21 April 2020 - earthly and heavenly things

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

Jesus is the one who sums heaven and earth in himself. He is the one in whom water and Spirit together become living water. He is the one in whom death is joined to eternal life. The earthly is meant to be the entry point, something which our minds can grasp, that leads us to the heavenly. The signs point to the reality. Yet the earthly, precisely because it is earthly, is also easy to reject. We can see just water, just a man, or just a death, if we choose.

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

If we want to be persuaded we need to keep watching. We need to not look away when things appear to be all too human. Because it is precisely then that heaven is often the closest at hand.

This has implications for our own lives and the lives of the communities of which we are members. It means that there is not, on the one hand, the social Gospel, and on the other, a privately spiritual Gospel. It often does seem to be thusly divided in our world. But either aspect without the other is missing something. The earthly without the divine quickly loses anything special that sets it apart from any other positive social program. The spiritual without the earthly quickly turns into an illusory subjective quest in which we try to find satisfaction for ourselves alone, which we never quite do.

The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.

It is precisely because of the fact that in their earthly community life they are of one heart and mind that they are powerful witnesses.

With great power the Apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.

It is precisely because their witness is what they care about more than anything else that they are able to be united on that earthly level. How are our own lives? How are our own communities? Are they marked by commitment to proclaiming the resurrection? Are they so active in charity that there is no needy person among us?

There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the Apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need.

We must prove our love for the God whom we cannot see by loving the neighbor whom we can (see First John 4:20). We too can be sons of encouragement like Barnabas. The secret is to not look away from the earthly but expect the heavenly. Jesus himself is the interpretative key. Lift high the cross! Proclaim the resurrection in word and in deed.

The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.