Wednesday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 307

Since the children share in blood and flesh,
Jesus likewise shared in them,
that through death he might destroy the one
who has the power of death, that is, the Devil,
and free those who through fear of death
had been subject to slavery all their life.

We have recently celebrated the Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, a troubled little town in the turbulent nation of Israel. We recalled that he was born of the Virgin Mary to share in our blood and flesh. This doctrine of the Incarnation is so important to us. No Christian spirituality, theology or religion can ever ignore or dismiss the humanity of the God who came to save us. 

He could not save us if he were not God. He could not save us if he were not a human being. He could not save us if he were not both! 

A god who would not be human would be overbearing, like the person who donates to worthy causes from her disposable funds. Such a god would make no sacrifice. It would be like, "Here you are, you poor, starving wretches. Look how good I am to show pity on you!" There would always be that silent subtext, "Now if you would only straighten up and do as I tell you -- be like me -- you wouldn't give me so much trouble! I could get back to whatever I was doing before your pleas disturbed me."  

But of course we could not be like that god, no more than the poor can be like the wealthy in this world. The wealthy insure that their charity to the poor never upsets the apple cart of their prosperity. They give a pittance from their surplus even as they invest their substantial worth in maintaining their system. 

But if Jesus were not god we would say, "Who do you think you are, trying to save us? Who appointed you as Messiah?" He would have no real authority. His way of salvation would be his bright ideas, like the ideologues who tell us how the economy or the government should be managed. They consistently ignore huge slabs of reality in order to promote their ideas. They cannot bear a discussion that addresses the needs and views of everyone concerned.  

Think of the National Rifle Association, a special-interest group who proposed that we protect our children against gunmen with gunmen. They are so attached to their ideas they see mass killings as an opportunity to advertise and sell more guns. (If you were to take a gun to school with the idea of killing people, who would you shoot first? The man with the gun or the child without one? But that's too deep for the NRA.) 

We will ponder this incident of God's incarnation for all time, that God would be entirely human, sharing our weakness, complexity and vulnerability. 

In the brief passage above, the Author of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus freed those who

through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life.

Saint Francis discovered this insight when he set out to imitate Jesus. He chose to live without any security against cold, heat, hunger, disease, robbers and death by owning nothing. Like Jesus, he trusted entirely in the protection and providence of God. If he was hungry, he accepted it as God's gift, and recalled Jesus' hunger. If his thin clothing did not shield him from the cold or insects he remembered Jesus' nakedness on the cross. Without the fear of death he could not be enslaved by anyone or anything. 

Although you and I have not been called to live precisely in the same fashion, we have been given the same Spirit of Jesus, which continually reassures us of God's providence:

"You need not think of yourself first whenever you make a decision. I'll take care of you." 

I knew a fellow who always carried an ample supply of alcohol wherever he went, because he once found himself spending the night in a dry county. Death for him was being sober. (He did finally sober up. Thank God!) 

The Incarnate Son of God has taught us how to live without fear of death. He has given us his Spirit of Fearlessness in the face of death in all its forms.