"What were you arguing about on the way?"
But they remained silent.
For they had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
We too sometimes try to be the greatest. We try to find value in ourselves apart from God. In pop psychology self-worth and self-confidence are laudable. But for Christians, our worth and our confidence should come from God. The problem starts in subtle ways, in all the little places we forget to give God the glory and thanksgiving that is his due. A sign that this is an issue for us is when we notice ourselves judging others for their behavior or their choices. For example, noticing how few people are in the confession line can be a risk of pride for we who are there. We don't realize how utterly dependent we are on grace to be there. We don't give God due thanks that he drew us there in spite of ourselves and not because of any worth intrinsic to ourselves. It is all as with the prayer of Thomas Aquinas for after communion: "Not because of my worth, but in the kindness of your mercy".
Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep.
Let your laughter be turned into mourning
and your joy into dejection.
Humble yourselves before the Lord
and he will exalt you.
God is not telling us to hate our lives. He is telling us to find our joy and our worth in him. He is telling us that any attempt to find value or joy that does not acknowledge him is ultimately doomed because "whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God." How do we actually avoid this? We know we should acknowledge God but if we become anxious about thinking the thoughts consciously to that end this itself can become a work of the flesh. It isn't about anything as artificially programmatically imposed on our lives. It is rather an attitude of trust.
"If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."
We must become like little children ourselves, receiving everything we receive as gifts from our Father who loves us. We use them for his glory and offer them back to him in thanksgiving. It is not that each activity has a corresponding thought, though when possible that is good too. It is rather that our relationship with the Father is our true anchor and source of strength and direction. Then, even when a particular thing is not done consciously for God our life is still pointed toward him. It is still an acceptable offering.
When we become little we become able to value what God values rather than the things that make us seem strong and worthwhile. We are able to welcome even the least of these as a greater joy than any we could have on our own.
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
"Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me."
When we depend on the LORD the benefit is that we don't need to depend on ourselves anymore. We can finally experience peace.
Cast your care upon the LORD,
and he will support you;
never will he permit the just man to be disturbed.
No comments:
Post a Comment