS TRUE IN JESUS’ TIME. THE WAY THINGS WORKED WAS THAT THE ROMAN EMPEROR WOULD DECIDE HOW MUCH TAX HE WOULD REQUIRE FROM HIS SUBJECTS. THIS AMOUNT WOULD BE DIVIDED UP AMONG THE LOCAL GOVERNORS, WHO IN TURN WOULD DECIDE ON HOW MUCH TAX EACH INDIVIDUAL ADULT MALE HAD TO COME UP WITH. THE COLLECTION OF THESE TAXES WOULD BE TURNED OVER TO A NATIVE, WHO WOULD BE GIVEN A CONTINGENT OF ROMAN SOLDIERS TO HELP WITH THE COLLECTION. THE TAX COLLECTOR WOULD LOSE HIS JOB AND POSSIBLY MORE, IF HE DID NOT COLLECT THE REQUIRED TAXES. ON THE OTHER HAND, ANYTHING HE COLLECTED IN EXCESS HE COULD KEEP; THAT WAS HIS PAY. AND HE COULD DEFINITELY INCREASE THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE ROMAN SOLDIERS TO HELP COLLECT TAXES BY SHARING SOME OF THE EXCESS WITH THEM. ALTHOUGH ROMAN LAW SPECIFIED THE PERCENTAGE OF THE TAKE THAT THE TAX COLLECTOR COULD KEEP, IN DAYS WHEN TAXES WERE OFTEN MEASURED IN GRAIN AND CATTLE, AND PEOPLE WERE ILLITERATE, AND THERE WAS NO REAL ENFORCEMENT, TAX COLLECTORS COULD BECOME QUITE WEALTHY.
THERE WERE PROBABLY HONEST TAX COLLECTORS, AND PERHAPS ZACCHEUS WAS ONE; OUR GOSPEL PASSAGE DOESN’T REALLY SAY. BUT ONE THING IS SURE; IF HE WAS THE CHIEF TAX COLLECTOR, AND IF HE WAS A RICH MAN, HE WAS NOT REGARDED AS HONEST, AND HE HAD FEW FRIENDS AMONG HIS FELLOW JEWS. HE MAY HAVE BEEN BARRED FROM ATTENDING THE SYNAGOGUE; HE PROBABLY DIDN’T VENTURE OUT IN PUBLIC UNLESS HE HAD HIS ROMAN SOLDIERS WITH HIM; AND IN GENERAL, HE MUST HAVE LED A LONELY LIFE. BUT ZACCHEUS MAY HAVE FIGURED IT WAS ALL WORTH IT; HE HAD MONEY TO BURN.
SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS WAS A GREAT SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR, AND IN FACT WORKED WITH SAINT THERESA OF AVILA, AMONG MANY OTHERS. A SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR IS SOMEONE WHO TRIES TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE BECOME CLOSER TO GOD, REFORM THEIR LIVES, AND REALIZE THEIR POTENTIAL AS SPIRITUAL PEOPLE. MOST SPIRITUAL DIRECTORS START BY EXAMINING THE LIFE OF THE DIRECTEE, OR CLIENT. USUALLY IT’S NOT HARD TO FIND AN AREA WHERE THINGS ARE LACKING; WHERE THERE IS SELFISHNESS, DISHONESTY, LAZINESS, DISTRACTION – ALL THOSE HABITS WHICH BOG PEOPLE DOWN AND LEAD THEM INTO SIN. AND WHEN THESE ARE POINTED OUT, AND PLANS ARE MADE TO OVERCOME THEM, THE CLIENT REVIEWS HIS PROGRESS WITH THE DIRECTOR, AND THE DIRECTOR TRIES TO HELP THE CLIENT SEE WHERE GOD IS WORKING IN HIS LIFE. IT IS A GOOD SYSTEM. BUT JOHN OF THE CROSS DID IT DIFFERENTLY. HE STARTED OUT BY FINDING THE VERY BEST THING ABOUT THE PERSON BEING DIRECTED. HE CONCENTRATED ON THAT, AND ENCOURAGED THE PERSON TO DEVELOP AND EXPAND THAT PART OF HIS SOUL. IF THE PERSON HAD A GREAT TALENT, WELL, HOW CAN IT BE HONED AND MADE BETTER, FOR GOD’S SAKE? AND BY CONCENTRATING ON THIS, THE FAULTS AND BAD HABITS GRADUALLY DISAPPEARED. AFTER ALL, IF IT WAS EASY TO OVERCOME BAD HABITS, WE’D DO IT. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT’S MUCH MORE PLEASANT TO BUILD UP WHAT IS ALREADY GOOD; SOMETIMES ALL WE NEED IS ENCOURAGEMENT AND PERMISSION.
JESUS SEES ZACCHEUS IN A TREE; HE IS A SMALL MAN, BOTH IN PHYSICAL SIZE, AND PROBABLY IN HIS SOUL. HE KNOWS EVERYONE HATES HIM, AND HE HAS DECIDED HE DOESN’T CARE. HE GOES HOME AND COUNTS HIS MONEY AND HIS POSSESSIONS, IGNORING THAT DESIRE FOR HUMAN COMPANIONSHIP, FOR A CLOSE FRIEND. AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT JESUS KNOWS ABOUT ZACCHEUS; SOME OF HIS COMPANIONS HAVE PROBABLY ALREADY IDENTIFIED THE MAN IN THE TREE, PERHAPS WITH A FEW CURSES. AND JESUS SEES HOW ISOLATED AND LONELY THE LITTLE MAN IS, AND RATHER THAN CONDEMN HIM, OFFERS HIM HIS FRIENDSHIP, OFFERS TABLE FELLOWSHIP. “COME DOWN,” HE SAYS, “FOR I MUST STAY IN YOUR HOUSE.”
ZACCHEUS IS NOT ONLY UP A TREE, HE IS ON THE FENCE. HE HAD BEEN CURIOUS ABOUT JESUS; HE HAD BEEN A WILLING BYSTANDER. BUT NOW HE HAS A DECISION TO MAKE. DOES HE ACCEPT THE OFFER? AND IN ACCEPTING, ZACCHEUS CHANGES. JESUS SEES THAT THERE IS GOOD IN THE MAN, AND ZACCHEUS RESPONDS FROM HIS GOOD NATURE. “I WILL GIVE HALF MY WEALTH TO THE POOR, AND IF I HAVE CHEATED ANYONE, I WILL REPAY THEM FOUR TIMES OVER.” AND DESPITE THE GRUMBLING OF THE GOOD PEOPLE OF THE TOWN, JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES JOIN ZACCHEUS, AND PROBABLY OTHER OUTCASTS, IN A BANQUET IN ZACCHEUS’ HOME – MAYBE THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS THAT ZACCHEUS WAS SURROUNDED BY FRIENDLY PEOPLE AND GOOD CHEER.
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, A FATHER OF THE CHURCH WHO LIVED ABOUT 150 YEARS AFTER CHRIST, SAID THAT ZACCHEUS WAS THE APOSTLE NAMED MATTHIAS, WHO WAS APPOINTED TO REPLACE JUDAS ISCARIOT AFTER THE RESURRECTION. THERE IS ANOTHER STORY FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH THAT ZACCHEUS WAS THE FIRST BISHOP OF CASAREA. IN ANY EVENT, THE ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS CHANGED HIS LIFE.
JESUS GIVES US A VERY PRACTICAL LESSON HERE. LOOK AT THE PEOPLE YOU MEET, AND FIND THE GOOD IN THEM. CALL OUT TO THAT GOOD, AND THEY WILL BECOME BETTER PEOPLE. LOOK AT THE BAD, ON THE OTHER HAND, AND THEY CAN ONLY BECOME WORSE. AN OLD SAYING: “TREAT SOMEONE AS THEY ARE, AND THEY WILL BECOME WORSE; TREAT THEM AS THEY OUGHT TO BE, AND THEY WILL BECOME BETTER.” AND ANOTHER LESSON: JESUS LOOKS AT WHAT IS GOOD IN YOU AND I, AND INVITES US TO BECOME BETTER; HE DOES NOT LOOK AT WHAT IS BAD AND CONDEMN US.
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
LUKE 18:9-14
HOW MANY OF YOU DRIVE A CAR? WOULD YOU SAY YOU ARE A BAD DRIVER, AN AVERAGE DRIVER, OR A GOOD DRIVER? I WON’T ASK FOR A SHOW OF HANDS, BUT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT WHEN THAT QUESTION IS ASKED, 90 PERCENT OF THOSE WHO ANSWER CLAIM TO BE BETTER THAN AVERAGE. THEY DID A SIMILAR STUDY WITH COLLEGE PROFESSORS, ASKING MORE EXPLICITLY WHETHER THEY SAW THEMSELVES AS A GOOD TEACHER, AN AVERAGE TEACHER, OR A TEACHER WHO NEEDED WORK. AS YOU MIGHT GUESS, MORE THAN 90% CONSIDERED THEMSELVES ABOVE AVERAGE.
I THINK YOU WOULD FIND THAT MOST PEOPLE CONSIDER THEMSELVES ABOVE AVERAGE WHEN IT IS ABOUT SOMETHING THEY CARE ABOUT. GARRISON KEELER NOTED THAT IN LAKE WOEBEGON, THAT FICTIONAL CITY IN MIDDLE AMERICA, 90 PERCENT OF THE CHILDREN WERE ABOVE AVERAGE.
THIS FEELING THAT WE HAVE, THAT WE ARE ABOVE AVERAGE IN THINGS WE CARE ABOUT, IS PROBABLY HEALTHY. IF I CONSIDERED MYSELF A BAD DRIVER, AND I MIGHT POINT OUT THAT MY OPINION ABOUT MY DRIVING SKILLS IS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF MY WIFE, I WOULD PROBABLY NEVER VENTURE OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY; AND IF I THOUGHT I WAS JUST AN AVERAGE DOCTOR, I WOULD BE AFRAID OF TAKING CARE OF PATIENTS.
THE PHARISEE CONSIDERS HIMSELF SPIRITUALLY SUPERIOR TO MOST OF HIS FELLOW JEWS. AND HE HAS REASON TO THINK THIS. HE LISTS THE REASONS, AND HE COMPARES HIMSELF TO THE KINDS OF PEOPLE WHO CLEARLY AREN’T TRYING VERY HARD TO MEET THE MARK. THE PHARISEE TRIES TO MEET THE MARK; HE HOLDS HIMSELF TO HIGH STANDARDS, AND KEEPS ALL THE LAWS, AND GIVES GENEROUSLY. WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE? HE EVEN THANKS GOD FOR HIS SITUATION – I THINK ITS INTERESTING THAT HE THANKS GOD THAT HE IS NOT LIKE THE REST OF MEN. SOME PEOPLE THINK THE PHARISEE BELIEVES THAT HIS SPIRITUAL GROWTH COMES FROM HIS OWN EFFORTS, BUT RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS PRAYER, HE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT GOD HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT – MAYBE EVERYTHING.
BUT THE PHARISEE IS NOT JUSTIFIED, HIS PRAYERS AND ALMSGIVING AND MORAL UPRIGHTNESS ARE FOR NOTHING. HIS PRAYER IS NOT HEARD, JESUS TELLS US.
I WONDER IF ANY OF US EVER THANK GOD THAT WE ARE NOT LIKE THE REST OF MEN, OR EVEN SOME OF THE REST OF MEN. I THANK GOD THAT I HAVE A WONDERFUL WIFE AND KIDS I AM PROUD OF, AND GOOD HEALTH, AND A PROFESSION I LOVE. IS THAT WRONG? THERE ARE CERTAINLY A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND, EVEN HERE IN LONGMEADOW, THAT I WOULD NOT WANT TO TRADE PLACES WITH; I’M VERY GRATEFUL TO GOD I’M NOT LIKE THEM. SHOULD I NOT THANK GOD FOR WHAT HE HAS GIVEN TO ME? IT WASN’T THAT LONG AGO THAT IT SEEMED AS THOUGH JESUS WAS DISAPPOINTED IN THE NINE LEPERS WHO DID NOT RETURN TO THANK GOD FOR THEIR HEALING. MIGHT THEY HAVE ALSO SAID, “THANK YOU THAT I AM NO LONGER LIKE THE REST OF LEPERS?”
THE REAL PROBLEM WITH THE PHARISEE IS PRIDE, NOT HIS PRAYER OF THANKS. AND WE CAN SEE WHAT THE PRIDE IS DOING TO HIM, JUST BE LISTENING TO HIS PRAYER AND OBSERVING THE SCENE. FIRST, THE PHARISEE IS LOOKING AT WHAT HE’S DONE, NOT AT WHAT HE STILL LACKS. PRIDE STUNTS SPIRITUAL GROWTH, AND OUR PHARISEE IS STUNTED. SECOND, PRIDE SEPARATES US FROM OTHERS. THE PHARISEE SEES HIMSELF AS SEPARATE FROM HIS FELLOW HUMAN BEING, THE TAX COLLECTOR. THERE IS NO ONE WHO IS NOT IN NEED OF A SAVIOR, NOT MOTHER THERESA, NOT THE POPE – NOT EVEN THE BLESSED MOTHER. THAT IS THE FACT THAT UNITES US ALL. THIRD, PRIDE SEPARATES US FROM GOD. THE PHARISEE SEEMS TO BE LAYING OUT ALL THE THINGS HE DOES FOR GOD. DOES HE THINK THIS WILL OBLIGATE GOD TO HIM? DOES HE THINK THERE IS ANYTHING HE GIVES TO GOD THAT GOD DID NOT FIRST GIVE HIM? WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, HIS UNDERSTANDING OF GOD IS VERY FLAWED, AND YOU CAN’T VERY WELL BECOME UNITED TO A GOD WHO DOESN’T REALLY EXIST.
THE PHARISEE IS NOT MADE RIGHT BY HIS PRAYER, BECAUSE OF HIS OWN PRIDE, NOT BECAUSE GOD REJECTS HIM.
IN CONTRAST, THE TAX COLLECTOR SEES ONLY THAT HE IS A SINNER, THAT HE IS IN NEED OF A SAVIOR, AND THAT HE CAN’T DO ANYTHING HIMSELF. THE PHARISEE SEES WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED; THE TAX COLLECTOR SEES THAT WHAT HE HAS DONE, WHAT HE COULD STILL DO, WOULD NOT EVEN BE A DROP IN THE BUCKET WHEN COMPARED WITH WHAT STILL REMAINS TO BE DONE. THE TAX COLLECTOR IS HUMBLE; THE WORD IS RELATED TO THE LATIN WORD “HUMUS” WHICH MEANS “SOIL”. THE TAX COLLECTOR RECOGNIZES THAT HIS ONLY CHANCE IS TO GET OUT OF THE WAY AND LET GOD WORK. HE SEES THAT ALL HE CAN BE IS SOIL, WAITING FOR THE GARDENER TO DO THE PLANTING, WATERING, WEEDING, AND HARVESTING. AND IT IS THIS ATTITUDE THAT JUSTIFIES HIM, THAT MAKES HIM RIGHT WITH GOD.
I THINK IT IS ALL RIGHT TO HAVE A HEALTHY EGO. CERTAINLY A LOT GETS DONE BY THOSE PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT THEY ARE MORE CAPABLE THAN 90% OF THE POPULATION. I SUSPECT POPE JOHN PAUL II HAD A HEALTHY EGO. BUT A HEALTHY EGO IS NOT PRIDE, THE GREAT SEPARATOR. THE REAL POINT IS THAT, NO MATTER WHAT OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, NO MATTER WHAT OUR SKILLS OR TALENTS OR GOOD FORTUNE, WE APPRECIATE IN OUR VERY SOULS THAT WE ARE ENTIRELY AT THE MERCY OF GOD, AND THAT ANY HOPE WE HAVE OF ETERNAL LIFE IS BECAUSE THE FATHER GAVE US HIS SON TO DIE FOR US. THERE IS STILL SOME PHARISEE LEFT IN ME. GOD HELP ME BE THE TAX COLLECTOR.
HOW MANY OF YOU DRIVE A CAR? WOULD YOU SAY YOU ARE A BAD DRIVER, AN AVERAGE DRIVER, OR A GOOD DRIVER? I WON’T ASK FOR A SHOW OF HANDS, BUT STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT WHEN THAT QUESTION IS ASKED, 90 PERCENT OF THOSE WHO ANSWER CLAIM TO BE BETTER THAN AVERAGE. THEY DID A SIMILAR STUDY WITH COLLEGE PROFESSORS, ASKING MORE EXPLICITLY WHETHER THEY SAW THEMSELVES AS A GOOD TEACHER, AN AVERAGE TEACHER, OR A TEACHER WHO NEEDED WORK. AS YOU MIGHT GUESS, MORE THAN 90% CONSIDERED THEMSELVES ABOVE AVERAGE.
I THINK YOU WOULD FIND THAT MOST PEOPLE CONSIDER THEMSELVES ABOVE AVERAGE WHEN IT IS ABOUT SOMETHING THEY CARE ABOUT. GARRISON KEELER NOTED THAT IN LAKE WOEBEGON, THAT FICTIONAL CITY IN MIDDLE AMERICA, 90 PERCENT OF THE CHILDREN WERE ABOVE AVERAGE.
THIS FEELING THAT WE HAVE, THAT WE ARE ABOVE AVERAGE IN THINGS WE CARE ABOUT, IS PROBABLY HEALTHY. IF I CONSIDERED MYSELF A BAD DRIVER, AND I MIGHT POINT OUT THAT MY OPINION ABOUT MY DRIVING SKILLS IS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF MY WIFE, I WOULD PROBABLY NEVER VENTURE OUT OF THE DRIVEWAY; AND IF I THOUGHT I WAS JUST AN AVERAGE DOCTOR, I WOULD BE AFRAID OF TAKING CARE OF PATIENTS.
THE PHARISEE CONSIDERS HIMSELF SPIRITUALLY SUPERIOR TO MOST OF HIS FELLOW JEWS. AND HE HAS REASON TO THINK THIS. HE LISTS THE REASONS, AND HE COMPARES HIMSELF TO THE KINDS OF PEOPLE WHO CLEARLY AREN’T TRYING VERY HARD TO MEET THE MARK. THE PHARISEE TRIES TO MEET THE MARK; HE HOLDS HIMSELF TO HIGH STANDARDS, AND KEEPS ALL THE LAWS, AND GIVES GENEROUSLY. WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE? HE EVEN THANKS GOD FOR HIS SITUATION – I THINK ITS INTERESTING THAT HE THANKS GOD THAT HE IS NOT LIKE THE REST OF MEN. SOME PEOPLE THINK THE PHARISEE BELIEVES THAT HIS SPIRITUAL GROWTH COMES FROM HIS OWN EFFORTS, BUT RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS PRAYER, HE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT GOD HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT – MAYBE EVERYTHING.
BUT THE PHARISEE IS NOT JUSTIFIED, HIS PRAYERS AND ALMSGIVING AND MORAL UPRIGHTNESS ARE FOR NOTHING. HIS PRAYER IS NOT HEARD, JESUS TELLS US.
I WONDER IF ANY OF US EVER THANK GOD THAT WE ARE NOT LIKE THE REST OF MEN, OR EVEN SOME OF THE REST OF MEN. I THANK GOD THAT I HAVE A WONDERFUL WIFE AND KIDS I AM PROUD OF, AND GOOD HEALTH, AND A PROFESSION I LOVE. IS THAT WRONG? THERE ARE CERTAINLY A LOT OF PEOPLE AROUND, EVEN HERE IN LONGMEADOW, THAT I WOULD NOT WANT TO TRADE PLACES WITH; I’M VERY GRATEFUL TO GOD I’M NOT LIKE THEM. SHOULD I NOT THANK GOD FOR WHAT HE HAS GIVEN TO ME? IT WASN’T THAT LONG AGO THAT IT SEEMED AS THOUGH JESUS WAS DISAPPOINTED IN THE NINE LEPERS WHO DID NOT RETURN TO THANK GOD FOR THEIR HEALING. MIGHT THEY HAVE ALSO SAID, “THANK YOU THAT I AM NO LONGER LIKE THE REST OF LEPERS?”
THE REAL PROBLEM WITH THE PHARISEE IS PRIDE, NOT HIS PRAYER OF THANKS. AND WE CAN SEE WHAT THE PRIDE IS DOING TO HIM, JUST BE LISTENING TO HIS PRAYER AND OBSERVING THE SCENE. FIRST, THE PHARISEE IS LOOKING AT WHAT HE’S DONE, NOT AT WHAT HE STILL LACKS. PRIDE STUNTS SPIRITUAL GROWTH, AND OUR PHARISEE IS STUNTED. SECOND, PRIDE SEPARATES US FROM OTHERS. THE PHARISEE SEES HIMSELF AS SEPARATE FROM HIS FELLOW HUMAN BEING, THE TAX COLLECTOR. THERE IS NO ONE WHO IS NOT IN NEED OF A SAVIOR, NOT MOTHER THERESA, NOT THE POPE – NOT EVEN THE BLESSED MOTHER. THAT IS THE FACT THAT UNITES US ALL. THIRD, PRIDE SEPARATES US FROM GOD. THE PHARISEE SEEMS TO BE LAYING OUT ALL THE THINGS HE DOES FOR GOD. DOES HE THINK THIS WILL OBLIGATE GOD TO HIM? DOES HE THINK THERE IS ANYTHING HE GIVES TO GOD THAT GOD DID NOT FIRST GIVE HIM? WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, HIS UNDERSTANDING OF GOD IS VERY FLAWED, AND YOU CAN’T VERY WELL BECOME UNITED TO A GOD WHO DOESN’T REALLY EXIST.
THE PHARISEE IS NOT MADE RIGHT BY HIS PRAYER, BECAUSE OF HIS OWN PRIDE, NOT BECAUSE GOD REJECTS HIM.
IN CONTRAST, THE TAX COLLECTOR SEES ONLY THAT HE IS A SINNER, THAT HE IS IN NEED OF A SAVIOR, AND THAT HE CAN’T DO ANYTHING HIMSELF. THE PHARISEE SEES WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED; THE TAX COLLECTOR SEES THAT WHAT HE HAS DONE, WHAT HE COULD STILL DO, WOULD NOT EVEN BE A DROP IN THE BUCKET WHEN COMPARED WITH WHAT STILL REMAINS TO BE DONE. THE TAX COLLECTOR IS HUMBLE; THE WORD IS RELATED TO THE LATIN WORD “HUMUS” WHICH MEANS “SOIL”. THE TAX COLLECTOR RECOGNIZES THAT HIS ONLY CHANCE IS TO GET OUT OF THE WAY AND LET GOD WORK. HE SEES THAT ALL HE CAN BE IS SOIL, WAITING FOR THE GARDENER TO DO THE PLANTING, WATERING, WEEDING, AND HARVESTING. AND IT IS THIS ATTITUDE THAT JUSTIFIES HIM, THAT MAKES HIM RIGHT WITH GOD.
I THINK IT IS ALL RIGHT TO HAVE A HEALTHY EGO. CERTAINLY A LOT GETS DONE BY THOSE PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT THEY ARE MORE CAPABLE THAN 90% OF THE POPULATION. I SUSPECT POPE JOHN PAUL II HAD A HEALTHY EGO. BUT A HEALTHY EGO IS NOT PRIDE, THE GREAT SEPARATOR. THE REAL POINT IS THAT, NO MATTER WHAT OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, NO MATTER WHAT OUR SKILLS OR TALENTS OR GOOD FORTUNE, WE APPRECIATE IN OUR VERY SOULS THAT WE ARE ENTIRELY AT THE MERCY OF GOD, AND THAT ANY HOPE WE HAVE OF ETERNAL LIFE IS BECAUSE THE FATHER GAVE US HIS SON TO DIE FOR US. THERE IS STILL SOME PHARISEE LEFT IN ME. GOD HELP ME BE THE TAX COLLECTOR.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Twenty Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
LUKE 18:1-8
I HAVE A GRANDSON WHO HAS NO FEAR. IF THERE IS A BICYCLE TO BE RIDDEN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, HE'LL DO IT. IF A BANISTER NEEDS TO BE SLID DOWN, HE'S THERE. SOMETIMES HE ROLLS DOWN THE STAIRS AND YOU WONDER WHY HE DIDN'T BREAK SOMETHING. MY OTHER GRANDCHILDREN ARE LIVELY AND ENERGETIC, BUT THEY ALL HAVE A NATURAL CAUTION. THERE IS A REAL DIFFERENCE HERE.
ONCE IN A WHILE YOU MEET A PERSON WHO HAS NO FEAR. AND THAT IS A WONDERFUL WAY TO BE, I GUESS. I'M NOT ONE OF THEM. FEAR IS SOMETHING THAT CONTROLS MOST PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR. WE FEAR BEING POOR, HEARING A POLICE SIREN BEHIND US AS WE DRIVE, HAVING THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE SET UP AN APPOINTMENT TO MEET WITH US. WE FEAR PEOPLE LAUGHING AT US, IGNORING US, GETTING ANGRY WITH US; WE FEAR INJURY, SICKNESS, DEATH. AND MANY PEOPLE IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY EXERCISE THEIR POWER BY STIRRING UP THOSE FEARS WHICH ARE JUST BELOW THE SURFACE IN MOST OF US.
BUT THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE WITHOUT FEAR, PEOPLE WHO RACE CARS FOR A LIVING, PEOPLE WHO WORK IN DANGEROUS OCCUPATIONS; PEOPLE WHO AREN'T AFRAID TO GO AGAINST THE PREVAILING CULTURAL OR POLITICAL ATTITUDES. I THINK OF LIU XIAOBO, WHO JUST WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AND WHO IS SERVING A PRISON TERM IN CHINA FOR ACTIVITIES PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS. WHAT COURAGE IT MUST TAKE TO STAND UP TO POWER KNOWING THAT YOU MIGHT SPEND MUCH OF YOUR LIFE IN PRISON, OR POSSIBLY EVEN BE EXECUTED. OF COURSE WHEN WE SAY “NO FEAR”, WE PROBABLY DON'T REALLY MEAN NO FEAR, WE MEAN PEOPLE WHO CAN ACT AS THOUGH THEY HAVE NO FEAR.
IN JESUS' TIME AND LONG BEFORE, ONE OF THE MOST HELPLESS OF PEOPLE WAS A WIDOW. A WOMAN BELONGED TO HER FATHER UNTIL SHE WAS GIVEN IN MARRIAGE. THEN SHE BELONGED TO HER HUSBAND. IF THINGS FOLLOWED THEIR NORMAL COURSE, SHE WOULD HAVE CHILDREN, AND THAT WOULD GIVE HER SOME ASSURANCE OF BEING CARED FOR IN THE EVENT THAT HER HUSBAND PASSED AWAY. BUT IF SHE HAD NO CHILDREN AND HER HUSBAND DIED, SHE WOULD DEPEND ON THE CHARITY OF RELATIVES AND STRANGERS, AND HAD NO OTHER PROSPECTS; SHE COULDN'T EARN A LIVING, HAD NO SOCIAL SECURITY, AND UNLESS SHE WERE YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL, SHE WAS UNLIKELY TO FIND ANOTHER HUSBAND. NO WONDER THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS MENTION WIDOWS, ALONG WITH ORPHANS AND RESIDENT ALIENS WHEN THEY WANT TO GIVE EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO ARE MOST HELPLESS.
IN THE PARABLE WE JUST HEARD, OUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE JUDGE; JESUS SEEMS TO BE COMPARING HIM TO GOD IN A WAY. IF YOU CAN GET A JUDGE WHO DOES NOT FEAR GOD OR MAN TO RENDER A JUDGMENT IN YOUR FAVOR BY BROWBEATING HIM, HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU GET GOD TO ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS? BUT IS THAT WHAT JESUS IS REALLY SAYING? IS GOD REALLY AN UNJUST JUDGE? CAN WE CHANGE GOD'S MIND BY WEARING HIM DOWN WITH OUR PRAYERS? BUT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE LISTENING TO JESUS WERE PROBABLY MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN THE WIDOW. FIRST OF ALL, SHE'S WAY OUT OF CHARACTER; SHE IS PUSHY. SECOND, SHE IS VERY CLEARLY NOT INTIMIDATED; SHE CALLS HER OPPONENT AN “ADVERSARY” WHICH IMPLIES THAT THERE IS MORE THAN A DISAGREEMENT HERE. SHE IS IMPLYING THAT HER OPPONENT IS EVIL AND WRONGHEADED. THE WORD THE WIDOW USES HERE IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE WORD THAT IS TRANSLATED AS “SATAN” WHEN JESUS SAYS TO PETER, “GET BEHIND ME, SATAN.” THIRD, THE JUDGE MAY NOT RESPECT GOD OR MAN, BUT THE WIDOW DOES NOT EVEN RESPECT THE JUDGE. FOURTH, THE THE WOMAN IS INTIMIDATING TO THE JUDGE; HE WORRIES THAT SHE WILL STRIKE HIM. IN SOME OTHER TRANSLATIONS HE WORRIES THAT SHE WILL WEAR HIM DOWN. BUT CLEARLY THE JUDGE RECOGNIZES WHO IS SUPERIOR HERE.
MAYBE THE WIDOW IS GOD. MAYBE GOD CALLS OUT TO HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THE WIDOW AND THE ORPHAN AND THE POOR, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, UNTIL HIS PEOPLE, YOU AND I FINALLY START TO REALLY LISTEN, AND FINALLY RENDER JUSTICE TO THEM. MAYBE YOU AND I ARE THE ADVERSARIES HERE, AS A WHOLE WORLD OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS, OUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS, WATCH FROM THEIR POVERTY AS WE ENJOY THE GOOD THINGS OF LIFE.
THE UNJUST JUDGE DOESN'T FEAR GOD OR RESPECT MAN; BUT THE WIDOW WEARS HIM DOWN EVENTUALLY. WILL WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE WORN DOWN BY THE VOICES OF THE POOR AND HELPLESS? BECAUSE GOD IS ON THEIR SIDE, YOU KNOW. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AND GOD WILL RENDER JUSTICE IF WE DON'T, AND IT WON'T BE GOOD FOR US.
AND I THINK THE LAST STATEMENT OF JESUS MAKES MORE SENSE IF WE READ THE STORY IN THIS WAY; BECAUSE JESUS WONDERS ALOUD WHETHER HE WILL FIND FAITH ON EARTH WHEN HE RETURNS; AND FAITH IS NOT BELIEF, BUT BELIEF WHICH RESULTS IN ACTION. WILL JESUS FIND FAITH OF THIS SORT?
GOD WON'T STOP CRYING OUT THROUGH THE POOREST OF THE POOR FOR JUSTICE ON THEIR BEHALF. EVEN AN UNJUST, CORRUPT JUDGE IN HIS STORY FINALLY RELENTS AND TREATS HER JUSTLY. WILL WE HEAR THE CRY OF THE WIDOW AND RENDER JUSTICE? OR ARE WE EVEN MORE CORRUPT, MORE UNJUST, THAN THE JUDGE IS?
IN THE BEGINNING, JESUS SAYS THAT IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO PRAY ALWAYS, SINCE THE ALTERNATIVE IS TO LOSE HEART, TO BECOME WEARY. IF WE PRAY ALWAYS, WE WILL RECOGNIZE THE WIDOW AND THE ORPHAN, AND OUR CONSCIENCES WILL BE SENSITIVE TO THEIR PLIGHT. IF WE DON'T PRAY ALWAYS WE WILL CLOSE IN ON OURSELVES AND GRADUALLY LOSE THE BONDS WE HAVE WITH THOSE AROUND US, AND WITH GOD. AND WE WILL BECOME UNJUST JUDGES, EVEN MORE THAN THE MAN WE MEET IN THIS STORY, BECAUSE HE REPENTED AND FINALLY YIELDED TO GOD'S CRY. BUT IT COULD BE THAT WE WONT.
I HAVE A GRANDSON WHO HAS NO FEAR. IF THERE IS A BICYCLE TO BE RIDDEN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE, HE'LL DO IT. IF A BANISTER NEEDS TO BE SLID DOWN, HE'S THERE. SOMETIMES HE ROLLS DOWN THE STAIRS AND YOU WONDER WHY HE DIDN'T BREAK SOMETHING. MY OTHER GRANDCHILDREN ARE LIVELY AND ENERGETIC, BUT THEY ALL HAVE A NATURAL CAUTION. THERE IS A REAL DIFFERENCE HERE.
ONCE IN A WHILE YOU MEET A PERSON WHO HAS NO FEAR. AND THAT IS A WONDERFUL WAY TO BE, I GUESS. I'M NOT ONE OF THEM. FEAR IS SOMETHING THAT CONTROLS MOST PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR. WE FEAR BEING POOR, HEARING A POLICE SIREN BEHIND US AS WE DRIVE, HAVING THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE SET UP AN APPOINTMENT TO MEET WITH US. WE FEAR PEOPLE LAUGHING AT US, IGNORING US, GETTING ANGRY WITH US; WE FEAR INJURY, SICKNESS, DEATH. AND MANY PEOPLE IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY EXERCISE THEIR POWER BY STIRRING UP THOSE FEARS WHICH ARE JUST BELOW THE SURFACE IN MOST OF US.
BUT THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE WITHOUT FEAR, PEOPLE WHO RACE CARS FOR A LIVING, PEOPLE WHO WORK IN DANGEROUS OCCUPATIONS; PEOPLE WHO AREN'T AFRAID TO GO AGAINST THE PREVAILING CULTURAL OR POLITICAL ATTITUDES. I THINK OF LIU XIAOBO, WHO JUST WON THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE AND WHO IS SERVING A PRISON TERM IN CHINA FOR ACTIVITIES PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS. WHAT COURAGE IT MUST TAKE TO STAND UP TO POWER KNOWING THAT YOU MIGHT SPEND MUCH OF YOUR LIFE IN PRISON, OR POSSIBLY EVEN BE EXECUTED. OF COURSE WHEN WE SAY “NO FEAR”, WE PROBABLY DON'T REALLY MEAN NO FEAR, WE MEAN PEOPLE WHO CAN ACT AS THOUGH THEY HAVE NO FEAR.
IN JESUS' TIME AND LONG BEFORE, ONE OF THE MOST HELPLESS OF PEOPLE WAS A WIDOW. A WOMAN BELONGED TO HER FATHER UNTIL SHE WAS GIVEN IN MARRIAGE. THEN SHE BELONGED TO HER HUSBAND. IF THINGS FOLLOWED THEIR NORMAL COURSE, SHE WOULD HAVE CHILDREN, AND THAT WOULD GIVE HER SOME ASSURANCE OF BEING CARED FOR IN THE EVENT THAT HER HUSBAND PASSED AWAY. BUT IF SHE HAD NO CHILDREN AND HER HUSBAND DIED, SHE WOULD DEPEND ON THE CHARITY OF RELATIVES AND STRANGERS, AND HAD NO OTHER PROSPECTS; SHE COULDN'T EARN A LIVING, HAD NO SOCIAL SECURITY, AND UNLESS SHE WERE YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL, SHE WAS UNLIKELY TO FIND ANOTHER HUSBAND. NO WONDER THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS MENTION WIDOWS, ALONG WITH ORPHANS AND RESIDENT ALIENS WHEN THEY WANT TO GIVE EXAMPLES OF THOSE WHO ARE MOST HELPLESS.
IN THE PARABLE WE JUST HEARD, OUR ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE JUDGE; JESUS SEEMS TO BE COMPARING HIM TO GOD IN A WAY. IF YOU CAN GET A JUDGE WHO DOES NOT FEAR GOD OR MAN TO RENDER A JUDGMENT IN YOUR FAVOR BY BROWBEATING HIM, HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU GET GOD TO ANSWER YOUR PRAYERS? BUT IS THAT WHAT JESUS IS REALLY SAYING? IS GOD REALLY AN UNJUST JUDGE? CAN WE CHANGE GOD'S MIND BY WEARING HIM DOWN WITH OUR PRAYERS? BUT THE PEOPLE WHO WERE LISTENING TO JESUS WERE PROBABLY MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN THE WIDOW. FIRST OF ALL, SHE'S WAY OUT OF CHARACTER; SHE IS PUSHY. SECOND, SHE IS VERY CLEARLY NOT INTIMIDATED; SHE CALLS HER OPPONENT AN “ADVERSARY” WHICH IMPLIES THAT THERE IS MORE THAN A DISAGREEMENT HERE. SHE IS IMPLYING THAT HER OPPONENT IS EVIL AND WRONGHEADED. THE WORD THE WIDOW USES HERE IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE WORD THAT IS TRANSLATED AS “SATAN” WHEN JESUS SAYS TO PETER, “GET BEHIND ME, SATAN.” THIRD, THE JUDGE MAY NOT RESPECT GOD OR MAN, BUT THE WIDOW DOES NOT EVEN RESPECT THE JUDGE. FOURTH, THE THE WOMAN IS INTIMIDATING TO THE JUDGE; HE WORRIES THAT SHE WILL STRIKE HIM. IN SOME OTHER TRANSLATIONS HE WORRIES THAT SHE WILL WEAR HIM DOWN. BUT CLEARLY THE JUDGE RECOGNIZES WHO IS SUPERIOR HERE.
MAYBE THE WIDOW IS GOD. MAYBE GOD CALLS OUT TO HIS PEOPLE THROUGH THE WIDOW AND THE ORPHAN AND THE POOR, OVER AND OVER AGAIN, UNTIL HIS PEOPLE, YOU AND I FINALLY START TO REALLY LISTEN, AND FINALLY RENDER JUSTICE TO THEM. MAYBE YOU AND I ARE THE ADVERSARIES HERE, AS A WHOLE WORLD OF WIDOWS AND ORPHANS, OUR SISTERS AND BROTHERS, WATCH FROM THEIR POVERTY AS WE ENJOY THE GOOD THINGS OF LIFE.
THE UNJUST JUDGE DOESN'T FEAR GOD OR RESPECT MAN; BUT THE WIDOW WEARS HIM DOWN EVENTUALLY. WILL WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE WORN DOWN BY THE VOICES OF THE POOR AND HELPLESS? BECAUSE GOD IS ON THEIR SIDE, YOU KNOW. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AND GOD WILL RENDER JUSTICE IF WE DON'T, AND IT WON'T BE GOOD FOR US.
AND I THINK THE LAST STATEMENT OF JESUS MAKES MORE SENSE IF WE READ THE STORY IN THIS WAY; BECAUSE JESUS WONDERS ALOUD WHETHER HE WILL FIND FAITH ON EARTH WHEN HE RETURNS; AND FAITH IS NOT BELIEF, BUT BELIEF WHICH RESULTS IN ACTION. WILL JESUS FIND FAITH OF THIS SORT?
GOD WON'T STOP CRYING OUT THROUGH THE POOREST OF THE POOR FOR JUSTICE ON THEIR BEHALF. EVEN AN UNJUST, CORRUPT JUDGE IN HIS STORY FINALLY RELENTS AND TREATS HER JUSTLY. WILL WE HEAR THE CRY OF THE WIDOW AND RENDER JUSTICE? OR ARE WE EVEN MORE CORRUPT, MORE UNJUST, THAN THE JUDGE IS?
IN THE BEGINNING, JESUS SAYS THAT IT IS NECESSARY FOR US TO PRAY ALWAYS, SINCE THE ALTERNATIVE IS TO LOSE HEART, TO BECOME WEARY. IF WE PRAY ALWAYS, WE WILL RECOGNIZE THE WIDOW AND THE ORPHAN, AND OUR CONSCIENCES WILL BE SENSITIVE TO THEIR PLIGHT. IF WE DON'T PRAY ALWAYS WE WILL CLOSE IN ON OURSELVES AND GRADUALLY LOSE THE BONDS WE HAVE WITH THOSE AROUND US, AND WITH GOD. AND WE WILL BECOME UNJUST JUDGES, EVEN MORE THAN THE MAN WE MEET IN THIS STORY, BECAUSE HE REPENTED AND FINALLY YIELDED TO GOD'S CRY. BUT IT COULD BE THAT WE WONT.
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