Many people think of Christianity as a collection of
religious rules that tell us what to do and what not to do. The problem with a religion of law is that,
while it points us in the direction of how we should behave, it does not give
us the spiritual strength necessary to follow the rules. A faith that is simply
a form of legalism leads inevitably to the frustration of never being able to fulfill
its commandments. A common way of coping
with that frustration is to turn the focus away from our own failings by hypocritically
condemning others for theirs. It is no
wonder that those who encounter such distorted forms of the faith typically
have little interest in it. It is not
surprising that those who distort the faith in this way do not find healing for
their spiritual infirmities.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus Christ demonstrated
that He did not come simply to give us a new set of laws to obey according to
our own moral strength. He showed that
He did not come merely to deliver us from the guilt of falling short of obeying
divine commandments. He forgave the sins
of the paralyzed man, thus manifesting His divinity in a way that scandalized
religious leaders. But He also revealed
that His salvation is not defined in legalistic terms, as though the whole
point of the Christian life were to be declared innocent in a court of law for
certain offenses. If that were the case,
there would have been no point in healing the paralyzed man, for he could have
been acquitted of his sins while remaining unable to move.
The man’s paralysis is a vivid icon of the state of
humanity cast out of Paradise, corrupted by our refusal to pursue the
fulfillment of our calling to become like God in holiness. By disorienting ourselves from our true
vocation and looking for fulfillment through gratifying our self-centered
desires, we have diminished ourselves to the point of becoming as weak as the
man unable to get up off the ground. Christ
responded to him with healing mercy, granting the poor man strength and
restoration beyond what he could ever have given himself, no matter how hard he
tried. In response to the Savior’s
gracious therapy, the man obeyed the command to stand up, pick up his bed, and
walk home. Apart from this personal
encounter with the Lord, the man would have remained enslaved to debilitating
weakness, but the Savior’s healing restored his ability to move forward in a
life suitable for a person who bears the image and likeness of God.
Whenever we ask for the Lord’s mercy, we are asking
for the same therapy that He extended to the paralyzed man. We ask Him to heal our wounds, restore our
strength, and help us become participants in the eternal joy for which He
created us. We ask Him to deliver us
from the wretched, corrupt state of being so weak before our passions that we
feel helpless before our familiar temptations, no matter how much we despise
them. We ask Him to help us find healing from the ingrained habits of thought,
word, and deed that serve only to make us and our neighbors miserable. We even dare to ask Him to make us “partakers
of the divine nature” who share by grace in His victory over death, which is
the wages of sin.
To rise up, take up our beds, and walk home requires
obedience to Christ’s commands, but not a legalistic obedience in the sense of
following a code for its own sake.
Instead, this obedience is like following the guidance of a physician or
therapist who makes clear to us what we must do in order to regain health and
function for our bodies. Christ embodies
true humanity and has made us participants in His restoration and fulfillment
of our vocation to become like God in holiness.
His commandments are not arbitrary or superficial but go to the heart
and require our healing as whole persons in communion with God.
The Saints are inspirational examples of what it
looks like for people to become healed of the paralysis of sin amidst all the temptations
and problems presented by this world of corruption. Today we commemorate the glorious Prophet Elijah
who gained the strength to speak so boldly in opposition to the idolatry of Ahab
and Jezebel, to cause a drought for three years and six months by his prayers, and
to call down fire from heaven in a confrontation with the pagan priests of Baal.
Elijah miraculously multiplied the flour and oil of the widow of Zarephath and
raised her son from the dead. When he
passed his mantle of prophecy to Elisha, he divided the Jordan river and then was
taken up into heaven in a fiery chariot.
He appeared with Moses at the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount
Tabor.
The Archangel Gabriel said to Zechariah that John
the Baptist “will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Lk. 1:17) Christ affirmed
the close association of Elijah and John the Forerunner, saying “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already
come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they
wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their
hands.” (Matt. 17: 11-12)
It may be tempting to think that a great saint
like Elijah was a spiritual superhero who never struggled with fear, doubt, or
any kind of weakness. The truth is very
different. He literally ran for his life
when told that Jezebel was out to kill him and then prayed that the Lord would
take his life, despairing that “I am no better than my fathers!” (3 Kingdoms 19:4) In
response to God’s question as to what he was doing hiding in a cave at Mount
Horeb, Elijah complained that “I alone am left” as one faithful in Israel and
that “they seek to take my life.” Then there was a great wind, an earthquake,
and a fire, but the Lord was not in any of them. He spoke to Elijah, however, in a “gentle
breeze” or a “still small voice,” asking again why he was there. The Lord responded again to Elijah’s complaint
that he was alone, saying “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose
knees have not bowed to Baal…” (3 Kingdoms 19: 10-18) Even the great
prophet Elijah had to be reminded not to fall into despair and self-pity and to
keep his spiritual perception finely tuned to hear the Word of the Lord.
As St. James
wrote, “Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves and he prayed fervently
that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on
the earth. Then he prayed again and the heavens gave rain, and the earth
brought forth its fruit.” That is precisely
why he and all the Saints are such great examples for us of what it means to
gain the spiritual strength to rise, take up our beds, and walk. They experienced the weaknesses, challenges,
and temptations that are our common lot in this world of corruption. Nonetheless, the Old Testament saints took up
the struggle to live in faith and hope for the fulfillment of God’s gracious
promises that is ours in Jesus Christ. As
we read in Hebrews 11:39-40, “And all these, having obtained a good
testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided
something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from
us.”
As those who have become
heirs to the fullness of the promise to Abraham by faith in Christ, we have no
more business lying flat on our backs in spiritual paralysis than did Elijah
hiding out in a cave and bemoaning how he alone had been faithful. Like Elijah, we must cultivate the spiritual
sensitivity to hear the “gentle breeze” or “still small voice” of the Lord and not
to be distracted by the winds, the earthquakes, and the fires of our life and
world. We do not worship pagan deities like
Baal, but it is so easy to corrupt our pursuit of the Christian life in ways
that simply serve our passions and keep us paralyzed before them. Our true calling is very different and requires
the spiritual clarity gained by mindful prayer, fasting, and generosity to our neighbors. As St. James wrote, we must confess our sins
and “pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous
man has great power in its effects.” He
also taught that “Pure and undefiled religion in the
sight of our God and Father is this: to
visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to
keep oneself unstained by the world.”
(Jas. 1:27) None of this is new, trendy, or easy, but it is how we must persistently
struggle to live if we are to gain the spiritual strength to obey the command
of the Lord to each and every one of us:
Rise, take up your bed, and go home. That is what Elijah the Prophet did
and it is what we must all do for the salvation of our souls.
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