Lectionary: 259
The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right…
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right…
Despite their minor differences the four evangelists agree that Jesus never lost his composure during the ordeal of his passion and death. Accused, maligned, betrayed, abandoned, tortured, and condemned to crucifixion: through it all he remained docile before his enemies and obedient to the One who sent him.
His example might mean nothing to us except that he breathes the same patient composure upon us. It sounds impossible -- and is impossible -- except for his spirit. Left to my own devices I get defensive and angry at the mere suggestion of my foolishness or wrongdoing. I don’t want to hear about it! I don’t have time for this! I don’t deserve this!
With the Spirit I am prepared to listen, consider, discuss, and admit my wrongdoing. I might even apologize when I have done nothing wrong. For the sake of harmony, it’s a small price to pay. I’m sure we’ve all done this on occasion.
As we go with Jesus to Calvary, we watch how he behaves. He sets the standards for us. But his standards are always governed by the Spirit that dwelt within him. As we study his life we realize our fallibility; and that we have not walked in the Spirit.
We can be disappointed with ourselves for our impatience and defensiveness. But that disappointment doesn’t help much. It is better to admit, “Lord, I have sinned – again.”
Periodically, I need to go back to a tract I found in an old library many years ago. I took the liberty of transcribing Pax Anima, and it’s here on this website. The last chapter begins with this marvelous advice:
Take, then, this rule and method in all the falls you shall make, be they great or little; yea, though ten thousand times in the same day you shall have incurred the same crime, and that not occasionally, but voluntarily and deliberately; observe, I say, inviolably this prescription: That as soon as ever you find yourself in fault, you trouble not nor disquiet yourself, but instantly, as soon as you are aware what you have done, with humility and confidence, beholding your own frailty, cast an amorous glance on God, and fixing there your love, say with heart and mouth,
"Lord, I have done that which is like what I am, nor can anything else be expected at my hands but these and the like transgressions; nor had I stopped here, but plunged myself further into all wickedness, if thy goodness had permitted it, and left me wholly to myself. I give thee infinite thanks that thou didst not thus leave me, and for what I have done I am sorry. Pardon me for thy own sake, and for what thou art, and give me grace to offend thee no more, but admit me again to the favour of thy friendship."
Having done this, lose neither time nor quiet of mind, imagining that perhaps God hath not pardoned you, and the like, but with full repose proceed with your exercise as though you had committed no fault; and this, as I have said, not once, but a hundred times, and, if there were need, every moment, with as much confidence and tranquility the last time as the first.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.