There is a God-shaped
vacuum in the heart of every man and only God can fill it. -Blaise Pascal
Clarence
and Robert McClendon were two Christian brothers who did well in their careers.
Robert was a prominent lawyer and Clarence was the author of a popular book.
Clarence was deeply involved with the interracial action-groups of the 1950's
and 60's, in Georgia, USA. Once Clarence asked Robert, now a politician, for
legal help, which he refused, because his political ambitions would be jeopardized.
To rationalize his refusal, Robert told his brother: I follow Jesus up to a point. I follow him to the cross, but not on the
cross. I am not getting myself crucified. To which Clarence replied: Robert, you are not a follower of Jesus; you
are only an admirer of his.
Perhaps Clarence could repeat those words to us. We bear the name of
Christ, Christians, but prefer to formulate our own code. In Europe, the
Christmas Holidays are called the Winter Holidays. Why? Ostensibly, they do not
want to wound the sentiments of people of other religions. Perhaps some
segments of Christians, in other parts of the world, have joined their European
brothers in switching to the changed terminology, for the same reason.
The
Hindus have not changed their festival Diwali
to something more akin to Christian idiom. The Muslims have not renamed Ramzan to appease their Christian
brothers. Why are we ashamed of the word Christmas?
Is it because we are ashamed of being identified as Christians? To those of us,
who are embarrassed of being Christians, Jesus has a warning. In Matt. 10:32,
He says that in the presence of His Father He will not acknowledge those who
are ashamed of Him, in the eyes of men. The Master never makes empty threats.
Do we hear the alarm bell?
We are Christians, but will not attend Church
Services. A Christian young man I know tells me that he goes to Sunday morning
service only when there are no good movies on TV. Some offer an excuse for
their non-Christian attitude. They say that they are scandalized by the
behavior of some Pastor/Priest and dissociate themselves from anything
Christian. Are we Christian because of some Priest/Pastor, or even because of
the Pope? We are Christian because of Christ, who is sinless and blameless. Do
we stop using our family name or stay disconnected because of some black sheep
in the fold? We refer to Biblical Stories as Christian Legends to distance
ourselves from their veracity. We are Christians who do not want to profess
Christian beliefs. Do we not profess our political affiliations? Democrat or
Republican (USA), Labor or Conservative (UK), Congress or BJP (India)? We join
elite clubs and are proud of our membership. We work for Fortune 500 Companies
and will let others know of the connection. But Christ, the Son of God, we
leave out in the cold. We exclude Him from our network. Alone, He will hang on
that cross.
We
try to run away from Him, but He comes panting after us, as The Hound of Heaven, whom Francis
Thompson faithfully portrayed. In an unhurrying
chase, at an unperturbed pace, He
will not give up following us. Gently, He reminds us, all things betray thee, who betrayest me. We try to hide from Him,
but He will seek us out. We shut our ears to His words, but He will play music
that we cannot silence. We close our eyes to Him, but He will tenderly lift our
hands off them, to lovingly gaze into our troubled eyes. What a Christ we have!
Yet, we are ashamed of acknowledging Him. Would we do to our friends, what we
do to Him, the truest of all?
In my
reckoning there are a few reasons why we behave the way we do.
1) We are the instant
people who demand instant gratification. We want Him to be the genie we can
command. He would willingly oblige us, if only all our wishes were for our
good. Often, we desire that which will harm us. He sees it; we don’t. So, He
shuts some doors through which we wish to enter and opens new doors, if only we
have eyes to see.
2) We want to be in control, to march to our
drumbeat. To surrender, to submit are against our grain. We like to be in
charge of our lives; and extend that power by taking control of Him. The
paradox is that He does not want to control us. He will not place limits on His
gift of free will. Of our own, if we love Him and seek His protection, He will
accept our friendship, and not a forced
alliance.
3) We mistake His goodness for weakness, because
He does not react even when we act in defiance or choose to ignore Him. His
Infinite Patience and Forgiveness are never tested. For that very reason, we
tend to take Him for granted.
4) We enthrone false gods in our hearts. Wealth, power, fame and pleasure are some of the deities we enshrine, dislodging the
rightful owner. Does He complain? No, He waits for the time we will turn away
from those false gods and return to Him, like the Prodigal son. In a question
that also holds the answer, Job asks: Has
anyone resisted Him and found peace? No wonder, the scholarly Saint
Augustine wrote: Our hearts were made for
you, O God, and they shall not rest until they rest in you.
Mistakenly we believe that we are doing Him a favor when we pray or live
a life by The Book. Hugh Blair exposes our folly: It is for the sake of man, not of God, that worship and prayer are
required; not that God may be rendered more glorious, but that man may be made
better. We need to reflect on Hugh Blair's words, because a Perfect God
needs nothing from us. He would not be God if He needed anything from us. He is
complete in all respects. With unmatched love He persuades us to reform for our
sakes, not His.
How
do we reform? By being the salt of
the earth, and light to the world.
Salt dissolves in food to lend it taste and flavor. Light dispels darkness.
Like salt, when we make ourselves useful to others, and as shining examples,
when we shed light for others, we become lovable. And when we become lovable,
we can be sure that Jesus’ love is in us. Aptly, Bishop Fulton Sheen explains
what that means: When the Lord puts His
love in us, then we become lovable.
There
is no doubt that it is tough to follow Christ, but the rewards far outweigh the
effort, and the peace that comes from it cannot be matched. Ordinary people have
done it. Are we any less?
