In the book of Samuel we read about the rather topsie turvie ride of the people of Israel under the rule of King David. It seemed that King David's reign, as it is captured in this story, describes moments where this King is highly esteemed and honored, and moments where he fell into serious error of judgement which had catastrophic results. His glorious moments were the time he was anointed by Samuel to be King, when he slew Goliath the Philistine giant, and when he was being undeservingly pursued by Saul out of jealousy.
But King David also had those moments of falling from Grace such as when he took advantage of Bathsheba and sent her husband to the front lines of battle to be killed.
Whenever King David relied on his own power and judgement, being disobedient to the will and wisdom of God, we discover a person who not only fails in his pursuits, but causes harm to himself and others.
The struggle that King David had with obedience is illustrative of the struggle that the whole nation of Israel also had with obedience, and their biblical history documents the results of the glory and turbulence that resulted from their choices.
Is this also not part of our own turbulent history today as we struggle to deal with the results of the many choices we make as individuals and nations that reflect and ignore God's will? We lose our way when we begin to act as if we know what is best for ourselves and others at the expense of God's natural plan and path for human society and creation. And of course, the natural consequences of this are often quite devastating. Why is it we so often seem to move against God's plan for us?
The Church today is suffering from a struggle to be heard by a culture that seems to have turned its ears in another direction. It's a complex problem far beyond my understanding, but I believe it begins when we start to adopt the view that we know more of what's best for ourselves than any outside authority including God. We fail to stop, reflect, listen and receive the message of truth that is there to guide us, protect us, and lead us to wholeness. We slip into error by following our own individual preferences.
The Gospel story about Jesus trying to minister in His own home town is perhaps an illustration of this inability to hear, to listen, and to discern the truth of what is before us. As a result, the truth was rendered incapable of being acted upon for the people of that place.
The people of Jesus' home town were not bad people. They were ordinary folks like ourselves. But they were a people who could not hear the message of Christ because they were caught up in their own stories. Is this not the carpenter's son who grew up among us? Is this not Mary and Joseph's son who went to school with our kids, and attended our synagogue? And it is written that they could not accept Him, so they went there own way. Jesus' message fell on deaf ears. The truth was not heard.
How can we be obedient to God's voice, to Christ's message today in a culture that has largely turned its ears away from listening to the Church and its teachings? Archbishop Anthony Mancini provides some thoughts on "obedience"
"Obedience" by some form of external pressure, is not obedience, it is forced behavior. Any behaviour which is forced is not the best practice, for while it may effect conformity, it may only be an external appearance.
A fuller understanding of obedience, especially in a religious context, is to appreciate it as a positive response to what the authority has said, because the request has been heard, received, reflected upon, accepted and put into action, by giving it internal assent which refers to one's mind and heart. This is obedience understood in its highest form, and no doubt, requires time for this form to be truly appreciated and put into practice.
Nevertheless, it is important to see that a "yes" which is forced is not a "yes". When one accepts to go through the above process, the result is that one who speaks (authority) and the one who hears (obedience) will have come to be of one mind and heart. Anything else falls short of the expected standard for the assembly of Christ's disciples.
This process is reflected in the attitudes and actions reported in the Acts of the Apostles about discernment and decision making in the Christian community. If we do not enter into such a spirit of discernment or try to understand or be open to each other's best intentions, "obedience" produces nothing but an appearance of religiosity, rather than an authentic expression of faith."
No comments:
Post a Comment