St. Teresa of Avila is often (somewhat incorrectly) credited with saying, “Lord, if this is how you treat your friends it is no wonder that you have so few.” I think that is a good way to begin a look at our gospel reading for today. In Luke 17 we’re still journeying with Jesus towards Jerusalem. We’re still getting a series of very challenging teachings. We have no record of all the content he taught, but Luke seems to feel it necessary to keep focusing on these very tough things. We open with Jesus warning his disciples that, “occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble.” (Luke 17:1-2)
We don’t know who these “little ones” are, but it probably means any person who is a new Christian or not deep in faith. You don’t want your actions or teachings to damage the faith of others. Jesus then goes on to talk about repeated forgiveness. This is not about the person asking for forgiveness. This is the person who is offering forgiveness. His disciples rightfully recognize this is a very tough task – must forgive again and again and again! They say, “Increase our faith!”
To me that is a very reasonable request. It is a highly faithful request. They realize they cannot grow their faith on their own. They need God to do it. So they ask for it. What could possibly be wrong with that?
But then Jesus says, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” (17:6)
Ugg. Lord if this is how your treat your friends it is no wonder that you have so few!
And then Jesus goes on with the parable about the slave doing all the required tasks and when all is said and done saying, “We are worthless slaves, we have done only what we ought to have done!”
How selfless are we supposed to be? How miserable are we to make life for ourselves? Is God truly such a harsh and unrelenting taskmaster? And if this is what God expects of his devoted followers on earth, would anyone really want to spend eternity with such a being in heaven?!?
Perhaps the best way to get at all of this in a way that is both faithful to what Jesus taught and to be more palatable is to turn it upside down.
Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism have the idea of karma. Karma is the notion that there is ultimately a sense of justice in the universe. It’s the idea that if you’re a good person good things will happen to you. If you’re a bad person bad things will happen to you. And very importantly, if the effects of your deeds do not catch up with you in this lifetime they will when you are reincarnated.
Christianity solidly rejects the idea of karma, although many Christians speak as though it had some truth, just that the effects of one’s actions do catch up to them in this lifetime. The idea that God will bring about a more pleasant life for a faithful follower than a cruel and abusive person is very popular and appealing. There are certainly many places in the Bible where it suggests that God listens to the prayers of the faithful and gives them what they ask for.
This is all very rocky territory though; for what is a faithful prayer? How do you know if you’re praying for your own selfish ends or for the true coming of God’s will?
That is a good place to start our reversal. Let’s say that there is an actual formula for what a good disciple is and does. Let’s say there’s a rulebook to follow. There are clear expectations of how you are to act.
Do this. Don’t do that.
Work this many hours a week. Give this much money. Pray this often… with these words.
Go to worship on such and such day. Perform certain rites and rituals. Keep yourself away from all these bad places and things. Do all of this and you will be in good stead with God. And God will reward that behavior.
Your life will be noticeably better than the lives of those around you who do not do these things. God will hear your prayers and do what you ask. If you want a good crop, God will provide. If you want a healthy balance in your retirement savings God will make sure it happens. If you want to be sure you don’t get injured in a freak accident, or that you won’t get cancer God will keep you safe.
It sounds nice. At least it does at first. But look at what happens. Let’s revisit the parables Jesus has taught on this journey to Jerusalem:
The Parable of the Good Samaritan – If we’d done our duty then we’d let a dying person lay in a ditch because they deserved it.
The Parable of the Rich Fool – We’d hoard resources and turn the screws to everyone beneath us.
The Parable of the Unproductive Fig Tree – We’d be ruthless in cutting away everything that didn’t produce to our expectations of excellence.
The Parable of the Great Dinner – We’d only associate with those who were of our class and standing.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son – We wouldn’t accept the prodigal son back. We’d say he got what was coming to him and he could live the rest of his life in squalor.
The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus – We’d say Lazarus deserved his lot in life. We laugh at him as he lay in the gate covered in sores. And when we died we’d be in paradise laughing at him for all eternity.
If Christianity were a merit based religion we’d all be a bunch of arrogant stuck up snobs. There’d be no point in forgiveness. There’d be no grace. And if something bad did happen we’d let people in their pits to find their own way out.
All of this probably sounds a lot like the religious leaders Jesus was so often getting into conflict with. Indeed it was!
But the world is not so simple. The human brain is not to simple. And faith is not so simple.
Faith is not a commodity to be had, or increased or decreased. Faith is a relationship of trust in God. It means that you trust God to have hold of you no matter what – whether you get away with your misdeeds undetected or not, or whether your good efforts are noticed or overlooked.
How often do you do something and you just hope it works out? How often do parents debate whether they should punish the child or hug the child? Where is the line between helping and enabling? Where is the line between giving a person advice based on your experience and building yourself up by putting another person down.
Life is complicated. And it is based on grace.
Let’s go through the parables again. A life of grace means that if you see a person lying in a ditch you help them out. It means that you are generous with your resources and use them to build up others because it is all God’s anyway. It means that you give people another chance – perhaps not becoming an unhealthy enabler, but certainly always opening the path for them to succeed. It means seeing people suffering and recognizing it, and doing what is in your power to help.
It means meeting the world where it is.
And certainly, you can have a lot of fun along the way! God shapes you into a complex and beautiful being enormously capable – and you probably don’t even realize it is happening.
The disciples wanted more faith. Jesus couldn’t give it to them as if it were an ingredient in a recipe. But they stayed with Jesus. That is the means by which God was able to make their faith grow. They failed often enough to not get cocky. They succeeded enough to catch glimpses of joy along the way. Yet these great heroes who helped to found Christianity would probably indeed say for all their efforts, “We have done only what we ought to have done.” May our response to God’s grace be the same!
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