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Second Week of Advent - Saturday
December 11, 2004
Elijah will indeed come and restore all things. I tell you that Elijah has already come, but they did not recognize him, and they did as they pleased with him. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.
Matthew 17: 11-12
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The Challenge of the Word
The perennial problem of bearers of the word is that they are not recognized by their hearers. In fact, the surest test of the authenticity of the message is that is will be rejected by almost everyone. The word of God stated in all its simplicity is intolerable to unredeemed man. "Sell everything you have and give your money to the poor." "Trust the Lord and do not worry about tomorrow." "Forgive every time you are offended." "Love your enemies." "Take up your cross and follow me."
Society's answer to the challenge of the word will always be: "No way!" Even Christians find ways to compromise the word to make it tolerable. We go to great lengths to soften the word and its troubling consequences, but all our clarifying and nuancing does not change the fact that Jesus meant exactly what he said.
John the Baptist in his time and Jesus who came after him did not take their message to far off places; they proclaimed the word to their own people. They were rejected and persecuted not by outsiders, but by their brothers in the faith. In much the same way, the greatest challenge to the Church today in the Christian world comes not from attacks by outsiders, but from the erosion of faith from within.
Like every age before us, we try to fashion a Church to our own liking. And because we are not anchored on the rock-solid foundation of the Gospel, we proliferate creeds and polarize our communities. But the Church belongs to Christ. He paid for it with his own blood. If we want to be part of it, we must accept it on his terms. We must accept the challenge of the word in all its simplicity. And we must be prepared to suffer for it, to be persecuted, not at the hands of a hostile society - because society is largely indifferent to our faith - but at the hands of our brothers.
Lord Jesus Christ, fill us with your all-powerful Spirit, that we may be set afire with the faith of the Gospel. May we burn brightly with the fire of your love, that the world may know you, and be drawn by your Word to the promise of eternal life.
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