"A cold Sunday indeed. It's not yet Lent, and already i'm preaching the cross. Only because the cross is not a season, like winter; the cross is in your Christian skin. Which suggests my third point, the questions Jesus out to his disciples-to-be: "What are you looking for?" Why have you turned to Jesus? Why do you turn to him now?
Frankly I don't know; only you actually know. Some Christians turn to Jesus because they were turned to him as children; it's 'all in the family'. Some turn to him because He's a security blanket; with Him around you don't have to look under the bed. Some turn to Him because He's a problem solver; He gives you answers, especially in tough exams.Some turn to Him when they need a miracle;He's the God of the impossible, heaven's own "incredible hulk"----or "Wonder woman".
But the genuine disciples of Jesus turn to Him simply because they have been called, because Jesus has whispered "Follow me." Oh, they may well have suckled on Christian milk; they may find their security in Jesus; they know He can give answers and pull rabbits out of human hats. But none of these explains why they believe in Him, abide in Him, bring others to him. None of these explains why they are ready to suffer with Him. The only good reason is, Jesus has called.
He has called you. I'm not going to argue that point. It's not only Mother Teresa and the Archbishop of Warsaw who are called. The basic Christian call is baptism. There, by God's gracious turning, you first turned to Jesus---perhaps with a protesting howl. But turning to Jesus is not a one-shot affair. Conversion is a ceaseless process, like growing. You should be constantly turning to Jesus, looking for something. For what? Above all, for a person. Unless Jesus is real to you, as real as your closest friend, you will at best be a lukewarm disciple. It is the prayer of Ignatius Loyola, the song of Godspell: Let me know you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you more nearly.
But that is not a logical process---know, then love, then follow. Like Andrew and Peter, you will come to know Jesus only if you 'come and see', only if you say yes to Him: yes to joy, yes to sorrow, yes to your brothers and sisters, yes to Christian living. Only if, like Samuel, the boy who "did not know the Lord", you respond: Speak Lord your servant is listening. It's faith's leap in the dark, after the model of Mary, the perfect disciple. Not knowing all she was called to, knowing only that it was God who called, she murmured a total yes: " Let it happen to me according to your word". Follow Jesus and you will know Him; live like Him and you will love Him; abide in Him and you will die with Him. Can you think of a better way to go?
Dear friends: Twenty-five years ago, that remarkable monk Thomas Merton exclaimed ecstatically how glorious a destination it is to be a member of the human race. How glorious to be a man or woman! Yes indeed. But it is still more glorious for a man or a woman to be a disciple of Jesus. You may have gotten that title without knowing it; you surely got it without deserving it. The question is, 'Are you living it?' It's a full time job. Not that you are always thinking of Him, but that you are always thinking like Him. Reproducing not what He did but the love with which He did it. Crucified not with nails, only with the anguish of the little ones for whom He died. Completing in your flesh, as St. Paul puts it, "what is lacking in Christ's afflictions" for the sake of the Christian body.
What are you looking for? The question stems not from me but from Jesus. From your answer, you should learn a good deal about yourself---how convinced and passionate a disciple you are. For the question in another form is the question Jesus put to His disciple Peter after several years of discipleship: 'Do you love me?'Dahlgren Chapel
Georgetown University
January 17, 1982
Share your memories online with anyone you want anyone you want.
No comments:
Post a Comment