Endure your trials as ‘discipline’…
Where do we find the strength to follow,
and to proclaim the good news?
The early Christian community struggled under persecution by the Roman Empire. Recently baptized Christians saw their brothers and sisters suffering and had fear that they too would be called to endure pain and suffering. Fear paralyzed them, making it impossible for them to act. The Letter to the Hebrews – written to Jewish Christians – was meant to remind this community that God would never abandon them. Yet they, for their part, must endure discipline in order to draw closer to God, to find alignment with God and with each other, which is the peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who are trained by discipline. So they must strengthen their drooping hands and their weak knees, that they might find strength in God’s promises, live in hope, and follow Christ.
Jesus was quite clear about those promises. Lord, will only a few people be saved? someone asks him in Luke’s Gospel. Jesus’ advice to those gathered is, Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. The scribes and Pharisees might believe they are in right relationship with God, but they reject Jesus because he threatens their status quo. Jesus warns them that some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last. Only when the scribes and Pharisees accept their need for God and surrender to the love the Jesus offers them will they be assured that the door will be open to them. But surrender, paradoxically, requires great strength.
Once we accept such surrender, we are more than equipped to do what God has always called upon God’s people to do, as Psalm 117 states clearly: Go out to all the world and tell the Good News! God has always worked to gather nations of every language, Isaiah reminds us; the people of Israel were to be the ones who brought news of God to all the world, to proclaim his glory among the nations, to live in such a way that the nations would know that their God was extraordinary. We are called to no less. Jesus wants us to fall in love with him, surrendering all to his love for us, that we might join him in his mission. What could be any more extraordinary than that?
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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