Thursday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
I have learned something about myself over my lifetime. I do not like change. Or at least it takes awhile for me to adjust to change. I prefer things be predictable and to know what is expected in a situation so that I can “follow the rules” and not have to deal with surprises in life. Well, I’ve also learned with age that that’s not generally how life goes! Thankfully I’ve come to appreciate that change and surprises can be a good thing too, although sometimes the adjustments can be challenging and burdensome. For example, Vince and I weren’t planning on leaving Arlington, VA, where we had been raising our family for 11 years, when we began to hear and discern a call to move to Dayton. Initially I was most resistant to the idea, until the Spirit gradually opened my heart and even stirred an excitement in me for the changes that we were being called to. The move and all that was entailed wasn’t easy, but we were also able to see the blessings and believe that God’s hand truly was guiding our family.
In reflecting on today’s readings, it occurred to me how the letter to the Ephesians (1: 1-10) was written in the first century of Christianity after Jesus’ death and resurrection from a very different perspective than the Gospel passage (Luke 11: 47-54) written about the time prior to Jesus’ crucifixion (although authored at a similar time). This gospel reading is the end of the Denunciation of the Pharisees and Scholars of the Law passage, which we heard about over the past couple of days. These “woe to…” statements of Jesus are rather harsh as he challenges and denounces the scribes and Pharisees for their rigidity in following the law while not truly being close to God. As a result, they become angry and hostile toward Jesus and try to trip him up so that fault can be found with him.
Although my initial reaction is usually to be on Jesus’ side and criticize the Pharisees, today I recognized the similarities between them and myself. My take on it is that they were “following the rules” and they saw that Jesus was not. They were fearful of the changes Jesus seemed to be bringing about and, believing they were “right,” were working hard to resist change. Now, the problem is when we are so resistant to change that we don’t allow room for the Holy Spirit to stir our hearts when change is called for. Sometimes we fool ourselves into believing that as long as we are following the rules, we are following God’s will.
But then we miss out on the wonderful grace and blessings that are referred to in today’s letter to the Ephesians. Written with a greater understanding than the first disciples had prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the author of this letter reminds the readers (including us) that we were chosen “before the foundation of the world” and that “In love he destined us for adoption” through Jesus Christ. And, I love this beautiful language, “in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.”
We have the hindsight that the Pharisees and scribes did not have, but I wonder what we might be blind to today out of fear of change, out of a need to rigidly follow the laws while not opening our hearts to God’s love.
Let us pray for grace and wisdom of discernment to allow the Holy Spirit to continue to move today in our lives, in our families, in our Church, and in our communities.
- Eileen Miller