21st Sunday OT
Jesus says a lot of crazy stuff in three short years. He's not afraid of offending delicate sensibilities. Nor is he all that concerned about disagreement. When faced with offended objections or outright dissent, he replies – more or less – “It is what it is.” He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, so getting all wee-wee'd up about folks grumbling and walking away isn't worth his time. In fact, saying crazy stuff – crazy-true stuff – serves a useful purpose: it sets a standard for believing, for trusting his Word – if you think my mere words are crazy, what will you think when you see those words come to life? If I can't handle true-words, how can he expect me to handle true-deeds? Maybe it's better for me to walk away now. It's better that I don't commit myself to the Way until I'm mature enough to see and hear what must be seen and heard. Last Sunday, we heard a series of true-words about what it takes to be saved. Jesus told his disciples that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood – true bread and true wine – to attain eternal life. This Sunday morning, some of the disciples describe this teaching as a “hard saying.” He asks them and us: “Does this shock you?”
Of all the crazy-true things Jesus has said over his three years among us, this is definitely the craziest. Not the most shocking. That prize goes the time he said, “I AM,” quoting God from Exodus and laying claim to being God Himself. But telling folks that they must become cannibals is right at the top of the most shocking list. We're not shocked by this teaching. We hear it read at least once a year, sometimes twice. We get that he doesn't mean literal cannibalism. We know he's talking about the Eucharist. We have a whole philosophical and theology edifice built around what it means for Christ to be present among when we worship. So, no, we're not shocked. But his original listeners were. So shocked in fact that many of them walked away. Were they disgusted? Confused? Fed up with Jesus' crazy? All of the above? Regardless, they abandoned him. NB. what Jesus doesn't do. He doesn't rush after them with excuses. He doesn't quickly explain himself or change the teaching to keep them happy. He doesn't accommodate the truth to their already established beliefs. He doesn't conform his Way or his Life to the crowd's expectations. He speaks his true-words. Lets them fall on those ears ready to listen. Watches some leave and some stay. And then he asks those who hesitate: “Do you also want to leave?”
During my novitiate back in 1999-2000, my novice brothers and I got into a really bad habit. Anytime the novice master announced an upcoming activity or event, we'd ask, “Is this mandatory or optional?” This happened a dozen times before the novice master – fed up and very irritated – yelled, “Brothers, it's all optional! Everything we do here is optional! You don't have to be here. The doors aren't locked from the outside. If you want to be here, then be here! If you don't – God bless and good bye.” We got the message loud and clear. This is who Dominicans are and this is what we do. If you can't or won't be or do this, then don't waste your time. Go. Be and do something else. This is the choice those walking away from Jesus make. And he lets them go. That's the freedom God's infinite love for us provides. We trust, or we don't. We love, or we don't. We listen and obey, or we don't. We believe. Or we don't. The how/why/when/who of it all comes with patience, time, and contemplation. But there is no start to understanding w/o trust. Does this shock you? Do you also want to leave?
No? Well, if you will stay, then hear again what Jesus says, “The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. . .I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” And who has been granted this gift? Anyone who receives the Father's gift of mercy, repents, and comes to love sacrificially as Christ did on the Cross. NB. that nothing here compels compliance. Nothing here forces one's will to bend or break. Nothing here punishes or threatens. The doors are not locked from the outside. There's no one waiting on the other side to cuff you and haul you off to Church prison. You've heard Christ's true-words. And you have witnessed his true-deeds. Now, if you are free, you can confidently say with the Church, “I believe.” And you can do this w/o any mental gymnastics. No silent corrections or euphemisms. You can come forward and eat his flesh and drink his blood. Without hesitation. Without anxiety. Like Simon Peter, you can proclaim: “[Master,] you have the words of eternal life. [I] have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” And if you are free and truly believe, then you can go out there, being and doing and speaking his Word.
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