Some thoughts on Romans 1-2

“It is yourself you condemn when you judge others…” –Romans 2:1b

“…persevering in doing good…” –Romans 2:7b

During his March 5 Angelus address, Pope Francis recommended that Christians turn to the Bible when we are engaged in spiritual battle.  Even asking what if we turned to a little pocket Bible as often as we turned to our mobile phones.

Okay! I take the bait.  I’ve begun reading Paul’s letter to the Romans for my Lenten reading. The choice was very happenstance, as far as that goes. I had begun to read Jeremiah on my own, but the Bible group I study with voted to read Romans, therefore that is what I will read –partly in preparation for the study group, but most definitely for my own contemplation and spiritual growth.

And so, here is my first meditation on Paul’s longest letter.

In the opening chapters there is a striking element. Paul develops an image in chapter one of God’s wrath not as a judgment imposed upon sinners, but as a natural consequence of their rejection of God.  Because they reject Him, God abandons them “to degrading passions” and “unacceptable thoughts and indecent behavior” (cf. 1: 26-32). Chapter 1 builds to a crescendo in intensity as Paul proclaims that though these sinners are “well aware of God’s ordinance[s]” they not only choose to behave in degrading ways, but “applaud others who do the same” (1:32).   So, on some level we are being primed to anticipate a statement of how these figures should be treated by the Christian community.  And perhaps that is exactly what we get at the beginning of chapter 2, when Paul warns us: “It is yourself you condemn when you judge others…”

It fascinates me that a somewhat detailed description of sin and depravity is followed by a warning against judging. It fascinates me because it seems to me Paul is making a powerful statement not about sin and judgment, but about God’s generosity and mercy.  Where we might expect Paul to recommend casting out the sinner, or avoiding the sin, etc, he instead admonishes us to avoid judging others, lest we condemn ourselves.  And he reminds us that God’s generosity is “meant to bring you to repentance” (cf.2:4b).  This reminder and admonition, call us to humble ourselves not just before the saints, but also before the sinners. Perhaps, especially before the sinners. We must treat them generously and with compassion –if we would be children of the generous and merciful God.  If we would be the body of Christ.  Because by our compassion and generosity perhaps we will become –even for a moment-- a sign –an icon-- for someone, of God’s great love.

The last thing that struck me in this beautifully rich very early passage from Paul’s letter is his note about those who aim for “glory and honor and immortality by persevering in doing good…” in verse 7.  Coming right after his admonition about judging and his comment about God’s generosity, I was struck by the thought: How do I know who is “persevering in doing good?”  I may have no idea what the good is that you are doing? And I certainly can’t know how much it costs you to persevere in that effort.  Perhaps the good you are doing is to be gentle with a difficult boss, perhaps it is to walk away when others begin to gossip, or to quiet yourself at the end of the day and bow down on your knees before God and simply put your trust in His generous love and mercy. I do not know. I cannot know your heart. And perhaps the good you persevere in will look to the world like nothing but wasted effort and failure. But, again –who am I to judge? I’m sure that a death on the cross looked like failure to a lot of 1^st century Romans and Jews. 

Some thoughts on Hell & Heaven & the Final Judgment

“In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up

and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.” 

--Luke 16:23

In Luke’s parable, the rich man, in Hades looks up and sees Abraham and Lazarus “far away.”  And when the rich man asks for some comfort from Abraham, he is told to remember that, “between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us” (Luke 16:26).  Though these images may never have been meant to express an actual geographical space, the literal Inferno of Dante, for instance, that image of an unpassable chasm certainly speaks to a kind of metaphysical or theological understanding of the distance between Heaven and Hell.   And it makes me wonder, if not where, then what is Hell, and perhaps even why?

           

            Some thoughts:

            What is it we mean when we speak of Hell? –Traditionally when we speak of Hell, we speak of a place of torment and punishment --not unlike Dante’s depiction in his famous Inferno.  Popularly, we think of Hell as expressing the negative component of God’s judgment.  If God is pleased with us He sends us to Heaven, if God isn’t happy with our behavior here on earth we are sent to Hell. 

But, as I was reading Dante the other day, I began wondering if perhaps the unpassable gap between Lazarus and the Rich Man is found not in God’s wrath or pleasure, but in what they (the souls, the people, the sinners) themselves desire—what they seek (even in the after-life).  This certainly seems to be the lesson of Dante.  Hell isn’t imposed upon us; it is given to us.  A gift.  It is found not necessarily in what we deserve, but in what we desire at the Final Judgment.  The sheep (cf. Mt 25: 31-46) want sheepness –they want to rest in God, they want the peace of God, the joy of being comforted in Him.  The goats want something else: goatness; they still hunger to rut, hunger to acquire more stuff, perhaps to taste one more victory, one more flavor, one more sensation –security? satiation? revenge? They long to satisfy one more longing. One more desire. They still long for something so much that they can’t let go of the longing itself.

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that Hell is a hunger within that won’t die. Hell is a longing we won’t ever satisfy –that won’t be satisfied, for something that –in actuality-- cannot satisfy.

For a little insight into this, I would again turn to Dante. In his Inferno, twice we catch a glimpse of the sinners heading toward Hell revealing their eagerness to get there.  In Canto III and in Canto V we see the souls eagerly approaching their eternity.  In Canto III it is Virgil who says of the souls:

“…they are eager to cross the river.

For the justice of God so spurs them on

their fear is turned to longing.” (III.124-126)

And then in Canto V, Dante writes:

“Always there is a crowd that stands before him: 
each soul in turn advances toward that judgment…”

                                                (V:13-14)

 What Dante dramatizes so clearly here is the drama of the soul in search of itself. This picture of the “damned” eager to reach their “damnation” is really a picture of the soul seeking its own fulfillment.

            I think what we learn from Dante’s contemplation of the question of eternity and final judgment, is that those who look at God and say –this isn’t fair. Hell isn’t fair! God is just being a judgmental old oppressive patriarchal fuddy dud!... are missing the point.  God truly is Love. And God loves us so much that He sacrificed His own son for our salvation; that we might spend eternity with Him.  But, God will not impose Himself upon us. He lets us choose. He allows us to make that Final Judgment. And the great distance we see between –for instance—Lazarus and the rich man is simply one of choice.  If I’m right, if Dante is right… Sartre got it wrong.  Hell isn’t other people; it’s just us. 

This day God sets before you two choices… Fire and water, Heaven and Hell, Life and Death… --Who will you choose to be?

“This is a lonely place…” A meditation on Matthew 14:13-21 and the loneliness of the Christian call.

“Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. As he went ashore he saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” 
 --Matthew 14: 13-21

This is a lonely place.

How often do Christians everywhere, every day feel that? Sense it? I would imagine that even within the walls of the Vatican or some sacred monastery or convent the bitter truth of the disciple’s words are daily affirmed.  This is a lonely place.  To live for Christ yet still live in the world is a lonely place. A vulnerable place.

                To seek after Christ with your whole heart and soul is a lonely place, because the world does not approve, the world does not affirm, and sadly the world may hardly even take note of such a life.  And what is it Christ demands that makes following Him such a lonely life?  Only that we forsake home and family, even our very self, and follow Him.  And yet there is (paradoxically) so much more to this “lonely place” than simply misery and loneliness.  And it seems to me that in this passage from Matthew Jesus is revealing to the disciples the fullness of His request –the mysterious fullness of His request, of this lonely place.  So, let us look again at the story itself.

                After learning of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus withdraws to a lonely place, seemingly to be alone.  However, the crowds of people who have been following Him, follow Him there also. And when they do, He spends the day teaching and healing them. But as the day comes to an end, the apostles realize that the darkness will find the people in a very vulnerable position. They are out in a deserted place, a lonely place, where there is no comfort, there are no amenities, there is no Cracker Barrel or Buc-EEs, no 24 hour rest stops. The disciples realize that the people have followed Jesus into a deserted and lonely and vulnerable place and so they –out of compassion for the people—ask Jesus to send the people away. Send them back to civilization where they can find food and shelter and a gift shop!

                Seen in the light of today’s church, the disciples are asking Jesus to not be quite so demanding.  They are asking Him to loosen up on the people, go a little easier on them; to send them away from this place of sacrifice and let them return to a place where there are comforts and sustenance –because this kind of sacrifice is asking too much of the people –too much from their weakness.

                But Jesus says to them: No. Don’t send them away. Let them stay and you guys feed them yourselves.

                But we can’t. By golly, we don’t even have enough food to sustain ourselves! How can we take care of this multitude (over 5000)?

                Bring me what you have, the Lord tells them. And have the people sit down –to stay put, to remain faithful even when the world seems lonely—and I will show you how this works.  He takes the meager offering that the disciples have to give (5 loaves and 2 fish) and He offers a blessing and breaks the bread and tells the disciples to share it with the people. And suddenly, miraculously, there is enough. More than enough –with overflowing abundance left over.

                What is the lesson here? The pastoral lesson?

                First, that following Jesus is sometimes a very lonely place to live. He asks a lot from us –in fact He asks everything.  And the world has no place for all that kind of junk, or mushy love your enemy turn the other cheek or pluck out your eye kind of stuff.  And the world doesn’t like the Cross or the challenge presented by a life of faith. The world, even those who love us –our family and friends; by golly even the ministers of Christ’s church will too often tell us: be realistic! This is a lonely place. This place, this LIFE of giving up everything to follow Christ is a lonely place. Why don’t you go back to the real world where you can get a good cup of coffee and they have A/C and free wifi and a comfortable place to lay your head. Just put down that cross for a few hours and have a beer and watch some TV or read some Facebook posts or tweet some Twitters.  You don’t always have to be SO faithful!  Take a break –ease up. You can follow Jesus tomorrow! Or later in the week. Heck, just follow Jesus most of the time, but if it gets too challenging or makes people uncomfortable or requires real and ongoing sacrifice –then maybe you should ease up and go back to the city where you can find food and shelter and people will accept you.  This is a lonely place; so why don’t you go back to the place in your life where it wasn’t so lonely.

                Second, Jesus is teaching the disciples that if they trust Him –trust Him fully—this lonely place can be transformed.  If they trust Him fully, give themselves to Him completely, this lonely place will become a garden overflowing with plenty –a land of milk and honey… or bread and fishes (if you will).

                Trust Jesus and let the community find itself by following Him –even when it gets hard and feels lonely—and He will bring great things out of their midst.  Is it possible that the miracle of the loaves and fishes involves the people simply sharing with each other from the supplies that they brought with them (unbeknownst to the apostles)?  Yes. I think that could fit right in with the way Christ works.  It seems to me, that He constantly brings forth from our gifts (what we have, what we give completely to Him) a glorious plenty that can sustain multitudes. We must trust Him completely; we must give ourselves completely –give our gifts completely. Surrender ourselves fully to Him.  Follow Him completely and always –even when He leads us to a lonely place.  To witness the miracle we have to trust God completely. We have to give ourselves to Him completely. God never imposes Himself upon us.  As the Gospel says: Your faith has healed you; Your faith has made you whole (cf. Mt 9:22; Mk 5:34; Lk 17:19, etc).

                Let us be faithful

                Let us be whole

                Let us give ourselves completely, that this lonely place may come to life and overflow abundantly with life giving gifts and become not a lonely place but a garden verdant and green where we can walk with God –following Him completely.  And by losing ourselves completely, discover that we are never truly alone.