Image: Moses Striking the Rock, Marc Chagall,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN
September 28, 2014
Computer code is based on two
values--open or closed switches represented by 1 and 0.
A vast
information system or complex program is made up of strings of ls and Os.
In a similar
way, every life is shaped by choices that open or close options, say yes or no
to this or that possible future.
Looking back,
even a single change in our life map of decisions might have affected all other
opportunities and decisions.
So also the
record of our response to God.
Yes and no make
a difference on how our life will unfold.
The brief
parable of the two sons, used by Jesus to confront the religious leaders who
paid hen lip service but avoided conversion, links us to other scriptural
accounts of conversion.
The most
immediate reference is to the longer parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15.
Like Matthew's
pair, the brothers in Luke contrast inner and outer conversion.
The brother who
says, "no," and leaves home is on a long but sincere search for
himself and eventually finds conversion.
The older
brother says "yes" and offers his father perfect external compliance
but is seething in his heart, estranged and unconverted.
In another
setting, Jesus warns his disciples against confusing the meaning of yes and no:
"Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. Everything else comes from the
deceiver."
The "leaven
of the Pharisees" they were to avoid was the capacity to complicate
something in the name of analyzing it, thus postponing the need to choose and
act.
Political and
religious language often seems designed to skirt the hard choice, sound good
but say little, have it both ways.
The chief
priests and elders did not heed John the Baptist's hard call to conversion,
even as tax collectors and prostitutes did, taking the kingdom by storm.
What is
remarkable about this gospel is that it affirms the sinner who understands the
real cost of conversion, may even resist God's grace for a time, but in the end
accedes to the passionate pull of grace.
The illusion of
compliance that flows from religious practice or sentiment alone anesthetizes
us spiritually.
Far better to
grapple openly with God, who prefers a stormy love relationship with us to
shallow submission and surface obedience.
The Word of God
enters our daily lives as an active presence, engaging us as any real
relationship must.
Imagine a
friendship in which all words were unreliable.
Without
commitment the relationship cannot take hold and grow.
One thing made
clear in the gospels is that we are meant to live consciously and deliberately.
We cannot avoid
making decisions about the direction and content of our life experience, nor
can we expect life to carry us automatically to fulfillment.
Discipleship
requires that we listen to our experience, seize the day and pursue what is
truly good as we come to know it at various stages in life.
Passivity is the
enemy of maturity.
Not to decide is
to decide.
Regret is the
punishment reserved for those who have never made real choices.
"Yes"
and "no" are the most powerful words we can utter.
God's
unconditional love for us is the "yes" that pursues us through our
times of doubt and hesitation, rebellion and sin.
Say
"yes" to God from the heart and act on it and you will live.
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