Last Fall I went up to Sewanee to visit one of my best friends. He was in town from Boston so that he could see his family and a few friends. There was a big dinner party that night, and even without my collar on conversation around me quickly turned to religious matters, spiritual questions, and social justice issues. Most of the time I love discussing all of these matters, but as one who spends much of my business hours conversing on such issues, I was hoping to talk about playoff baseball, autumn leaves, or reminisce of days as a student there. I had no such luck.
One party-goer, a long-time Episcopalian and life-long Christian said she had been going to the Rite I service that her church in Sewanee had recently been offering. With a look of disgust she said to me, “What’s with all the blood? I mean is it necessary that we talk about Jesus’ blood all the time?” Half a drink this very compassionate follower of Jesus confided that she was struggling with the importance of Jesus’ death. Why did Jesus have to die? And on a day when we remember the Martyrs of New Guinea why do others have to die or why do they choose to die so that they can follow Jesus?
Many times in seminary we talked about various theories about why it was that Jesus died. We who are sinful were being ransomed from the debt that we owed to God. This was one theory for which I did not particularly care. God does not love what God created? How could this be when we know God made all things good and gave grace even when removing Adam and Eve from Eden? Another theory says that the Devil has our sinful souls in his grip and Jesus came to free us from that torturous fate. While I certainly believe there are forces of evil at work in this world, and ones beyond our control or comprehension, I am uncertain of the validity of this claim. So why did Jesus have to die? Why was his blood shed? How come others choose to succumb to a violent end themselves?
Throughout the history of Creation God has poured out his love upon Creation. We begin Eucharistic Prayer A by saying “Holy and Gracious Father in your infinite love you made us for yourself.” God made us because of the overabundance of the love shared between and among Father, Son, and Spirit. That love overran (intentionally) the persons of the Trinity and blossomed into Creation! When we as humans have tried to stray God has been present every step of the way ushering us back into that love from which we began. Although we continued to rebel and seek our own way adopting the same sin as our first parents, God was there every step of the way eventually going so far as to send the clearest example of that love. Fully divine, fully human Jesus chose to love us by the way that he lived, moved, and had his being on this earth.
His message of love and inclusion was too radical for his day and could not be accepted. But rather than shying away from that resistance Jesus chose to love us fully human people even through a bloody, gruesome death. When I heard this woman’s questions a year ago I could not articulate exactly why it was so important that Jesus’ blood be shed. I am still not certain that was the only way that God could save us from our sinful ways. Still what happened on the Cross was a shockwave that still reverberates to this day.
During World War II the Christian people of New Guinea were persecuted by Japanese invaders. They were tortured and killed. And yet they endured. Today there are followers of Christ who are persecuted for what they believe around this globe. There are also other innocent people of many different faiths who are killed unjustly. The blood that Jesus shed was shed for all not to gross us out or to pay off a debt to God, but rather so that we might experience in our hearts once for all that nothing not death, not persecution, not the act of any human being, religion, or government can separate us from the love that God has for each and every one of us.
We too are called to lay down our lives to follow God and to share in God’s love. The way that we practice our martyrdom happens when we come to church and neglect what we would otherwise be doing. It happens when we give up watching TV or a great book to go see someone who is stuck in the hospital. We are martyrs when we give up what we want to do and instead follow the voice of Christ calling us into love. Love is where we started, it is where we are going, and it is what we are called to do by God every day that we live!
No comments:
Post a Comment