Training Our Hearts

Training Our Hearts  

Epistle: Acts 10:34-43  

Gospel: Matthew 3:13-17   

In these early days after the birth of Christ, we move quickly to Jesus’ public ministry. Beyond the birth, Matthew only includes the coming of the Magi and the flight to Egypt in his narrative. The gospels of Mark and John have no mention of the birth stories, and only describe the ministry of Jesus. All four of the gospels have the baptism of Christ as an initiating event in Jesus’ public ministry. 

The opening passage from Acts has Peter making clear, that in his perspective, Jesus was not set apart or aloof from humanity. In fact, as the anointed of God, it was specifically the access they had to Jesus, and how Jesus associated with everyone, that proves that God shows no partiality. The love of God is for everyone.  

This is such an important observation. God does not favor the rich, or the pious, or even the most trusted clergy in ministry. The love of God is directly accessible to all people. This is a radical statement. 

I have a new understanding of this due to our study and prayer this past Advent season. It became clear to me that salvation comes from the forgiveness of sins, large and small. Jesus promises that the repentant thief will be with him in paradise. The repentant thief then becomes our ideal model. So our salvation will not likely be measured by any of our success of this world, even any success we might claim in self-denial and purity. Our salvation only comes because we acknowledge our sinfulness, and accept the blessing of forgiveness. 

In this awareness, there is no distinction between the ordinary and the holy in creation. We are all equally dependent on God’s mercy. God shows no favor, but offers salvation to all who might accept that love and forgiveness. 

Maintaining a commitment to knowing ourselves as sinners, enables us to remain humble before God, and makes it possible for us to stop judging others. We are all equally sinners that depend on the perfect love of God, we know through Jesus. 

When Jesus goes to meet John the Baptist in the Jordan River, John protests. “I need to be baptized by you!,” he exclaims. But even then Jesus models the posture of confession, submitting to baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I expect to visit the presumed site of the baptism next Saturday. 

So let me comment that we stand at the boundary of deep theological water. Some claim that Jesus of Nazareth was not so much a perfect God-man, but was anointed by God to represent God’s love and forgiveness at the moment of his baptism. 

We can see that God clearly expresses satisfaction with the man Jesus, and that the Holy Spirit makes a unique and personal appearance at this time and place. All of this becomes a model for our understanding of the unique grace extended at the sacrament of Baptism. 

Others claim that the Baptism served to reassure the God-man Jesus - that this was the time for the transition to public ministry. The time was right for him to step into this new role. There should be no hesitation, but commit to living this new life, with the mission laid our before him. Jesus can be understood to be without sin, and not needing forgiveness, but modeling confession for us. 

I can honestly say that I can see both ways of knowing the Christ. I love the idea that Jesus is the very God of heaven, come to make clear that God loves creation and is with us, even in the most damaging and dangerous of events and circumstances. 

It also works for me, that Jesus is a man, anointed to a special calling. In this way, all of the acts of the Christ, are actual models of righteousness that can be achieved by real people acting with God’s blessing. Then none of the acts of Jesus are magic reserved for the divine, but are achievable by all of us, when we cooperate with God’s grace. 

Richard Rohr, the Franciscan priest and mystic working in the US today, has captured this idea in a unique way. He claims that we humans were in such a hurry to put Jesus on a pedestal, and make him an object of worship, that we missed the point of his ministry. Jesus never asked us to worship him, he asked us to “follow him.” 

This shifts the emphasis to our living response to the offer of love and forgiveness and reduces the emphasis on believing the right thing. This perspective resonates with me, especially at this point in my life. I am a man with a living faith, a faith that continues to grow and change as I do my best to stay in relationship with God. 

By presenting faith in this way, we do not have to have it all figured out. We also do not have to turn off our brain, and accept everything in one big swallow of “I believe.” Instead, we walk with God, learning to know and love God, and becoming less anxious about the mystery. God is a mystery, and I am ok with that. 

Aspects of God are revealed in the scriptures, and in the lives of the faithful, as they try to behave in ways that reflect faithfulness. The Trinity then becomes a neat way of making peace with a God who seemingly exists with apparently conflicting attributes; a mystery. 

Within the mystery, we are called to go on living. We live in an often dangerous world. We live in a world where pain, disease, greed and injustice often hold sway. In these troubled waters, we try to live with grace. We try to train our hearts to look for blessings. We trust that when the need is greatest, blessings abound, but we have to train hearts to “see” those blessings, and live in a way that distributes blessings near and far. 

It is not an easy task, but it is time for us to come to the Baptismal waters. It is time to accept that the posture of confession, is not a sign of failure or weakness, but a sign of willingness to live in a new way, faithful and confident in God’s love. 

I invite you to stand or come to attention now, for a renewal of our Baptismal vows. I will coach you in the responses. We are not being re-Baptized, but refreshing and renewing our vows with whatever  understanding that God has shared with us in this particular time and place in our life’s journey. 

May we become freshly aware of God’s blessings, as we intentionally train our hearts to “see” and share the blessings that surround us each day.