Meditations for Lent - #35
The suggested Gospel lesson for today is John 8:31-42, a passage in which Jesus is quoted as saying, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth will make you free.” The Jews to whom he is talking are confused because do not see themselves as slaves. Jesus goes on to tell them, “…everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” The reader will recall that elsewhere Jesus acknowledges that all of us sin. Thus, none of us have a right to judge or throw stones at another. In this lesson in John Jesus again suggests that all can be free – that He can make us free.
Of course, all of us, if we are honest with ourselves and not using our very fine mind to rationalize our hurtful and disconnecting behavior, has to admit that we daily by our action or lack of action behave in a way which is hurtful to others or some other essential part of the well-balanced universe. The good news which the teacher Jesus brings is that no matter how disconnected we are from ourselves, each other and the rest of the universe we can be reconnected. All we have to do is to honestly say we want to be reconnected – again assume our essential role in the working of the universe – do our best not to repeat the same disconnecting behavior - and we will be reconnected. Of course, we will soon do something else which upsets the balance and will again have to say that we want to be reconnected. This is obviously a daily or even an hourly task.
Many of us pride ourselves on not committing sin or hurtful/disconnecting behavior X, but we will in search vain for reassurance from Jesus (or other spiritual teachers such as Buddha) for a list of unforgivable sins. Jesus does not seem to understand or accept that judging others, stealing, murder, rape, neglect of children, abusing a child or a partner are all different levels of sin. Some are forgivable and some are not. He seems to treat all sinful behavior the same. When they bring the adulterous woman to the temple he says that all those without sin throw the first stone. He does not say that all those without level X sins throw the first stone. When Jesus is observed chatting with the prostitute he does not say he did not realize the seriousness of her sin. When Peter and others deny him or the legal officials attach him to the cross he asks God for forgiveness on their behalf.
Jesus says in order to be reconnected we must first accept that we have disconnected. If we allow fear to keep us trapped in denial we cannot accept the invitation to be reconnected. The God of our understanding is not refusing us anything. He is merely patiently waiting for us to summon the courage to open to our own pain; our own loneliness; our own disillusionment with the delusion of the gilded cage.
I am sure all of us will continue to rank ourselves and others by the sin level of each of us. Yet the good news is that Jesus does not hesitate to open His arms to welcome each of us back to the table; to welcome each of us home. No sin can keep us disconnected from the “I am” which is the whole of all that is. This the dangerous, simple, hard to swallow good news. There are no exceptions.
Written April 10, 2019
Jimmy F. Pickett
Coachpickett.org
The suggested Gospel lesson for today is John 8:31-42, a passage in which Jesus is quoted as saying, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth will make you free.” The Jews to whom he is talking are confused because do not see themselves as slaves. Jesus goes on to tell them, “…everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” The reader will recall that elsewhere Jesus acknowledges that all of us sin. Thus, none of us have a right to judge or throw stones at another. In this lesson in John Jesus again suggests that all can be free – that He can make us free.
Of course, all of us, if we are honest with ourselves and not using our very fine mind to rationalize our hurtful and disconnecting behavior, has to admit that we daily by our action or lack of action behave in a way which is hurtful to others or some other essential part of the well-balanced universe. The good news which the teacher Jesus brings is that no matter how disconnected we are from ourselves, each other and the rest of the universe we can be reconnected. All we have to do is to honestly say we want to be reconnected – again assume our essential role in the working of the universe – do our best not to repeat the same disconnecting behavior - and we will be reconnected. Of course, we will soon do something else which upsets the balance and will again have to say that we want to be reconnected. This is obviously a daily or even an hourly task.
Many of us pride ourselves on not committing sin or hurtful/disconnecting behavior X, but we will in search vain for reassurance from Jesus (or other spiritual teachers such as Buddha) for a list of unforgivable sins. Jesus does not seem to understand or accept that judging others, stealing, murder, rape, neglect of children, abusing a child or a partner are all different levels of sin. Some are forgivable and some are not. He seems to treat all sinful behavior the same. When they bring the adulterous woman to the temple he says that all those without sin throw the first stone. He does not say that all those without level X sins throw the first stone. When Jesus is observed chatting with the prostitute he does not say he did not realize the seriousness of her sin. When Peter and others deny him or the legal officials attach him to the cross he asks God for forgiveness on their behalf.
Jesus says in order to be reconnected we must first accept that we have disconnected. If we allow fear to keep us trapped in denial we cannot accept the invitation to be reconnected. The God of our understanding is not refusing us anything. He is merely patiently waiting for us to summon the courage to open to our own pain; our own loneliness; our own disillusionment with the delusion of the gilded cage.
I am sure all of us will continue to rank ourselves and others by the sin level of each of us. Yet the good news is that Jesus does not hesitate to open His arms to welcome each of us back to the table; to welcome each of us home. No sin can keep us disconnected from the “I am” which is the whole of all that is. This the dangerous, simple, hard to swallow good news. There are no exceptions.
Written April 10, 2019
Jimmy F. Pickett
Coachpickett.org
RSS Feed