By All Means, Keep Moving!
Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27
One sure story known about Jeremiah is that he was a complainant. The French call anyone who complains a Jérémiade. But we can ask ourselves whether it is bad or wrong to complain? When our life’s dreams do not fall in place, what do we do? When we have done the right thing, should we be rewarded with evil and punishment? Is it too much to ask that he/she who has done wrong should be the person punished? Of course, we have a thousand and one arguments, using the intelligence God has given us, to justify why we are right and others are wrong, why only good things should happen to good people and bad things to bad people. What place do we allot to wisdom, God’s wisdom?
We need to put in perspective the complaints of Jeremiah. As a prophet of God, he preached to the people to abandon their sins, otherwise, they will be punished by God. He stood in the temple to preach, he accosted the king of Judah to warn him, he admonished the populace about the dangers and consequences of remaining in sin, and sinning; all these fell on deaf ears; instead, it was Jeremiah who was thrown into a pit. Worse still, Jeremiah witnessed the deportation of Judah to Babylon; he himself experienced migration to Egypt; all his prophecies came to pass in his life time; his was like a failure because nobody listened to him, his efforts were in vain, even the reward of dying in peace in his homeland was denied him, he died in Egypt. Now, was it too much for him to complain? What did he do wrong to merit all that befell him?
The irony of life is that bad things do happen to good people, Jeremiah is one example, without evoking Job, Joseph in prison, etc. However, one thing remains constant in the lives of those good people in the Bible to whom bad things happen – they kept moving! But why were they able to keep moving, and what kept them moving? The pit, migration to Egypt, calumny, conspiracies, etc., Jeremiah kept moving, why? The answer is love, and love is the bedrock of fidelity, and fidelity is built on love! Hear what Jeremiah said in the first reading of today, “Lord, you have seduced me, and I have allowed myself to be seduced.” Ask a woman about the power of love, not a man! A woman in love braves everything and does the impossible.
I once asked women, African women, two questions: First, is it true that childbirth is painful because I heard that women cry a lot in labor pain? The response I got was that women’s birth pang was very painful. Second, I asked, “why do women conceive immediately after delivery, not even up to 1 year, if it is true that childbirth is pain, shouldn’t they have avoided the act of conception? The only response I got was a thunderous laughter. Then, I said to them, women, you are right; child delivery is painful, without counting the inconveniences of pregnancy; I further said, the best smile of a woman, is when her baby is given to her, after childbirth; she is happy because a human being, life, has come into the world; when life comes into the world, a woman forgets all her pains, and she is ready to bring another human being into the world; that is a true woman’s attitude; pains and discomforts do not stop her from moving ahead because she understandsthe true meaning of love!
The power of love is what makes life livable, despite pains and misery. Only those who are in love with God can put up with all kinds of ignominy for his sake; even when they complain, they keep moving, they remain on the path of God. Sacrifice is the second nature of those who love God, because nothing precious comes cheap, sweat and crosses always precede crown and medals. If Jeremiah had to put up with sufferings and pain, Jesus Christ was not spared the same lot.
Today’s gospel makes it abundantly clear that life is a journey to Jerusalem, the path of suffering and crucifixion. To be on the road to Jerusalem is to be ready for temptations and betrayals. Today, it was Peter who became Satan – “Get behind me Satan;” the same Peter through whom the will of God was made known previously (last Sunday) – “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, Peter, but my Father in heaven.” How true, that one’s friends and associates could become the cause of one’s downfall! It is in the face of difficulties and trials that you know a Christian. It is when the going gets tough, that you know the tough person who gets going. Interestingly, though, even the very erratic and ephemerally inconsistent Peter, learned to embolden himself to move along; with God, even such apparent losers like Peter get to be entrusted with great responsibility by God: not John, not Paul, but Peter because the Pope – “on this rock I will built my Church”!
One lesson not to forget is that complaints are not resignations, complainants are not quitters. Yes, complainants are those who realize the weight of the cross they are carrying and who ask God for assistance. Every Jeremiah is a Christian who knows that the road to Jerusalem is hard and rocky and narrow, but counts on God’s grace to make the journey to the end. You know what, Jesus just wants us to keep moving; as Martin Luther King Junior put it, “if you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means, keep moving!” But in the life of Jesus Christ, we have learned a new way “to keep moving” – life itself is a sacrifice!
Paul says to us today, in our second reading, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1). Like women, whose biological constitution is prepared for childbearing, and by implication, the pain of childbirth, every Christian, by default, is a sacrificial lamb. It is when a Christian refuses to offer up his life as a sacrifice that his/her problems begin. Every sacrifice involves blood, even if the blood of Christ on the cross has replaced every other shedding of blood; yet, to be a living sacrifice is to be constantly on the road to Jerusalem, to be ever ready for temptations, difficulties and trials. Only a woman who has accepted to be a woman can become a mother. To refuse one’s nature and being is to live a perpetual life of agony and frustration, it is to preclude joy and contentment in one’s life.
As we rise from sleep every morning, as we go after our daily activities, as we mingle with the whole of creation, and we retire home to rest at the end of the day, let every single action and activity be a sacrifice, the worship of God. If Paul puts the two words together, “sacrifice” and “worship,” it is because he knew that the two go together; for, “worship is the human response to divine beneficences.” Only the person who is happy with having been created by God can worship God as a sign of gratitude; only the person who is at home with himself/herself can offer his/her body as a living sacrifice to God. In order to keep moving, faith makes us confident that God did not make a mistake in creating us; in order to keep moving through life, we must find meaning in God, and God does not become an option but a “must” in our lives.
Indeed, Jesus was sure of his destination, Jerusalem, no wonder he rebuked Peter for obstructing his journey; he was at home with his destiny, suffering, because he knew that the only way to save one’s life is to lose it for God; he was comfortable with his mission, because he knew that his resurrection was sure. Hence, if there is any message the liturgy today wants us to take home, it is this, from our second reading, especially for those of us who hate to carry our crosses: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect” (Rom 12:2). We will be content with sufferings, our crosses, betrayals, only when we have remodeled our thinking on God, and abandoned the ways of the world. Yes, we will keep moving, either by crawling because our crosses are heavy, running because our obstacles are light, flying because God carries us on eagle’s wings, despite our sorrows, but one thing is sure, we must keep moving, when we have faith in God, and believe that he journeys with us, even when we complain about our lots in life. “By all means, keep moving”!
Assignment for the Week :
Give yourself a treat this week in order to appreciate yourself as a master piece of God’s creation.