How difficult it is to see all that God has made possible!
The suffering servant of whom the prophet Isaiah speaks does not refuse the call of God; indeed, he is ready to accept any and all abuse – I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard, he says – provided that he remains able to hear what the Lord is saying: the Lord God opens my ear that I may hear. The servant is open to God, seeks to work in concert with God’s will, and is true to what God says through him, trusting that, no matter the abuse with which he is confronted, the Lord God will be his help. God is also the help of the psalmist in Psalm 116: I love the Lord because he has heard my voice in supplication. Like the suffering servant, the psalmist is very aware of all that God has made possible in his life, and is grateful for it.
In Mark’s Gospel, the disciples have a more difficult time opening their ears that they may hear. When Jesus explains that, as the Christ, he must suffer greatly, be rejected and be killed, Peter will have none of it: Peter takes him aside and begins to rebuke him. But Jesus knows who he is, knows the truth of what is coming, and so he speaks that truth to the disciples, whether they want to hear it or not. They do not yet see all that God has made possible: You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do, Jesus tells Peter. Jesus’ code of conduct is clear: Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. God’s call is for us to discover who we are and what we are capable of, but our expectations rarely meet God’s reality; what God has made possible by creating us is an ongoing discovery. James challenges his audience to show him the faith they have: faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James wants them to show him, in other words, that their faith is alive in them; he wants to see clearly that they have been changed for the better by the death and resurrection of Jesus. We cannot earn faith, but once we accept it, we have to do something with it or our faith is dead.
God’s love for us is eternal; our love for him exists so that we can remain open to God’s word and to God’s gifts, gifts that are given for the sake of the world. Jesus challenges us to commit our lives completely to the service of other, even if that faith means accepting the sacrifice of self and the embracing of the cross of Christ. For this, ultimately, is what God has made possible; we have but to open to it.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
No comments:
Post a Comment