โOn the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, [Jesusโ] disciples said to him, โWhere will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?โ And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, โGo into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, โThe Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?โ And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.โ (Mark 14:12-15)
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps the most famous, but many others have attempted to capture that scene. The one on the cover of your bulletin was painted by Titian, an Italian artist from the 16th century. If you study it, you will discover many symbols that help identify who each person represents.
Second, from the left, I believe, is James because of the shell on his shoulder. Second, from the right, I think, is Bartholomew. You see, he is wrapped in a cloak, and the edge hangs over the side of the table. If you look closely, the part that hangs over appears to be an upside-down face. Bartholomew was flayed alive, and he is often pictured holding his skin. And, of course, beside him is Judas, the money bag in his left hand. Behind Jesus and to the right is the treeโa representation of the cross that was near to Jesus since his birth. You can notice all these things as you study the painting, but then you see Jesusโ eyes. Everyone else is distracted, looking here and there and engaged in some conversation (except for John, who is sleeping on our Lordโs breast), but not Jesus. Jesus is looking at you. When you see Jesusโ eyes, everything else becomes a bit blurry. Less important. With his hand, he is gesturing. He is inviting you to pull up a chair and join him, but there are so many years between that meal and today. How could we?
in Book 4, Chapter 12 of The Imitation of Christ, my friend, Thomas ร Kempis, speaks about Jesus preparing for that last meal with his disciples. Thomas imagines the words of ChristโโI AM the Lover of purity, the Giver of all holiness. I seek a pure heart, and there is the place of My rest. Prepare for Me a large room furnished, and I, with My disciples, will keep the Passover with you. If you wish that I come to you and remain with you, purge out the old leaven and make clean the dwelling of your heart.โ
We cannot join Jesus in the upper room that was prepared those years ago, but we can prepare the upper room of our hearts. We, through our confession and devotions, can set the table within. A table covered in fine white linen, adorned with our very best. We can prepare this table of our hearts and say, โCome, Lord Jesus. Dine with me,โ and He, with His disciples, will enter in.
Following such a meal, the Lord will get up from the table, take off his outer robe, and tie a towel around himself. Then he will pour water into a basin and wash the feet of all those in the room, including yours, cleansing you of the final remnants of your former self. Making you worthy to enter into His Kingdom.
Look into the eyes of Jesus. He is all that matters. Allow him entry into the banquet you have prepared for Him within your heart.
Many of you know that I enjoy writing. Because I do, I joined the Enid Writers Club last yearโa wonderful group of people who learn from and support one another. Poets, novelists, short story writersโmost genres are represented.
Earlier in the school year, I thought about how we could encourage young writers, and we came up with the idea of a short story scholarship for graduating seniors. $1,000 will be awarded to the winner and paid to the school they will attend. Through our Community Tithe, St. Matthew’s supported the idea by funding the scholarship.
The rules were simpleโ2,000 words maximum short story and keep it PG13. The competition ended about a month ago, and we had five entries. The winner has been selected and notified, and weโll make a presentation at the clubโs banquet in May.
To get the writers off to a good start, we provided them with a writing prompt that they were to base their story. I wrote that and was hoping to provide a large enough canvas to let their imaginations work, and it did. โYou and another person are traveling by car through the mountains. You enter a long tunnel and reach a point where you can no longer see the light from either end. Thereโs a loud roar and a flash of light. All is black. The vehicle is dead, and nothing works. You have no cell phone signal and only one light source unrelated to the car.โ
The students wrote some great stories, but what I found interesting was that four out of five stories were about some aspect of death.
When I wrote that prompt, I thought they might come up with some Stephen King-type stories, but it wasnโt until I reread the prompt that I understood why death was so popular of a topicโtunnel, no light, no communication, all is black. Yep, that sounds like death.
Today, in our Gospel, John also wanted his readers to come to a similar conclusion about one of those he was writing aboutโJudas. There was talk of betrayal, a cryptic sign about the betrayer, Satan entering Judas, then leaving, and no one knows where he is going, but it wasn’t until those final few words that it is made clearโโheโJudasโimmediately went out. And it was night.โ He turned from the light, passed through the door, and went into the dark, into death.
Jesus said, โIf anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.ย But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.โ (John 11:9-10) Again, a few verses on, He reiterates this point, โThe light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.ย While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.โ (John 12:35-36)
In our lives, we can find ourselves in a tunnel without light, and we can intentionally walk out into the night. Still, the greatest danger for a Christian person is to be walking along in the spiritual light and not recognize it is getting dark. Not recognize that we have strayed. Therefore, we must remain alert, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the true light.
St. Paul tells us, โYou are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.โ (1 Thessalonians 5:5) Remain in the light by remaining focused on Jesus.
Flevit super illam/He Wept Over It by Enrique Simonet
Five days pass between Jesusโ triumphal entry, which we read about before receiving the palms, and the beginning of the Passion narrative. In those five days, many things happened, including the telling of many great parables, Jesus cursing the fig tree, the institution of the Lordโs Supper, and the washing of the disciplesโ feet. Jesus also has several run-ins with the various religious leaders and, at one point, speaks many condemnations to them, saying, โWoe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.โ
Jesus condemns them because of their arrogance in thinking they were better than others, for binding up the people with so many rules and regulations that those who desired to serve God were overwhelmed and disheartened in their faith, for putting faith in things over caring for people, for forgetting to show justice and mercy and to be faithful, for condemning others when they themselves are in error, for hypocrisy and lawlessness, and willful ignorance of their own faults. He then concludes with a lament over Jerusalem,
The lament begins, โO Jerusalem, Jerusalem,โโanother way of speaking of the religious leaders and those who have failed to believeโโO Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, โBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.โโ (Matthew 23:37-39)
With those final words, Jesus repeats to this same group the words proclaimed during the triumphal entry, โBlessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.โ In doing so, He is saying to the religious leaders, โYou have not yet believed, but there will come a day when you have no choice but to believe.โ As St. Paul said to the Philippians, โGod has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.โ (Philippians 29-11)
โWoe to you, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you will bend your knee and confess Jesus Christ as Lord, and you will do so either out of love and obedience or out of fear, trembling, and judgmentโฆ but you will confess.โ
The error we can make today is wrongly believing that these words do not apply to us. That was then; this is now. Woe to those religious leaders and others who do not believe. We are safe, for we are Godโs people, but that is the exact same thing those religious leaders thought. Therefore, we must be on our guard so that we do not become Jerusalem, Jerusalem, and it is an easy trap to fall into. We will do so by making the same mistakes as they made in the pastโby putting up barriers to God, by caring for things, by not showing justice, mercy, and faithfulness, by condemning the world around us while thinking we are the holy ones, and by being willfully ignorant and turning a blind eye to our own faults.
Declare, not only with your lips but also with your heart and soulโyour entire beingโdeclare, โBlessed is heโBlessed is Jesus who comes in the Name of the Lord,โ and leave behind that old Jerusalem so that you may become citizens of the New Jerusalem. A city, as St. John tells us in his Revelationโthat has been adorned as a bride for her husband, the dwelling place of God, where there are no more tears, no more mourning, crying, painโฆ no more death. (cf. Revelation 21:1-4) Become citizens of that New Jerusalem where all things have been made new and restored to God.
Question: If I were to say to you, โThe world is my oyster,โ what would you take that to mean?
{Pause for answers.}
Thatโs what most would say, but it is actually only half of a line from Shakespeareโs Merry Wives of Windsor.ย
In Act II, Scene II, two thieves, Falstaff and Pistol, enter and are having a conversation.
Falstaff: I will not lend thee a penny.
Pistol: Why then the worldโs mine oyster, Which I with sword will open.
Falstaff: Not a penny.
โWhy then the worldโs mine oyster,โ when the rest of the sentence is added, โWhich I with sword will open,โ is saying, โAnything I want is mine, and Iโll take by any means necessary, including violence.โ
From โMoney is the root of all evilโ to โNow is the winter of our discontent,โ there are many examples of taking a part of a sentence or statement out of context and having it say the complete opposite or never intended interpretation of the original intent. When we do this in working with Holy Scripture, we call it proof-texting, and today, in our Gospel, we have a fine illustration.
โJesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, โโIf you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.โโ
โThe truth will make you free,โ or โThe truth will set you free.โ It is everywhere, including titles of books, with those books ranging in topics from psychiatry, finding your true self, and video games. Then youโve got politicians batting it about, but I donโt know one of them that would know the truth if it smacked them upside the head (but thatโs a commentary and not preaching). The trouble is, all of these use the statement out of context, because the truth they are referring to is not the truth Jesus was referring to when he spoke those words. It is not some random truth that will set you free.
St. Thomas Aquinas, that great 13th-century Dominican theologian, wrote, โIn this passage, being made free does not refer to being freed of every type of wrong . . .; it means being freed in the proper sense of the word, in three ways: first, the truth of his teaching will free us from the error of untruth โฆ; second, the truth of grace will liberate us from the slavery of sin: โthe law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and deathโ (Rom 8:2); third, the truth of eternity in Christ Jesus will free us from decay. (cf. Rom 8:2 1)โ
There are many truths out there, but the only one that will truly set you free is Jesus, His grace, and His teachings. As Jesus, the Son of God, said, โIf the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.โ
You all know that Iโm a fan of Stephen King, but many people wonโt pick up anything heโs written. Too scary for most, although much of what he writes isnโt what you think it is. To illustrate the point, King tells a story. He says, โI was in a supermarket down here in Florida, and I came around the corner, and there was a woman coming the other way. She pointed at me, she said, โI know who you are! Youโre Stephen King! You write all of those horrible things. And thatโs ok. Thatโs all right. But I like uplifting things, like that movie Shawshank Redemption.โ And I said, โI wrote that!โ And she said, โNo, you didnโt. No, you didnโt.โโ Well, he did write Shawshank Redemption, which is a fantastic story. This week, I was reminded of a particular scene in the movie version.
An old prisoner, Brooks Handlin, has learned that he will be paroled, but instead of being overjoyed, he begins acting very erratic, even threatening to kill another prisoner. It seems odd to most, but Redโanother of the charactersโunderstands. Red says, โBrooks is just institutionalized. The manโs been in here 50 yearsโฆ 50 years! This is all he knows. You know what Iโm trying to say? Iโm telling you, these walls are funny. First, you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get to depend on them. Thatโs institutionalized.โ
In reading our first lesson today, you would think that Stephen King wrote itโthe Valley of Dry Bones. To understand what Ezekiel was writing, we must go back in history.
In Deuteronomy, the Lord says, โIf you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you todayโthat is, follow the Lawโthe Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.โ (28:1) A few verses on comes the โbut.โ โBut if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.โ (28:15) There follows a litany of curses that will befall the people if they break Godโs commands, one of which states, โThe Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be no one to frighten them away.โ (28:25-26) In those days, the victor in a battle would shame the ones they conquered by refusing to allow the bodies of the dead to be retrieved and buried. Those bodies were to lay where they fell as a sign of defeat. God said, if you break my Law, this will happen to you.
We know that the people were disobedient, and in 587 b.c., God had had enough, and the promised curses fell upon the people. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Babylonians, sent in his army, sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, and took the people into captivity and exile. During the battle, 4,200 people were killed.
Ezekiel was a prophet and a preacher in Jerusalem. He was there in 587 when the Babylonians attacked, and he went with the people into exile. While in exile, he continued to preach and to have visions. What we read today is one of those visions. It began, โThe hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.โ There is no indication in the text that this valley of bones is the land surrounding Jerusalem, but it is safe to assume, given that Ezekiel was there and saw the dead. It is also safe to assume that the Babylonians would not have allowed the dead to be removed from the battlefield so that the Israelites would be further humiliated. So, in his vision, Ezekiel, who was in exile, stood amongst the dried bones of the dead.
While there, God spoke, โProphesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.โ As he spoke, the bones began to rattle. They put on flesh and skin. Everything was restored except for one thingโlife. The Lord spoke to Ezekiel again and said, โProphesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.โ
There is a Hebrew word for breathโrรปah. There is also the word hฤrรปahโThe Breath. Breath is what those corpses needed to have life, but only The Breathโthe very Spirit of God that breathed life into the first man, Adamโcan give life-giving breath. Both of these words are in what God commanded Ezekiel to do-call on The Breath that life might be restored to those who had been killed, yet not only them but to all. Everyone.ย
God allowed the Babylonians to conquer the Israelites. It was the fulfillment of the curse that God promised for disobedience. Ezekielโs vision of The Breath breathing new life into the dead is the sign that God is lifting that curse and restoring the people. For those in exile with Ezekiel, this message is one of great hope because their exile was not only an exile from the land but also an exile from God. Now, they have been given new life.
It is that same new life that we are given. The Breath of God is breathed into us, and we are no longer dried-up bones. Through Jesus, we are fully alive beings in relationship with our God. Yet, we so often still hang around in that valley of dry bones, clinging to our former life. Thomas Merton referred to this clinging as the life of the โold man.โ
โFor the โold man,โโ Merton writes, โeverything is old: he has seen everything or thinks he has. He has lost hope in anything new. What pleases him is the โoldโ he clings to, fearing to lose it, but he is certainly not happy with it. And so he keeps himself โoldโ and cannot change: he is not open to any newness. His life is stagnant and futile. And yet there may be much movement but change that leads to no change. The more it changes, the more it stays the same.
โThe old man lives without life. He lives in death, and clings to what has died precisely because he clings to it. And yet he is crazy for change, as if struggling with the bonds of death. His struggle Is miserable, and cannot be a substitute for life.โ (A Year with Thomas Merton, p.84)
More simply put, Merton is saying that we are like Brooks Handlin in Shawshank Redemption. We are โinstitutionalized.โ Weโve lived so long in that valley of dry bones that it is all we know. Weโve gotten so used to living that โold manโ life that even though we want to change, we cling toโฆ death.
Standing at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus โcried with a loud voice, โLazarus, come out!โ The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to [the people], โUnbind him, and let him go.โโ Jesus, The Breath of God, breathed new life into Lazarus, and Lazarus left the tomb, the valley of bones, and removed all that had bound him to it. We are invited to do the same.
Come out! Come out of the valley and enter into this new life. Merton wrote, โFor the โnew manโ everything is newโฆ. The new man lives in a world that is always being created and renewed. He lives in this realm of renewal and creation. He lives in life.โ Come out and live in life. It is a gift to you from God.
Let us pray: Breathe in us O Holy Spirit, that our thoughts may all be holy. Act in us O Holy Spirit, that our work, too, may be holy. Draw our hearts O Holy Spirit, that we love but what is holy. Strengthen us O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy. Guard us, then, O Holy Spirit, that we always may be holy. Amen.
Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well by Paolo Veronese
If a company were to commission a study on forgetting things, which company would be the most likely candidate? I would tell you, but Iโve forgotten. No. It is 3M, the parent company of the Post-It Brand, the maker of those brightly colored sticky notes, technically called โrepositionable pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet material.โ It is estimated that 50 billion of those little sticky notes are created yearly, and Iโm a significant contributor to their use.
In the study, it was learned that 56% of men rely on their spouses to remember important things, and over 50% of the women stated that their spouses forgot something important. (Never mind the fact, according to the same study, women are more likely to lie about forgetting something.)
On average, we forget four things daily, totaling 1,460 items per year. A spokesman for Post-It said, โOur days are so jam packed full of tasks whether at work or at home, itโs no surprise people find it hard to keep track of everything. With much longer working hours, financial concerns and just busier lifestyles, even those with the best memory can stumble when it comes to remembering even the most simple of things during a hectic day.โ
The top five things forgotten: – Forget what you went into a room for – Misplacing keys – Forgetting things on your grocery list – Peopleโs names when youโre introducing them – Where you put your pen (Source)
We forget things; however, forgetting certain things helps us remember others. Thereโs quite a bit of science behind it, which does not pertain to forgetting where you put your keys or the effects of dementia and other diseases of the mind, but we forget these additional items because we donโt really need to remember them, and in forgetting, it makes our memories more efficient.
So, with all that talk of memory and forgetting, letโs test yours. Where did Abrahamโs servant meet, Rebekah, a wife for Issac? He met her at a well in Haran. Where did Jacob first meet his wife, Rachel? He met her at a well, also in Haran. Where did Moses first meet his wife, Zipporah? He met her at a well in Midian. Do you see a pattern? And today, Jesus meets a woman at the well.
Most women would come to draw water early in the morning or late in the evening, but this Samaritan woman went to the well at noon, the hottest part of the day. Why? As Jesus points out, she has had five husbands, and the man she is with now is not her husband. She likely came to the well when she hoped not to encounter anyone else so that she would not be condemned, criticized, and made to feel ashamed. However, when she arrives, she is met by a Jewish man.
Jews and Samaritans do not associate, and a Jewish man would never address a Samaritan woman. Never. Yet, Jesus says to her, โGive me a drink.โ From there, the conversation goes back and forth. Why are you talking to me? How will you draw water? Are you greater than Father Jacob, who dug the well?
She came to the well hoping to avoid others because she knew she would be condemned. Seeing a Jewish man, she probably expected to be ignored entirely or severely condemned. Yet, Jesus spoke to her and pointed her closer to the truth about herself, who He is, and what He has to offer: living water. At first, as she listens, she desires this water that Jesus offers because she believes she will no longer have to return to the well and endure the shame that others pour upon her, but then she begins to understand what Jesus is offering.
Remember Jesusโ words from last week? โIndeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.โ The woman begins to understand that Jesus is not talking about water that can be drawn from a well in the ground. She says, โI know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.โ Jesus said to her, โI am he, the one who is speaking to you.โ At that, the woman realizes that the well of the Living Water is Jesus, Himself.
Just then, the disciples return. As for the woman: she โleft her water jar and went back to the city.โ She forgot her water jar. When she forgot it, was it just one of her four things she was going to forget that day, and all she needed was a post-it note to remind her, or did she forget it because it was something she no longer needed to remember? Not only did she forget her water jar, but she also forgot how others condemned her and that many likely hated her. She forgot the criticisms and the shame she felt because, instead of running away from and avoiding the people of her community, she did just the oppositeโshe ran to them. Finding them, she said, โCome and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?โ
She came to the well that was Jesus and drank deeply of the Living Water. The waters of redemption and salvation, of love, mercy, grace, compassion, and more. She drank, and in drinkingโlike Rebekah, Rachel, and Zipporahโshe met her spouse by a well.
In the 19th chapter of his Revelation, St. John writes, โI heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, โHallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pureโโ for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.โโ
The woman at the well believed and, in believingโshe who had had five husbands and was currently living with a man who was not her husbandโ became a Bride of Christ. She discovered and was wed to the only One who could bring her true happiness and the peace she had been searching for her entire life.
We, each of us, are like the woman at the well. Condemned by Satan, ashamed of our sins, and criticized by our own thoughts and others, but like the Samaritan woman, we can forget our water jars. We can leave behind the bitter poisonous water and come to the Living Water of Jesus, and we can choose to drink the Living Water that is freely offered. In drinking, we are joined to Christ as His Bride. In drinking, we become a new creation. In drinking, we are redeemed and saved and can experience the Messiah’s love, mercy, grace, and compassion.
Forget your water jar. Donโt write yourself a post-it note. You donโt need to remember it. Forget it. Drink the Living Water from the well that is Jesus and enter into this new and eternal life given to you by God.
Let us pray: Come, all who are thirsty says Jesus, our Lord, come, all who are weak, taste the living water that I shall give. Dip your hands in the stream, refresh body and soul, drink from it, depend on it, for this water will never run dry. Come, all who are thirsty says Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
1984 is George Orwellโs great dystopian novel. It deals with how a totalitarian stateโBig Brotherโcan control the people. One tool used in controlling is newspeakโthe language used to convey ideology and history. It is described as โa purposefully ambiguous and confusing language with restricted grammar and limited vocabulary used in Oceania [the state] to diminish the range of thought. For example, in newspeak, the term โplusgoodโ replaced words better and โgreat.โ The goal: if you can control the language, you can control the individualโs thoughts. Iโm sure we could study this and prove that it is at play in our world today, but we wonโt go there. So why talk about it?
Today in our Gospel, Jesus said he came โto give his life a ransom for many.โ In our minds, the word โransomโ has a particular meaning, a payment for the release of an individual, and Jesus uses ransom to describe the work he accomplishes on the cross. However, throughout the scriptures and the Book of Common Prayer, many other words are used: sacrifice, atonement, propitiation, oblation, satisfaction, reconciliation, and others. The sentence in the Rite One service that weโve heard on Sundays combines several of these: โAlmighty God, our heavenly Father, for that thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there, by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.โ (BCP, p.334)
These words can become confusing. In addition, these words have led to different theories on what was accomplished on the Cross.
There is the Ransom Theory, Satisfaction Theory, Christus Victor Theory, Penal Substitutionary Theory, Governmental Theoryโฆ the list goes on. When we study each one, we can think, โWell, that sounds right,โ and we will feel so until we read the following theory. It gets confusing and, in some cases, contradictory. However, instead of seeing them as such, it is better to understand them in the same way we understand the four Gospels.
With the Gospels, there are times when they can seem confusing and contradictory when compared one to the other, but they are, in fact, pieces of a mosaic. Only when they are brought together will they create a complete image. The same is likely true with the various theories of what took place on the Cross. Each highlights one piece of the mosaic, one piece of the truth, and it is not until they are held together that the entire truth is made evident.
Unlike Orwellโs newspeak, which seeks to define an idea with the least number of words, the death of Jesus and the work He accomplished on the cross uses many different words. In the end, with all the words we use to describe the event, we are left with a highly nuanced event, depending on how we look at it, and that is the purposeโit is a mystery. Christโs death upon the Cross and all that was accomplished is far beyond our understanding because we lack the intellect and the language to define or adequately grasp it. Therefore, perhaps the best thing to say is what St. Paul said to Timothy, โChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinners.โ (1 Timothy 1:15) If we know nothing else, this one piece of information is all we need to be saved.
A family was sent out into an area to do missionary work, and there were very few services or access to some foods, one of which was peanut butter. This family must have been somewhat like me; I love some peanut butter, so they made special arrangements with a friend Stateside to send over an occasional jar of peanut butter to have with their meals. Soon the news of this regular supply leaked to the other missionaries in the area, and they became quite irritated. Apparently, all the other missionaries considered it a mark of spirituality if you did without those things that the local people could not have or have access to. The other missionaries said, โWe believe since we cannot get peanut butter here, then we must not have it with our meals, we must contextualize, we must be like the native people, we must sacrifice for Christ. We must bear the cross by not having peanut butter.โ Personally, I think Jesus would have liked peanut butter, but thatโs just me. Anyhowโฆ
The young missionary family did not give in to the legalistic pressure and had the peanut butter secretly shipped in and ate it with their meals. However, I suppose they went out with peanut butter breath, and it was discovered they were still eating it, so the pressure grew more and more intenseโall for a jar of peanut butter. Ultimately, the family was so discouraged by petty legalism that they left the mission field in disgust.
Thank goodness those other missionaries could keep the faith by not eating peanut butter. If they didnโt stop it there, those radical missionaries might have started ordering some lovely plum jelly to go with their peanut butter.
This week in my studies, something small about our Gospel kept my attention. Jesus said, โIndeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.โ Iโve always looked at that statement and focused on the resultโJesus came to save us and accomplished this work through the Cross. When I read it this week, I kept returning to the two words, condemn and save.
You know the definition of the word condemn, but so that weโre thinking the same, from the Oxford Dictionary, condemn means to criticize something or someone strongly, usually for moral reasons, and can include sentencing someone to a particular punishment, especially death.
If we use Jesusโ words with that definition, Jesus said, โThe Father did not send me to sentence the world to death but to save it.โ Understanding this, St. Paul can say, โThere is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.โ (Romans 8:1)
Jesus did not come to condemn. He came to save. Again, St. Paul tells us, โFor in [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.โ (Colossians 1:19-20) When Jesus said that he came to โsave,โ we can understand that He came to reconcile us to God.
Put together, Jesus said, โThe Father did not send me to sentence you to death but to reconcile you to Himself.โ So the question is: if this is why Jesus came, then why do we still condemn one another over everything and anything, including a spoon full of peanut butter, instead of seeking ways to be reconciled with God and to be reconciled with one another? Answer: It is far easier to condemn someone than it is to save them, to be reconciled with them. To condemn someone only requires words. To save or be reconciled to them is going to cost you something.
On the sixth day of creation, the Book of Genesis declares, โThen God said, โLet us make man in our image, after our likeness.โโ โGod saidโฆ,โ God spoke us into creation, and He can just as easily condemn us and speak us out of creation. To condemn is easy; it only requires words, but to saveโฆ
โFor God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.โ (John 3:16) โGod demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.โ (Romans 5:8)
To condemn is easy. It only takes words. To saveโฆ thatโs going to cost you something. St. John says to us, โBy this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothersโ (1 John 3:16), and a few verses on, he says, โLittle children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.โ (1 John 3:18)
God the Father could have easily condemned us. He could have spoken, and it would have been over. Instead, he chose to pour out His grace by giving His son so we might be saved. That graceโthat salvationโwas costly to God, for it was accomplished through a deed: the death of His Son on the Cross.
In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, โGrace is costly, because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a person his life, and it is grace because it gives a person the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: you were bought at a price, and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for usโ (p.47), and when we condemn others, we cheapen the grace that has been shown to us by the Father.
The Psalmist writes: Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, the one who succeeds in evil schemes. Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil. (Psalm 37:7-9)
As Christ Jesus has not condemned us, we should not condemn others. As Christ has saved and reconciled us to the Father, we should give of ourselves so that we might be reconciled to God and to one another. This is not easy work, it will likely cost you something, but it is Godโs work.
Let us pray: Lord, make us instruments of your peace: where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
Hattie May Wiatt lived in Philadelphia in the late 19th century and died as a little girl. She must have known how sick she was because she left her life savings to Grace Baptist Church so they could build a bigger building for the childrenโs Sunday school. Her gift: $0.57. Accepting this gift, the church contributed toward her vision and bought a piece of property. This went on to become Temple College, which later became Temple University and the Temple University Hospital.
No matter how small, a good gift can make a significant difference. A bad gift can also accomplish much. Take, for example, this one. [Holding up a small box.]
It doesnโt weigh much, the box is attractive enough, it doesnโt rattle when you shake it, and I know what it is. How? Iโve received it countless times throughout my life. Iโve received it and opened it more times than I care to remember. This is a gift from the Devil. As the Devil holds this gift out to me, it is a temptation. When I take it from him, Iโm on a slide that can lead to sin.
You see, when the Devil holds it out to me, I still have the opportunity to say, โAway with you, Satan!โ But when I take it, I concede to the possibilityโperhaps even the inevitabilityโof sin.
Once in my possession, I may place it on a shelf somewhere, but in my heart, I know Iโve likely already lost the battle. I didnโt renounce it outright, so it has power over me. Remember St. Augustineโs prayer? โLord, Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.โ He wanted what he prayed for, but it still had power over him.
After a time, I may take this gift off the shelf and nonchalantly fiddle with it a bit. โOh, Lord, I didnโt know I even picked this silly thing up. Iโll just put it right back up here on the shelf. Iโm in control.โ
Then comes the day when I make a poor decision to open the box. โLord, Iโm just looking to see whatโs in here. Nothing more. Iโm proving to myself that it has no control over me,โ but even as I am assuring the Lord of my conviction, I look down in the box and say in my heart, โIsnโt it so pretty.โ From there, it is only a matter of time, which is actually the case from the moment I accepted it from the Devilโs hands.
If we examine our lives, Iโm confident that we will discover that the ground around us is littered with opened little boxes like this and that the shelves are overflowing with others that are unopened, just waiting for a more opportune time to remind us of their presence. If we are honest with ourselves, we can say with certainty what sin each of those boxes contains. And, if we look with a sincere and discerning heart, we will likely discover that the gifts in each box may differ from one to the other but are also remarkably similarโslight variations on a common theme. Finally, in completing such an exercise, we may learn that all those boxes fall into three main categories: lust, greed, anger or pride, gluttony, despair, and so on. That may sound odd, but it is what happened to Jesus.
In the first temptation, Jesus was tempted to satisfy his flesh, his physical needs, and his wants. In the second, it was a temptation of prideโtaking advantage of his status as the Son of God. Finally, Jesus was tempted to have the world at his command instead of the Father’s. If you want to simplify those, you could say that Jesus was tempted with lust, pride, and greed. Yet, Jesus never accepted the gift from the Devilโs hands. He never even glanced at it except to rebuke it, and He remained without sin.
If the Devil, in his arrogance, would go after Jesus, the very Son of God, in such a way, donโt you think heโll try the same tactics on you as well? Nod your head, โYes.โ So, spend some time discovering what gifts the Devil gives you, then as a disciple of Jesus, one who wants to be like him, learn from Him and be prepared so that when the gift is offered, you know how you will rebuke itโโAway with you, Satan!โ
โโGod opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.โ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to youโฆ. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.โ (James 4:6b-8a, 10)
Let us pray: Holy Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
