Religion is often a
mess. Certainly what is playing out in
our courts isn’t very helpful to anyone.
The religious people at a firm called Hobby Lobby have said that they
won’t pay for contraception for their employees as mandated by the Affordable
Care Act. The Supreme Court has agreed
with them and has made very cloudy what will come next. There is likely to be a myriad of lawsuits
claiming religious exemption from not only the Affordable Care Act, but from any
number of laws. We are in for a lot of
argument and discussion over the role of religion in our lives and in our laws.
Those of us who would push their
religion upon others need to hear what our Lord is saying. Following Jesus is for those of us who find
life difficult and full of trouble. In
the Lord’s presence is rest, refreshment and a totality of Love. That is what the world needs most, not more
law. Not more adjustments to make the religious people happy.
There is certainly nothing new here. Religion has been a difficult companion over
the years. It has differed from faith in
significant ways by codifying what behavior is appropriate by its followers and
differentiating the members of one religion from another. In the Middle East, currently there is
violence and war over religion and how the borders of the countries have been
drawn by merely political means. It is
little wonder that the Shia and Sunni sects of Islam are at war with each other
and are trying as hard as they can to get their own way and their own
land. This conflict is centuries old,
dating from the earliest moments of Islam.
From the fourth century onward, after Constantine made
Christianity legitimate, our religion has marched in front of armies and made
itself a requirement under penalty. Many
of the wars that have been fought have had a religious base to them. Certainly the Crusades are examples as
Christians tried to purge the Holy Land of Muslim invaders. I know what the response of Jesus would
likely have been to the atrocities that were perpetrated by his followers in
these times. Our Lord was not a person
of violence. When one of his disciples
cut off the ear of one of the soldiers who arrested Jesus in the Garden of
Gethsemane, he healed the man immediately and cautioned his disciples not to
fight with a sword. Jesus was a man of
peace, who called all of us to peace, no matter what was happening in the
world.
This didn’t always end very well. Certainly, Jesus’ pacifism was one of the
things that brought him to the cross; and there is a legion of martyrs who
followed their Lord as Christianity began to spread in the world.
In the Gospel, Jesus has been talking about John the
Baptist. He has asked the crowds who
they expected to see when they went out into the desert. John was dressed roughly and looked
wild. Jesus says that he was denounced
by the crowds because of his appearance and the fact that he neither ate or
drank; but when Jesus came among them eating and drinking, he was denounced as
a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners. He points out to his listeners that even when
great deeds were done, they were not recognized. It is only after the resurrection, when
people began to understand the reality of Jesus ministry to this world that in
retrospect his deeds began to be seen as magnificent and full of wonder. That is why we have the stories in Holy
Scripture of who Jesus was and what he did for all of humanity. It is all of humanity that was the recipient
of Jesus’ deeds. It was not only those
who followed him, it was also those who opposed, and indeed who crucified him
who are the object of God’s infinite love.
At the end of the Eleventh chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells all
of us: Come unto me all you who are
weary and who carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I
am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke
is easy and my burden is light!
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