Coronavirus Talk 14
Let us begin with an Our Father
One of the quotations that has helped form my spiritual life and my ministry is this one from C.S. Lewis: “Every idea we have of God, God must, in his mercy, shatter.” What Lewis is saying is that you and I, for so many reasons, have probably formed an image of God that does not come close to who God really is. Often, our image of God is mediated through the authority figures we have had in life, the communities we have been a part of, and even by our own unconscious wish-fulfillment.
Some of these I mentioned before but I would like to elaborate on them a little bit and point out how each one is inconsistent both with the Scriptures and with common sense, and then talk about what Jesus teaches us about God.
Deficient Images of God
- God as Policeman. He watches everything I do to make sure I do not get out of line. If I do get out of line, I will be imprisoned in hell forever. I will always be afraid of the policeman and do everything I can to avoid him. This god stresses justice over mercy, and if this is my god, I will never accept that my sins are forgiven.
- God as Accountant. This god keeps track of the good I do in one column and the evil I do in another column. If the good outweighs the bad, I will go to heaven and if the bad outweighs the good, I will go to hell. It is that simple. This god is impersonal and objective and has no compassion.
- God as Santa Claus. I make a list of everything I want, and I give the list to him. And he will make sure I get everything I want. Note that this god is totally irrelevant to my life until I want something. If I worship this god, I will be confused when I do not receive what I pray for, and then threaten to get back at him by not believing in him anymore.
- God as Pain Reliever. Whenever things go wrong, I run to him and demand that he take away everything that I find unacceptable. I expect him to compensate for the foolish and horrible choices I make and to make everything OK again. This god encourages me toward overdependence and allows me to escape effort and responsibility.
- God as Party Host. It does not matter to God what I do so long as I am having a good time. This god’s one concern is that I am always happy. This god encourages separation from a world in which there is conflict and suffering and this god does not require any sacrifice from me because sacrifice is difficult and is not fun.
- God on the Mountain. Although this god exists, he is no longer interested in or involved with me. This god does not care for me as an individual or for humanity for that matter. This god prefers to be left alone. If I worship this god, I will not be able to make sense of the Incarnation, of Jesus emptying Himself of his divinity so he could become human like us in every way but sin.
- And lastly, the Catechism God. This god has all the answers to my questions, even to those I have never asked. My life means obeying every single rule perfectly, allowing no exceptions or subtlety or degree of importance. This god demands that we turn off our brains but loves arguments about technicalities and fine points.
If any of these ring true for you as your image of God, then “God must, in His mercy, shatter it.”
And Jesus does exactly that, he shatters those images in favor of the person of the Father He knows. We have really seen Jesus’ image of God already is his parables: the God who smiles on the prayer of the sinful tax collector and is silent about the insincere blathering of an arrogant Pharisee. We have seen God as a sower of seed, scattering it everywhere, not planting it in only the most favorable environment. We have seen the Father in the prudent farmer who puts the brakes on the over-eager servants who might destroy what is good in their zeal to eliminate the bad.
But here are a couple of other window parables in which Jesus tells us who the real God is.
“The kingdom of heaven is like the case of an owner of an estate who went out at dawn to hire workmen for his vineyard. After reaching an agreement with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them out to his vineyard. He came out about midmorning and saw other men standing around the marketplace without work, so he said to them: ‘You too go along to my vineyard and I will pay you whatever is fair.’ At that they went away. He came out around noon and midafternoon and did the same. Finally, going out in late afternoon he found still others standing around. To these he said, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ ‘No one has hired us,’ they told him. He said. ‘You go to the vineyard too. When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workmen and give them their pay, but begin with the last group and end with the first. When those hired late in the afternoon came up, they received a full day’s pay, and when the first group appeared, they supposed they would get more, yet they received the same daily wage. They complained to the owner, ‘This last group did only an hour’s work, but you have put them on the same basis as us who have worked a full day in the scorching heat.’ “My friend,’ he said to one in reply, ‘I do you no injustice. You agreed on the usual wage, did you not? Take your pay and go home. I intend to give this man who was hired last the same pay as you. I am free to do what I want with my money, am I not? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ Thus, the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” – Matthew 20; 1-16
This parable is one that listeners, especially, those who tend toward perfectionism and self-righteousness, find maddening because it seems so unfair.
The owner of the vineyard, whose decision to pay all the workers the same was an act of mercy – not injustice. The owner represents God whose grace and mercy are given abundantly upon whoever he chooses. God’s mercy does not depend on our desire or effort, it is simply there. The parable reveals that God’s grace and mercy are given to those whose self-righteous works could never attain it. Whether God calls someone early or late in life to partake of his grace, the gift of salvation is His and His alone and in no way amount to unfairness. Just as the owner of the vineyard is free to do what he wishes with his own money, so does God have the right to give mercy on whomever He will have mercy. The last hired and first paid got everything they could ask for. The first hired and last paid got everything they could ask for. Everybody got everything. There is nothing more than everything. This is the real God: the whose mercy is not limited.
Here is the other parable:
Jesus began to address them once more, using parables. “The kingdom of God may be likened to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to summon the guests to the wedding, but they refused to come. A second time he sent other servants, saying ‘Tell those who were invited that I have my dinner prepared! The bullocks and corn-fed cattle are killed, everything is ready. Come to the feast.’ Some ignored the invitation and went their way, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, insulted them, and killed them. At this, the king grew furious and sent his army to destroy those murderers and destroy their city. Then he said to his servants: ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were unfit to come. That is why you must go out into the byroads and invite to the wedding anyone you come upon. The servants then went out into the byroads and rounded up everyone they met, the bad as well as the good.
When the king came in to meet the guests, however, he caught sight of a man not properly dressed for a wedding feast. “My friend,’ he said, ‘how is it you came in here not properly dressed?’ The man had nothing to say. The king then said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the night to wail and grind his teeth.’ The invited are many, the chosen are few.” – Matthew 22; 1-14S
Obviously, the Father is the king, Jesus is the son, and you and I are the ones given the invitation to the banquet, an invitation some refuse, some ignore, some decline because of other agendas, and some resist to the extent of violence. The point Jesus is making is that our refusal to participate in what God is doing does not stop him from doing it. There is going to be a banquet and those not there have excluded themselves by saying no to the invitation. There will be a banquet and the banquet hall will be full of people, “the bad as well as the good.” This is the real God.
But what about this poor fellow who ends up being thrown out into the darkness? Doesn’t that sound unfair?
Well, this man is the only one in the hall who is not dressed for a wedding. Everyone else who were gathered from the highways and byways, realizing the honor of being invited to the king’s banquet, either went home to clean up or somehow found the wherewithal to dress appropriately for a wedding except him. He showed no gratitude for the invitation, no respect for the king, an arrogant presumption and sense of entitlement, and a cluelessness about the significance of the invitation. While all the others were honored, he felt he was doing the king a favor. Because of his own cluelessness, he was called but not chosen. One can only feel sorry for someone who foolishly tries to take advantage of the generosity of God.
Up tomorrow: Jesus Teaches Us about Prayer
Let us end with a Hail Mary and a blessing.