8th Sunday OT (A)
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
O
Lord! Why have you forsaken me?
“Rest
in God alone, my soul.” O God! Why have you forgotten me? “Rest
in God alone, my soul.” O Lord! Why have you abandoned me? “Get a
grip already! I haven't forsaken, forgotten, or abandoned you.
Remember, my soul, I AM your rock, your salvation, your refuge and
your strength. I AM your stronghold and your hope. Trust in Me at all
times, O my people! Pour out your hearts before Me, and nothing
will ever disturb you.” So says the Lord to His anxious people.
Pour out your heart before the Lord. And nothing will ever disturb
you. At the center of your love for God and one another – your
heart – who or what takes up the most time and space? That is, when
you carefully consider the source and summit, the foundation and
center of your day-to-day existence, who or what directs your heart
and mind? If that who or what is anyone or anything but Christ
himself, then pour out your heart before the Father, pour out
whatever or whoever it is that directs you, and surrender yourself
once again to Christ. If you are worried that God has forgotten you,
ask yourself: have I forgotten God?
God's
people are anxious. They are afraid that He has forgotten them. So,
He asks Isaiah, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without
tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will
never forget you.” Lay to rest then any worry that God will forget
us. If we are going to worry, let's worry about a very real and
dangerous possibility: that
we will forget God.
That we will abandon the Lord and His covenant with us in Christ.
Pushed and pulled from every side by the seductive forces of a
godless culture, it is all too easy, all too expedient to give up on
the Father and His Christ. He promises that nothing and no one will
ever disturb us. True. But He doesn't promise that nothing or no one
will never try. Whether or not we will be disturbed by this world's
seductions is predictable. Whether or not we will be seduced is also
predictable. How? Ask yourself: who or what sits on the throne of my
heart? Who or what rules you? To put it in gospel terms: whom
do you serve?
Whose call do you answer? If Christ rules your heart; if you serve
Christ and his Church, then there is only one call to answer, one
voice that gets your attention and obedience: “Trust in Me at all
times, O my people! Pour out your hearts before Me, and nothing will
ever disturb you.” Pour out your hearts before Him. . .and serve
Him alone.
Jesus
says it as plainly as it can be said: “No one can serve two
masters. . .You cannot serve God and mammon.” God cannot rule your
heart if your heart is already ruled by a foreign god. . .or a
disordered passion, or an alien creed, or your own ego. The throne of
your heart has room enough for just one Master. Who will it be?
Financial security? Personal achievement? Social prestige? Jesus
urges his disciples, “Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow
or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father
feeds them.” Then he asks, “Are not you more important than they?
Can any of you – by worrying – add a single moment to your
life-span?” If the Father feeds the birds of the sky so that they
do not worry about food, and if we are more important than they, then
it follows that the Father will care for us as well. When you place
the Father on the throne of your heart, you do not worry. Why? B/c
nothing bad will ever happen to you? No. B/c you will never again
feel want or need? No. Well, why? B/c you will know that whatever
comes will never be, can never be more anxiety-producing than
forgetting the One you serve. With Christ as the source and summit,
the center and foundation of our day-to-day living, nothing and no
one can disturb you.
There's
room enough on the throne of your heart for just one Master. Who will
it be? Financial security? Personal achievement? Social prestige? A
job can be lost, money stolen. Works can be destroyed or bettered by
another. And there's always someone ready to take your place as king
of the social hill. It's all just more junk to worry about. Jesus
reminds us, “So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or
‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’” And
then, sounding very much like he did last week, he adds, “All these
things the pagans seek.” Who are these pagans? They're the ones who
serve Money, Popularity, Vengeance, the Thing of This World – all
passing away as fast as an empty heart can grab them and give them a
crown. This is not who we were made to be – temples to house the
temporary gods of a failing world. We were made – pagans and
Christians alike – we were made for eternity, built to endure the
purifying Love of the One Who made us. But such endurance is only
made real by a decision, a decision to serve the One Who made us, to
serve Him alone. “No one can serve two masters. . .” No one can
survive with a heart divided in two.
Nor
can one with a divided heart be trusted. Paul, writing to the
Corinthians, describes himself and his fellow apostles, “Thus
should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the
mysteries of God.” A steward holds the keys to the castle and the
treasury, so he must be trustworthy, a servant deserving of his
master's trust. Since we can do nothing good w/o Christ, whatever
trust we deserve as servants is his before it is ours. And given our
very human tendency to fail his trust, it's a good thing that we do
not have to rely on our trust alone! Paul notes that when the Lord
returns to judge his stewards' care of his kingdom, “. . .he will
bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the
motives of our hearts. . .” What will he see when the light shines
inside? What motives will squirm into view? If Christ rules our
hearts, he will see his serene reflection – perfect love, hope, and
faith. If Christ rules, he will see what the Father sees when He
looks at Christ – a beloved child, a pure soul, perfect trust.
However, if some foreign god or disordered passion or bloated ego
rules. . .well, all he will see is a heart that has chosen to rule
itself, a heart that has chosen to spend eternity primping in a
cracked mirror. If we want to Christ to see himself reflected in us
at the judgment, then he must be the one we serve.
As
Lent fast approaches and we set ourselves on the 40 day trek,
remember all that the Father said to Isaiah, “I haven't forsaken,
forgotten, or abandoned you. Remember, my soul, I AM your rock, your
salvation, your refuge and your strength. I AM your stronghold and
your hope. Trust in Me at all times, O my people! Pour out your
hearts before Me, and nothing will ever disturb you.” Pour out from
your heart whatever or whoever it is that takes you away from your
salvation. Pour out the foreign gods, the disordered passions, the
causal idols of deceit and gossip; pour out anything that stands btw
you and Christ, anyone who threatens Christ's trust in you. Lest we
forget, the Psalmist sings over and over again, “Rest in God alone,
my soul. Rest in God alone.” There is no rest, no eternal rest, in
anyone but Him.
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