Psalm 139
Luke 12:10-17
“Being religious means asking passionately the
question of the meaning of our existence and being willing to receive
answers, even if the answers hurt.” Paul Tillich
For Tillich
(20th-century German theologian and existentialist), the essential questions of
human existence are associated with philosophy and, more specifically, ontology (the study of being). This is because, according to
Tillich, a lifelong pursuit of philosophy reveals that the central question of
every philosophical inquiry always comes back to the question of being, or what
it means to exist as a finite human being within the realm of eternity. Who am I, and what am I doing here? All relative, of course, to the Christian
revelation - that is, who we are to the Lord, to the Church, to one another, to
the Kingdom of Heaven; none of which is exclusive. All are connected. This is "existentialism".
It is unlikely we have all been called
to be "prophets to the nations" as Jeremiah was, but it is
a spiritual certainty that none of us came to be strictly by chance. If it is true that any one individual was
known before "being formed in the womb", if any one individual was
"fearfully
and wonderfully made" (Psalm
139:14), it must be equally true that ALL are known "before
being formed in the womb", that ALL are "fearfully and wonderfully
made", that the Lord "saw my substance, being yet
unformed" (Psalm 139:16);
meaning we "existed" before we were even born! And not only did we "exist", we existed
with "substance,
being yet unformed"! This
means there is nothing "random" at all about human existence! And as I have shared in the past, though
there are certainly unintended and unplanned pregnancies, there is never an
"accidental" or useless human life!
Who we are to the Lord and His Church
especially goes beyond our mere "existence"; ALL are endowed with certain
spiritual gifts - it is our "substance". And in the environment of a continually
declining Church in America and a society that has completely lost its
collective mind and sense of purpose and meaning, it is time for the faithful to
discover or reconnect to these spiritual gifts so that we may go about the
business for which we are ALL called and to which we are ALL baptized
as the Body of Christ, the Church: to make disciples of Christ. And this mission is literally a matter of
life and death to those outside the Covenant, as Catholic Archbishop Chaput
expresses: "The Church exists not for itself but for others. We exist for
evangelization, for the health and welfare of souls."
So it is the task of the
"baptized" - clergy and laity alike - to grow the Church by making
disciples rather than recruiting members; the Trustees can see to the
maintenance of the building, but ALL baptized Christians are responsible for
and accountable to the Church, the "ekklesia", the congregation of
the faithful. It is important, then, to
understand that while we are not all called to be prophets, we are all called
to be - and to make - disciples, utilizing our God-given spiritual gifts to
that end. And make no mistake; it takes
a disciple to make a disciple. It is not
possible, as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, for the "body" to
function as it is intended to function if all the "parts" are not
both present and doing as they are designed and intended to do; "God
has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased" (1 Cor 12:18). "As HE pleased
...", not as we choose. And
not randomly, but purposefully.
As the language itself suggests, this
was put into place before we were "formed in the womb ... with
substance" already present. In
helping the faithful to understand their spiritual gifts, the Church has over
time suggested that if it is enjoyable for us and if we seem to have a natural
inclination toward a particular thing, then that must be our
"gift". There is an element of
truth in such an assessment, of course, because some are naturally talented in
certain areas while others are more strongly suited to something entirely
different. The miracle of such a Grand
Design in humanity is evident in those who are strong in math and the sciences
while others are better suited for the arts.
These don't make one "better" or "smarter". It is what makes the pieces become
"whole". It is how the Lord
"set the members ... in the Body just as He pleased".
There is also a misleading element in
suggesting that if we enjoy doing a particular thing, that thing must be our
natural talent. Needless to say, there
are many inappropriate, sinful, and entirely selfish things we can do that may
be enjoyable for us, but these things are also equally destructive not only to
us but also those whom we willfully neglect.
The lie is also attached to the notion that Divine Will allows us to do only
that which we enjoy because it blurs the fine line between "lust"
which is self-centered - and - "love" which is always outwardly
projected for the "edification", that is, the building up, of others in
and for the Church.
Understanding what we have been specifically
gifted for in the Kingdom of Heaven while on this earth, then, must go beyond
what we "like" to do. It is
understanding the gifts and graces with which we have been endowed and actively
seeking the wisdom AND the heart-felt love of the Church to put those gifts to
good use as the Church has need in its mission to make disciples.
It is in the fellowship of the Church
and our love for one another that we are willing to hold up our end and do our
part so that our fellows will not be overwhelmed with doing their own part and
having to carry us as well. This is when
the fellowship and the mission of the Church begin to falter. The fellowship falters when fellow members
come to realize other fellow members simply do not care that others must carry
their load. And when the mission of the
Church falters or becomes non-existent, souls get left behind - and the Church relinquishes
its claim as the Body of Christ and surrenders its moral authority.
Doing only what we care to do or doing
only what we feel like doing cannot be construed as "love" except for
love of self. The genuine love we have first
for our Lord is exemplified not only by Jeremiah but also by Isaiah and by
Moses, to name only a few. Jeremiah was
clearly not very excited about what he had been called forth and set apart to
do, but he was also not left alone to the task.
He had our Lord's assurance that he
would not be alone in the task to which he was called. So did Isaiah, and so did Moses. So do we, but we must first be willing. In order to be willing, then, we must first believe
we are a part of something much bigger than self. If we are unwilling to believe that or
unwilling to embrace that spiritual reality, then we reject a significant
portion of New Testament theology that teaches us how everything and everyone are
intimately connected in the spiritual realm of the Most High God. Nothing is exempted - NOTHING. And certainly NO ONE. Not even "organized religion".
Religion is not the dirty word so-called
"spiritualists" try to make it out to be. Rather religion is the whole and holy means
by which we draw closer to our Lord in and through the Body of Christ - the WHOLE
Body, not just the portions or persons we "like". Religion is the means by which we discover
what the Lord has in store for us, by attending to the Sacraments of the Church,
by attending to the study of Scripture, by prayer and fasting, and by worship
attendance with one another - to ask "passionately" the hard
questions we might rather side-step or avoid altogether for fear that the
answer we might receive will not be the one we "like". And that is simply running away - as Jonah
attempted to. It did not work for him;
it will not work for us - for our Lord's purposes WILL BE FULFILLED with us or
without us. "So shall My word be that
goes forth from My mouth. It shall not
return to Me empty, but it shall accomplish what I please. And it shall prosper in the thing for which I
sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).
It all goes far beyond simply
"going to church"; it is about becoming and being the Church, the Body
of Christ, within the Covenant of Christ.
To attend worship (as opposed to just "going to church") is an
act of faith itself within the religious expression and draws us closer to
asking the question: who are we? It is
about attending to all these means of grace first by completely emptying ourselves
so that we may be filled. We are all at least
"part-time humanists".
Yet all these means are made available to us through the Church so that
we may one day become "full-time disciples". Discipleship is the intentional and hungry
pursuit of holiness, of perfection which transcends the cheap religion of
"personal salvation" filled only with excuses and little else. There is more - MUCH more. For "Personal salvation" is where it
all begins; not where it ends.
"Before you were formed in the
womb, I knew you". What our Lord
"knew" then is what we are to discover now in the Name and in
the Body of Christ. Amen.
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