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A
couple of years back, my homily for the Sunday preceding Ash
Wednesday discussed how Lent is a season to renew our acquaintance
with God, to come to a deeper realization of who we are before God,
as well as to consider our deep and abiding need for God. Our goal,
I said, is the same as Abraham’s: listen to God, to respond
wholeheartedly to God, and to become a source of blessing for
others.
As nice as all of
that is, the
real reason you might recall this particular homily, however, is
because I said one of the best means by which we could achieve these
lofty, spiritual goals during the season of Lent—the numero uno
penance on my list of “top ten, all-time, great Lenten
penances”—would be to “unplug the TV” for the next forty days.
Well, it just so happened that I mentioned this idea to my niece
when I visited my sister’s that year. Gretchen was grousing about
the boring homily she heard at church on Sunday and asked what I had
preached about. So, I told Gretchen I discussed my top ten,
all-time, great Lenten penances and, in particular, that people
should unplug their TV sets for Lent. Gretchen went apoplectic and
her eyes conveyed complete and utter horror and shock. She
responded: “That’s ridiculous!” There was a momentary pause
and then Gretchen asked: “Do you stay up all night dreaming these
crazy things up?” Then, she gave me one of those “You are so
clueless” looks (you know the type, don’t you?), turned on her
heels, and left the room.
“Hmmm,” I thought to myself. “I’ve seen that exact behavior from
her mother more than a million times before.”
A
few minutes later, my nephew Brenden came into the kitchen and
asked: “What did you just say to Gretchen? She’s all worked up!”
Meanwhile, from out in the hallway, I heard Gretchen telling her
mother as they were walking down the stairway, “You have the
weirdest brother in the entire history of the world. You wouldn’t
believe what he said in church on Sunday.”
I
suspect Gretchen’s response pretty much reflects how many, if not
most people responded, especially those “March Madness” addicts who
saw their favorite past-time going up in smoke if they were actually
to perform the Lenten penance I suggested. That response is
fine, I guess. But, it isn’t if our goal is to listen to God, to
respond wholeheartedly, and to become a source of blessing for
others.
Abraham surely had every right to tell God that He was being
ridiculous. Imagine, at age seventy five, God tells you to leave
home, family, and familiar surroundings with no plan, map, guarantee
of success, or time table. All God promised was that He would bring
Abraham to the Promised Land and Abraham would start a new family…at
age seventy five and with no “little blue pills.” All Abraham had
was his trust in God’s word: “I will make of you a great nation, and
I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a
blessing….All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in
you.”
Ridiculous? Some, if not many, would say so. But, not Abraham.
And, thank God, I must add, because Abraham listened to God’s word,
responded wholeheartedly to it, and became a source of blessing for
the entire human race. So, why should it be any different for us?
We can also become a source of blessing for others if, like Abraham,
we listen to God’s word and respond wholeheartedly to it.
Perhaps, as my niece Gretchen thinks, pulling the plug on the TV for
forty days is ridiculous. But, my point is: how can we listen to
God if we are constantly drumming God’s voice out of our lives? If
it’s not the TV, then how about the cell phone or IPod? Can you
live without those for forty days? As St. Paul told Timothy:
“Beloved: Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the
strength that comes from God. He saved us and called us to a holy
life….”
Like Abraham, how might I listen to God so that I will be more
capable of responding wholeheartedly to God’s word and become a
source of blessing, if not for the entire human race, then how about
the people around me like my spouse and children or my brothers,
sisters, and relatives or my classmates and fellow co-workers?
Let’s consider what scripture says about how to listen to God.
First: in the silence. We listen to God not in the noise of
our lives but in the silence.
Is
it true we wouldn’t know we were alive if we didn’t turn on the TV
or radio the first thing in the morning? Don’t run away from the
silence. Instead, embrace it as Abraham did in Haran and Jesus
did in the desert. Carve out a few minutes at the beginning or end
of each day to immerse yourself in silence. Don’t say anything.
Instead, think about your life, relationships, hopes, and dreams.
What is God telling you through these? What do you have to leave
behind so that you will become a source of blessing to others?
Second: through reading. God’s word speaks very powerfully
through literature.
The
key, however, is not to read a text as if you are going to be
quizzed on it. Rather, enter into the figures in the story and live
out their behavior to imagine yourself and your response were you in
that situation. So, take a few minutes each day, for example, to
walk through the stories of the bible—like that of Abraham being
asked to leave everything behind and to pursue a dream or Jesus
being tempted in the desert—in order to visualize in your own mind
how you might take those first “baby steps” away from the comfort of
“how things are” in your life so that you might upset the apple cart
a little bit by participating in the story of “how things can
become” for those who are a source of blessing to others.
Third: serving others. While the first and second steps
focus on self, they provide only a start. Christian life is about
action on behalf of others. That’s why the third step is to serve
others.
“I’m too busy already” is a refrain we’ve probably all uttered.
And, yes, the truth is, many of us are extremely busy. In fact, we
are probably too busy for our own spiritual good! What is it that
we are so busy about? Are we busy about doing what we like doing or
are we doing what’s good for others? For example:
·
Are
we too busy visiting the sick, the suffering, or the abandoned?
·
Are
we too busy standing up for right and condemning wrong when
convenient and when inconvenient?
·
Are
we too busy reaching out to family members, relatives, or friends
from whom we’ve grow estranged?
Quite likely, the honest answer is “No.” We expect everyone else to
do those things and to make “the first move.” But, isn’t it the
truth that we oftentimes fear taking the first step and hope that
someone else will take the first step? Why don’t we commit
ourselves to take that first step during these days of Lent and
become a source of blessing for someone?
Too
busy? With what? Yourself?
These are excellent ways each and everyone of us can become a source
of blessing for others. Like Abraham in Haran and Jesus in the
desert, we don’t need to live in the comfort of the present nor be
afraid of what the future will bring. In the silence, we can
reflect upon ourselves and our lives. We can carefully consider
God’s word in the bible and learn to walk where God has led others
before us. Through our silent reflection and meditative reading of
scripture, we will hear God enter into our lives and challenge us to
get up out of our comfort zones and cherished attitudes so that we
can follow where God wants to lead us. This is how we become
transfigured—like Jesus on Mount Tabor—and our lives become a source
of blessing for others. God desperately wants to say of each of us,
“This is my beloved in whom I am well pleased.”
So,
whether my niece Gretchen or anyone else doesn’t like the idea of
giving up something that makes it possible to enter the silence and
listen to God, to reflect upon who God is calling us to become for
others, spiritually speaking, it’s certainly not ridiculous! It’s
all about becoming a blessing for others, of being a light in the
darkness, and loving God and neighbor more than we love ourselves.
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HOMILY
