The readings today challenge us to evaluate who and what we believe in, and so I want to invite you into an examination of beliefs so-to-speak. We should take time to think about what we believe, and how we act and see if those two concepts are aligned and consistent, or if we have some areas of hypocrisy that we need to work on.
Christians are people who conform their lives to that of Christ.
What does it mean to be a Christian? To be a Christian is to seek in my person to be like Jesus Christ. This is what the Church holds the saints up to be - men and women who were able to conform their lives to be able to reflect the love of God the Father and the Spirit of Jesus Christ in our lives.
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life
To be a Christian means to be rooted in the idea that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that only through Him do we come to know the love of the Father.
So I invite you to consider with me - Am I a Christian?
What is Truth? - How do we recognize the Truth?
Truth is consistent - across time, situation, people, place.
Truth hangs together - it tells a cohesive story - it does not waiver because of popularity or other aspects
Truth is solid, indomitable, unchanging and unwavering - it is like a rock.
Truth means that reality is consistent with what I think reality actually is.
The truth is unifying - because everyone can independently recognize it as being true.
Truth is where belief and reality meet. For example, I believe that the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8m/s close to the surface of the earth. The reality occurs when I drop something and I see that this belief is backed up with how the world behaves.
Two senses of the Truth - Subjective and Objective
There are two different senses of the truth - subjective and objective.
Subjective Truth means that the truth is true for the subject. For example, I like Ice Cream. True for me but not for everyone here.
Objective Truth is something that applies to us all. 2 + 2 = 4 - It is true for me, for you and for the bank. Even if I want 2+2 to equal 2 million - it doesn't, that is not objectively true. When I think that is how my bank account works, the bank is here to remind me that 2+2 = 4 - no matter how I feel about it.
Blurring the line…
In our culture today, we often blur the line between these two different senses of the truth - we speak about what is true for me, or my truth, and I think in that dialog we confuse our understanding of Subjective and Objective truth. If all we have is the subjective sense of the truth then there is no communion, no objective moral standard that we can all call good. There is no point to how we behave because it is all a personal “truth”.
Joshua - Who will you serve?
In the first reading the Israelites are asked to choose who is Truth? The gods of their fathers in Egypt? The gods of the Amorites into whose land they are entering, or the Lord who brought them through the desert to the Promised Land?
Answering this question is a life-long struggle
I do not think that this decision is a binary decision you make once in your life and are done - I think that our concept of the truth is continuously challenged by life as we encounter the world, learn new things we need to integrate them into our belief. For the Israelites, we know that all through the desert they struggled to trust and follow God, rather than to return to their former way of life (which was a life of slavery).
We also know from the other scriptures, that they struggled when they entered the promised land, that often they were seduced by the gods of the Amorites and fell away from their relationship with God.
How do we recognize lies in our life?
Christ teaches us that Satan is the “Father of Lies” - of deception. Given that Christians are called to be rooted in the truth, then we have to have some way of figuring out if we believe in a lie?
How do we figure it out? What does it take for us to realize that the truth is different from what we have come to believe?
One way we can learn this is that we keep acting in one way - as if it were true and then learning that that answer is inconsistent, incomplete, or incoherent.
Sometimes we believe in a lie of the world - for example, beauty, wealth, fame or power are the greatest things to seek after.
Sometimes we believe a lie of the Devil - For example, God hates us or is punishing us, or does not love us.
But, then, over a long, long time we learn that beauty is fleeting, wealth is hollow, fame is not the same as love and power fades. In the meantime, we lived our life and suffered much to learn those painful lessons.
Sin can often flourish on our belief in lies.
One of the ways that we end up falling into sin is because deep down inside we have accepted a lie of the enemy as the truth, and that twists our perception of who we are and who God is.
By listening, we profit from the wisdom of the Israelites
Yet at the point of time from Joshua today, we see that they choose to follow the Lord. They make this choice for themselves and their children and they recorded it so that we - their children could be reminded of their commitment and benefit from their wisdom.
Two topics to evaluate our Christianity - Marriage and the Eucharist
The readings today give us two concrete issues that confront us with a Christian world-view - Marriage and The Eucharist. The second reading today is from St. Paul, and I think it points to a huge division between what Christians believe and what they practice when compared with the teachings of Christ and His saints.
Marriage
In Paul's letter to the Ephesians today he addresses the Truth of Marriage. An area where we are very confused as a culture.
Paul echo’s Christs teaching when he states that marriage is a life-long communion, a bond between a man and a woman. He does not side with the "If two people love eachother then it is marriage" perspective.
Serial Monogamy
As Americans we typically practice what I would describe as “Serial Monogamy” - which is that we like having a spouse, but when we become too set in our ways, we divorce and then remarry. The truth that we are avoiding when we do this is that 90% of the problems in my relationship are with me, not my spouse. That applies to both spouses. So if your marriage is challenged, then I invite each married couple to take a serious look at themselves - to see what is preventing them from growing in holiness.
Love your wives as Christ loved the Church
St. Paul is clear about the nature that love takes for both women and men. For Men, we are called to love our wives as Christ loves the Church. Remember, Christ gave his life for the Church. That is no easy task. I think it is important for both husbands and wives to recognize this sacrifice in one another.
Be subordinate to your husbands
Likewise, Wives are called to be subordinate (meaning to place their husbands before themselves) to their husbands. In this way the two become one flesh, because each is dedicated to serving the other fully. That means that I place someone else ahead of myself. Husbands are called to especially recognize when they see their wives sacrificing for them - because this is a visible sign of God’s love for them.
Mutual Sacrifice for the good of the couple
For Christian Marriage to flourish men need to serve God first, and their wives second. Women need to serve God first and listen to their husbands. When we are able to mutually sacrifice to one another, then love flourishes and we are transformed. When we fall back into the selfish state of the fall, then our marriages are torn down and we turn to other ways to understand that we are loved.
Sometimes you see this love in its absence
If the Husband does not love the wife as Christ loves the Church then this is broken / out of order. Wives - Think back to your marriage and think of that time when your husband was selfish - you see that this is true.
If the Wife does not subordinate herself to her husband as the Church does to Christ then the relationship is broken. Husbands - think back to a time when your wife was selfish - you see that this is true.
The goal of marriage is the communion of the Spouses
In which they mutually love one another and continually call one another to holiness. If we take our marriages as an opportunity / challenge to grow in holiness then little by little we die to be selfish and rise to being one flesh - a communion.
Children are an extension of this life of sacrifice - in this way God makes your love for one another fertile.
For this reason God blesses this love and brings children into the relationship - they can teach us to subordinate ourselves to serve one another.
The world rejects the Christian view of marriage
This teaching is hard, and who can accept it?
Marriage should be between any two people who love one another?
You are being exclusive, discriminatory, ignorant!
1 + 1 = 2 - discriminates against 3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9. and it is true.
Christians need to respond to the world with witness
When men and women enter into a Christian marriage - they learn to forgive as God forgives, and their children grow up understanding the truth and holiness of life.
We are clearly not there yet - but we need to continue to give a heroic witness to the truth of marriage. When I say I do to my wife, I say I am committed to loving you
when no one else will. I am committed to forgiving you when no one else will, I am committed to showing you the love of God.
We need to ask ourselves - Am I a Christian?
The Truth of the Eucharist
In the Gospel today Christ finishes his teaching on the Eucharist. From the language he uses it is clear that He is speaking literally - “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you will not have life within you.” It was this literalistic understanding of the Eucharist that often became an early charge against the Christians - that they were cannibals.
Today, Christ goes on to say the following. "Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life."
Christ in Reality - the Son of the Father
What He is saying is that if you could see reality as it actually is you would see where the Son of Man was before (with the Father) - that would transform your world!
The spirit gives life while the flesh is passing
Then he goes on to say - “It is the spirit that gives life while the flesh is of no avail.” By this Christ is saying that the spirit aligns our lives to God - who is the source of life. The flesh - what we can perceive in the universe is nothing when compared to that which is eternal. Use that as a measuring stick when figuring out what you believe and who you will serve.
Christ’s teaching on the Eucharist is truth
Christ concludes this observation with a statement - “The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life." - they are the most essential thing. To have the essence of God in your life through the Holy Eucharist is to give us a lived reality and a lived encounter with Jesus Christ - in Spirit and in Truth.
Receive the Light of Christ
When we are baptized we are given a candle and told “Receive the Light of Christ”... - Our Soul is illuminated by the presence of God. When we encounter Christ and either Consume Him or simply see Him, we have an encounter with God himself. That is why Christians hold this sacrament to be the most sacred, most holy encounter with God himself.
Christ gives us a eucharistic challenge today - Do you also want to leave?
So today, as you approach the Altar of the Eucharist, you are being invited by the Lord to answer the question he gives to Peter and the 12 - "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." This is what it means to be a Christian - to have the same faith as St. Peter and the 11. We need to let these words challenge us this week as we examine our lives and our beliefs.
Am I a Christian?
No comments:
Post a Comment