In our faith journey we are continually confronted with change. Change that affects our lives if we are to continue to follow Christ. In that vein we are substantive as our roots and foundations cannot be shaken if we are bound to God's kingdom and Christ's rule in our hearts (Heb. 13:28-29). However, in moving into alignment with Christ there comes a time when we sometimes stop and think to ourselves "no more" we cannot continue this change that Christ has started. The reason being is that we leave behind the safeguards of law and order or at least we think that is what is happening as our anchors appear to have come adrift. In doing so we automatically start to cling to what we believe is the right and proper to the extent that we prevent others from progressing because of our own frailties and issues.
This is clearly demonstrated by Christ in the Synagogue as he is presented and heals the woman afflicted on a sabbath (Lk. 13:10-17). Supposedly going against everything that the rabbis had been teaching Christ heals on a day set aside for rest. Yet, he immediately shames them by citing the everyday things they themselves do in contravention of the very law they are citing. This is what happens when we become so bound by the things we suppose are the law or the dogma or the worship style or the pew positions until the obvious fallacy of what we are doing is pointed out to us. For us our tradition sometimes becomes hidebound and allowed to stagnate and so eventually does our own faith journey. We sometimes need to think very carefully about what we think of as tradition within our community to ensure that what we are doing is not fulfilling the commandment to love our neighbour and to love God. Especially in reflecting on this particular story from the gospels.
We are often to blame for making things more difficult for ourselves when we turn to dogma, tradition and our own interpretation of what it means to be Christian. We have a tendency at parish, diocesan, provincial and even worldwide levels to think that what has been normal and working for decades to be the law that binds rather than sets free. We too often rely heavily on our own understanding and perception of what we hear, say or do. How often, I wonder, have we said "We have always done it this way" or "The pews cannot be moved because I won't know where to sit" or similar words. Just listen to Jeremiah as he responds to God as to how he perceives himself and his ability to be God's prophet (Jer. 1:6). This is often how we respond when there is something new or something we think is not how it should be. We can almost hear the whine in Jeremiah's voice and in some respects that is how we sound to the Lord, I suspect. We fail to discern God's path not only for ourselves but for our own communities for whom we are responsible as too often we fail to listen with an open heart to God's call and direction.
The question really comes down to how do we balance our faith traditions with where God calls us? Are we misinterpreting what God is saying to us through the scriptures and through our discernment of what is around us? Perhaps, it is just a matter of actually listening. You might think that it cannot be as simple as that, well maybe not but if we were to add the word discerning as well that may bring us closer to the truth. The issue is we seldom listen and we seldom discern. What we actually do is pretend to listen and discern our own thoughts and not those of God. There has to be a willingness to allow God to direct us in the manner that God wishes not what is in our hearts. Jeremiah was a boy and yet he allowed God in to his heart and to open his lips so that he may speak (Jer. 1:7-10). We do not want anything to disturb our own thoughts and minds as we have been led to believe in the autonomous individual. Yet, Christ demands our following in thought, word and deed. We cannot leave out the thought just as we cannot leave out any other aspects. Only when we can fully trust that God will lead us and not our own derivation of God's thinking will we eventually begin to bring Christ into our lives. We must be like Jeremiah who understands his limitations but is willing to be corrected by God and follow God's voice. In the end we either listen to God or ourselves, listening to ourselves is refusing the one who has shown us the path to salvation (Heb. 12:25), for we have then closed ourselves of from God and placed our thoughts higher than God's.
No comments:
Post a Comment