Proper
29, Year C
Jeremiah
23:1-6
Luke
1:68-79 or Psalm 46
Colossians
1:11-20
Luke
23:33-43
The
last Sunday of the three year liturgical cycle presents us with a rather
surprising image – Jesus crucified on a cross between two other condemned
men. This Sunday is often referred to as
"the Reign of Christ." What we
expect after three years of Gospel lessons about our King is someone sitting victoriously
on a high throne, ruling the world in all glory and power. Instead, we see what
appears to be a broken man, suspended between two others who can't agree about
who this person between them is.
Why
are we presented with this image from the Passion experience as the culminating
lesson after three years? Perhaps the explanation can be found not on a throne
in some far away kingdom, but at the core of every human heart.
Let's
remember the key messages from many of the previous Gospel lessons: God is love
itself; God dearly loves us; God came to earth through Christ to show us what
God is like, and to teach us how to live; God wants us to be loving, too, and
have a personal relationship with Him.
But
love has to be a choice, or it cannot be love.
And to have a choice, we had to be given free will to make that
choice. With that free will, however,
also comes the possibility that we will make some bad choices. So, a tension arises within us, a tug-of-war
between doing the will of God and all the worldly forces that sometimes hold us
hostage.
Internally,
we are pressured by our survival and procreation instincts; because we are
contained within human flesh, we seek safety and comfort, we want security and
power, and we want to experience the pleasures this world has to offer. These things are not evil, because they are
part of who we are as flesh and bones.
It's
how we manage them that can create or avoid problems, which is often greatly
influenced by external forces. We are shaped by the norms of our culture,
marketing propaganda, peer pressure, social illusions, and past personal experience
– all of which may press against our spiritual values, morals, and the
conscience of our God-given soul.
The
soul part of us often struggles with the worldly part of us. This is a battle we fight all of our
lives. It's what makes us human, and
what helps us to grow as children of God, especially when we deal with this
tension in a proper way.
The
two condemned men hanging on the opposite sides of Jesus represent the two sides
of this battle. One of them joined in
what the crowd was saying: "If you are the Messiah, save yourself! If you are the King, save yourself!" And
they mocked and scoffed at Jesus. Our
false self can easily accuse, reject, deny and disconnect from the truth. It's
our worldly side getting the better of us, covering up our true self and our
true identity – creating a world of darkness.
The
other man represents our soul side. This man could see deeply, he could see the
truth, and he was humble. Full of
openness, understanding, and compassion, he surrendered himself to Jesus:
"Remember me when you come into your kingdom." As St. Paul wrote in Colossians 1, "He
has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us in to the kingdom
of His beloved Son..."
And
there, in the middle of this personal struggle inside each of us, is Christ. Arms outstretched to bring the two sides
together, he is always present between the tension of our worldly self and our
true soul. He is the mediator that knows
and understands what we face as humans. He is the instrument of God to heal us,
to bring us peace, to make us whole. Not
there to accuse, condemn or punish, but ever-present to unite, redeem, and
refresh.
The
Reign of Christ is not on some throne in a far away kingdom, but rules within
our very heart. He stands in the midst
of our troubles and personal sorrows, mending and resting, healing and
soothing.
The
psalmist writes, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble. Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth itself should change, though the mountains shake in the heart
of the sea...The Lord of Hosts is with us...Be still and know that I am
God."
Proper
28, Year C
Isaiah
65:17-25 or Malachi 4:1-2a
Isaiah
12:1-6 or Psalm 98
2
Thessalonians 3:6-13
Luke
21:5-19
The
presence of God’s love and wisdom in this world has always created a tension at
some level. Even Jesus said that his
arrival here would bring trouble: “Don’t think that peace follows me to earth;
it’s not peace that comes, but a sword.”
(Matthew 10:34) This is not what
one normally imagines would happen upon the arrival of the Lamb of God, the
Great Shepherd. But even for him, this tension resulted in his execution on the
cross.
So,
why is there such tension in the world at the presence of God in Jesus, even
today? We find the core of the answer in
Isaiah, when he writes, “And God said, ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways. For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”
(Isaiah 55:8-9)
God
is love, and God creates out of love.
God wants us to be loving, too.
But love can only exist when it’s a choice, and that means there must be
free will to make that choice. With free
will, however, comes the possibility that bad choices will be made – choices
that stem from things that cloud the soul, such as avarice, arrogance, power,
wealth, prejudice, fear, and illusions. These
ways are not God’s ways.
Historically,
and even in today’s world, many of mankind’s social, economic, political, and
religious systems are based on these bad choices. As a result, we end up with poverty, famine,
diseases, unfair discrimination, economic inequality, waste, wars, and
pollution. Some people benefit greatly
at the expense of others by creating the power to nurture these lop-sided conditions.
But these systems are sustained only when those controlling them maintain the
power to do so. Change begins to happen
when those who are oppressed are empowered to act.
This
is where the tension emerges. Those in
power (who do not want change to happen) strongly oppose those that do want the
change. Current power structures are
threatened; those in power could lose prestige, wealth, power, and visibility
(all things of the dysfunctional ego).
So they fight back, not realizing what the truths in life really
are. It turns into a battle between egos
versus hearts.
Jesus
brought us a message of love that was welcomed by many people, but despised by
others. Ultimately, his opponents
arranged a mock trial and got him executed.
But, as we know, even that didn’t stop him from promoting God’s love. And it shouldn’t stop us either! As Jesus stated in Luke 21, “You may be hated
by all because of my Name. But not a
hair of your head will perish. By your
endurance you will gain your souls.”
Regardless
of what happens to us, “all will be well,” as Julian of Norwich reminds
us. We may suffer some trials and
tribulations, but in the end, God will bring us to complete restoration and
refreshment in His kingdom.
As
Jesus and his disciples walked past the temple, “adorned with beautiful stones and
gifts dedicated to God,” Jesus predicted that not one of the stones will be
left upon another – all would be thrown down.
This lead to a description of what we often think of as the “end times.” Perhaps this is the final period of change,
when Christ returns to establish what Isaiah calls “new heavens and a new
earth.” (Isaiah 65:17) The eternal
tension between mankind and God comes to a final resolution, and a new world
order is instituted for all our good for all time.
But
we don’t know when these end times will be.
In the meantime, we have work to do here. We must continue to fight the good fight of
love. And the best way to do this is to
become the person you were truly meant to be, and to live your life to its
fullest.
Each
of us has been given some special gifts, talents, interests, and skills. Our main task is to find out what these are,
and then use them to our fullest. Each
person contributes to the overall good of God’s plan, regardless of what he or
she does, as long as it’s being who were truly were made to be. We must learn to appreciate gifts not only in
ourselves, but in others as well. Just
because we have differences does not mean some are better and some are
worse. They are all important to God!
Did
you know that stopping to admire the beauty of a flower, or to appreciate its
fragrance, is creating admiration and appreciation in this world? This is a wonderful creative gift that some
people have!
Did
you know that offering someone a smile or a kind word strengthens the invisible
connections we have between each other, thus creating a stronger family of God? How powerful this talent of creation is!
Did
you know that offering a prayer for someone else can actually create a new life
in that person (or even in yourself)!
The Kingdom grows stronger through this gift!
Don't
measure your gifts and skills based on mankind’s standards. Remember that God’s ways are higher than our
ways.
Proper
27, Year C
Haggai
1:15b-2:9 or Job 19:23-27a
Psalm
145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98 or Psalm
17:1-9
2
Thess. 2:1-5, 13-17
Luke
20:27-38
The
Sadducees were part of a Jewish religious group active during the time of
Jesus' ministry. They were associated
with the upper social and economic classes of the time, and managed the Temple
activities. They generally didn't
believe in the resurrection of the body, or even that a person had a soul, and
therefore sometimes clashed with Jesus.
In
Luke 20 we encounter another example of this.
They challenged Jesus again, this time pressing him with a somewhat
sarcastic question about marriage in the afterlife. They asked him about a woman who married
seven times in her earthly life and, after her earthly death, "Whose wife
shall she be in the resurrection?"
Jesus
squashed their challenge with a simple response stating that marriage was a
human institution, and not something that is needed in the time of
resurrection. It's something people do
in this life, but not in the next. Why? Because in the next life we will all be
considered as brothers and sisters – children of the one God – and won't be
marrying anyone. It just won't be
necessary.
Marriage
is indeed a human institution, and took many forms throughout history. Even today there are many types of
marriage. Some cultures allow polygamous
marriage, some allow inter-racial marriages, some allow same-sex
marriages. In some cultures, marriages are
arranged by force. Other marriages are
created to simply designate who belongs to whom, as one would hold title to
property. Many cultures prohibit
marriages between close relatives for genetic reasons. Others simply arrange them for political
reasons or for succession of property.
Jesus
was in no way diminishing the value of a good marriage when he answered the
Sadducees. In fact, he knew that good
marriages add much to a culture, and serve to strengthen a society, not to
mention the value it can have for one's immediate family.
But
Jesus was trying to keep things in
perspective. There is a much larger
marriage going on, a marriage between God and all His children, bringing them
into a much larger family. This is a
marriage of our spirits – our souls – a blessed union that lasts forever. By pointing this out to the Sadducees, he was
also emphasizing that people do, indeed, have souls. His exclamation point to the Sadducees was,
"God is not God of the dead, but of the living; for to Him all of them are
alive."
It
would benefit all of us if we could start viewing ourselves in this life as the
brothers and sisters we'll be in the next.
It has always been God's intent to bring His kingdom to earth, and
that's what we pray for when we offer the Lord's Prayer: "Thy kingdom
come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
If
a marriage here on earth can bring two people (any two people) closer to God,
and helps these two people build a loving relationship with each other (which,
in turn, helps them to learn how to love their neighbor), then we are stepping out
of bounds if we stand in their way. It
is, after all, a small reflection of a much bigger family reunion that is
coming soon!
From
the inside out, we are all in the same family of God. We are all interconnected as brothers and
sisters. That's why we sometimes call each other "brother" or
"sister". When we call
ourselves "Brother" or "Sister" it's a reminder for us to
know our place in life – not above anyone else; not beneath anyone else. It should be a humbling reminder.
How
much would this world change if we could greet the stranger as a family member?
