Old Mystic, April 26, 2009
Acts 3:11-21
Summary
As Peter addresses the crowd at the entrance of the Temple, the signs of the Kingdom, of God’s powerful presence in the world among human beings, continue to point to Jesus as the Redeemer and are a challenge to believe and to be transformed.
Sermon
Haven’t we lost that sense of awe that captured the imagination of the increasing number of followers of the disciples after Jesus’ ascension? For many 21st century onlookers, some of the accounts of miracles and wonders contained in the book of Acts are hardly credible. We modern and post-modern observers have become very rationalistic and even skeptic about signs and wonders. We want to affirm that for God everything is possible yet we tend to limit God’s actions in the present time to what is “natural” or has a “plausible rational explanation.” We even dare to confine God’s manifestations to a past dispensation, saying that those miracles belong to the apostolic era. I believe that God’s power and intentions to act, reveal, and bless us are the same today as they have always been.
But who are we to judge God’s ways? Whatever way God chooses to speak to us, it is God’s way and I believe we are barely discovering those ways! Sometimes we are kind of trapped by the “letter” of the Scriptures and we fail to “hear” the Word from a God that wants us to find him in the Bible—not just the rules for safe and successful living. Are miracles possible today? Yes they are. But if we are looking for miracles to help us in our particular situations, or as a proof of God’s existence, or as a way to strengthen our faith, we are missing the point. God can speak through wonders, common experiences, current events, Biblical and contemporary prophets, and stories, both Biblical and non-Biblical. But the whole point is that God appears in history—past and present, in our lives, churches, communities, and situations through signs. And those signs are powerful and promising because they are signs of the Kingdom. When lives are healed, where there is hope, loving relationships, when the hungry fed, the naked covered, and the imprisoned visited, we have clear signs of God’s doing. When we see a joyful community that celebrates life, people caring for one another, volunteers mobilizing to help in disaster areas, or missionaries leaving everything behind to minister to underserved populations, we have clear signs of the kingdom. And they all point to Jesus, “The Pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”
There is no question that it was all about Jesus for the disciples in our story. Great things had happened in a very short period of time. They had seen the wonders performed by him. They had heard his stories and parables. They were witnesses to the atrocity of the cross, but also saw Jesus raised from the dead and ascending to heaven. They received the blessing of the filling of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost. God used them to heal a paralytic who had been born that way. It was clear for Peter, that Jesus, the one who was denied by the people and delivered to be crucified, was and is the “Holy and Righteous one… the Author of life.” And Peter, having gone through a powerful transformation from the impetuous and fearful fisherman to the brave and valiant preacher, declares with passion that all the signs point to Jesus Christ.
But many of the bystanders were just watching, not understanding, trying to grapple with the events and with what was being revealed. As Peter addressed them, he said, “why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” Full of wonder and amazement they were just watching. In all honesty, I cannot blame them. I have felt so many times that is so much safer to stay on the sidelines and watch to “see what happens.” Many of these onlookers, were aware of the injustice that was being committed when they crucified Jesus but they were not sure. It was too risky to say anything in his behalf.
Unfortunately, there are many still watching in this 21st century. And the doubts have grown because the once unquestionable truth of Christianity is now challenged by other ideas religious or secular in the post-modern spiritual landscape of our age. The church is no exception: many remain faithful to the institution, to the community, to the tradition, and the history, but it seems like they have lost the focus. They dwell on these symbols as if they were the end themselves. But these are also signs that point to Jesus Christ! We are the church, we have a church, we have hope, we are who we are, and we have the potential to be like him if we believe and surrender to Jesus Christ.
Peter is calling the people gathered at the Portico of Solomon to invite them to believe. And he is not as polite as most of us modern preachers are. He took the opportunity to remind them that they had denied Jesus, had requested a murderer to be released in his place, and had delivered him to be crucified. Quite an accusation! But Peter also calls to their attention that all the signs, wonders, and miracles point to Jesus so they would believe. His message is clearly implicit in his speech: God glorified Jesus; he is the Holy and Righteous one; he is the Author of life. Jesus continues to be God’s greatest revelation and the appeal is the same today as it was on the first century: believe in him, embrace him, and walk with him.
If there are any signs of goodness in the world; if we see seeds of love among human beings; if men and women are making peace; if a child keeps on smiling in spite of being stricken by poverty and malnutrition; if we hear words of hope and the expectation of a future, it is God’s work in Jesus Christ.
Peter’s sermon reaches its climax at the end of the passage. It is the moment of the challenge; the call to repent. “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…” To repent is to turn round; to change; to be transformed. It is not just a matter of overcoming being legally bound by our sins. What is being offered is a transformation that anticipates “times of refreshing” of which we are barely seeing signs. Repentance is not just a liberation from being condemned; it is foremost the opportunity to walk in a new life of hope, of possibilities, of love, and joy.
Sometimes it seems that we have become too far detached from this new life. There’s neither much joy, nor any sense of purpose, nor a vision for the future. It very often seems like we are just going through the motions. Yet, the message is the same, still fresh and calling us. We can be transformed!
The signs from God keep on coming. God is in the world and working. In spite of the fact that many things are so wrong we can still be hopeful because all those signs that speak through the Scriptures; all the wonders of the past and the present; the life of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit; all these things continue to point to the hope of the kingdom, a new order completely different to the world order as we know it; a kingdom of love, peace, and justice. Let us rejoice in the signs, believe in Jesus the Christ, and be transformed by his unequaled power. That is just the beginning.
Burning Hearts
Old Mystic, April 12, 2009
Luke 24:13-35
Summary
The event of the resurrection is a powerful fact that opens the way for us to engage in a relationship with God through the Living Christ. As the God who walks with us, who is with us and within us, speaks to our hearts, let us actively listen to him; let us invite him to our table, and let us go and join him in his mission in the world.
Sermon
It would be appropriate to say, perhaps, that this is the most wonderful time of the year in spite of the fact that we still are a few months away from Christmas. No lights, no holiday, not many decorations, no gifts, and if there is any excitement, it is only among those who are not walking away from the miracle of life. For a rational world, for a-matter-of-fact people, even a huge segment of Christianity bound by rules of “scientific historical inquiry,” the resurrection is a story hard to believe. But the challenge is precisely that: it is a revelation given to us to be believed. It is a revelation about life; about the continuity of life; about life that in some sort of significant way is an unending stream. Not a stream that we need to jump into and we are reluctant to; it is a stream in the middle of which we are found and that is drawing us into eternity.
Today’s story of the disciples’ walk to Emmaus is a piece of God’s revelation about life and about the resurrection. It is a story of two men going to a village about seven miles away from Jerusalem—quite a distance in those days—as if they were trying to escape the harsh reality of Jesus’ horrendous death, or the fear that his prediction of the resurrection would never take place, or perhaps the dread of being persecuted. It seems that they were trying to flee from God. Like us, of course, they were bound by human understanding and they had a difficult time to grasp the immensity of what was happening around them. So the two men were walking with urgency, swiftly, and leaving behind things that they were trying to process, yet they were not able to grapple.
This walk was not an easy walk for the two disciples. They were sad, they were tense, they were vigorously discussing, like trying to solve the puzzle of Jesus. Who was he? If he was the son of God, the incarnate God, how was it that he could be put to death by execution like a criminal? The two men were so concentrated in their anxious talk that when a stranger joined them they failed to recognize him. They responded to his questioning like anyone who needs to talk would do: they told their story. “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” And as the story unfolded we can sense their sadness and disappointment. But Jesus, the stranger, talked to them and, as they later realized, their hearts began to burn inside. They heard Jesus quoting the Prophets and explaining them how things were and why things had to happen the way they happened. They heard Jesus, but were they listening?
It is so difficult to listen and it becomes particularly difficult when we relate it with our sense of hearing. We expect sounds; and the more familiar, the better. We want to hear what we choose to hear and therefore when what we hear pleases our ears—like many of the sound bytes we hear from the media, labels, and slogans—we don’t need to listen actively. We do not need to pay attention because we already know it. We are convinced that we know what we need to know. But what about listening? That is to take heed, to pay attention, to “turn toward the other” (Martin Buber). God wants our attention. And believe it or not, in this day and age God is bringing us back to the basics. In His talk, if we want to listen, and there is no margin or error in this talk—only our lack of attention, God may be reminding us of simple things like the “mandatum” of Maundy Thursday when Jesus said: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” If our hearts are burning, like the disciples’ on the road to Emmaus, more than ever it is time to listen.
Seven miles is not such a long walk even for our own standards. But if we think of the uneven roads and paths of the first century, at the end of the day our travelers had to be quite tired. Emotionally, it was a long journey. The tragic event of the cross was still looming and beyond the weariness of the long walk there was the existential dread. What was next? What lay ahead of our two disciples the day after? A question that perhaps many ask after a major catastrophe. What is life going to be like now when we feel that a huge part of it was almost obliterated in one moment? And the most confusing thing of all was that “some of the women” came up saying that they had seen Jesus alive. Imagine that! Why would anyone play with the feelings of others in such a way? Yet, he had said so. Our friends are tired, yet their hearts are burning as they hear the stranger. And when they arrived to their destination, they wanted more of and from him. “Stay with us,” they said. And they invited him to their table to share a meal with him.
What a powerful and symbolic moment! Inviting Jesus to the table. Not many things in life are as meaningful as sharing a meal with others. Eating and drinking together is an opportunity to commune, to build face to face relationships, to talk, to laugh, to share our joys and our victories, and also our failures and sadness. When we sit at the table, we “turn toward one another” in a powerful identification where we become one and we carry each other’s burdens. To invite Jesus to our table means to be open to his work without conditions; it means to surrender—leaving behind presuppositions—and to open to new unprecedented, unforeseen, and unexpected possibilities; the possibilities of life, the quality of life offered by the Risen Christ!
But the best was yet to come. Jesus was sitting at the table and the moment to break the bread and share the cup came. Their eyes were then watching him; their ears were attentive; their hearts were still burning, then, perhaps, more that ever before. At that moment, when Jesus broke the bread, their eyes were opened. It was he! Jesus himself! But before they were able to recover from their surprise and their joyful moments of exultation, Jesus vanished from their sight. And then their hearts were burning to the maximum! Then they knew why they were burning and they felt the urgency to go back to Jerusalem. They wanted to undo the seven miles as quickly as possible; they wanted to go back on their steps and to flee no more.
God wants to have a relationship with us and it is difficult to keep up with God. Our hearts are burning, we have the pleasant feeling of sitting at the table with him, and we want to stay that way. We are in some sort of perennial banquet—hopefully— or in some sort of “incomplete bliss” where we are happy with a piece of the blessing. Not to mention that very often the table talk is mostly about our needs, our wants, our pains, and us. The risk of such a scenario—typical of many congregations in the 21st century—is that God vanishes. We are all gathered for the meal, but where is God? God is in the world.
As the disciples reacted when Jesus disappeared from their eyes, we are urged to go out and follow God where God is, lest he vanishes from our lives. And He is in the world! God the Father, the Living Christ, and the Holy Spirit are there where people are suffering, where there is no water or food, where there is sickness, or despair, or violence, where there seems that there is no hope. And as the disciples on the Road to Emmaus hastily left everything behind to follow Jesus, we are offered the opportunity to go and join God in what God wants to do in the world.
Christ is alive and that is something that is beyond a remembrance that we once a year recall as one more of our Christian celebrations. Christ is alive and walking by our side all the days of our lives. Christ is still speaking in the 21st century and he is doing so in a God-revealing creativity far beyond our comprehension, yet directing us not to forsake his most elemental teachings. Christ wants to sit with us at our tables, but he also wants us to follow him. Therefore, if our hearts are burning at the sound of statement that He is Risen, Let us embrace our Savior, let us have that face to face relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Luke 24:13-35
Summary
The event of the resurrection is a powerful fact that opens the way for us to engage in a relationship with God through the Living Christ. As the God who walks with us, who is with us and within us, speaks to our hearts, let us actively listen to him; let us invite him to our table, and let us go and join him in his mission in the world.
Sermon
It would be appropriate to say, perhaps, that this is the most wonderful time of the year in spite of the fact that we still are a few months away from Christmas. No lights, no holiday, not many decorations, no gifts, and if there is any excitement, it is only among those who are not walking away from the miracle of life. For a rational world, for a-matter-of-fact people, even a huge segment of Christianity bound by rules of “scientific historical inquiry,” the resurrection is a story hard to believe. But the challenge is precisely that: it is a revelation given to us to be believed. It is a revelation about life; about the continuity of life; about life that in some sort of significant way is an unending stream. Not a stream that we need to jump into and we are reluctant to; it is a stream in the middle of which we are found and that is drawing us into eternity.
Today’s story of the disciples’ walk to Emmaus is a piece of God’s revelation about life and about the resurrection. It is a story of two men going to a village about seven miles away from Jerusalem—quite a distance in those days—as if they were trying to escape the harsh reality of Jesus’ horrendous death, or the fear that his prediction of the resurrection would never take place, or perhaps the dread of being persecuted. It seems that they were trying to flee from God. Like us, of course, they were bound by human understanding and they had a difficult time to grasp the immensity of what was happening around them. So the two men were walking with urgency, swiftly, and leaving behind things that they were trying to process, yet they were not able to grapple.
This walk was not an easy walk for the two disciples. They were sad, they were tense, they were vigorously discussing, like trying to solve the puzzle of Jesus. Who was he? If he was the son of God, the incarnate God, how was it that he could be put to death by execution like a criminal? The two men were so concentrated in their anxious talk that when a stranger joined them they failed to recognize him. They responded to his questioning like anyone who needs to talk would do: they told their story. “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” And as the story unfolded we can sense their sadness and disappointment. But Jesus, the stranger, talked to them and, as they later realized, their hearts began to burn inside. They heard Jesus quoting the Prophets and explaining them how things were and why things had to happen the way they happened. They heard Jesus, but were they listening?
It is so difficult to listen and it becomes particularly difficult when we relate it with our sense of hearing. We expect sounds; and the more familiar, the better. We want to hear what we choose to hear and therefore when what we hear pleases our ears—like many of the sound bytes we hear from the media, labels, and slogans—we don’t need to listen actively. We do not need to pay attention because we already know it. We are convinced that we know what we need to know. But what about listening? That is to take heed, to pay attention, to “turn toward the other” (Martin Buber). God wants our attention. And believe it or not, in this day and age God is bringing us back to the basics. In His talk, if we want to listen, and there is no margin or error in this talk—only our lack of attention, God may be reminding us of simple things like the “mandatum” of Maundy Thursday when Jesus said: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” If our hearts are burning, like the disciples’ on the road to Emmaus, more than ever it is time to listen.
Seven miles is not such a long walk even for our own standards. But if we think of the uneven roads and paths of the first century, at the end of the day our travelers had to be quite tired. Emotionally, it was a long journey. The tragic event of the cross was still looming and beyond the weariness of the long walk there was the existential dread. What was next? What lay ahead of our two disciples the day after? A question that perhaps many ask after a major catastrophe. What is life going to be like now when we feel that a huge part of it was almost obliterated in one moment? And the most confusing thing of all was that “some of the women” came up saying that they had seen Jesus alive. Imagine that! Why would anyone play with the feelings of others in such a way? Yet, he had said so. Our friends are tired, yet their hearts are burning as they hear the stranger. And when they arrived to their destination, they wanted more of and from him. “Stay with us,” they said. And they invited him to their table to share a meal with him.
What a powerful and symbolic moment! Inviting Jesus to the table. Not many things in life are as meaningful as sharing a meal with others. Eating and drinking together is an opportunity to commune, to build face to face relationships, to talk, to laugh, to share our joys and our victories, and also our failures and sadness. When we sit at the table, we “turn toward one another” in a powerful identification where we become one and we carry each other’s burdens. To invite Jesus to our table means to be open to his work without conditions; it means to surrender—leaving behind presuppositions—and to open to new unprecedented, unforeseen, and unexpected possibilities; the possibilities of life, the quality of life offered by the Risen Christ!
But the best was yet to come. Jesus was sitting at the table and the moment to break the bread and share the cup came. Their eyes were then watching him; their ears were attentive; their hearts were still burning, then, perhaps, more that ever before. At that moment, when Jesus broke the bread, their eyes were opened. It was he! Jesus himself! But before they were able to recover from their surprise and their joyful moments of exultation, Jesus vanished from their sight. And then their hearts were burning to the maximum! Then they knew why they were burning and they felt the urgency to go back to Jerusalem. They wanted to undo the seven miles as quickly as possible; they wanted to go back on their steps and to flee no more.
God wants to have a relationship with us and it is difficult to keep up with God. Our hearts are burning, we have the pleasant feeling of sitting at the table with him, and we want to stay that way. We are in some sort of perennial banquet—hopefully— or in some sort of “incomplete bliss” where we are happy with a piece of the blessing. Not to mention that very often the table talk is mostly about our needs, our wants, our pains, and us. The risk of such a scenario—typical of many congregations in the 21st century—is that God vanishes. We are all gathered for the meal, but where is God? God is in the world.
As the disciples reacted when Jesus disappeared from their eyes, we are urged to go out and follow God where God is, lest he vanishes from our lives. And He is in the world! God the Father, the Living Christ, and the Holy Spirit are there where people are suffering, where there is no water or food, where there is sickness, or despair, or violence, where there seems that there is no hope. And as the disciples on the Road to Emmaus hastily left everything behind to follow Jesus, we are offered the opportunity to go and join God in what God wants to do in the world.
Christ is alive and that is something that is beyond a remembrance that we once a year recall as one more of our Christian celebrations. Christ is alive and walking by our side all the days of our lives. Christ is still speaking in the 21st century and he is doing so in a God-revealing creativity far beyond our comprehension, yet directing us not to forsake his most elemental teachings. Christ wants to sit with us at our tables, but he also wants us to follow him. Therefore, if our hearts are burning at the sound of statement that He is Risen, Let us embrace our Savior, let us have that face to face relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God's Way
Old Mystic, April 5, 2009
Philippians 2:5-11
Summary
Paul’s enduring appeal to Christians as to how we lead our lives is a call to follow the example of Jesus in his sacrifice—a significant challenge by popular and cultural standards. To surrender and humble is the way of the cross, God’s Way, the way to glory.
Sermon
We often hear people say that attitude is everything. If we apply ourselves to a particular task and we have the right attitude, in most cases understood as perseverance, determination, and desire, we will be successful and achieve a desired goal. An attitude is a state of mind or a disposition. Parents have expectations about the attitude of their children, especially during their teenage years. They expect them to cooperate, to obey, and to apply themselves to work hard on their school work. That is the right attitude! As a minister, however, I have heard so many friends complain about their children “having an attitude,” meaning they don’t want to obey them.
If we go deeper and reflect upon the meaning of living a Christian life, or a “righteous” life, then a right attitude is very challenging. And Paul raises the bar for the people of the church at Philippi. This was a church with external threats as well as internal struggles. Very often in his letter Paul admonishes the congregation to be of the same mind. He reminds them that there is strength in unity; that any endeavor or fulfillment will happen if they have the right attitude; the attitude of Jesus Christ, that is. An attitude that would keep them together.
But having the mind of Jesus as it is portrayed in this beautiful hymn about his humility and sacrifice is against the grain of popular culture and even the logic of human individualistic—or rather egotistic—thought of the 21st century. Most of us—let’s be honest—we are overly concerned about our own interests; we care about our future, our success, our possessions, our rights, and even our peace of mind. We are about ourselves when we so often hear loud and clear that life, real life, life with a future, life with real freedom is life with God; life that is connected with the Living God; life that is lived God’s Way. Then, when we look at Paul’s Christological hymn in his letter to the Philippians, we come to the realization that to follow the steps of Jesus we have to surrender and humble ourselves.
1. GOD’S WAY TO LIFE CALLS FOR SURRENDER
“Surrender” is a very difficult word. Who wants to surrender in this life? It sounds like giving up or giving in when we think we shouldn’t. No one who picks a fight, or is engaged in war, or is fighting for a cause, or even playing a simple game of cards, wants to ever surrender. We believe that to surrender is to loose and who wants to be a looser! In God’s logic, God’s way, to win we must surrender. Jesus victory in the cross took place because he surrendered to the will of the Father. Paul says that, “he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” Jesus remained faithful to the relationship with his father and his humanity was fully realized in that relationship. As a human being, Jesus fulfilled his purpose by going to the cross and carrying the sins of us all. We know that he was victorious as he was raised from the dead, a victory he earned by surrendering.
To surrender is God’s way. To surrender to his will, to surrender to his Son, to surrender to a relationship with him. Only when we enter in that intimate relationship; when we open our lives to God’s movement; when we join God in what God is doing and wants to do in the world, only then, we begin to experience the joy that Paul so powerfully expresses in this letter; only then we begin to learn about life. We can live our lives on our own; we can pursue many goals and achieve them; we can boast professional excellence and success; or we may be a complete failure not matter what we try or how much we try. As a human being, confronted with the horror of the cross, Jesus knew that the way to victory was to surrender to his Father, to that precious relationship.
2. GOD’S WAY TO LIFE INVOLVES HUMBLING OURSELVES
Jesus’ example is powerful because it was when we he became fully human that he was aware of how distant he was from God. He was able to contemplate God’s majesty from the standpoint of human finitude and therefore he humbled himself before the father and obediently did what he was supposed to do: die on the cross. And that is one of the marks of his greatness. Paul says that, “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.” Jesus gave us an example of human awareness and a sense of duty by humbling himself.
But again, who wants to humble in this life? After all, pride is one of the most powerful features of our being human. We pride ourselves of being who we are. We take pride in what we do. How many times we have heard or made such a statement? We can be who we are supposed to be and we can do what we are supposed to do when we humble ourselves and become fully aware of our condition. When we become meek, when we come to terms with who we are, when we learn that we don’t have all the answers—if any, we are ready to surrender and come into that relationship with God which paradoxically will lift us up to a victorious life, according to the patterns of God’s kingdom, not the ways of the world.
Lent is a time of reflection and remembrance when we recall Jesus surrendering and humbling himself by going to the cross. His sacrifice means life to us. His example compels us. It is all about having a relationship with God; it is about discovering the joy of walking with God, doing things for God, and blessing our family, friends, and neighbors in Him. That is God’s way of life and God’s way to life. Let us humble ourselves and surrender to Him for life and life abundant.
Philippians 2:5-11
Summary
Paul’s enduring appeal to Christians as to how we lead our lives is a call to follow the example of Jesus in his sacrifice—a significant challenge by popular and cultural standards. To surrender and humble is the way of the cross, God’s Way, the way to glory.
Sermon
We often hear people say that attitude is everything. If we apply ourselves to a particular task and we have the right attitude, in most cases understood as perseverance, determination, and desire, we will be successful and achieve a desired goal. An attitude is a state of mind or a disposition. Parents have expectations about the attitude of their children, especially during their teenage years. They expect them to cooperate, to obey, and to apply themselves to work hard on their school work. That is the right attitude! As a minister, however, I have heard so many friends complain about their children “having an attitude,” meaning they don’t want to obey them.
If we go deeper and reflect upon the meaning of living a Christian life, or a “righteous” life, then a right attitude is very challenging. And Paul raises the bar for the people of the church at Philippi. This was a church with external threats as well as internal struggles. Very often in his letter Paul admonishes the congregation to be of the same mind. He reminds them that there is strength in unity; that any endeavor or fulfillment will happen if they have the right attitude; the attitude of Jesus Christ, that is. An attitude that would keep them together.
But having the mind of Jesus as it is portrayed in this beautiful hymn about his humility and sacrifice is against the grain of popular culture and even the logic of human individualistic—or rather egotistic—thought of the 21st century. Most of us—let’s be honest—we are overly concerned about our own interests; we care about our future, our success, our possessions, our rights, and even our peace of mind. We are about ourselves when we so often hear loud and clear that life, real life, life with a future, life with real freedom is life with God; life that is connected with the Living God; life that is lived God’s Way. Then, when we look at Paul’s Christological hymn in his letter to the Philippians, we come to the realization that to follow the steps of Jesus we have to surrender and humble ourselves.
1. GOD’S WAY TO LIFE CALLS FOR SURRENDER
“Surrender” is a very difficult word. Who wants to surrender in this life? It sounds like giving up or giving in when we think we shouldn’t. No one who picks a fight, or is engaged in war, or is fighting for a cause, or even playing a simple game of cards, wants to ever surrender. We believe that to surrender is to loose and who wants to be a looser! In God’s logic, God’s way, to win we must surrender. Jesus victory in the cross took place because he surrendered to the will of the Father. Paul says that, “he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.” Jesus remained faithful to the relationship with his father and his humanity was fully realized in that relationship. As a human being, Jesus fulfilled his purpose by going to the cross and carrying the sins of us all. We know that he was victorious as he was raised from the dead, a victory he earned by surrendering.
To surrender is God’s way. To surrender to his will, to surrender to his Son, to surrender to a relationship with him. Only when we enter in that intimate relationship; when we open our lives to God’s movement; when we join God in what God is doing and wants to do in the world, only then, we begin to experience the joy that Paul so powerfully expresses in this letter; only then we begin to learn about life. We can live our lives on our own; we can pursue many goals and achieve them; we can boast professional excellence and success; or we may be a complete failure not matter what we try or how much we try. As a human being, confronted with the horror of the cross, Jesus knew that the way to victory was to surrender to his Father, to that precious relationship.
2. GOD’S WAY TO LIFE INVOLVES HUMBLING OURSELVES
Jesus’ example is powerful because it was when we he became fully human that he was aware of how distant he was from God. He was able to contemplate God’s majesty from the standpoint of human finitude and therefore he humbled himself before the father and obediently did what he was supposed to do: die on the cross. And that is one of the marks of his greatness. Paul says that, “Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.” Jesus gave us an example of human awareness and a sense of duty by humbling himself.
But again, who wants to humble in this life? After all, pride is one of the most powerful features of our being human. We pride ourselves of being who we are. We take pride in what we do. How many times we have heard or made such a statement? We can be who we are supposed to be and we can do what we are supposed to do when we humble ourselves and become fully aware of our condition. When we become meek, when we come to terms with who we are, when we learn that we don’t have all the answers—if any, we are ready to surrender and come into that relationship with God which paradoxically will lift us up to a victorious life, according to the patterns of God’s kingdom, not the ways of the world.
Lent is a time of reflection and remembrance when we recall Jesus surrendering and humbling himself by going to the cross. His sacrifice means life to us. His example compels us. It is all about having a relationship with God; it is about discovering the joy of walking with God, doing things for God, and blessing our family, friends, and neighbors in Him. That is God’s way of life and God’s way to life. Let us humble ourselves and surrender to Him for life and life abundant.
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