Friday January 15, 2021
Notes
Transcript
Carry On
Carry On
In Hebrews 4:1-11 the author maintains that although the promise of God’s rest remains valid, we need to be faithful to enter it.
1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest remains, let us fear lest any of you be judged to have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them; but the message which they heard did not benefit them, because it did not meet with faith in the hearers.
The argument continues that the purposes of God are not frustrated because Israel of old disobeyed God and failed to enter the rest He had promised. The promise remains. If Israel does not enter than the Christians will. But this should not lead to complacency. If the Israelites with all their advantages failed to enter God’s rest, Christians ought not think there will be any automatic acceptance for them. Christians must take care lest they too fail.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience.
We must strive to enter God’s rest because there is a long road ahead of us filled with many dangers. The time is short and we simply don’t know exactly how much time we do have. Also, there is grave danger in delaying our response to the pressing interior call that urges us on. We all know what happened to the wedding party in the parable of the foolish virgins who arrived late and failed to gain entry to the wedding feast (Matthew 25:1-13).
The central idea here is not only the need for urgency but also a dogged perseverance with the help of God’s grace. These are the things that the children of Israel in the wilderness could not comprehend but that the succeeding generations needed to come to terms with. Psalm 78:3-8 addresses this very point.
6 that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
No, the children of Israel were not faithful to God. But faith would be passed down to the succeeding generations. Mark 2:1-12 gives us an example of extraordinary faith by showing us some of its attributes in the story of the paralyzed man. The bearers of the paralytic in Mark’s Gospel display the kind of determination needed to enter God’s rest.
3 And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. 4 And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and when they had made an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic lay. 5 And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”
Here Jesus emphasizes the connection between faith and forgiveness. The boldness of the people who brought in the paralytic shows their faith in Christ which moves Jesus to forgive the man’s sins. Jesus’ words to the paralytic have a certain intimacy to them which speaks to us and reflects the fact that his pardon involves a personal encounter with Christ. This is exactly what happens in the sacrament of Penance. The Church defends the human’s soul’s individual right to a personal encounter with Christ through the priest who acts in the person of Christ (in persona Christi) to declare to the amending soul “Your sins are forgiven”.
But I would like to focus on another dimension of the story. I may be going out on a limb here but I believe this account to be a rare occasion when Jesus cures someone because of the faith of others. The text does not explicitly indicate that the paralytic was without faith, but unlike Jesus’ encounter with the leper earlier we have no record that he did possess this gift. Perhaps the paralytic did believe but could not communicate it. Maybe his condition caused him to doubt.
The key to this mystery may lie in the tender way Jesus addresses the man. By referring to him as His child, perhaps Jesus is touching a heart that has been ruptured by physical infirmity. I can relate to someone with a broken heart. When my heart aches with grief it can play havoc with my faith life. When our faith wavers we can even have doubts about God being our Father.
Interestingly enough, it has been during some of these times that I have been not only comforted but carried by the faith of my fellow believer. That is why it is so important for us to be sharing our faith. You don’t know the tremendous amount of good you could be doing for someone else who is struggling with the crippling effects of doubt in their faith journey. You may but speak a word to someone and that simple remark may stir their heart back to faith and give them the hope that they so desperately need.
Faith is an attitude of trust in the presence of God. It is openness to what God will reveal, do and invite. It should be obvious that in dealing with Almighty God we are not in control. And we shouldn’t try to be. But we struggle because the unknown is fearful. Sometimes it is downright paralyzing.
This passage then is a consoling one. So it is difficult to know what to do. Never mind. Let us encourage one another nevertheless. It seems that in a way we can be a source of belief for others. We can carry them in our faith and bring them to Jesus. And we can do this in small and inconspicuous ways.
I own a small business that services repeat customers. Over the years I’ve grown in the habit of responding to “Goodbye - see you next time!” with a simple line. I say “God willing!”. You cannot believe the number of people over the years who are now saying this to me as they leave. It has caught on. It may seem like a little thing, but it reminds all of us that God is the one who determines our destinies and that life without faith in Him is pointless. I like to think that in some small way I have changed these people for the better. I have carried them in my faith.
God is our Father, and we are His children. Start acting like a child of God and start talking about your Father. You’ll never know the good it can do for a fellow brother or sister in Christ and for his kingdom.
When I was young there was a popular television program that dealt with small children. This show had a very appropriate catchphrase that was frequently spoken by the host.
“Kids say the darndest things!”
Peace,
ttg