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Standing
on God's Side
Fr.
George Smiga
October
1, 2006
Mark
9:38 –48
At
the height of the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was
invited to address a large gathering of Union Forces who were
rallying in support of the war. The emcee who introduced the
president asked him to come forward and the lead the assembly
in a prayer that God might be on the Union side and help win
the war. Lincoln came up to the podium and the first thing
he said was “Sir, I am not really concerned about whether
God is on our side. I am very concerned whether we are on
God's side.”
We
all want God to be on our side. But how do we be on God's
side? What does that mean? Today's readings reveal two truths
about God's side. The first is this. God's side is always
bigger then our side. We spend a lot of time making decisions
that separate good from bad; people we trust from those we
do not trust; those with whom we identify and those from whom
we will push away. Making such decisions is necessary. We
live in a dangerous world. There are things in our world which
can hurt us. We need to make decisions which will protect
ourselves, our family, and our country. But once we have made
those important and necessary decisions, once we have grouped
together all the people who we deem as good and those we can
trust, the believer in Christ always has to admit that the
group that God would draw together as good and worthy is larger
than our group.
God
sees a goodness that we do not perceive. God sees possibilities
that we cannot imagine. That's why God is God, and we must
be very cautious about pretending to know who is on God's
side. Joshua makes that mistake in today's first reading.
He objects because God's power came upon two men who he thinks
do not deserve it. John makes the same mistake in today's
Gospel. John complains because someone who does not belong
to Jesus' company was nevertheless driving out demons in Jesus'
name. Both Moses and Jesus know better. They know that God's
power cannot be limited only to those who we define as worthy.
Both Moses and Jesus realize that there are more people on
God's side than we are able to see. God's side is bigger than
our side. This is a truth which all of us who believe in God
must accept.
This
leads to the second truth in today's readings: standing on
God's side is not easy. Making room for God's bigger vision
of others is difficult. It means that we must commit ourselves
to listen to others who we believe are wrong, just in case
they might be on God's side too. It means we must accept those
who are different from us and difficult for us, just in case
they might carry a truth that we cannot see. It means we must
love our enemies and dialogue with them, because only if we
do might we discover common ground by which God intends to
build the future.
It
is difficult to stand on God's side because we will look foolish
to all those who are sure they are right. We will be ridiculed
by those who have no interest other then circling the wagons
and protecting those who they deem worthy of protecting.
Standing
on God's side is difficult. Perhaps that is why Jesus uses
the violent images that he does in today's Gospel. Because
letting go of the security that we hold the complete truth
can be as difficult as cutting off our hand. Pushing away
stereotypes, prejudices, and false fears that tag another
as an enemy can be as painful as cutting off a foot. Resisting
the primal impulse to return violence for violence and hatred
with hatred can be as unthinkable as plucking out an eye.
But, if we want to stand with God, that is the price we pay.
Those who follow Christ then must be humble and courageous:
humble to know that God's vision is always bigger then our
vision, courageous to make room for that vision even if we
seem foolish or hopelessly naïve.
Jesus
calls us to that humility and courage—to believe in God's
kingdom and to be agents of its dawning. It is difficult to
stand on God's side. Perhaps that is why there are so many
people who prefer simply to proclaim that God stands with
them.
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