Sunday
February 24th 7th Sunday
Ordinary Time (Cycle C)
You’ve Got to Be Kidding!
The tie in
between today’s readings: Doing the Unintuitive
Did
you ever see the horror movie where a bunch of teenagers are trapped in a
“House of Death” and one of the girls is missing? Of course, the smart one in
the group says, “Let’s split up” and they all agree, such is the power of peer
group pressure. So they proceed on their suicide search and are picked off one
by one in grusome fashion. Shaking your head at the inane plot you switch
programs because you just can’t believe how stupid those deservedly dead
teenagers could be. Who does that in real life?
The
future king David looks down from a secure position. A three thousand man
search and destroy party, organized by King Saul in his honor, camps at the
bottom of the hill. David turns to a couple of guys standing with him and says,
“Do you want to go down with me and infiltrate the camp?” Proving that blood is
thicker than water, his nephew Abishai agrees. WHOA! Haven’t we seen this movie
before? It doesn’t make sense. Why would David let alone anyone else want to
undertake a mission like this? As it turns out, it’s a third test from God in a
series which started in 1 Samuel 24. Unbeknownst to the pair God puts the camp
to sleep and they sneak into Saul’s tent. Saul is also snoring away with his
spear a short distance away. David respects Saul as God’s anointed and refuses
to harm him despite the urging of Abishai. They grab the spear and a nearby
water jug and high-tail it back to base. When Saul learns that David could have
killed him, he blesses David and breaks off the hunt (1 Samuel 26:1-23). David
is learning the counter intuitiveness that reliance on God requires. He needs
to reject human wisdom, passions, and motives and wait on God for his happy
ending. A few thousand years later…
Jesus
is giving His own version of rules to live by (Luke 6:27-38). Love your
enemies. Turn the other cheek. Give to those who ask and don’t look for
repayment. If somebody takes your coat, give him your shirt too. C’mon, who
does that? If anybody else had said this, I would put them in the category with
“Death House split up” guy...but it’s Jesus and He’s setting the bar high. He
says, “Look, I am calling you to a greater standard because you have a higher
status. You are children of the Most High God and like Father like Son(s). I am
kind to the ungrateful, forgiving to the trespassers, and gracious to the
wicked. You all are My Exhibit "A" to that. I know what I’m asking sounds crazy scary.
That’s because in this fallen world of limited resources the safest
relationships are contractual. People will take advantage of you and being
burnt hurts. But, this is not between you and them it’s between Me and you. I
want you to do unto them as I have done unto you. I have unlimited resources,
My love is infinite, and I will always have your back. Do you trust me?”
Do I trust
Him? Yes...but I really don’t want to. I’m not comfortable with His cosmic
karma. It’s a little too much ‘Alice in Wonderland’ for me. The physics are
upside down: rich is poor, give and you’ll get, die and you’ll live. I want
Sunday pillow Christianity with a funny pastor feeding me baby food sermons
with three points and a poem. Yet, I can see that the thrill that leads to
praise and deeper communion with Him lies on the knife edges of life. King
David is an example of that. He couldn’t
have penned works like Psalm 103 without his God adventures. I need to
transform my thinking from the natural to the spiritual. It’s the only way to
bear the image of the heavenly in this world (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). I’ve learned two things today. First, to live
the fulfilled Christian life I will have to get out of my comfort zone. Second,
if I’m ever in a haunted house...I’m staying with the group.
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