The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

Lectionary: 203

Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.


The Divine Author of our first reading today, from the First Letter of Saint John, is concerned about sin:

I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven for his name's sake.

Let's parse that sentence: 1) the Author is concerned about his disciples and their appreciation of God's Gracious Mercy; 2) he wants them to know clearly that their sins have been forgiven; and 3) they should understand God has forgiven them "for his name's sake." 
There is an old, stale joke that runs like this: the child in a distant mission asks the missionary, "Let me get this straight. Before you came we couldn't attend Mass because you weren't here to say the Mass, and so we didn't commit sin by missing Mass. But since you have come, if we miss Mass it's a sin. Is that right?" 
"That's right!" says the slow-witted missionary.
"So why did you come?" asks the child. 
It would seem, for the missionary and his flock, the Good News is all about human sin and the punishment that awaits the sinner. The Joy, Freedom, Grace and Communion of the Gospel have disappeared somewhere; if the Gospel is "good news" it certainly doesn't feel like it. 
There is a stage of maturity when the child -- toddler, teen or young adult -- believes the parent is the "meanest parent who ever lived," because the parent said, "No." Although many people outgrow that stage as they come to honor their aging parents, they still believe the "Old Testament God" is the meanest God who ever lived. And, because they've not read either Testament, they think the "Jesus of the New Testament" is a nice god who lets them do as they please. (Somehow they overlooked the excoriating Matthew 25:41.)
It might be helpful to go back to the last four words of that brief sentence, "for his name's sake." You have been forgiven for his name's sake. 
At some point the child learns that he or she is not the center of the parent's universe. It's a hard lesson but necessary. 
Likewise, I am not the center of God's universe. While God has created me in the divine "image and likeness," and saved me by the death and resurrection of his "only begotten son," neither act was precisely for my glory. It was for His Name's Sake. 
So why does the missionary invite the villagers to come to Mass? To celebrate the Goodness and Beauty and Holiness and Wonder of Our Great Trinitarian God. 
There is no freedom, as the Greek dramatists knew so well, in hubris. Thinking "I'm so special" only alienates me from my family, friends, neighbors, enemies, God, the environment and, especially, myself. 
When we learn to say, "We have done only what was required of us!" or, with Saint Paul, "I am the least of his holy ones!" we begin to see the enormity of our sin and the Enormity of God's Gracious Mercy. 
The challenge of Christian life is to remain (consciously, mindfully, intentionally, with full awareness) in that swirling enigmatic eddy between the enormity of my sin and the Enormity of God's gracious mercy. I cannot lose sight of either truth. I am a saved sinner; a sinner who is saved by God's superabundant goodness, not for my sake but for the sake of His Name.