Monthly Archives: April 2022

In the humility of his humanity

28 Thursday Apr 2022

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The early Church wrestled with the Christological controversies like their lives depended on it.  The truth is that our lives (and salvation) do.  Unless Jesus is fully God, we are not saved.  Unless Jesus is fully human, we are not saved.  The chasm created by our turning away from God (because it is God we have turned from) is impossible for any creature (human or angelic) to bridge.  Only God can heal that divide.  Hence, the savior must be fully God.  The original offense – the turning away – is on our part.  We are the ones who turned our back on God.  We must be the one who makes amends.  Hence, the savior must be fully human.  The savior must overcome our prideful disobedience by his humble obedience to the Father.  Jesus – fully God and fully human – did this.   

For centuries the Church (guided by the Holy Spirit) wrestled this out and from this effort and inspiration was born the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds – guardrails to keep us on the way of truth.  But guardrails are not the road nor are they meant to be.  Guardrails serve their purpose by keeping the traveler on the right path and protecting the traveler from the misfortunes and the dangers of going off course.  This is their purpose and the creeds do this but they do not answer every single question nor are they meant to.  There is still so much more to learn and to be brought to deeper understanding on.   

Being fully God and fully human, how does the savior overcome our disobedience by his obedience?  Both in the emptying of his divine sonship and in the humility of his humanity, I believe. 

Here, the Christ Hymn of Philippians 2 (a hymn sung by the first generation of disciples) is of critical importance.

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,

Who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness,

and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to death,

even death on a cross. 

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name

that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

of those in heaven and on earth

and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.  (Phil. 2:5-11, NAB)

The glory of the divine Sonship is present in Jesus but it is an emptying presence.  It is freely let go of.  This letting go allows Jesus, in the humility of his humanity, the “space” to fully exercise his will in obedient response to the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit – who is the love of the Father and the Son – fully indwells within Jesus who is without sin.  And Jesus (without sin) in the humility of his humanity continually and fully makes the choice to respond to the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

In this the salvation won by Christ is an exercise of his divine Sonship in the sense of continually emptying himself of the glory of God in order that in the humility of his humanity Jesus might authentically exercise that human obedience in which we failed. 

To be fully human means to grow in understanding and therefore not always fully know and comprehend, to authentically exercise trust and faith even in the darkest and most despairing moments, to be guided by the Holy Spirit through one’s own prayer, scripture, worship and the Spirit speaking through other persons and circumstances.  Jesus did all of this even to death on a cross. 

The miracles of Jesus (the signs) can be understood then not as the exercise of the power of his divine Sonship in the worldly sense of “will to power” but rather the exact opposite – an emptying of his equality with God in order that in the obedience of his sinless humanity the Holy Spirit might fully work through him and now, through Christ, even in others.  In the Last Supper discourse, before the promise of the sending of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these because I am going to the Father. (Jn. 14:12) 

It is only in Jesus’ ascending to the Father, that the Holy Spirit (who had been fully indwelling in the Son) can now be poured forth upon and begin to dwell within us who have been washed clean through the obedience of Christ.  Now the Holy Spirit can begin to work through us if we take on the same attitude that was in Christ Jesus.  If we learn (through grace) willed self-emptying, then the Holy Spirit can move through even the humility of our own humanity and we can learn to hear and be docile (obedient) to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.      

In the self-emptying of his equality with God and in the humility of his humanity Jesus exercises the obedience that overcomes the effects of our original disobedience. 

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus.

Jesus – the Living One

17 Sunday Apr 2022

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My favorite Easter movie is “Risen”.  The story centers on a Roman soldier named Clavius.  A lifelong member of the military, Clavius is a dutiful and hardened soldier who has risen in the ranks.  He is looking toward the end of his military career.  He is sent by Pilate to oversee the execution of a criminal charged with treason – a man that many were proclaiming to be the King of the Jews.  Clavius watches Jesus die.  He returns to Pilate and gives his report.  Pilate, aware that Clavius is a man of ambition whose service will soon be ending, asks the soldier what he ultimately wants in life.  Clavius answers, “Rome, position, power…”  “What will this give you?” asks the governor.  “A villa in the country.”  “What will you find there?” asks Pilate.  “An end of travail … peace … a day without death.” 

The story does not end there. 

There begins to be reports that this dead man has risen and with these rumors unrest begins in and around Jerusalem.  Pilate again summons the soldier and assigns Clavius to get to the truth of what has happened and to prove that all of these accounts of a resurrection are false.  But they are not.  In the course of his tracking down the disciples, Clavius comes face to face with Jesus – the man he saw die on the cross.  His world is turned upside down!  Everything is thrown into question.  The hardened Roman soldier begins to tag along on the edge of the group of disciples – like a stray dog.  He watches the risen Lord and the disciples.  One night, on the shore of Lake Galilee, while all the disciples are asleep, Clavius approaches Jesus who is watching the night sky.  Sitting down beside Jesus, Clavius admits, “I don’t even know what to ask,”  “Speak your heart,” says Jesus.  “How can I reconcile this with the world I know?”  “Still you doubt … what frightens you … What is it you seek Clavius?”  Jesus then answers for him, “certainty … peace … a day without death?”  Clavius weeps, his heart and his pain have been recognized … and answered. 

The angels in the tomb ask the women, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?  He is not here, but he has been raised.”  Jesus alone is the “living one”.  Although we consider ourselves alive we are not the “living one”.  How do we know this?  Because, like Clavius, we often seek to find life in the midst of that which is dead.  When we seek peace and tranquility through worldly power, privilege and position – that is seeking to find life among that which is dead.  When we find a numbing comfort in life by holding on to grievances, resentments, fears, sorrows, addictions, failures and even our own sins and sense of unworthiness of mercy – that is also seeking to find life among the dead.  We are not the living one because we carry the wound of sin, because we so often look to find life among that which is dead.

“Why do you seek the living one among the dead,” asks the angels.  Jesus alone is the living one and he is not to be found among any of those dead things. 

Here is the Easter truth – Jesus alone is the living one.  Jesus, alone, in his obedience has conquered sin and death.  If we go on looking for life among that which is dead, we will find no life.  It is only when we allow the Living One to find us – to answer the need and pain in our own heart – that we will know healing and true life. 

Only in the fullness of the Kingdom, will we be truly living.  Only then will we know a day without death.  For now, we still carry the wound of sin.  But, the Living One is here, he walks with us, he loves us and he gives us his mercy and he says to us, “Do not seek me among the dead things.  I am not there.  There is no life there.  Let go of those things.  I am the Life and I am here for you.” 

“Why do you seek the living one among the dead,” ask the angels, “He is not here, but he has been raised.”   

Singing the Christ Hymn on Good Friday

15 Friday Apr 2022

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The Christ Hymn (Philippians 2:6-11) was the first reading I proclaimed as a lector at Mass during my time in theology studies.  Since that time I keep returning to the mystery of the words found in the hymn.  The hymn, I believe, is both a good complement as well as corrective to scriptural interpretations and theologies found throughout history and present in our own day.  “Does it pass the Christ Hymn test?” is what I often ask myself when listening to sermons and opinions in theology.  

Singing the hymn on Good Friday leaves one with a question; “What saves?  The blood of Christ or the obedience of Christ?”  This is asked not to minimize the sufferings of Jesus nor the salvation which was won for us through his sacrifice but to allow the hymn to clarify in the hope of being brought to deeper understanding. 

Could an over-emphasis on the imagery of the “blood of the Lamb” have the unintended consequence of leaving us with the image of God as a wrathful Father who demands a blood sacrifice?  Sadly, this has been an interpretation given ample evidence of in sermons, hymns and theological writings that has floated down through the Christian centuries.  But sheer multitude does not necessarily make something right.  In fact, it might demonstrate that it is just … easy. 

Scripture scholars say that Paul did not pen the Christ Hymn.  Rather, he made use of a hymn that was already being widely sung by that first generation of Christian disciples.  This first generation hymn does not mention nor emphasize “blood” rather it focuses on “obedience”.     

“…he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, death on a cross.  Because of this, God greatly exalted him…”  (Phil. 2:7-8)

Obedience is an act of the will and when that is kept primary then we are safeguarded from the pitfalls of a brand of Christian thought that ultimately reduces the Father to the image of a wrath-filled despot demanding a pound of flesh.  Keeping the obedience of the Son central allows the focus to remain (in wonder and awe) upon the free act of will on the Son’s part – an act of will in which Jesus demonstrates his love for the Father and his deep desire for us to be restored in our relationship with the Father (free from the wound of sin) in the fullness of the Kingdom.    

Singing the Christ Hymn on Good Friday reminds us that the sacrifice made on the cross was first, foremost and for all eternity an act of love. 

Writing in the dust and circles of violence

02 Saturday Apr 2022

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There are many circles of violence in this Sunday’s gospel story (Jn 8:1-11). 

The woman is not without fault.  She was caught in the act of adultery.  That was a free choice on her part as well as a free choice by the man she committed the sin with.  Adultery is an act of violence against the covenant of marriage.  It is worthwhile to note that after everyone walks away Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn you.”  It is in the mercy of God that she is freed from condemnation but there is judgment on her sin, her participation in that act of violence.  Jesus says, “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”    

The crowd is also caught up in the circle of violence as they stand ready to stone this woman.  These two circles of violence (the act of adultery and the desire to kill) are clearly visible and apparent but there are still other circles of violence.  There is a further circle of violence against the woman – she is being used.  The gospel lays it out clearly.  The scribes and Pharisees are using the woman to try to trap Jesus.  “They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.”  They have no real interest in the woman, their focus is on Jesus and she (and apparently even her very life) means nothing, she is just a means to get at Jesus.  To reduce another person in any circumstance to a “means to an end” is an act of violence. 

There is a further and even more profound act of violence.  The scribes and Pharisees, so proud of their religious observance, are trying to use both the commandments and even God.  Again, their intent here is to trap Jesus and not to give honor to the commandments of God and therefore, even God himself.  On their lips they say, “Now in the law, Moses commanded us…” but in their hearts their intent is far from giving honor to the law but rather to trap Jesus. It is in their intent that we see that they are trying to reduce the commandments of God and even God himself to a means to an end.  This is an act of violence.  God will never be reduced to a means to an end. 

All of these circles of violence within eleven verses. 

Probably beginning the very day that these verses were written, we have wondered what it means that Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground.  There are all sorts of interpretations of this action.  A thought that I have is that, by this simple action, Jesus is clearly showing that he will not participate, he will not get caught up in any of these circles of violence.  He will not condone the woman’s act of violence, he will not get caught up in desire to kill, he will neither use a person nor his heavenly Father as a means to an end.  He will not … by writing in the sand, our Lord demonstrates his refusal and disdain for all these circles of violence. 

Once he straightens up and looks around, the answer he gives immediately cuts through all of these circles of violence.  “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  All walk away.  The circles of violence have been broken, no stronger than the dust Jesus was just drawing in. 

Throughout his preaching, St. Paul never tired of letting people know how he had persecuted the church before his encounter with Christ.  St. Peter, never tired of sharing how he had denied knowing Christ in the courtyard of the high priest.  Both men and all of the apostles never tired of sharing how Jesus had rescued them from the circles of violence in their lives and how Jesus shows us a different way and makes it possible for us to live this way. 

Isaiah foretold it, “Thus says the Lord, who opens a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters … In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers.” (Is. 43:16-21)    

Now, in Christ, we do not have to live in the circles of violence.  We do not have to participate.  We do not have to get caught up in the violence.  There is a different way.  We find it when we allow Jesus to find us. 

Jesus sets us free to walk this new way.