767 ELM STREET * ROCKY HILL * CONNECTICUT 06067
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767 ELM STREET * ROCKY HILL * CONNECTICUT 06067 |
           
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In the comedy film, Love and Death, by Woody Allen; there is a scene where Allen has been conscripted into the Russian Army to defend Russia against the advancing armies of Napoleon. Before going on a leave his captain gives the men a speech. Gentlemen, learn to fight well. This small vignette in the film is poking fun at some of the absurd things, beliefs and choices people make. The great armies of Napoleon were a symbol of what some folks will give their hearts, minds and bodies to-what they think is the glory of the nation, or to some leader claiming to be something of a “new messiah”. Certainly this is the way Hitler and Stalin were portrayed in their propaganda. So many have been seduced by such things and the result is always carnage and disillusionment. It seems that it always requires a flower of a generation to rid the world of such tyrannies that arise when human beings build their homes on the shifting sands of illusionary earthly forms of power. Greece, Persia, Rome, the Third Reich now exists only in the dust bin of history. But the Way of Christ, the way of discipleship remains the only way to truly live a fulfilling and hope-filled life. The more I live the more I understand and accept this as my truth. We are told by Jesus himself, that not all who cry Lord, Lord will be saved. He knew that often enough, some would try to be outwardly pious but never make the commitment to Jesus himself. He knew some would hold him at arms length and use the rules of religion as a clever dodge to avoid commitment to his person. But such avoidance cannot stand well in the face of the storms of life. Jesus calls for a faith of the heart, the head-the whole person in a commitment to him. It is about a relationship! Rules and regulations are there to help facilitate the relationship not to take its place! Jesus calls all to such a commitment not from a sense of vanity or megalomania like the “messianic-pretenders” we’ve seen do often in history. Jesus’ call is one that has our salvation at its center, the doing the will of the Father. His relationship with the Father is total and he calls each of us that same relationship through a commitment to himself. But what is typical of this relationship? The New Testament tells us that each one of us is called by name by Jesus himself. He is the initiator of this relationship! This is not to be understood as some pious metaphor but as a real call to follow Jesus to places in our lives that we could never have imagined or desired! We are called to leave behind the secure and the familiar and to be willing to accept what comes because of it! But with such a cost comes real life! For the One we follow has conquered evil and death. In his life of service, of giving his life away for the Father, us, and the world, comes the revelation of the resurrection that tells us that what matters most in this world is a full heart, a sacred heart that loves without fear and the need for the return of that love! Such a life can live in freedom from the “cult of abundance and consumption”. Such a life can be free from the fear that if one does not grab for everything in this life that one will bet gypped. We don’t get gypped-that is the promise and the revelation of God in the crucified and risen Christ. Now, believers know that we do not gather here to, what Dr. King once said in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “Hide behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows.” We come here to reaffirm and rededicate ourselves to be Jesus’ disciples in this world, embodiments of the unconditional love of God for all people that shows itself in direct love for the other and working to create a world befitting the dignity of all. Such a life builds a home on the rock of salvation. Where have we built our homes? Deacon Robert M. Pallotti, D.Min. Return to Saint James Home Page |