JOHN 1:29-34
SOMETIMES IT SEEMS AS THOUGH SOME LUCKY INDIVIDUALS HAVE A DESTINY. WHEN YOU LOOK AT THEIR LIVES, THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH IT WAS ALL PREORDAINED. WOULDN'T IT BE WONDERFUL TO BE LIKE THAT – TO ALWAYS SEE WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. TO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY WHERE GOD WAS LEADING YOU. THE VATICAN JUST ANNOUNCED THAT POPE JOHN PAUL II WILL BE BEATIFIED THE SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. IT'S VERY EARLY IN THE PROCESS, BUT THE OBLIGATORY MIRACLE HAS BEEN CERTIFIED, AND HIS LIFE HAS BEEN GONE OVER WITH A FINE TOOTHED COMB. AND JOHN PAUL SEEMS TO HAVE HAD ONE OF THOSE LIVES OF DESTINY. IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS PREDESTINED, AND THE OUTCOME WAS THAT HE BECAME ONE OF OUR GREATEST POPES, AND INDEED, MANY FEEL THAT HIS LEADERSHIP SAVED THE CHURCH. I DON'T KNOW HOW HIS LIFE LOOKED TO JOHN PAUL II; BUT I THINK WE DO KNOW WHAT HIS LIFE LOOKED LIKE TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.
THINK OF THE THINGS WE KNOW. HE WAS JESUS' COUSIN, AND EVEN BEFORE HIS BIRTH, WE ARE TOLD THAT HE REACTED TO JESUS' PRESENCE. LAST SUNDAY WE HEARD ABOUT HOW, WHEN JESUS CAME TO HIM FOR BAPTISM, JOHN EXCLAIMED THAT HE SHOULD BE BAPTIZED BY JESUS. IT SEEMS AS THOUGH JOHN ALWAYS HAD AN INTUITION THAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO PREPARE THE WAY FOR SOMEONE; HE COMPARED HIMSELF TO A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS. HE TOLD THOSE WHO HEARD HIM THAT SOMEONE WAS COMING WHO WAS GREATER THAN HIM, SO GREAT THAT HE WASN'T WORTHY TO UNTIE HIS SANDAL STRAP. BUT WHEN YOU READ FURTHER INTO WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JOHN, THERE IS UNCERTAINTY. TODAY HE ADMITS TWICE THAT HE DID NOT KNOW JESUS, THE ONE FOR WHOM HE WAS TO PREPARE THE WAY. AND IN ANOTHER STORY HE SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS TO ASK “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JOHN KNEW HE WAS GIVEN A MISSION BY GOD. WE CAN ALMOST IMAGINE THAT BEFORE HE STARTED HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY, HE MUST HAVE DONE A LOT OF THINKING AND SEARCHING. HIS FATHER WAS A PRIEST, AFTER ALL, SO JOHN PROBABLY HAD A DECENT EDUCATION. WE KNOW HE SPENT TIME IN THE DESERT, JUST LIKE JESUS DID AFTER HIS BAPTISM. AS HE SEARCHED TO KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR HIMSELF, HE LIVED IN THE DESERT LIKE A HERMIT, AND WHEN HE CAME BACK TO CIVILIZATION, HE LOOKED LIKE A WILD MAN. AND AT EVERY MOMENT, EVEN THOUGH HE ACTED BOLDLY, AND EVEN THOUGH WHEN WE LOOK ACROSS THOSE TWO THOUSAND YEARS IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HIS LIFE WAS SCRIPTED, AND THAT EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED WAS ALMOST PREDESTINED, THE GOSPELS GIVE US A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE – A JOHN WHO DESPITE HIS DEDICATION, HIS COURAGE, HIS HOLINESS, DOESN'T RECOGNIZE JESUS. OF COURSE HE DOES, EVENTUALLY, BUT EVEN IN HIS LAST DAYS IN HEROD'S PRISON, HE'S NOT QUITE SURE. AND I WONDER IF, WHEN JOHN WENT TO HIS EXECUTION, OR WHEN JOHN PAUL II REALIZED THAT HIS DEATH WAS NEAR, THESE GREAT SAINTS MAY HAVE HAD A MOMENT OF UNCERTAINTY, A WISH FOR CLARITY – DID THEIR LIVES REALLY HAVE MEANING? DID THEY REALLY HAVE A DESTINY? I SUSPECT THAT THIS IS A QUESTION THAT EVERYONE HAS AT THE END OF THEIR LIVES – DID I MATTER? DID MY LIFE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? DID I DO WHAT GOD WANTED ME TO DO, OR IS THERE A GOD AT ALL?
IN THE END, JOHN RECOGNIZED THAT JESUS WAS THE MESSIAH. TODAY WE HEAR HIM TELLING THIS TO HIS OWN DISCIPLES. BUT LATER HE'LL ASK AGAIN; LIKE ALL OF US, JOHN GOES FROM MORE CERTAINTY TO LESS CERTAINTY AND BACK AGAIN. IT IS NOT GIVEN TO ANY HUMAN BEING TO KNOW, REALLY KNOW, WHAT HE IS PUT ON THIS EARTH FOR.
BUT JOHN PAUL II AND JOHN THE BAPTIST SEEMED TO SHARE A CHARACTERISTIC; AT EACH JUNCTURE IN THEIR LIVES, WHEN THEY HAD TO MAKE CHOICES, THEY SEEMED TO MAKE “INSPIRED” CHOICES. THIS DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY HEARD VOICES IN THEIR HEADS. IT DOES MEAN THAT WHEN THEY MADE CHOICES, THEY USUALLY STEPPED OUT AND TOOK A CHANCE ON GOD. JOHN PAUL CHOSE TO BECOME A PRIEST IN AN ERA WHEN THAT WAS DANGEROUS AND PUT HIM ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW. JOHN THE BAPTIST COULD HAVE BECOME A MEMBER OF THE HEREDITARY PRIESTHOOD OF ISRAEL, AND LIVED A LIFE OF SERVICE; INSTEAD, HE CHOSE TO LIVE IN THE DESERT AS A HERMIT. JOHN PAUL WASN'T AFRAID, THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, TO SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THE NAZI'S, THE COMMUNISTS, TO AMERICAN PRESIDENTS, TO POWERFUL PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD; JOHN THE BAPTIST NEVER HESITATED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH REGARDLESS OF CONSEQUENCES.
SO BEING A SAINT IS NOT THE SAME AS LIVING A LIFE OF CERTAINTY, A LIFE OF DESTINY. IT IS JUST BEING OPEN TO INSPIRATION EVERY TIME A CHOICE HAS TO BE MADE. LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, WE MAY ONLY HAVE A SMALL PART OF THE TRUTH, AND WE MAY HAVE TO STEP OUT INTO THE DARKNESS WITHOUT GOOD EVIDENCE, WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS GIVEN ALL HE OR SHE NEEDS TO KNOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES. IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE THINK WE NEED; IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE WILL SEE THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR CHOICES, OR THE RESULTS OF OUR ACTIONS. IN FACT, MOST OF THE TIME, WE DON'T GET THAT PRIVILEGE. WE ARE ONLY GIVEN WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE A CHOICE, A CHOICE FOR GOD OR A CHOICE NOT IN LINE WITH GOD'S WILL. AND EVEN IF WE MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES, WE WON'T REALLY KNOW THEY WERE RIGHT UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE.
SO WHAT TO DO? IN A WAY, THIS IS VERY LIBERATING. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW OUR LIVES TURN OUT. WE AREN'T RESPONSIBLE FOR ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING, OR DOING SOME GREAT WORK FOR GOD. WE AREN'T GIVEN THE BIG PICTURE, THE PLAN OF GOD FOR OUR LIVES. BUT WE ARE GIVEN AT EVERY MOMENT, ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE, AND OUR WHOLE LIVES AS CHRISTIANS CONSIST OF LISTENING, OF PRAYING, OF PURIFYING OUR MOTIVES AND OUR INTENTIONS, SO THAT THE NEXT TIME WE MAKE A CHOICE, WE WILL MAKE THE ONE GOD WANTS US TO MAKE. GOD ALWAYS GIVES US A CHOICE, AND HE RESPECTS OUR FREE WILL. BUT HE GIVES US WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE OUR CHOICES. WE MAY NEVER SEE WHAT HE WANTS FOR US, WE MAY, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, HAVE TO ADMIT THAT “WE DID NOT KNOW HIM”. BUT OUR PART IN THE WORLD TO COME IS ASSURED IF WE MAKE OUR CHOICES EACH TIME WITH PRAYER, WITH THOUGHT, AND WITH UNSELFISHNESS; IF WE MAKE THOSE CHOICES BECAUSE WE HAVE WORKED TO UNDERSTAND THE WILL OF GOD. AND WE WON'T HAVE CERTAINTY, EXCEPT THE CERTAINTY OF KNOWING THAT GOD WILL TAKE OUR LIVES AND KNIT THEM INTO HIS GRAND PLAN FOR HIS KINGDOM, AND WE WILL SEE HOW OUR CHOICES REALLY MATTERED SOME DAY. AND WE WILL REALIZE, LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST, LIKE JOHN PAUL II, THAT GOD WAS WORKING IN OUR LIVES, EVEN THOUGH WE DID NOT KNOW HIM.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Baptism of the Lord, Cycle A
MATTHEW 3:13-17
WE CATHOLICS MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE BAPTISM THAT JOHN WAS GIVING AND THE BAPTISM THAT JESUS SPOKE ABOUT WHEN HE TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO AND BAPTIZE ALL NATIONS. JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS IN A SENSE A CALL TO THE PEOPLE TO RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS; THAT'S WHY HE DID IT AT THAT SPOT ON THE JORDAN RIVER – THE PLACE WHERE GOD HAD PARTED THE WATERS AND ALLOWED THE ISRAELITES LED BY JOSHUA TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. YES, THEY LEFT EGYPT THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA, BUT THEY ENTERED ISRAEL THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE JORDAN. OUR BAPTISM IS A SACRAMENT. IT IS NOT MERELY A SYMBOL, IT IMPARTS GRACE. GRACE WHICH IS STILL WORKING IN YOU AND I.
SAINT THERESA OF AVILA, THE GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH WHO REFORMED THE CARMELITE ORDER, WROTE THE “INTERIOR CASTLE” WHICH IS A MASTERPIECE OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY. THE MAIN POINT IS THAT AT BAPTISM THE TRINITY DWELLS IN OUR VERY CENTER, IN THE CENTER OF OUR SOUL. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO UNITE WITH THE TRINITY TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WHILE WE ARE STILL HERE ON EARTH. WE START OUT FAR FROM THE CENTER, AND AS WE BEGIN TO PRAY, AND TURN OUR BACKS ON WHATEVER KEEPS US FROM GOD, WE HAVE DIFFICULTY – SHE COMPARES IT TO WATERING A GARDEN BY LOWERING A BUCKET INTO A WELL AND CARRYING IT BACK AND FORTH. LATER, IT BECOMES EASIER; IT IS AS THOUGH NOW WE HAVE A WINCH TO HELP US GET THE BUCKET UP. THEN IT'S AS THOUGH THERE IS A STREAM WHICH WE CAN DIVERT TO OUR GARDEN; AND FINALLY THE RAIN COMES AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. ALL THE WHILE WE STRUGGLE TO REACH THE TRINITY DWELLING IN OUR HEARTS, THE WATERS OF BAPTISM ARE THERE FOR US TO USE – THE GRACES THAT COME, FIRST WITH EFFORT, THEN LATER WITH HARDLY ANY AT ALL, ALL LEADING TO THIS GREAT AND WONDERFUL UNION. THERESA SAYS THAT IT IS ALL THERE FOR THE TAKING, AND AS SOON AS WE BEGIN TO MAKE THE EFFORT, GOD HELPS US. THERESA, BY THE WAY, DIDN'T EVEN GET STARTED UNTIL SHE WAS 39, AND HAD HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE. HOW MANY OF US HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED ON THIS JOURNEY TO THE TRINITY, NOT IN SOME DISTANT HEAVEN, BUT IN OUR VERY HEARTS, A JOURNEY MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR BAPTISM?
SAINT TERESE OF LISEAUX, ALSO A GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, KNEW FROM THE TIME SHE WAS SMALL THAT SHE WANTED TO GIVE HERSELF TO GOD. SHE TOOK STOCK OF HERSELF, AND COULDN'T SEE MUCH THAT SHE THOUGHT GOD WANTED. SHE DIDN'T HAVE THE HEALTH AND STAMINA TO BE A MISSIONARY; SHE WASN'T VERY EDUCATED AND COULDN'T BE A GREAT THEOLOGIAN; SHE WASN'T MUSICAL AND COULDN'T WRITE GLORIOUS HYMNS; BUT THEN SHE LOOKED INTO HER HEART AND SAW THAT GOD HAD INDEED GIVEN HER A GIFT – SHE NOTICED THE DROPS OF BLOOD RUNNING FROM THE FACE OF JESUS CRUCIFIED IN A PICTURE SHE WAS CONTEMPLATING, AND HOW NO ONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM AS THEY FELL ON THE GROUND. SHE FELT THAT HER CALL, HER GIFT, WAS TO TEND TO THE DROPS OF BLOOD, TO WIPE THEM UP, TO COLLECT THEM, TO DRY THE FACE OF JESUS. OF COURSE THAT SOUNDS VERY SENTIMENTAL, BUT TERESE WENT ON TO ELABORATE ON HOW SHE WAS GIVEN THE GIFT OF SENSITIVITY SO THAT SHE COULD FEEL THE PAIN AND HEARTACHE AND TURMOIL THAT WENT ON IN THOSE AROUND HER, AND SOMETIMES IN THOSE FOR WHOM SHE PRAYED. IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SHE GIVES MANY EXAMPLES OF THIS. IN BAPTISM WE ARE ALL GIVEN GIFTS, VERY SPECIAL GIFTS, GIFTS IN SOME CASES THAT HARDLY ANYONE ELSE HAS. SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT. AND HE ALSO TELLS US THAT THESE GIFTS ARE NOT FOR US, THEY ARE FOR THE CHURCH. IN PAUL'S TIME IT WAS VERY MATTER OF FACT; THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO COULD HEAL; OTHERS WHO COULD READ HEARTS; STILL OTHERS WHO HAD GOD=GIVEN WISDOM, OR GOD-GIVEN KNOWLEDGE, OR THE ABILITY TO TEACH. SOME GIFTS WERE GREAT AND OTHERS SMALL, BUT ALL WERE NECESSARY. SAINT TERESE’S GIFT WAS SMALL; BUT IT MADE HER A GREAT SAINT. HAVE YOU AND I LOOKED FOR OUR SPECIAL GIFTS, THE GIFT THAT WAS GIVEN TO US AT BAPTISM, THE GIFT WE WERE MEANT TO SHARE WITH THE CHURCH, THE GIFT THAT WE MAY BE HIDING UNDER A BUSHEL? GOD HELP US IF WE DON'T USE OUR GIFT AS HE INTENDS!
MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA, WHO WILL SOMEDAY BE A SAINT, I'M SURE, AND MAYBE EVEN A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, BEGAN HER SPIRITUAL LIFE AS A MEMBER OF A TEACHING ORDER. IN THOSE DAYS SHE COULD ALMOST HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO HER, AS HE LED HER FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER, UNTIL SHE FOUNDED HER OWN ORDER AND BEGAN TO SERVE THE POOREST OF THE POOR. AND THEN, AS WE LEARNED FROM LETTERS OF HERS THAT HAD BEEN PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY, THOSE INSPIRATIONS, THOSE MOMENTS OF TENDERNESS, THOSE URGINGS AND MOTIONS OF THE HEART WHICH LED HER TO DO THESE THINGS – THEY ALL DRIED UP, AND SHE SPEND MOST OF HER LIFE AFTERWARD WITH A CONSTANT FEELING OF EMPTINESS, OF BEING ABANDONED, OF HAVING NONE OF WHAT LED HER TO THAT POINT. I TOOK CARE OF AN ELDERLY SISTER ONE TIME, WHO TOLD ME THAT SHE HAD HAD A PROFOUND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE AS A YOUNG WOMAN, AND THAT LED HER TO ENTER THE CONVENT. AND SHE SAID, WITH WISTFULNESS, THAT SHE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THAT FOR ALL HER LIFE. I THINK THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH MOTHER THERESA. BUT GOD WAS OBVIOUSLY WORKING IN HER AND THROUGH HER – ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT HER LIFE, HER DEVOTION, HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, CAN'T DENY THAT. BUT TO HER IT WAS AS THOUGH SHE WAS ABANDONED. BAPTISM IS THE UNSHAKABLE PROMISE THAT NO MATTER HOW YOU AND I MAY FEEL AT ANY GIVEN TIME, GOD IS BUSILY WORKING IN US, CHANGING US, MOLDING US INTO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. IF WE COULD SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING, WE WOULD PROBABLY EITHER TELL HIM WE'D RATHER HE DID SOMETHING ELSE, OR VOLUNTEER TO GIVE HIM OUR ADVICE. THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE SLOG TO CHURCH WITHOUT MUCH ENTHUSIASM, WHEN IT IS ALL WE CAN DO TO SAY OUR PRAYERS; WHEN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE TASTES AS DRY AS CARDBOARD, THOSE ARE THE MOMENTS WHEN GOD IS CHANGING US MOST PROFOUNDLY. HE STARTS BY GIVING US TASTES OF HIMSELF, AND ENDS BY HIDING FROM US; AND SOMETIMES IT'S PAINFUL, AND SOMETIMES IT'S WONDERFUL, BUT IF WE PERSEVERE, IF WE CLING TO THE GRACE OF OUR BAPTISM, HE WILL USE US FOR HIS WORK – WHICH IS ALL THAT MATTERS.
SO ON THIS DAY WHEN WE REMEMBER JESUS' BAPTISM, AND OUR OWN, LET US ALSO REMEMBER THE THREE THERESAS, AND HOW THEY EACH RESPONDED TO THEIR BAPTISMAL GRACE; AND LET US REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL MAKE US SAINTS AS WELL, IF WE LET HIM. WHEN YOU LEAVE MASS TODAY, TOUCH YOUR HAND TO THE HOLY WATER AND SIGN YOURSELF WITH CHRIST'S CROSS, AND REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE TRINITY; YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GIFT FOR THE CHURCH, A GIFT ONLY YOU HAVE; AND THAT YOU ARE BEING WORKED ON, SHAPED INTO JESUS, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, WHETHER YOU FEEL IT OR NOT.
WE CATHOLICS MAKE A DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE BAPTISM THAT JOHN WAS GIVING AND THE BAPTISM THAT JESUS SPOKE ABOUT WHEN HE TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO GO AND BAPTIZE ALL NATIONS. JOHN'S BAPTISM WAS IN A SENSE A CALL TO THE PEOPLE TO RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS; THAT'S WHY HE DID IT AT THAT SPOT ON THE JORDAN RIVER – THE PLACE WHERE GOD HAD PARTED THE WATERS AND ALLOWED THE ISRAELITES LED BY JOSHUA TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND. YES, THEY LEFT EGYPT THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE RED SEA, BUT THEY ENTERED ISRAEL THROUGH THE PARTING OF THE JORDAN. OUR BAPTISM IS A SACRAMENT. IT IS NOT MERELY A SYMBOL, IT IMPARTS GRACE. GRACE WHICH IS STILL WORKING IN YOU AND I.
SAINT THERESA OF AVILA, THE GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH WHO REFORMED THE CARMELITE ORDER, WROTE THE “INTERIOR CASTLE” WHICH IS A MASTERPIECE OF MYSTICAL THEOLOGY. THE MAIN POINT IS THAT AT BAPTISM THE TRINITY DWELLS IN OUR VERY CENTER, IN THE CENTER OF OUR SOUL. IT IS POSSIBLE FOR US TO UNITE WITH THE TRINITY TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WHILE WE ARE STILL HERE ON EARTH. WE START OUT FAR FROM THE CENTER, AND AS WE BEGIN TO PRAY, AND TURN OUR BACKS ON WHATEVER KEEPS US FROM GOD, WE HAVE DIFFICULTY – SHE COMPARES IT TO WATERING A GARDEN BY LOWERING A BUCKET INTO A WELL AND CARRYING IT BACK AND FORTH. LATER, IT BECOMES EASIER; IT IS AS THOUGH NOW WE HAVE A WINCH TO HELP US GET THE BUCKET UP. THEN IT'S AS THOUGH THERE IS A STREAM WHICH WE CAN DIVERT TO OUR GARDEN; AND FINALLY THE RAIN COMES AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. ALL THE WHILE WE STRUGGLE TO REACH THE TRINITY DWELLING IN OUR HEARTS, THE WATERS OF BAPTISM ARE THERE FOR US TO USE – THE GRACES THAT COME, FIRST WITH EFFORT, THEN LATER WITH HARDLY ANY AT ALL, ALL LEADING TO THIS GREAT AND WONDERFUL UNION. THERESA SAYS THAT IT IS ALL THERE FOR THE TAKING, AND AS SOON AS WE BEGIN TO MAKE THE EFFORT, GOD HELPS US. THERESA, BY THE WAY, DIDN'T EVEN GET STARTED UNTIL SHE WAS 39, AND HAD HAD A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE SEVERAL YEARS BEFORE. HOW MANY OF US HAVEN'T EVEN STARTED ON THIS JOURNEY TO THE TRINITY, NOT IN SOME DISTANT HEAVEN, BUT IN OUR VERY HEARTS, A JOURNEY MADE POSSIBLE BY OUR BAPTISM?
SAINT TERESE OF LISEAUX, ALSO A GREAT DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, KNEW FROM THE TIME SHE WAS SMALL THAT SHE WANTED TO GIVE HERSELF TO GOD. SHE TOOK STOCK OF HERSELF, AND COULDN'T SEE MUCH THAT SHE THOUGHT GOD WANTED. SHE DIDN'T HAVE THE HEALTH AND STAMINA TO BE A MISSIONARY; SHE WASN'T VERY EDUCATED AND COULDN'T BE A GREAT THEOLOGIAN; SHE WASN'T MUSICAL AND COULDN'T WRITE GLORIOUS HYMNS; BUT THEN SHE LOOKED INTO HER HEART AND SAW THAT GOD HAD INDEED GIVEN HER A GIFT – SHE NOTICED THE DROPS OF BLOOD RUNNING FROM THE FACE OF JESUS CRUCIFIED IN A PICTURE SHE WAS CONTEMPLATING, AND HOW NO ONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THEM AS THEY FELL ON THE GROUND. SHE FELT THAT HER CALL, HER GIFT, WAS TO TEND TO THE DROPS OF BLOOD, TO WIPE THEM UP, TO COLLECT THEM, TO DRY THE FACE OF JESUS. OF COURSE THAT SOUNDS VERY SENTIMENTAL, BUT TERESE WENT ON TO ELABORATE ON HOW SHE WAS GIVEN THE GIFT OF SENSITIVITY SO THAT SHE COULD FEEL THE PAIN AND HEARTACHE AND TURMOIL THAT WENT ON IN THOSE AROUND HER, AND SOMETIMES IN THOSE FOR WHOM SHE PRAYED. IN HER AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SHE GIVES MANY EXAMPLES OF THIS. IN BAPTISM WE ARE ALL GIVEN GIFTS, VERY SPECIAL GIFTS, GIFTS IN SOME CASES THAT HARDLY ANYONE ELSE HAS. SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT. AND HE ALSO TELLS US THAT THESE GIFTS ARE NOT FOR US, THEY ARE FOR THE CHURCH. IN PAUL'S TIME IT WAS VERY MATTER OF FACT; THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO COULD HEAL; OTHERS WHO COULD READ HEARTS; STILL OTHERS WHO HAD GOD=GIVEN WISDOM, OR GOD-GIVEN KNOWLEDGE, OR THE ABILITY TO TEACH. SOME GIFTS WERE GREAT AND OTHERS SMALL, BUT ALL WERE NECESSARY. SAINT TERESE’S GIFT WAS SMALL; BUT IT MADE HER A GREAT SAINT. HAVE YOU AND I LOOKED FOR OUR SPECIAL GIFTS, THE GIFT THAT WAS GIVEN TO US AT BAPTISM, THE GIFT WE WERE MEANT TO SHARE WITH THE CHURCH, THE GIFT THAT WE MAY BE HIDING UNDER A BUSHEL? GOD HELP US IF WE DON'T USE OUR GIFT AS HE INTENDS!
MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA, WHO WILL SOMEDAY BE A SAINT, I'M SURE, AND MAYBE EVEN A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, BEGAN HER SPIRITUAL LIFE AS A MEMBER OF A TEACHING ORDER. IN THOSE DAYS SHE COULD ALMOST HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO HER, AS HE LED HER FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER, UNTIL SHE FOUNDED HER OWN ORDER AND BEGAN TO SERVE THE POOREST OF THE POOR. AND THEN, AS WE LEARNED FROM LETTERS OF HERS THAT HAD BEEN PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY, THOSE INSPIRATIONS, THOSE MOMENTS OF TENDERNESS, THOSE URGINGS AND MOTIONS OF THE HEART WHICH LED HER TO DO THESE THINGS – THEY ALL DRIED UP, AND SHE SPEND MOST OF HER LIFE AFTERWARD WITH A CONSTANT FEELING OF EMPTINESS, OF BEING ABANDONED, OF HAVING NONE OF WHAT LED HER TO THAT POINT. I TOOK CARE OF AN ELDERLY SISTER ONE TIME, WHO TOLD ME THAT SHE HAD HAD A PROFOUND MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE AS A YOUNG WOMAN, AND THAT LED HER TO ENTER THE CONVENT. AND SHE SAID, WITH WISTFULNESS, THAT SHE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR AN EXPERIENCE LIKE THAT FOR ALL HER LIFE. I THINK THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH MOTHER THERESA. BUT GOD WAS OBVIOUSLY WORKING IN HER AND THROUGH HER – ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT HER LIFE, HER DEVOTION, HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS, CAN'T DENY THAT. BUT TO HER IT WAS AS THOUGH SHE WAS ABANDONED. BAPTISM IS THE UNSHAKABLE PROMISE THAT NO MATTER HOW YOU AND I MAY FEEL AT ANY GIVEN TIME, GOD IS BUSILY WORKING IN US, CHANGING US, MOLDING US INTO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. IF WE COULD SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING, WE WOULD PROBABLY EITHER TELL HIM WE'D RATHER HE DID SOMETHING ELSE, OR VOLUNTEER TO GIVE HIM OUR ADVICE. THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE SLOG TO CHURCH WITHOUT MUCH ENTHUSIASM, WHEN IT IS ALL WE CAN DO TO SAY OUR PRAYERS; WHEN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE TASTES AS DRY AS CARDBOARD, THOSE ARE THE MOMENTS WHEN GOD IS CHANGING US MOST PROFOUNDLY. HE STARTS BY GIVING US TASTES OF HIMSELF, AND ENDS BY HIDING FROM US; AND SOMETIMES IT'S PAINFUL, AND SOMETIMES IT'S WONDERFUL, BUT IF WE PERSEVERE, IF WE CLING TO THE GRACE OF OUR BAPTISM, HE WILL USE US FOR HIS WORK – WHICH IS ALL THAT MATTERS.
SO ON THIS DAY WHEN WE REMEMBER JESUS' BAPTISM, AND OUR OWN, LET US ALSO REMEMBER THE THREE THERESAS, AND HOW THEY EACH RESPONDED TO THEIR BAPTISMAL GRACE; AND LET US REMEMBER THAT GOD WILL MAKE US SAINTS AS WELL, IF WE LET HIM. WHEN YOU LEAVE MASS TODAY, TOUCH YOUR HAND TO THE HOLY WATER AND SIGN YOURSELF WITH CHRIST'S CROSS, AND REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE TRINITY; YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A GIFT FOR THE CHURCH, A GIFT ONLY YOU HAVE; AND THAT YOU ARE BEING WORKED ON, SHAPED INTO JESUS, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, WHETHER YOU FEEL IT OR NOT.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Epiphany, 2011
MATTHEW 2:1-12
SAINT THOMAS WAS PROBABLY THE MOST BRILLIANT THEOLOGIAN OUR CHURCH HAS EVER HAD. IF YOU'VE EVER LOOKED AT HIS MASTERPIECE, THE SUMMA THEOLOGICA, YOU WOULD SEE AN ALMOST MATHEMATICAL APPROACH TO THEOLOGY, WHICH THOMAS DID REGARD AS A SCIENCE. BUT PEOPLE WHO ONLY READ HIS SUMMA AND OTHER MAJOR THEOLOGICAL WORKS TEND TO REGARD THOMAS AS SORT OF BLOODLESS – ALL BRAIN AND NO HEART. BUT THOMAS PREACHED A LOT OF SERMONS, TOO, AND THESE REVEAL MUCH MORE OF HIM AS A REAL HUMAN BEING. ONE OF HIS SERMONS WAS BASED ON THE THREE GIFTS WHICH WERE GIVEN TO THE CHRIST CHILD BY THE MAGI, WHICH WE HEAR OF TODAY. THOMAS ASKED THE QUESTION, WHY DID THE MAGI BRING A BABY GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH? OBVIOUSLY WE CAN SEE THESE GIFTS IN A THEOLOGICAL SENSE, BUT THOMAS SAW A PRACTICAL SENSE AS WELL. GOLD, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE JESUS' FAMILY WAS POOR. FRANKINCENSE, BECAUSE THOMAS WAS SURE THAT THE STABLE IN WHICH JESUS WAS BORN MUST HAVE SMELLED BAD, AND FRANKINCENSE WOULD MASK THE ODOR. AND MYRRH, BECAUSE THIS WAS CONSIDERED MEDICINAL, AND COULD BOTH DULL PAIN AND PREVENT INFECTION, AND THE CHILD WOULD SOON BE CIRCUMCISED.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST READING, YOU WILL SEE THAT ISAIAH PREDICTS THAT CARAVANS WILL COME TO JERUSALEM BEARING GIFTS OF GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE. MATTHEW, WHO IS WRITING TO JEWISH CONVERTS AND USING HIS GOSPEL TO SHOW THEM HOW JESUS FULFILLS THE PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, SHOWS THAT JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECIES, AND WHEN IT ISN'T OBVIOUS, HE POINTS IT OUT. REMEMBER LAST WEEK WHEN WE HEARD THE STORY OF THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT? THE FAMILY FLED TO EGYPT, PARTLY BECAUSE THAT WAY WHEN THEY CAME BACK THEY WOULD FULFILL THE PROPHECY “OUT OF EGYPT I WILL CALL MY SON”. AND WHEN JOSEPH DECIDED TO GO TO LIVE IN NAZARETH, IT WAS TO FULFILL THE PROPHECY, “HE SHALL BE CALLED A NAZOREAN”. SO HERE WE HAVE MATTHEW'S DESCRIPTION OF THE VISIT OF THE MAGI, AND HE IS CONSCIOUSLY RECALLING THE PROPHECY THAT THE GENTILES WOULD BRING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE TO JERUSALEM, AND WOULD WORSHIP GOD.
BUT I CAN HEAR SOME OF YOU SAY, “WAIT A MINUTE! THE FIRST READING SAYS THAT THEY WILL BRING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE TO JERUSALEM, BUT MATTHEW HAS THE GENTILES, THESE MAGI, BRINGING GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH TO BETHLEHEM, A LITTLE NO-ACCOUNT TOWN OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. WHAT GIVES HERE?” AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT YOU SHOULD BE SAYING.
MATTHEW IS WRITING ABOUT 80 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. BY THEN THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF THINKING ABOUT JESUS. THERE WAS THE EXPECTATION AMONG THE JEWS THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE A GREAT KING. CERTAINLY THAT GOES ALONG WITH GOLD. AND SOME JEWS THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD ALSO BE A HIGH PRIEST. INCENSE MAKES SENSE HERE. BUT MYRRH? MYRRH WAS A HEALING OINTMENT, IT IS TRUE, BUT IT WAS ALSO USED TO EMBALM BODIES. AND IN FACT JESUS ENCOUNTERS MYRRH TWICE AT THE END OF HIS LIFE. FIRST, HE IS GIVEN A SPONGE DIPPED IN WINE MIXED WITH MYRRH WHEN HE IS HANGING ON THE CROSS. THE IDEA IS THAT HE WILL ANESTHETIZE HIMSELF; BY DRINKING THIS MIXTURE HE WILL SORT OF PUT HIMSELF INTO A STUPOR SO THAT HE DOESN'T SUFFER AS MUCH. JESUS OF COURSE DIDN'T TAKE THE MIXTURE. THE SECOND PLACE HE ENCOUNTERS MYRRH IS WHEN HIS BODY IS EMBALMED WITH A MIXTURE OF MYRRH AND ALOES. IF THE MYRRH REPRESENTS ANYTHING, IT REPRESENTS THE MESSIAH AS PROPHET, BUT PROPHET LIKE JEREMIAH, A MAN WHO WAS PERSECUTED AND PROBABLY EVEN PUT TO DEATH BECAUSE OF WHAT HE SAID; OR A PROPHET LIKE ELIJAH, WHO WAS HUNTED AND DRIVEN INTO THE WILDERNESS BECAUSE HE SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD.
SO IN A SENSE MATTHEW IS TELLING HIS JEWISH CONVERTS THAT JESUS IS TRULY THE EXPECTED MESSIAH, BUT NOT JUST A KING, NOT JUST A KING AND PRIEST, BUT INDEED A PROPHET AS WELL, A PROPHET IN THE TRUE SENSE, SOMEONE WHO DIED FOR THE TRUTH. AND MATTHEW EMPHASIZES THAT THE FIRST PEOPLE TO WHOM THIS MESSIAH WAS REVEALED WERE GENTILES, AND NOT EVEN RIGHTEOUS GENTILES WHO WORSHIPED THE JEWISH GOD; THEY WERE INSTEAD ASTROLOGERS, PEOPLE WHO STUDIED THE STARS – SOMETHING FORBIDDEN TO JEWISH PEOPLE. AND THIS ENCOUNTER TOOK PLACE IN BETHLEHEM, NOT JERUSALEM, THE CENTER OF JEWISH POWER, LEARNING, AND WORSHIP. MATTHEW IS POINTING OUT THAT THE BIRTH OF JESUS IS CLEARLY THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT IS A COMPLETE BREAK FROM THE PAST, A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING.
ISAIAH'S PROPHECY, THEREFORE, IS NOT QUITE ON THE MARK, AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH COULD NOT BE A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING, A NEW START FOR MANKIND, IF IT WAS PREDICTABLE. BUT ISAIAH GOT MOST OF IT RIGHT, MEANING THAT THERE IS CONTINUITY; GOD WHO HAS BEEN WORKING IN HUMAN HISTORY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING FINALLY BRINGS ABOUT THE LONG AWAITED EVENT, THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISES MADE THROUGH THE PROPHETS.
BETHLEHEM, NOT JERUSALEM; GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH, NOT JUST GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE; AND A BABY IN A STABLE, NOT A KING OR EVEN THE SON OF A KING WITH ROYAL BLOOD LIVING IN A PALACE; NOT TO GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, BUT TO STRANGERS, PEOPLE WHO WERE NEARLY PAGANS. THAT IS THE KIND OF GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THIS EPIPHANY.
THE MAGI SET OUT FROM THEIR HOMELAND LOADED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE FROM THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH, THE AUTHOR OF THE LONGEST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL PROPHECY IN THE SCRIPTURES. THIS LED THEM TO JERUSALEM. THERE THEY HEARD OF THE PROPHECY OF MICAH, A MORE OBSCURE PROPHET WHOSE WRITING IS VERY SHORT, AND THAT LED THEM TO BETHLEHEM. THAT IS THE KIND OF GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THIS EPIPHANY.
GOD IS REVEALED AS A GOD WHO BECOMES ONE OF US, WHO SUFFERS AND DIES, WHO IS THERE FOR ALL PEOPLE, NOT JUST THE JEWS; WHO BRINGS GLORY TO A TINY VILLAGE A FEW MILES FROM JERUSALEM, NOT THE BEAUTIFUL CITY. THE MAGI WERE LED TO FIND JESUS IN THIS CONTEXT, AMONG THE POOR, THE LOWLY, THE OBSCURE. AND THEY WERE CHANGED, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WENT HOME BY A DIFFERENT WAY.
TODAY LET US GO HOME BY A DIFFERENT WAY, CHANGED BY OUR ENCOUNTER WITH GOD WHO REVEALS HIMSELF TO US IN THE POOR AND SUFFERING, AS WELL AS IN THE WORD AND IN THE EUCHARIST.
SAINT THOMAS WAS PROBABLY THE MOST BRILLIANT THEOLOGIAN OUR CHURCH HAS EVER HAD. IF YOU'VE EVER LOOKED AT HIS MASTERPIECE, THE SUMMA THEOLOGICA, YOU WOULD SEE AN ALMOST MATHEMATICAL APPROACH TO THEOLOGY, WHICH THOMAS DID REGARD AS A SCIENCE. BUT PEOPLE WHO ONLY READ HIS SUMMA AND OTHER MAJOR THEOLOGICAL WORKS TEND TO REGARD THOMAS AS SORT OF BLOODLESS – ALL BRAIN AND NO HEART. BUT THOMAS PREACHED A LOT OF SERMONS, TOO, AND THESE REVEAL MUCH MORE OF HIM AS A REAL HUMAN BEING. ONE OF HIS SERMONS WAS BASED ON THE THREE GIFTS WHICH WERE GIVEN TO THE CHRIST CHILD BY THE MAGI, WHICH WE HEAR OF TODAY. THOMAS ASKED THE QUESTION, WHY DID THE MAGI BRING A BABY GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH? OBVIOUSLY WE CAN SEE THESE GIFTS IN A THEOLOGICAL SENSE, BUT THOMAS SAW A PRACTICAL SENSE AS WELL. GOLD, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE JESUS' FAMILY WAS POOR. FRANKINCENSE, BECAUSE THOMAS WAS SURE THAT THE STABLE IN WHICH JESUS WAS BORN MUST HAVE SMELLED BAD, AND FRANKINCENSE WOULD MASK THE ODOR. AND MYRRH, BECAUSE THIS WAS CONSIDERED MEDICINAL, AND COULD BOTH DULL PAIN AND PREVENT INFECTION, AND THE CHILD WOULD SOON BE CIRCUMCISED.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST READING, YOU WILL SEE THAT ISAIAH PREDICTS THAT CARAVANS WILL COME TO JERUSALEM BEARING GIFTS OF GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE. MATTHEW, WHO IS WRITING TO JEWISH CONVERTS AND USING HIS GOSPEL TO SHOW THEM HOW JESUS FULFILLS THE PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, SHOWS THAT JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECIES, AND WHEN IT ISN'T OBVIOUS, HE POINTS IT OUT. REMEMBER LAST WEEK WHEN WE HEARD THE STORY OF THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT? THE FAMILY FLED TO EGYPT, PARTLY BECAUSE THAT WAY WHEN THEY CAME BACK THEY WOULD FULFILL THE PROPHECY “OUT OF EGYPT I WILL CALL MY SON”. AND WHEN JOSEPH DECIDED TO GO TO LIVE IN NAZARETH, IT WAS TO FULFILL THE PROPHECY, “HE SHALL BE CALLED A NAZOREAN”. SO HERE WE HAVE MATTHEW'S DESCRIPTION OF THE VISIT OF THE MAGI, AND HE IS CONSCIOUSLY RECALLING THE PROPHECY THAT THE GENTILES WOULD BRING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE TO JERUSALEM, AND WOULD WORSHIP GOD.
BUT I CAN HEAR SOME OF YOU SAY, “WAIT A MINUTE! THE FIRST READING SAYS THAT THEY WILL BRING GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE TO JERUSALEM, BUT MATTHEW HAS THE GENTILES, THESE MAGI, BRINGING GOLD, FRANKINCENSE, AND MYRRH TO BETHLEHEM, A LITTLE NO-ACCOUNT TOWN OUTSIDE OF JERUSALEM. WHAT GIVES HERE?” AT LEAST THAT'S WHAT YOU SHOULD BE SAYING.
MATTHEW IS WRITING ABOUT 80 YEARS AFTER THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. BY THEN THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF THINKING ABOUT JESUS. THERE WAS THE EXPECTATION AMONG THE JEWS THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE A GREAT KING. CERTAINLY THAT GOES ALONG WITH GOLD. AND SOME JEWS THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD ALSO BE A HIGH PRIEST. INCENSE MAKES SENSE HERE. BUT MYRRH? MYRRH WAS A HEALING OINTMENT, IT IS TRUE, BUT IT WAS ALSO USED TO EMBALM BODIES. AND IN FACT JESUS ENCOUNTERS MYRRH TWICE AT THE END OF HIS LIFE. FIRST, HE IS GIVEN A SPONGE DIPPED IN WINE MIXED WITH MYRRH WHEN HE IS HANGING ON THE CROSS. THE IDEA IS THAT HE WILL ANESTHETIZE HIMSELF; BY DRINKING THIS MIXTURE HE WILL SORT OF PUT HIMSELF INTO A STUPOR SO THAT HE DOESN'T SUFFER AS MUCH. JESUS OF COURSE DIDN'T TAKE THE MIXTURE. THE SECOND PLACE HE ENCOUNTERS MYRRH IS WHEN HIS BODY IS EMBALMED WITH A MIXTURE OF MYRRH AND ALOES. IF THE MYRRH REPRESENTS ANYTHING, IT REPRESENTS THE MESSIAH AS PROPHET, BUT PROPHET LIKE JEREMIAH, A MAN WHO WAS PERSECUTED AND PROBABLY EVEN PUT TO DEATH BECAUSE OF WHAT HE SAID; OR A PROPHET LIKE ELIJAH, WHO WAS HUNTED AND DRIVEN INTO THE WILDERNESS BECAUSE HE SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD.
SO IN A SENSE MATTHEW IS TELLING HIS JEWISH CONVERTS THAT JESUS IS TRULY THE EXPECTED MESSIAH, BUT NOT JUST A KING, NOT JUST A KING AND PRIEST, BUT INDEED A PROPHET AS WELL, A PROPHET IN THE TRUE SENSE, SOMEONE WHO DIED FOR THE TRUTH. AND MATTHEW EMPHASIZES THAT THE FIRST PEOPLE TO WHOM THIS MESSIAH WAS REVEALED WERE GENTILES, AND NOT EVEN RIGHTEOUS GENTILES WHO WORSHIPED THE JEWISH GOD; THEY WERE INSTEAD ASTROLOGERS, PEOPLE WHO STUDIED THE STARS – SOMETHING FORBIDDEN TO JEWISH PEOPLE. AND THIS ENCOUNTER TOOK PLACE IN BETHLEHEM, NOT JERUSALEM, THE CENTER OF JEWISH POWER, LEARNING, AND WORSHIP. MATTHEW IS POINTING OUT THAT THE BIRTH OF JESUS IS CLEARLY THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME IT IS A COMPLETE BREAK FROM THE PAST, A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING.
ISAIAH'S PROPHECY, THEREFORE, IS NOT QUITE ON THE MARK, AND THAT IS ALRIGHT. THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH COULD NOT BE A RADICAL NEW BEGINNING, A NEW START FOR MANKIND, IF IT WAS PREDICTABLE. BUT ISAIAH GOT MOST OF IT RIGHT, MEANING THAT THERE IS CONTINUITY; GOD WHO HAS BEEN WORKING IN HUMAN HISTORY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING FINALLY BRINGS ABOUT THE LONG AWAITED EVENT, THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISES MADE THROUGH THE PROPHETS.
BETHLEHEM, NOT JERUSALEM; GOLD, FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH, NOT JUST GOLD AND FRANKINCENSE; AND A BABY IN A STABLE, NOT A KING OR EVEN THE SON OF A KING WITH ROYAL BLOOD LIVING IN A PALACE; NOT TO GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE, BUT TO STRANGERS, PEOPLE WHO WERE NEARLY PAGANS. THAT IS THE KIND OF GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THIS EPIPHANY.
THE MAGI SET OUT FROM THEIR HOMELAND LOADED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE FROM THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAH, THE AUTHOR OF THE LONGEST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL PROPHECY IN THE SCRIPTURES. THIS LED THEM TO JERUSALEM. THERE THEY HEARD OF THE PROPHECY OF MICAH, A MORE OBSCURE PROPHET WHOSE WRITING IS VERY SHORT, AND THAT LED THEM TO BETHLEHEM. THAT IS THE KIND OF GOD WHO IS REVEALED IN THIS EPIPHANY.
GOD IS REVEALED AS A GOD WHO BECOMES ONE OF US, WHO SUFFERS AND DIES, WHO IS THERE FOR ALL PEOPLE, NOT JUST THE JEWS; WHO BRINGS GLORY TO A TINY VILLAGE A FEW MILES FROM JERUSALEM, NOT THE BEAUTIFUL CITY. THE MAGI WERE LED TO FIND JESUS IN THIS CONTEXT, AMONG THE POOR, THE LOWLY, THE OBSCURE. AND THEY WERE CHANGED, SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WENT HOME BY A DIFFERENT WAY.
TODAY LET US GO HOME BY A DIFFERENT WAY, CHANGED BY OUR ENCOUNTER WITH GOD WHO REVEALS HIMSELF TO US IN THE POOR AND SUFFERING, AS WELL AS IN THE WORD AND IN THE EUCHARIST.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas, 2010
LUKE 2:15-20
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AFTER JOAN AND I WERE MARRIED, WE DECIDED TO SPEND WITH OUR PARENTS. MINE LIVED IN MONTANA AND HERS LIVED IN MARYLAND, SO THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS WE FLEW FROM MONTANA TO MARYLAND. JOAN'S PARENTS LET US KNOW THAT MAYBE THE NEXT YEAR WE SHOULD SPEND CHRISTMAS DAY WITH THEM. SO THE SECOND CHRISTMAS WE FLEW FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MARYLAND WITH OUR NEW DAUGHTER, AND THEN FLEW TO MONTANA ON THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. MY MOTHER SAID IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT US BEING THERE. SO THE THIRD YEAR, WE DECIDED TO SPEND PART OF CHRISTMAS DAY WITH EACH SET OF PARENTS. WE LEFT MONTANA ABOUT TWO HOURS LATE, GOT INTO LAS VEGAS TO CHANGE PLANES, AND I REMEMBER RUNNING THROUGH THE AIRPORT WITH A LITTLE GIRL UNDER EACH ARM, AND JOAN RUNNING BEHIND ME WITH A LARGE BAG FULL OF DIAPERS AND BOTTLES AND TOYS. THAT WAS THE LAST CHRISTMAS WE SPENT WITH EITHER FAMILY. BABIES CHANGE LIVES.
THIS LAST YEAR GABRIEL AND JACK BECAME OUR SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH GRANDCHILDREN. GABRIEL'S FAMILY ALREADY HAD FIVE CHILDREN AND JACK'S HAD THREE, AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT THERE WERE MIXED FEELINGS WHEN THEIR PARENTS LEARNED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY. TWO MORE YEARS AT LEAST, OF DIAPERS, OF GETTING UP AT NIGHT, OF VISITS TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM, OF CRYING – AND AT LEAST TWO MORE YEARS BEFORE THEIR MOTHERS COULD RESUME THE PLANS THEY HAD PUT ASIDE TO RAISE THEIR CHILDREN. AND OF COURSE, THE CONSTANT WORRY -- HOW ARE WE GOING TO AFFORD THIS? WHERE WILL WE PUT HIM? AND BABIES PUT STRESS ON A MARRIAGE. YOU DON'T THINK CLEARLY WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING A BABY OR WHEN YOU HAVE ONE. BABIES ALWAYS CHANGE LIVES.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO A TEENAGE GIRL FOUND HERSELF EXPECTING A CHILD, AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES BY WHICH THAT CAME ABOUT WERE TOO UNBELIEVABLE TO TELL ANYONE. HER NEW HUSBAND WAS DEEPLY HURT, BUT BECAUSE HE LOVED HER, HE DECIDED TO DIVORCE HER AND PRETEND THAT THE CHILD WAS HIS, SO SHE WOULDN'T BE CONDEMNED. AND THEN HE HAD A DREAM. IT WASN'T EASY. THE PEOPLE IN THEIR LITTLE VILLAGE COULD SEE THAT SHE WAS PREGNANT AND SHE HADN'T EVEN MOVED OUT OF HER FATHER'S HOUSE. AND THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF OUR SAVIOUR AND HER DEVOTED HUSBAND WOULD GO THROUGH LIFE LOOKED DOWN UPON BY THEIR NEIGHBORS, WHO WOULD ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT THEIRS WAS A SHOTGUN MARRIAGE. BUT IN BETHLEHEM, IN A STABLE, A BABY WAS BORN, A BABY WHO CHANGED THEIR LIVES; AND GOD BROKE INTO OUR WORLD, AND ANGELS SANG IN THE HEAVENS AND SHEPHERDS CAME DOWN FROM THE HILLS TO WORSHIP THIS BABY; AND THE ANIMALS WHO SHARED THE STABLE LOOKED ON WITH DUMB WONDER AT THEIR CREATOR, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. AND THIS BABY CHANGED OUR LIVES, FOREVER.
IN THE CHRISTMAS SEASON, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T RELIGIOUS, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THAT THE WORLD IS CHANGED. THERE ARE LIGHTS EVERYWHERE – BRIGHT LIGHTS, LIGHTS ON TREES, INSIDE AND OUT; TINY LIGHTS DOING THEIR PART TO MELT AWAY THE DARKNESS. AND GREEN AND RED DOMINATE, EVEN IN THE STORES, AND EVERGREENS FILL OUR HOMES WITH A WOODSY SMELL. IN OUR HOMES WE SET UP THAT OLD MANGER SCENE THAT'S BEEN IN OUR FAMILY FOR YEARS AND YEARS, AND THE ADVENT CANDLES SIT ON OUR MANTLE OR OUR DINING ROOM TABLE. AND HERE IN THE CHURCH, EVERYTHING IS CHANGED; THE SCENE IN FRONT OF THE ALTAR, THE FOREST OF FIR TREES AGAINST THE WALL, THE POINSETTIAS EVERYWHERE. AS WE MOVE TOWARDS THE CELEBRATION OF A BABY'S BIRTH TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, SOME IMPULSE IN US CALLS FOR CHANGE; WE FEEL AN URGE TO CHANGE THE WORLD, BECAUSE THE BABY CHANGED THE WORLD.
BUT IT WILL SOON BE ALL OVER. A WEEK OR SO FROM NOW, EVERYTHING WILL BE PUT AWAY, THE WORLD WILL BE BACK LIKE IT WAS BEFORE, AND WE WILL SETTLE DOWN TO WAIT FOR SPRING AND MOST OF US WON'T REALLY BE CHANGED.
BUT A BABY IS MEANT TO CHANGE LIVES, AND THIS ONE IS NO EXCEPTION. HE WANTS TO DISRUPT OUR ROUTINE, HE WANTS TO SHAKE US UP. HE WANTS TO TURN A CHURCH FULL OF STRANGERS INTO A FAMILY, WHO SHARE EACH OTHERS' JOYS AND SORROWS, WHO CHEER EACH OTHER ON, WHO RUSH TO HELP FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE SUFFERING. HE WANTS YOU AND I TO BE HIS BROTHER AND SISTER, MOTHER AND FATHER; HE WANTS GENUINE AFFECTION TO FLOW FROM EACH OF US AS WE EXCHANGE SMILES AND KIND WORDS ON CHRISTMAS. BUT MOST OF ALL HE WANTS US TO GET TOGETHER EVERY WEEK TO SHARE IN THE BANQUET HE OFFERS, THE BANQUET OF HIS BODY AND BLOOD, THE FOOD HE GIVES US TO MAKE US A FAMILY, WITH A FATHER WHO LOOKS ON US WITH LOVE.
MY GRANDSON GABRIEL NOW TEN MONTHS OLD, IS THE HEART OF HIS FAMILY. HIS BROTHERS AND SISTER HOLD HIM AND PLAY WITH HIM; HIS MOTHER WATCHES HIM WITH JOY IN HER HEART AS HE DOES ALL THOSE SILLY THINGS THAT BABIES DO. HIS FATHER THROWS HIM IN THE AIR AND LAUGHS AS HE SQUEALS WITH DELIGHT. AND JACK, ONLY THREE MONTHS OLD, CAN'T DO MUCH YET, BUT HE SURE CAN SMILE, AND YOU SHOULD SEE HOW HARD HIS FAMILY WORKS TO GET THOSE SMILES. NEITHER FAMILY CAN EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE WITHOUT THEIR BABY. GABRIEL AND JACK CHANGED THINGS FOREVER IN THEIR FAMILIES. BABIES CHANGE LIVES.
REAL CHANGE IS HARD. NEW BABIES BRING SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND DIRTY DIAPERS AND OLDER SIBLINGS SOMETIMES SHOW A LITTLE JEALOUSY, AND EVERYONE HAS TO MAKE A LITTLE MORE ROOM AND A GIVE A LITTLE MORE TIME. BUT THE CHANGE IS SO WORTH IT. AND THIS CHRISTMAS, DON'T LET THINGS GO BACK TO NORMAL. GIVE BIRTH TO THE CHRIST CHILD IN YOUR HEART AND LET HIM CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER. A BABY MAKES A FAMILY, A BABY MAKES A HOME, AND THIS CHURCH IS HIS HOME AND YOURS; THIS FAMILY IS HIS FAMILY AND YOURS.
I WATCH WHAT BABIES DO TO PEOPLE; HOW MUCH JOY THEY BRING; HOW GREAT THE REWARD FOR THE DISRUPTION IN THE LIVES OF THEIR PARENTS AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND I WONDER HOW MUCH YEAR AROUND JOY THE BABY JESUS WILL BRING TO EACH OF US IF WE LET HIM CHANGE US ON THIS CHRISTMAS DAY, CHANGE US INTO A FAMILY THAT GATHERS EVERY WEEK AROUND THE SUPPER TABLE TO BE TOGETHER FOR A SHORT TIME BEFORE GOING BACK OUT INTO THE WORLD. BECAUSE BABIES CHANGE LIVES, CHANGE THEM FOREVER.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AFTER JOAN AND I WERE MARRIED, WE DECIDED TO SPEND WITH OUR PARENTS. MINE LIVED IN MONTANA AND HERS LIVED IN MARYLAND, SO THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS WE FLEW FROM MONTANA TO MARYLAND. JOAN'S PARENTS LET US KNOW THAT MAYBE THE NEXT YEAR WE SHOULD SPEND CHRISTMAS DAY WITH THEM. SO THE SECOND CHRISTMAS WE FLEW FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MARYLAND WITH OUR NEW DAUGHTER, AND THEN FLEW TO MONTANA ON THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. MY MOTHER SAID IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT US BEING THERE. SO THE THIRD YEAR, WE DECIDED TO SPEND PART OF CHRISTMAS DAY WITH EACH SET OF PARENTS. WE LEFT MONTANA ABOUT TWO HOURS LATE, GOT INTO LAS VEGAS TO CHANGE PLANES, AND I REMEMBER RUNNING THROUGH THE AIRPORT WITH A LITTLE GIRL UNDER EACH ARM, AND JOAN RUNNING BEHIND ME WITH A LARGE BAG FULL OF DIAPERS AND BOTTLES AND TOYS. THAT WAS THE LAST CHRISTMAS WE SPENT WITH EITHER FAMILY. BABIES CHANGE LIVES.
THIS LAST YEAR GABRIEL AND JACK BECAME OUR SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH GRANDCHILDREN. GABRIEL'S FAMILY ALREADY HAD FIVE CHILDREN AND JACK'S HAD THREE, AND YOU CAN BE SURE THAT THERE WERE MIXED FEELINGS WHEN THEIR PARENTS LEARNED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY. TWO MORE YEARS AT LEAST, OF DIAPERS, OF GETTING UP AT NIGHT, OF VISITS TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM, OF CRYING – AND AT LEAST TWO MORE YEARS BEFORE THEIR MOTHERS COULD RESUME THE PLANS THEY HAD PUT ASIDE TO RAISE THEIR CHILDREN. AND OF COURSE, THE CONSTANT WORRY -- HOW ARE WE GOING TO AFFORD THIS? WHERE WILL WE PUT HIM? AND BABIES PUT STRESS ON A MARRIAGE. YOU DON'T THINK CLEARLY WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING A BABY OR WHEN YOU HAVE ONE. BABIES ALWAYS CHANGE LIVES.
TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO A TEENAGE GIRL FOUND HERSELF EXPECTING A CHILD, AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES BY WHICH THAT CAME ABOUT WERE TOO UNBELIEVABLE TO TELL ANYONE. HER NEW HUSBAND WAS DEEPLY HURT, BUT BECAUSE HE LOVED HER, HE DECIDED TO DIVORCE HER AND PRETEND THAT THE CHILD WAS HIS, SO SHE WOULDN'T BE CONDEMNED. AND THEN HE HAD A DREAM. IT WASN'T EASY. THE PEOPLE IN THEIR LITTLE VILLAGE COULD SEE THAT SHE WAS PREGNANT AND SHE HADN'T EVEN MOVED OUT OF HER FATHER'S HOUSE. AND THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF OUR SAVIOUR AND HER DEVOTED HUSBAND WOULD GO THROUGH LIFE LOOKED DOWN UPON BY THEIR NEIGHBORS, WHO WOULD ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT THEIRS WAS A SHOTGUN MARRIAGE. BUT IN BETHLEHEM, IN A STABLE, A BABY WAS BORN, A BABY WHO CHANGED THEIR LIVES; AND GOD BROKE INTO OUR WORLD, AND ANGELS SANG IN THE HEAVENS AND SHEPHERDS CAME DOWN FROM THE HILLS TO WORSHIP THIS BABY; AND THE ANIMALS WHO SHARED THE STABLE LOOKED ON WITH DUMB WONDER AT THEIR CREATOR, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE. AND THIS BABY CHANGED OUR LIVES, FOREVER.
IN THE CHRISTMAS SEASON, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T RELIGIOUS, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THAT THE WORLD IS CHANGED. THERE ARE LIGHTS EVERYWHERE – BRIGHT LIGHTS, LIGHTS ON TREES, INSIDE AND OUT; TINY LIGHTS DOING THEIR PART TO MELT AWAY THE DARKNESS. AND GREEN AND RED DOMINATE, EVEN IN THE STORES, AND EVERGREENS FILL OUR HOMES WITH A WOODSY SMELL. IN OUR HOMES WE SET UP THAT OLD MANGER SCENE THAT'S BEEN IN OUR FAMILY FOR YEARS AND YEARS, AND THE ADVENT CANDLES SIT ON OUR MANTLE OR OUR DINING ROOM TABLE. AND HERE IN THE CHURCH, EVERYTHING IS CHANGED; THE SCENE IN FRONT OF THE ALTAR, THE FOREST OF FIR TREES AGAINST THE WALL, THE POINSETTIAS EVERYWHERE. AS WE MOVE TOWARDS THE CELEBRATION OF A BABY'S BIRTH TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO, SOME IMPULSE IN US CALLS FOR CHANGE; WE FEEL AN URGE TO CHANGE THE WORLD, BECAUSE THE BABY CHANGED THE WORLD.
BUT IT WILL SOON BE ALL OVER. A WEEK OR SO FROM NOW, EVERYTHING WILL BE PUT AWAY, THE WORLD WILL BE BACK LIKE IT WAS BEFORE, AND WE WILL SETTLE DOWN TO WAIT FOR SPRING AND MOST OF US WON'T REALLY BE CHANGED.
BUT A BABY IS MEANT TO CHANGE LIVES, AND THIS ONE IS NO EXCEPTION. HE WANTS TO DISRUPT OUR ROUTINE, HE WANTS TO SHAKE US UP. HE WANTS TO TURN A CHURCH FULL OF STRANGERS INTO A FAMILY, WHO SHARE EACH OTHERS' JOYS AND SORROWS, WHO CHEER EACH OTHER ON, WHO RUSH TO HELP FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE SUFFERING. HE WANTS YOU AND I TO BE HIS BROTHER AND SISTER, MOTHER AND FATHER; HE WANTS GENUINE AFFECTION TO FLOW FROM EACH OF US AS WE EXCHANGE SMILES AND KIND WORDS ON CHRISTMAS. BUT MOST OF ALL HE WANTS US TO GET TOGETHER EVERY WEEK TO SHARE IN THE BANQUET HE OFFERS, THE BANQUET OF HIS BODY AND BLOOD, THE FOOD HE GIVES US TO MAKE US A FAMILY, WITH A FATHER WHO LOOKS ON US WITH LOVE.
MY GRANDSON GABRIEL NOW TEN MONTHS OLD, IS THE HEART OF HIS FAMILY. HIS BROTHERS AND SISTER HOLD HIM AND PLAY WITH HIM; HIS MOTHER WATCHES HIM WITH JOY IN HER HEART AS HE DOES ALL THOSE SILLY THINGS THAT BABIES DO. HIS FATHER THROWS HIM IN THE AIR AND LAUGHS AS HE SQUEALS WITH DELIGHT. AND JACK, ONLY THREE MONTHS OLD, CAN'T DO MUCH YET, BUT HE SURE CAN SMILE, AND YOU SHOULD SEE HOW HARD HIS FAMILY WORKS TO GET THOSE SMILES. NEITHER FAMILY CAN EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE WITHOUT THEIR BABY. GABRIEL AND JACK CHANGED THINGS FOREVER IN THEIR FAMILIES. BABIES CHANGE LIVES.
REAL CHANGE IS HARD. NEW BABIES BRING SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND DIRTY DIAPERS AND OLDER SIBLINGS SOMETIMES SHOW A LITTLE JEALOUSY, AND EVERYONE HAS TO MAKE A LITTLE MORE ROOM AND A GIVE A LITTLE MORE TIME. BUT THE CHANGE IS SO WORTH IT. AND THIS CHRISTMAS, DON'T LET THINGS GO BACK TO NORMAL. GIVE BIRTH TO THE CHRIST CHILD IN YOUR HEART AND LET HIM CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER. A BABY MAKES A FAMILY, A BABY MAKES A HOME, AND THIS CHURCH IS HIS HOME AND YOURS; THIS FAMILY IS HIS FAMILY AND YOURS.
I WATCH WHAT BABIES DO TO PEOPLE; HOW MUCH JOY THEY BRING; HOW GREAT THE REWARD FOR THE DISRUPTION IN THE LIVES OF THEIR PARENTS AND BROTHERS AND SISTERS. AND I WONDER HOW MUCH YEAR AROUND JOY THE BABY JESUS WILL BRING TO EACH OF US IF WE LET HIM CHANGE US ON THIS CHRISTMAS DAY, CHANGE US INTO A FAMILY THAT GATHERS EVERY WEEK AROUND THE SUPPER TABLE TO BE TOGETHER FOR A SHORT TIME BEFORE GOING BACK OUT INTO THE WORLD. BECAUSE BABIES CHANGE LIVES, CHANGE THEM FOREVER.
Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle A
MATTHEW 1:18-24
CAN YOU THINK OF THE VERY BEST CHRISTMAS YOU EVER HAD AS A CHILD? I CAN'T. WHAT I DO REMEMBER ABOUT THOSE CHRISTMASES SORT OF BLURS TOGETHER. I DON'T REMEMBER HOW OLD I WAS WHEN I GOT THE TOY GAS STATION THAT OUR NEW KITTEN THOUGHT WAS A LITTER BOX; OR THE TIN BULLDOZER THAT REALLY RAN WHEN YOU WOUND IT UP. I REMEMBER THOSE CHRISTMAS SUPPERS WITH MY GRANDPARENTS. MY SISTER AND I WERE VERY SMALL, AND IMPATIENT. I WOULD RUSH THROUGH MY FOOD SO I COULD GO BACK AND PLAY WITH MY NEW TOYS. SHE DIDN'T LIKE TO EAT AND WOULD LINGER OVER HER FOOD UNTIL MY MOTHER WOULD START TO GET UPSET. BUT IT SEEMED AS THOUGH CHRISTMAS WAS ALWAYS MAGICAL; SOMETHING I REALLY WANTED WOULD BE THERE, AND SOME SURPRISES THAT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I WANTED WOULD SHOW UP AS WELL. OF COURSE THERE WERE SOCKS AND UNDERWEAR.
CAN YOU THINK OF THE WORST CHRISTMAS YOU EVER HAD? SO FAR, I HAVEN'T HAD A BAD CHRISTMAS, THANK GOD. SO I'LL HAVE TO HOPE AND PRAY THAT I WON'T, BUT I PROBABLY WILL, THAT'S LIFE.
WE THINK OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS IN GLOWING TERMS. BUT WHEN YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT, IT WAS A VERY BAD CHRISTMAS. WE HEAR PART OF THE STORY IN THIS GOSPEL. JOSEPH DISCOVERED THAT HIS BRIDE, WHOM HE HADN'T EVEN KISSED YET, WAS PREGNANT. WE HEAR THE WORDS, WE SORT OF APPRECIATE THIS INTELLECTUALLY, BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE THE HORROR THAT JOSEPH FELT, THE SHAME THAT MARY FELT? JOSEPH DIDN'T LEARN SHE WAS PREGNANT BECAUSE SHE TOLD HIM. SHE COULD HARDLY BELIEVE IT HERSELF. JOSEPH LEARNED BECAUSE MARY LOOKED PREGNANT. AND EVERYONE KNEW IN THAT LITTLE TOWN. AND THERE WAS GOSSIP, AND WHEN MARY WOULD WALK PAST A GROUP OF PEOPLE, THEY WOULD SUDDENLY BECOME SILENT AND STARE AT HER; AND THE YOUNG MEN WOULD LAUGH AT JOSEPH – EITHER MARY HAD MADE A FOOL OF HIM, OR HE AND MARY COULDN'T WAIT TILL THEY BEGAN LIVING AS MAN AND WIFE. EITHER WAY, JOSEPH DESERVED SCORN. NAZARETH WAS A SMALL TOWN, AND GOSSIP TRAVELED FAST.
AND JOSEPH TOOK MARY INTO HIS HOME AFTER A DREAM. THEY BOTH KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON, BUT IT DIDN'T HELP MUCH. THERE WAS STILL A CLOUD HANGING OVER THEIR MARRIAGE, AS FAR AS THE NEIGHBORS WERE CONCERNED. WE THINK OF MARY'S PARENTS, SAINT ANN AND SAINT JOACHIM. WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM OF COURSE. BUT THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE SAINTS TO BELIEVE THAT MARY HAD CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WHEN AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HER. I SUSPECT THAT JOSEPH DID NOT FEEL WELCOME IN THEIR HOME.
AND THEN THE DECREE CAME FROM CAESAR AND THEY HAD TO GO TO BETHLEHEM. WE PICTURE JOSEPH LEADING MARY RIDING ON A DONKEY, BUT MARY PROBABLY WALKED MOST OF THAT DISTANCE, NEARLY NINE MONTHS PREGNANT. AND IT IS ABOUT 80 MILES FROM NAZARETH TO BETHLEHEM. CAN YOU IMAGINE WALKING FROM SPRINGFIELD TO BOSTON? AND THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. AND WHEN THEY GOT THERE, THE ONLY SHELTER WAS A CAVE USED TO SHELTER ANIMALS. AND JESUS' BIRTH WAS MESSY AND PAINFUL, WITHOUT BENEFIT OF PAIN MEDICINE. IN THIS DAY AND AGE, WHEN A MOTHER GIVES BIRTH TO A CHILD IT'S USUALLY IN A STERILE HOSPITAL UNDER THE CARE OF TRAINED PROFESSIONALS; IN THAT TIME, TO GIVE BIRTH WAS TO RISK YOUR LIFE. IN SAYING YES TO GOD, MARY LITERALLY OFFERED HER LIFE.
SO THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AND THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO IT MAY HAVE BEEN THE WORST CHRISTMAS.
BUT INTO THAT WORST CHRISTMAS EVER A BABY IS BORN, WHOSE NAME IS CALLED “EMANUEL”.
MOSLEMS BELIEVE IN A GOD WHO STANDS APART, WHO IS SO HOLY, SO POWERFUL, SO OTHER, THAT WE ARE NOTHING IN HIS EYES. HINDUS BELIEVE THAT WHEN GOD IS AWAKE, WE DON'T EXIST, BUT WHEN GOD SLEEPS, HE DREAMS US. WE ARE FIGMENTS OF GOD'S IMAGINATION. BUT THE CHRISTIAN GOD IS GOD WITH US, GOD WHO SEES US NOT AS WORMS, BUT AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS. OUR GOD IS WITH US, AND OUR CONCERNS AND PREOCCUPATIONS ARE REAL TO HIM, NOT FIGMENTS OF IMAGINATION. OUR GOD IS WITH US, SHARING OUR HUMANITY. AND THAT IS AMAZING, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.
WHEN THE TERRORISTS DESTROYED THE TWIN TOWERS AND CRASHED A PLANE INTO THE PENTAGON, OUR GOD WAS WITH US; WE GATHERED IN CHURCHES AND HOMES TO PRAY AND MEDITATE BECAUSE WE SENSED THAT GOD WAS WITH US WHEN WE WERE FRIGHTENED, UNCERTAIN.
WHEN A LOVED ONE IS SICK, WE TAKE REFUGE IN PRAYER, ASKING GOD TO HELP, BUT PRAYING THAT GOD'S WILL BE DONE. IF GOD IS WITH US HE IS WITH US IN SICKNESS AND PAIN AND SUFFERING, AND IF HE IS WITH US, WE KNOW THAT IN SOME WAY, EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT.
WHEN WE FEEL ALONE AND ABANDONED, GOD IS WITH US. GOD HAS EXPERIENCED LONELINESS AND ABANDONMENT, AND KNOWS HOW WE FEEL. AND BECAUSE HE LOVES US, HE OFFERS HIS PRESENCE SO THAT WE DO NOT NEED TO FEEL ALONE AND ABANDONED.
SO THAT IS WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT OUR FAITH; WE BELIEVE GOD IS WITH US, WE BELIEVE THAT IN OUR WORST MOMENTS HE DOES WHAT HE DID SO MANY YEARS AGO; HE COMES INTO THOSE MOMENTS BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY. HE DOES NOT DREAM US, HE DOES NOT DISTAIN US. HE LIVES FOR US LIKE A MOTHER LIVES FOR HER CHILD. HE SACRIFICES FOR US LIKE A FATHER SACRIFICES FOR HIS CHILDREN.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO GET AHEAD. ONE IS TO WORK HARD, TO ACHIEVE, TO ACCOMPLISH. AND MANY OF US WORK TOO HARD, AND WE COUNT OUR DEGREES AND OUR BANK ACCOUNTS AND OUR HOUSES AND SUV'S AND THEY ARE THE MEASURE OF OUR WORTH. AND THIS IS EASILY TRANSLATED TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WHERE WE COUNT OUR PRAYERS AND GOOD WORKS, AND MEASURE OUR WORTH IN HIS EYES BY HOW MANY AND HOW MUCH. THE SECOND WAY WE GET AHEAD IS THROUGH GOOD LUCK; OUR PARENTS LEAVE US MONEY, WE WIN THE LOTTERY; WE GET BREAKS WE DON'T DESERVE. AND ALL OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED GOOD FORTUNE AT SOME TIME OR ANOTHER. AND WHEN WE DO, THERE IS SOMETHING IN US THAT REMINDS US THAT WE DON'T DESERVE OUR GOOD LUCK, AND WHEN SOMEONE TELLS US THAT GOD LOVES US BEYOND ALL TELLING, WE SECRETLY SUSPECT THAT THAT CAN'T BE TRUE; WE DON'T DESERVE IT, WE HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO WARRANT IT.
BUT IF WE COULD GET INTO GOD'S MIND, WE WOULD SEE THAT NOTHING MATTERS TO GOD MORE THAN YOU, MORE THAN I. THE VERY DEFINITION OF GOD IS LOVE. GOD DOES NOT LOVE, HE IS LOVE. GOD WANTS TO GIVE US EVERYTHING, HE WANTS TO GIVE US HIMSELF, NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DO, NOT BECAUSE OF WHO WE ARE.
WE MAY LOOK OVER OUR CHRISTMASES AND PICK OUT OUR BEST, AND SHUDDER AT OUR WORST. BUT THERE REALLY CAN'T BE ANY BAD CHRISTMASES, OR EVEN BAD DAYS, BECAUSE IN EVERY MOMENT OF OUR LIVES, IN MOMENTS OF SORROW AND SICKNESS AND LONELINESS AND PAN, GOD IS ALWAYS THERE, GOD IS WITH US, AND GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON US, NEVER LEAVE US ALONE.
CAN YOU THINK OF THE VERY BEST CHRISTMAS YOU EVER HAD AS A CHILD? I CAN'T. WHAT I DO REMEMBER ABOUT THOSE CHRISTMASES SORT OF BLURS TOGETHER. I DON'T REMEMBER HOW OLD I WAS WHEN I GOT THE TOY GAS STATION THAT OUR NEW KITTEN THOUGHT WAS A LITTER BOX; OR THE TIN BULLDOZER THAT REALLY RAN WHEN YOU WOUND IT UP. I REMEMBER THOSE CHRISTMAS SUPPERS WITH MY GRANDPARENTS. MY SISTER AND I WERE VERY SMALL, AND IMPATIENT. I WOULD RUSH THROUGH MY FOOD SO I COULD GO BACK AND PLAY WITH MY NEW TOYS. SHE DIDN'T LIKE TO EAT AND WOULD LINGER OVER HER FOOD UNTIL MY MOTHER WOULD START TO GET UPSET. BUT IT SEEMED AS THOUGH CHRISTMAS WAS ALWAYS MAGICAL; SOMETHING I REALLY WANTED WOULD BE THERE, AND SOME SURPRISES THAT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I WANTED WOULD SHOW UP AS WELL. OF COURSE THERE WERE SOCKS AND UNDERWEAR.
CAN YOU THINK OF THE WORST CHRISTMAS YOU EVER HAD? SO FAR, I HAVEN'T HAD A BAD CHRISTMAS, THANK GOD. SO I'LL HAVE TO HOPE AND PRAY THAT I WON'T, BUT I PROBABLY WILL, THAT'S LIFE.
WE THINK OF THE FIRST CHRISTMAS IN GLOWING TERMS. BUT WHEN YOU REALLY THINK ABOUT IT, IT WAS A VERY BAD CHRISTMAS. WE HEAR PART OF THE STORY IN THIS GOSPEL. JOSEPH DISCOVERED THAT HIS BRIDE, WHOM HE HADN'T EVEN KISSED YET, WAS PREGNANT. WE HEAR THE WORDS, WE SORT OF APPRECIATE THIS INTELLECTUALLY, BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE THE HORROR THAT JOSEPH FELT, THE SHAME THAT MARY FELT? JOSEPH DIDN'T LEARN SHE WAS PREGNANT BECAUSE SHE TOLD HIM. SHE COULD HARDLY BELIEVE IT HERSELF. JOSEPH LEARNED BECAUSE MARY LOOKED PREGNANT. AND EVERYONE KNEW IN THAT LITTLE TOWN. AND THERE WAS GOSSIP, AND WHEN MARY WOULD WALK PAST A GROUP OF PEOPLE, THEY WOULD SUDDENLY BECOME SILENT AND STARE AT HER; AND THE YOUNG MEN WOULD LAUGH AT JOSEPH – EITHER MARY HAD MADE A FOOL OF HIM, OR HE AND MARY COULDN'T WAIT TILL THEY BEGAN LIVING AS MAN AND WIFE. EITHER WAY, JOSEPH DESERVED SCORN. NAZARETH WAS A SMALL TOWN, AND GOSSIP TRAVELED FAST.
AND JOSEPH TOOK MARY INTO HIS HOME AFTER A DREAM. THEY BOTH KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON, BUT IT DIDN'T HELP MUCH. THERE WAS STILL A CLOUD HANGING OVER THEIR MARRIAGE, AS FAR AS THE NEIGHBORS WERE CONCERNED. WE THINK OF MARY'S PARENTS, SAINT ANN AND SAINT JOACHIM. WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM OF COURSE. BUT THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE SAINTS TO BELIEVE THAT MARY HAD CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WHEN AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HER. I SUSPECT THAT JOSEPH DID NOT FEEL WELCOME IN THEIR HOME.
AND THEN THE DECREE CAME FROM CAESAR AND THEY HAD TO GO TO BETHLEHEM. WE PICTURE JOSEPH LEADING MARY RIDING ON A DONKEY, BUT MARY PROBABLY WALKED MOST OF THAT DISTANCE, NEARLY NINE MONTHS PREGNANT. AND IT IS ABOUT 80 MILES FROM NAZARETH TO BETHLEHEM. CAN YOU IMAGINE WALKING FROM SPRINGFIELD TO BOSTON? AND THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. AND WHEN THEY GOT THERE, THE ONLY SHELTER WAS A CAVE USED TO SHELTER ANIMALS. AND JESUS' BIRTH WAS MESSY AND PAINFUL, WITHOUT BENEFIT OF PAIN MEDICINE. IN THIS DAY AND AGE, WHEN A MOTHER GIVES BIRTH TO A CHILD IT'S USUALLY IN A STERILE HOSPITAL UNDER THE CARE OF TRAINED PROFESSIONALS; IN THAT TIME, TO GIVE BIRTH WAS TO RISK YOUR LIFE. IN SAYING YES TO GOD, MARY LITERALLY OFFERED HER LIFE.
SO THE FIRST CHRISTMAS AND THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO IT MAY HAVE BEEN THE WORST CHRISTMAS.
BUT INTO THAT WORST CHRISTMAS EVER A BABY IS BORN, WHOSE NAME IS CALLED “EMANUEL”.
MOSLEMS BELIEVE IN A GOD WHO STANDS APART, WHO IS SO HOLY, SO POWERFUL, SO OTHER, THAT WE ARE NOTHING IN HIS EYES. HINDUS BELIEVE THAT WHEN GOD IS AWAKE, WE DON'T EXIST, BUT WHEN GOD SLEEPS, HE DREAMS US. WE ARE FIGMENTS OF GOD'S IMAGINATION. BUT THE CHRISTIAN GOD IS GOD WITH US, GOD WHO SEES US NOT AS WORMS, BUT AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS. OUR GOD IS WITH US, AND OUR CONCERNS AND PREOCCUPATIONS ARE REAL TO HIM, NOT FIGMENTS OF IMAGINATION. OUR GOD IS WITH US, SHARING OUR HUMANITY. AND THAT IS AMAZING, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.
WHEN THE TERRORISTS DESTROYED THE TWIN TOWERS AND CRASHED A PLANE INTO THE PENTAGON, OUR GOD WAS WITH US; WE GATHERED IN CHURCHES AND HOMES TO PRAY AND MEDITATE BECAUSE WE SENSED THAT GOD WAS WITH US WHEN WE WERE FRIGHTENED, UNCERTAIN.
WHEN A LOVED ONE IS SICK, WE TAKE REFUGE IN PRAYER, ASKING GOD TO HELP, BUT PRAYING THAT GOD'S WILL BE DONE. IF GOD IS WITH US HE IS WITH US IN SICKNESS AND PAIN AND SUFFERING, AND IF HE IS WITH US, WE KNOW THAT IN SOME WAY, EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT.
WHEN WE FEEL ALONE AND ABANDONED, GOD IS WITH US. GOD HAS EXPERIENCED LONELINESS AND ABANDONMENT, AND KNOWS HOW WE FEEL. AND BECAUSE HE LOVES US, HE OFFERS HIS PRESENCE SO THAT WE DO NOT NEED TO FEEL ALONE AND ABANDONED.
SO THAT IS WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT OUR FAITH; WE BELIEVE GOD IS WITH US, WE BELIEVE THAT IN OUR WORST MOMENTS HE DOES WHAT HE DID SO MANY YEARS AGO; HE COMES INTO THOSE MOMENTS BODY AND BLOOD, SOUL AND DIVINITY. HE DOES NOT DREAM US, HE DOES NOT DISTAIN US. HE LIVES FOR US LIKE A MOTHER LIVES FOR HER CHILD. HE SACRIFICES FOR US LIKE A FATHER SACRIFICES FOR HIS CHILDREN.
WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO GET AHEAD. ONE IS TO WORK HARD, TO ACHIEVE, TO ACCOMPLISH. AND MANY OF US WORK TOO HARD, AND WE COUNT OUR DEGREES AND OUR BANK ACCOUNTS AND OUR HOUSES AND SUV'S AND THEY ARE THE MEASURE OF OUR WORTH. AND THIS IS EASILY TRANSLATED TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, WHERE WE COUNT OUR PRAYERS AND GOOD WORKS, AND MEASURE OUR WORTH IN HIS EYES BY HOW MANY AND HOW MUCH. THE SECOND WAY WE GET AHEAD IS THROUGH GOOD LUCK; OUR PARENTS LEAVE US MONEY, WE WIN THE LOTTERY; WE GET BREAKS WE DON'T DESERVE. AND ALL OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED GOOD FORTUNE AT SOME TIME OR ANOTHER. AND WHEN WE DO, THERE IS SOMETHING IN US THAT REMINDS US THAT WE DON'T DESERVE OUR GOOD LUCK, AND WHEN SOMEONE TELLS US THAT GOD LOVES US BEYOND ALL TELLING, WE SECRETLY SUSPECT THAT THAT CAN'T BE TRUE; WE DON'T DESERVE IT, WE HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO WARRANT IT.
BUT IF WE COULD GET INTO GOD'S MIND, WE WOULD SEE THAT NOTHING MATTERS TO GOD MORE THAN YOU, MORE THAN I. THE VERY DEFINITION OF GOD IS LOVE. GOD DOES NOT LOVE, HE IS LOVE. GOD WANTS TO GIVE US EVERYTHING, HE WANTS TO GIVE US HIMSELF, NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DO, NOT BECAUSE OF WHO WE ARE.
WE MAY LOOK OVER OUR CHRISTMASES AND PICK OUT OUR BEST, AND SHUDDER AT OUR WORST. BUT THERE REALLY CAN'T BE ANY BAD CHRISTMASES, OR EVEN BAD DAYS, BECAUSE IN EVERY MOMENT OF OUR LIVES, IN MOMENTS OF SORROW AND SICKNESS AND LONELINESS AND PAN, GOD IS ALWAYS THERE, GOD IS WITH US, AND GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON US, NEVER LEAVE US ALONE.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Third Sunday of Advent, cycle A
MATTHEW 11:2-11
JOHN THE BAPTIST AND JESUS ALMOST CERTAINLY KNEW EACH OTHER WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP. AFTER ALL, THEY WERE PRACTICALLY THE SAME AGE AND THEIR MOTHERS WERE RELATED. JOHN CAME FROM A WELL-OFF FAMILY. HIS FATHER, A JEWISH PRIEST, GOT A SALARY AND OTHER PERKS. BUT WHEN JOHN GREW UP SOME INNER COMPULSION CAUSED HIM TO LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND AND GO OUT INTO THE DESERT. AND EVERY CHRISTMAS SEASON WE HEAR THOSE WORDS OF JOHN: REPENT! THE MESSIAH IS COMING, AND HE WILL SEPARATE THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF, AND THE CHAFF HE WILL CAST INTO THE FIRE. EVEN NOW THE AX IS AT THE ROOT OF THE TREE; BEAR GOOD FRUIT, OR YOU WILL END UP AS KINDLING! AND JOHN SAID, YOU THINK I'M SPECIAL? WAIT FOR THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, I AM NOT WORTHY TO UNFASTEN HIS SANDAL. I BAPTIZE WITH WATER, HE WILL BAPTIZE WITH FIRE. AND ONE DAY, JOHN TELLS HIS DISCIPLES, AS JESUS WALKS BY, “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD” AND MANY DESERT HIM TO FOLLOW JESUS; AND HE SAYS, “HE MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE.”
AND NOW, AS JOHN IS IN PRISON, WAITING, IT TURNS OUT, FOR HIS EXECUTION, IS HE HAVING DOUBTS? IS THAT WHY HE SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS, TO ASK HIM, “ARE YOU THE ONE, OR SHOULD WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” BECAUSE CLEARLY, JESUS DID NOT FIT JOHN'S IDEA OF A MESSIAH. JOHN, IN LINE WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS, EXPECTED A KING LIKE DAVID TO COME AND SAVE ISRAEL AND MAKE IT A GREAT COUNTRY, AND MAKE THE JEWS A GREAT PEOPLE. JOHN EXPECTED A HIGH PRIEST, WHO WOULD FINALLY LEAD THE PEOPLE IN WORSHIPING GOD THE WAY HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WORSHIPED. AND JOHN EXPECTED THAT WHEN THE MESSIAH MANIFESTED HIMSELF, THE WORLD WOULD BE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. CERTAINLY IF JESUS IS THE ONE, IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE IT; JESUS IS GOING AROUND HEALING PEOPLE, TELLING THEM THAT GOD IS LIKE A FATHER, EATING WITH TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS, LEADING A BAND OF FOLLOWERS FROM GALILEE OF ALL PLACES – OUT IN THE STICKS. “ARE YOU THE ONE, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JESUS, IN HIS ANSWER TO JOHN, GENTLY REBUKES HIM. LOOK, HE IS SAYING, WHAT DID THE PROPHETS SAY ABOUT HOW THINGS WOULD BE WHEN THE MESSIAH CAME? THOSE VERY THINGS ARE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO FITS YOUR IDEA OF A MESSIAH, WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING TO SEE WHETHER MESSIANIC THINGS ARE HAPPENING.
JOHN HAD GOTTEN HIS PROPHECY PARTLY RIGHT, BUT LIKE YOU AND I, LIKE ANY HUMAN BEING, HE COULD NOT SEE BEYOND HIS OWN IMAGINATION. IF YOU ARE IN CHURCH TODAY, YOU CAME HERE HOPING TO ENCOUNTER THE LIVING GOD. AND MANY OF US DO, WHEN WE COME TO CHURCH. BUT DID YOU ENCOUNTER THAT SAME GOD DURING YOUR WEEK OUT THERE IN THE WORLD? BECAUSE GOD IS ALWAYS BREAKING THROUGH, SHOWING HIMSELF, SPEAKING TO OUR HEARTS – COMMANDS, CONSOLATION, SUGGESTION, REVELATION – IT IS ALWAYS GOING ON, WE'RE JUST NOT TUNED IN. AND HE IS ALWAYS SHOWING US HIMSELF – HIS BEAUTY IN NATURE, HIS LOVE IN A FRIEND OR A SPOUSE, A CHILD OR A PARENT; HE OFFERS UNION WITH US WHEN HE COMES TO US IN THE PERSON OF SOMEONE IN NEED, SOMEONE POOR, OR SICK, OR DISTRESSED. OH, YES, GOD IS PRESENT IN THIS CHURCH. BUT HE IS OUT THERE IN THE WORLD AS WELL, IF ONLY WE OPEN OUR EYES, IF ONLY WE LOOK BEYOND OUR PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF WHAT GOD IS LIKE.
BUT JESUS ISN'T THROUGH. HE TURNS TO THE CROWD, THE PEOPLE WHO JUST HEARD HIM SEEM TO CRITICIZE JOHN. TO THE JEWS, PROPHECY WAS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THEIR RELIGIOUS LIFE. EVER SINCE ELIJAH, PROPHETS HAD RISEN AMONG THE PEOPLE, TO CRITICIZE KINGS AND TO SET THE PEOPLE STRAIGHT. AND EVERYONE KNEW THERE WERE FALSE PROPHETS. A FALSE PROPHET WAS LIKE A REED, SAYING ONE THING ONE DAY, ANOTHER THE NEXT DAY, DEPENDING ON WHO WAS PAYING HIM. A FALSE PROPHET DIDN'T GO FOR LIVING IN THE DESERT EATING LOCUSTS; THE FALSE PROPHETS THEN, AS NOW, LIVED IN LUXURY. THEN THEY WOULD GO OUT IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE AND MAKE THEIR PROPHECIES; NOW THEY APPEAR ON RADIO AND TELEVISION. JOHN IS A REAL PROPHET, JESUS SAYS, THE GREATEST OF ALL THE PROPHETS. JOHN REALLY DID MAKE THE RIGHT CALL, HE REALLY DID POINT OUT THE MESSIAH, AND PREPARE THE PEOPLE FOR HIS COMING. AND LATER IN HIS CAREER, JESUS WILL CONFIRM WHAT JOHN HAS PREDICTED WHEN JESUS DESCRIBES HIS OWN SECOND COMING. FOR JOHN IS RIGHT, THE MESSIAH WILL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, TO JUDGE, AND TO SEPARATE, AND TO SAVE AND TO CONDEMN. ONLY NOT YET.
THERE ARE NO PEOPLE GREATER THAN JOHN, NOT SO FAR; BUT ANYONE WHO IS IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WILL BE GREATER. AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS ALREADY HERE, AND THOSE IN THE KINGDOM ARE JESUS' BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THE ONES WHO CAN WALK DOWN THE STREET AND SEE GOD, THE ONES WHO CAN LOOK AT A FLOWER AND SEE GOD'S BEAUTY, THE ONES WHO CAN SCRUB A KITCHEN FLOOR OR CHANGE A DIAPER, AND SEE HOW THAT IS PART OF GOD'S GREAT ONGOING CREATIVE WORK; THE ONES WHO CAN LOOK AT A BEGGAR ON THE STREET, OR SEE A PICTURE OF A KILLER IN A NEWSPAPER, AND SEE THAT SOMETHING OF GOD STILL SHINES THROUGH THAT PERSON.
JOHN HAD A VERY CLEAR IDEA OF WHAT THE MESSIAH WAS ALL ABOUT. HE WAS NOT WRONG, BUT HIS VISION WAS INCOMPLETE. ADVENT IS A TIME FOR US TO RE-ASSESS OUR OWN VIEW OF THE MESSIAH, WHO WAS NOT FOUND IN A CHURCH OR A PALACE, WHO DID NOT BURST ONTO THE SCENE LEADING AN ARMY OF ANGELS, WHO DID NOT HURL LIGHTNING BOLTS AND SPEAK WITH THUNDER. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THE MESSIAH WAS THAT BABY BORN IN A STABLE, TO EXHAUSTED PARENTS TRAVELING FROM A LITTLE FARMING COMMUNITY IN THE NORTHERN PART OF ISRAEL, SO FAR FROM JERUSALEM? AND WHO WOULD THINK THAT THIS COMING WEEK YOU AND I WILL MEET THE MESSIAH – GUARANTEED – BUT MOST OF US WON'T RECOGNIZE HIM. UNLESS WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
JOHN THE BAPTIST AND JESUS ALMOST CERTAINLY KNEW EACH OTHER WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP. AFTER ALL, THEY WERE PRACTICALLY THE SAME AGE AND THEIR MOTHERS WERE RELATED. JOHN CAME FROM A WELL-OFF FAMILY. HIS FATHER, A JEWISH PRIEST, GOT A SALARY AND OTHER PERKS. BUT WHEN JOHN GREW UP SOME INNER COMPULSION CAUSED HIM TO LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND AND GO OUT INTO THE DESERT. AND EVERY CHRISTMAS SEASON WE HEAR THOSE WORDS OF JOHN: REPENT! THE MESSIAH IS COMING, AND HE WILL SEPARATE THE WHEAT FROM THE CHAFF, AND THE CHAFF HE WILL CAST INTO THE FIRE. EVEN NOW THE AX IS AT THE ROOT OF THE TREE; BEAR GOOD FRUIT, OR YOU WILL END UP AS KINDLING! AND JOHN SAID, YOU THINK I'M SPECIAL? WAIT FOR THE ONE WHO IS TO COME, I AM NOT WORTHY TO UNFASTEN HIS SANDAL. I BAPTIZE WITH WATER, HE WILL BAPTIZE WITH FIRE. AND ONE DAY, JOHN TELLS HIS DISCIPLES, AS JESUS WALKS BY, “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD” AND MANY DESERT HIM TO FOLLOW JESUS; AND HE SAYS, “HE MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE.”
AND NOW, AS JOHN IS IN PRISON, WAITING, IT TURNS OUT, FOR HIS EXECUTION, IS HE HAVING DOUBTS? IS THAT WHY HE SENDS HIS DISCIPLES TO JESUS, TO ASK HIM, “ARE YOU THE ONE, OR SHOULD WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?” BECAUSE CLEARLY, JESUS DID NOT FIT JOHN'S IDEA OF A MESSIAH. JOHN, IN LINE WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHETS, EXPECTED A KING LIKE DAVID TO COME AND SAVE ISRAEL AND MAKE IT A GREAT COUNTRY, AND MAKE THE JEWS A GREAT PEOPLE. JOHN EXPECTED A HIGH PRIEST, WHO WOULD FINALLY LEAD THE PEOPLE IN WORSHIPING GOD THE WAY HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WORSHIPED. AND JOHN EXPECTED THAT WHEN THE MESSIAH MANIFESTED HIMSELF, THE WORLD WOULD BE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. CERTAINLY IF JESUS IS THE ONE, IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE IT; JESUS IS GOING AROUND HEALING PEOPLE, TELLING THEM THAT GOD IS LIKE A FATHER, EATING WITH TAX COLLECTORS AND SINNERS, LEADING A BAND OF FOLLOWERS FROM GALILEE OF ALL PLACES – OUT IN THE STICKS. “ARE YOU THE ONE, OR SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?”
JESUS, IN HIS ANSWER TO JOHN, GENTLY REBUKES HIM. LOOK, HE IS SAYING, WHAT DID THE PROPHETS SAY ABOUT HOW THINGS WOULD BE WHEN THE MESSIAH CAME? THOSE VERY THINGS ARE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO FITS YOUR IDEA OF A MESSIAH, WHEN YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING TO SEE WHETHER MESSIANIC THINGS ARE HAPPENING.
JOHN HAD GOTTEN HIS PROPHECY PARTLY RIGHT, BUT LIKE YOU AND I, LIKE ANY HUMAN BEING, HE COULD NOT SEE BEYOND HIS OWN IMAGINATION. IF YOU ARE IN CHURCH TODAY, YOU CAME HERE HOPING TO ENCOUNTER THE LIVING GOD. AND MANY OF US DO, WHEN WE COME TO CHURCH. BUT DID YOU ENCOUNTER THAT SAME GOD DURING YOUR WEEK OUT THERE IN THE WORLD? BECAUSE GOD IS ALWAYS BREAKING THROUGH, SHOWING HIMSELF, SPEAKING TO OUR HEARTS – COMMANDS, CONSOLATION, SUGGESTION, REVELATION – IT IS ALWAYS GOING ON, WE'RE JUST NOT TUNED IN. AND HE IS ALWAYS SHOWING US HIMSELF – HIS BEAUTY IN NATURE, HIS LOVE IN A FRIEND OR A SPOUSE, A CHILD OR A PARENT; HE OFFERS UNION WITH US WHEN HE COMES TO US IN THE PERSON OF SOMEONE IN NEED, SOMEONE POOR, OR SICK, OR DISTRESSED. OH, YES, GOD IS PRESENT IN THIS CHURCH. BUT HE IS OUT THERE IN THE WORLD AS WELL, IF ONLY WE OPEN OUR EYES, IF ONLY WE LOOK BEYOND OUR PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS OF WHAT GOD IS LIKE.
BUT JESUS ISN'T THROUGH. HE TURNS TO THE CROWD, THE PEOPLE WHO JUST HEARD HIM SEEM TO CRITICIZE JOHN. TO THE JEWS, PROPHECY WAS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THEIR RELIGIOUS LIFE. EVER SINCE ELIJAH, PROPHETS HAD RISEN AMONG THE PEOPLE, TO CRITICIZE KINGS AND TO SET THE PEOPLE STRAIGHT. AND EVERYONE KNEW THERE WERE FALSE PROPHETS. A FALSE PROPHET WAS LIKE A REED, SAYING ONE THING ONE DAY, ANOTHER THE NEXT DAY, DEPENDING ON WHO WAS PAYING HIM. A FALSE PROPHET DIDN'T GO FOR LIVING IN THE DESERT EATING LOCUSTS; THE FALSE PROPHETS THEN, AS NOW, LIVED IN LUXURY. THEN THEY WOULD GO OUT IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE AND MAKE THEIR PROPHECIES; NOW THEY APPEAR ON RADIO AND TELEVISION. JOHN IS A REAL PROPHET, JESUS SAYS, THE GREATEST OF ALL THE PROPHETS. JOHN REALLY DID MAKE THE RIGHT CALL, HE REALLY DID POINT OUT THE MESSIAH, AND PREPARE THE PEOPLE FOR HIS COMING. AND LATER IN HIS CAREER, JESUS WILL CONFIRM WHAT JOHN HAS PREDICTED WHEN JESUS DESCRIBES HIS OWN SECOND COMING. FOR JOHN IS RIGHT, THE MESSIAH WILL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, TO JUDGE, AND TO SEPARATE, AND TO SAVE AND TO CONDEMN. ONLY NOT YET.
THERE ARE NO PEOPLE GREATER THAN JOHN, NOT SO FAR; BUT ANYONE WHO IS IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN WILL BE GREATER. AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS ALREADY HERE, AND THOSE IN THE KINGDOM ARE JESUS' BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THE ONES WHO CAN WALK DOWN THE STREET AND SEE GOD, THE ONES WHO CAN LOOK AT A FLOWER AND SEE GOD'S BEAUTY, THE ONES WHO CAN SCRUB A KITCHEN FLOOR OR CHANGE A DIAPER, AND SEE HOW THAT IS PART OF GOD'S GREAT ONGOING CREATIVE WORK; THE ONES WHO CAN LOOK AT A BEGGAR ON THE STREET, OR SEE A PICTURE OF A KILLER IN A NEWSPAPER, AND SEE THAT SOMETHING OF GOD STILL SHINES THROUGH THAT PERSON.
JOHN HAD A VERY CLEAR IDEA OF WHAT THE MESSIAH WAS ALL ABOUT. HE WAS NOT WRONG, BUT HIS VISION WAS INCOMPLETE. ADVENT IS A TIME FOR US TO RE-ASSESS OUR OWN VIEW OF THE MESSIAH, WHO WAS NOT FOUND IN A CHURCH OR A PALACE, WHO DID NOT BURST ONTO THE SCENE LEADING AN ARMY OF ANGELS, WHO DID NOT HURL LIGHTNING BOLTS AND SPEAK WITH THUNDER. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THE MESSIAH WAS THAT BABY BORN IN A STABLE, TO EXHAUSTED PARENTS TRAVELING FROM A LITTLE FARMING COMMUNITY IN THE NORTHERN PART OF ISRAEL, SO FAR FROM JERUSALEM? AND WHO WOULD THINK THAT THIS COMING WEEK YOU AND I WILL MEET THE MESSIAH – GUARANTEED – BUT MOST OF US WON'T RECOGNIZE HIM. UNLESS WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Second Sunday in Advent, Cycle A
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.
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.
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