Reflections

¹³ Until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴ We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:13-16

Growth is something we all experience as part of life.  Every time we take Lennox, my 13 month old, to the doctor we study his growth chart with the pediatrician.  I am thankful for both of our pediatricians and their deep understanding of these charts.  Sometimes we answer questions about his eating, sleeping, and play to help explain changes on his graph.  We often leave with instructions on how to nurture his growth into the future.  As Christians we too are growing, but our growth is not dependent on how much we sleep, eat, or play.  Our growth begins with our intentional connection to a God who loves and cares for us.  We grow when we push ourselves into prayer, study, and fellowship, particularly fellowship with people who are different than ourselves.  Paul reminds us that we have a responsibility to grow in our faith and toward one another because we are all knit together in one body.  Growth is not something that should scare us, but, rather, a reality that should excite us as we seek to live into the Gospel message in our lives.  

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

“If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Passivity and neutrality are the biggest obstacles to engaging real pressing issues from a faith perspective.  Archbishop Tutu knew this very well from his time in South Africa working toward equality for those whom a system failed to see as equals. We are presented with opportunities to act and to advocate for those on the margins and against systems that create a world of inequality.  The Gospel demands that we take inventory of our choices and our indecisions.  Perhaps this Lent we can imagine the times where we ignored the mouse being stepped on by the elephant or places where we remained neutral.  Why? What prevents us from responding, advocating, or speaking up? 

He who relies on theoretical knowledge alone is not yet a faithful  servant: a faithful servant is one who expresses his faith in Christ through obedience to His commandments.
St. Mark the Ascetic
On Those who Think that They are Made Righteous by Works
Two Hundred and Twenty-Six Texts

Focusing on Jesus is at its core the purpose of obedience.  Without the focus on Jesus and what Jesus invites us to consider and do we are lost.  St. Mark has plainly reminded us that faithfulness is not found in knowledge alone, but, rather, in a commitment to love.  We love God and we love each other which are the two foundational commandments Christ gives his followers.  St. Mark knew this work was not easy and retreated to the desert to find the space to redevelop his life.  Lent affords us an opportunity to retreat away from the daily distractions and refocus our life on the commandments God calls us to.  The trap is believing that if we do more we will be more faithful. Instead, obedience demands that we carve away the distractions that lead us away from God and develop new habits that orient our life on the most basic call to love one another. 

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.  Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
Jeremiah 18: 1-6

The strength, confidence, and care a potter shows mud.  It is amazing to imagine that God sees us as valuable despite just being clay.  The process of molding us into the beings God longs for us to be is the result of the radical love God has for us.  The potter does not give up on the creation, but works even harder to make it just what it is supposed to be.  Do we believe that we are worthy of that kind of divine attention?  This is the great gift bestowed upon us each day.  God looking at each one of us and saying “ Can I not do with you, O [beloved child], just as this potter has done?  This is the gift of unconditional love- a creator who does not give up, but keeps going all the way to the end!

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, ² ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ ³ But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1: 1-3

“Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it”[.]  I wonder how often God calls us to get up and go to a place we do not want to go.  Perhaps we do not want to go because it is scary, made up of people way different than us, or just out of the way.  God constantly invites us to go and proclaim the Good News to different parts of our world and we stand in the place of decision as Jonah did.  Do we go despite our fear, reservation, or indignancy?  Or do we flee the call altogether.  My hunch from my own life is that we do both.  Lent provides a time for us to take inventory of our lives and evaluate those moments where we clearly heard God tell us to “Go at once to (you fill in the blank)” and what prevented us from going.  Calling and going are some of the most important ways we participate in God’s mission here and now.  Go or no go, the decision is yours…

6“I will give You authority over all these kingdoms and all their glory,” he said. “For it has been relinquished to me, and I can give it to anyone I wish. 7So if You worship me, it will all be Yours.” 8But Jesus replied, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”…
Luke 4:6-8

How do we find focus in a world full of distractions?  What do we cling to for power?  These are the struggles that we all face in a world that constantly invites us to find security in things that are temporary.  In the midst of temptation, Jesus focuses right back to God through worship.  We can be precision focused on God and God’s call on our lives.  It is something that takes work and practice to accomplish.  There are many things in life that will try to pull us away from God, but none will give life and strength the same way.  Lent is a time for us to shift our focus from worldly distractions to life giving eternal distractions found in the God who created us, loves us, and longs to be in relationship with us.  Where is your focus today?  Where do you need to make tweaks in your life?