Mark 6:12
And they went out, and preached that men
should repent.
How do you recognize
when you have done something wrong, something that you should not have
done? Is it by the consequences of your
action? I know that, sometimes, when I
say something rude or a little mean to a loved one, he or she will look at me
in such a way that I know I shouldn’t have said what I did. When I see the hurt I have caused or – more
usually and powerfully – when I hear the hurt and anger in the response pouring
out on me, then I am sorry. Then I wish
that I could take back what I said and, since that is impossible, I apologize
and seek mercy.
But… Is something only
wrong if it directly causes something unwanted to happen to me? What if my loved one is able to disguise the
hurt I have caused, or keep their anger or disappointment in check? What if I don’t “feel” the unkindness or
rudeness of my words or actions in the responses they generate? Will I still be able to recognize my
wrongdoing? If I yell at someone who is
confused and slow at an intersection a mean and dirty name, blaring my horn and
flipping my finger, will I feel sorry about my actions later? If the person doesn’t abruptly jump out of
the vehicle and chase me with a gun, will I even think for a second that I
shouldn’t have let my anger and impatience cause me to go on the attack? What is it that encourages me to be kind and
discourages me from being mean? If the
answer is merely a desire for reward and a fear of punishment, then, surely, I
am living at a very low level of existence, a very base way of life.
I’ve never wanted to be
ruled by infantile desires and fears. “When
I was a child I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child; but when I became a man I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11.) This doesn’t mean that suddenly I became a
very grave and sober person. It means
that I grew and I learned – and when we learn certain things, we necessarily
become changed. For example, when my
youngest nephew was a little less than two years old, he learned to call my
father by a name that he could recognize and to which he would respond. The first moment this happened, his little
face lit up with joy – and it was like his little world had become new. He grew closer in his relationship with his
grandfather then, wanting to follow him everywhere and do everything with
him. And his grandfather, in turn,
perhaps became a little more attentive. You
could see the little boy’s increase in intimacy and affection. He had learned something and his life was
forever different.
As another example, once
I learned numbers and could easily do addition and subtraction, I could no
longer claim ignorance in monetary matters.
If something cost twenty dollars and I only had ten to spend, then I
knew that I couldn’t afford it. When I
learned why vegetables are healthy, I could no longer avoid eating them without
knowing that I wasn’t doing the best that I could for my health. In the same kind of way, when I learned about
the true depth and beauty of love, I couldn’t so easily take loving
relationships for granted… or ignore the power of God Incarnate sacrificing
Himself on the Cross. And in knowing how
much God loves me, knowing what divine love is… I grew closer in my
relationship with God and with the people God has placed in my life by wanting
to love them likewise. It’s like God
called out to me by my true name, which allowed me to recognize my true self
and, so, to be able to live truly. And
to live truly is to truly love. He knows
my name and I know His and this new knowledge changes everything.
Christ Jesus said that
whoever welcomes one little child welcomes Him (Matthew 18:5). This is not because of the idea that a child
is innocent and pure, but rather because a child has nothing to give in
return. In human life, and in Jesus’s
historical time especially, a person will invite people to his house knowing
that those people will invite him to theirs in return. Like we often do in giftgiving: if a person
gives us a gift, then we give one to them.
But if we know that someone will not be giving us anything for
Christmas, then we often don’t give them anything either. Greater is it to give a gift to someone without
expecting anything in return. In the
same way, to receive a child into one’s house is to take on a responsibility
for that child’s well-being. Though the
child can be cute and sweet, he or she can be a burden more than a boon. Yet, we are to receive everyone lovingly,
without desiring any reward for ourselves.
And, so, to welcome Jesus into our lives, to truly receive him into our
hearts, we must not do so based on an expectation of eternal reward in heaven. Yes, Christ makes promises to those who love
him, but – to love him is to give ourselves to him freely and unconditionally –
not for our sakes, but for his. That’s true
love.
I have discovered that
the “carrot and stick” approach is not the best way to teach people about
Jesus. Making people afraid to break a
rule lest they suffer eternal hellfire does not foster divine love. But… making people calculate the ways that
they can be rewarded with eternal paradise doesn’t foster divine love, either. My English teachers always told me, “Show,
don’t tell.” And that is precisely what
God does through His Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ. God gives us His Holy Word through Scripture
– through words, by telling. But, He
also gives us His Holy Word made Flesh through Christ – through actions, by
loving. In much the same way, Jesus’s disciples
went out and preached so that others could recognize their own wrongdoing:
untruth, unlove. And they did this, not
only by words, by telling, but also by actions, by showing. They showed others what true love is, what
divine love is, in Jesus Christ, and loved them as He loved. Then, knowing how God intimately loves them,
they were able to truly repent, to truly turn away from selfishness and sin and
fully embrace truth and love.
Like Saint Francis said, “Preached
the Gospel always; use words when necessary.”
Love is the way… the truth and the life.
Christina Chase
