Father Tim Lemlin
A little boy offered up a Thanksgiving Day prayer for the family and prayed: "Dear God, this is Jimmy. Thank you for Thanksgiving and Christmas and all of the holidays. Thank you for the turkey and dressing and Mom and Dad and even for my little sister, even though some times she can be a pain. Thank you for books and TV and game boy. Thank you for loving us. Oh, yeah, and take care of yourself, God, because without you, we're sunk. Amen."
"…without you, we're sunk." These aren't words that we often admit. Oh, there are times that we say them, but we really don't mean them or live as though we believe them. They are merely words - concepts - that never make it out of our head and into our every day life.
They are similar to the words that we hear today in our first reading from the prophet Jeremiah. As we heard them read they had little or no meaning for us, so even as the words were being read, I suspect, they were forgotten. Yet, the words that we hear today from the prophet Jeremiah are most significant. They echo the covenant that God makes with Abraham. Both of these covenants are unilateral - one way. God establishes a covenant with us.
Though not completely forgotten, the covenant that God makes with Abraham is soon replaced with another covenant, this time bilateral - two ways. This covenant is spelled out in the Book of Deuteronomy. It is a covenant that is contingent upon our choosing to do what God commands. We hear repeatedly in the Book of Deuteronomy, "If you do this, then I will do this. If you don't do this, then I won't do this." This covenant is conditional upon our keeping up our end of the covenant.
Jeremiah re-introduces the unilateral covenant because his life-experiences tell him that it is impossible for humans to keep their end of the covenant. He realizes that humans are incapable of perfection. We make mistakes. We sin. We fail to remain alert and aware. We eagerly seek self-gain even when it is at the expense of others. We create and follow false gods. We kill others and honestly believe that we are defending God … that God is on our side. In other words, we are completely unworthy.
We don't often allow ourselves to see this about ourselves. Anthropologically, religion finds its origins in the separation of those who are good from those who are evil. Those who belong to the established religion are good. Those who don't belong or have been judged unworthy to belong are evil. This makes it very easy (and convenient) for us to project the evil and imperfection that dwells in us onto those who are different or who aren't members of our religion.
Jeremiah is proclaiming to us today that the only truly holy (perfect) person - God, who could justifiably condemn us - doesn't. Instead of demanding that we come up to God's level of holiness (something that is impossible) God chooses to come down to our level. God tells us, "That which is impossible for you, I will do. I will make you worthy." We call this the incarnation - God becoming flesh - and celebrate it each year with Christmas.
My worthiness, then, is not based upon the goodness that I have achieved. My goodness is not created by my power, prestige, or prosperity. My goodness is not about me at all. It is caused by God who is completely beyond me yet chooses to dwell within me.
Apocalyptic readings (readings about end times) are purposely used during this time of year to remind us that our life has a limit. We have an end. Our church speaks of purgatory. If we believe in such a reality it is usually thought of as a place in which suffering makes us worthy to come into God's Presence. This is not the original meaning of this reality. Its original meaning comes from the insightful truth that at some point in our lives we become aware that all of the things that we value as so important - as necessary - are in fact unimportant and unnecessary. I am unimportant and unnecessary! This truthful insight brings with it tremendous pain because it undoes who we believe ourselves to be - the self that is dependent upon all that we hold onto as important and necessary. This painful purgation doesn't make us worthy. Our pain comes from the realization that God's love has always been with us and we have missed it because we have been too busy trying to earn it.
"Oh, yeah, and take care of yourself, God, because without you, we're sunk. Amen."
