Thanksgiving. It’s a government sponsored feast which we’ve just passed. Today’s Gospel reading is done at every Moleben that is served to offer thanks to God for any particular event in our lives.
Thanksgiving is a word indicative of our posture as “takers” in this world, those who wait upon the Lord to give of His bounty to us. I get upset all too often as I watch the sometimes violent demonstrations in the streets of our country today by the “Occupy” movement people. Like many, I sit and think, “Get off the streets and go and find a way to support yourselves. Quit screaming, “Gimme, GIMME, GIMME!”
And yet, isn’t this who we all are with respect to God? Without Him blessing our endeavors, without His granting us the grace to succeed, to hold meaningful and profitable jobs, we would have nothing. And therefore, to a large extent, I too am saying constantly to God, “Gimme!” In my sinfulness, I’m insatiable. I never have enough of anything. When food is before me, even though I don’t need to take seconds, I do, because the bounty of the Lord’s blessings is present before me. Do I thank Him for this? Not often nor well enough! When rest is available, and sometimes even when it should not be, I become lazy and seek some refuge from the constant barrage of requests for my time in the world, and I seclude myself. This, while there are people who need the spiritual blessings that I have been set to provide through His blessings upon me. When I go to make a purchase for something I need, do I take what will suffice, or do I go for something more. I do the later, and in so doing, I rob resources which could be donated to benefit this mission, or to give alms to those in more need than I. When I see something that has become popular in this world, I want it, and I take steps to attempt to acquire it, even though the need is not present – only the want.
“Gimme, Lord – Gimme!!”
In today’s Gospel, the Lord is on one of His journeys. The verse immediately before today’s reading makes it clear that Jesus is traveling throughout Samaria and Galilee . The particular “certain village” is not known. But it is fascinating to study the faith indicated in today’s reading. Again, we often “gloss over” things without trying to understand the depth being offered to us.
Lepers were not permitted to live among the general populace. People so feared the disease that if a leper was seen outside a leper colony, he or she would be stoned.
I mention the high level of faith because here we find a group of ten lepers, all of whom leave their leper colony and risk death at the hands of the general populace. Further, somehow they must have come to know that Jesus would pass that way. How this information reached inside the leper colony, we can’t know. But it’s clear that these ten waited patiently for this opportunity, and when it came, their faith led them to seize the moment.
This is why Saint Luke records that they “stood afar off,” for getting any closer to the crowds that surrounded Jesus would have brought certain rage and retaliation from those very crowds. But in their faith, they call out to the Lord. “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Yes, they are gravely ill. But in the theme of that which we are focusing today, the general tone of the message is, “Gimme.” “Lord, will You hear us? If You hear us, will You acknowledge our need and heal us?”
There is not an instance in Scripture where one who has come in faith to Jesus has left unanswered. Even in the instance of Saint Paul, who teaches us about his “thorn in the flesh” (2Cor 12:7), and how he prayed to the Lord that it be taken from him, even in that case, the Lord’s response, “My grace is sufficient for you…” is not a denial, for indeed, His grace was a greater gift than the healing could ever be.
I don’t want to give anyone the impression that, at least with respect to God, the “Gimme” attitude is completely without merit. However, it’s in fact the attitude that matters. Let me explain.
We have children, most of us, and we know how they are. There’s a certain “Gimme” mentality in all of them. How do you as a parent most lovingly respond to your child’s “Gimme” nature? Is it when they simply demand – “GIMME!” Or rather is it when they in all seriousness come to you and say, “I have no right to ask, but would you give to me….???” You can complete the request as you may choose. But you see the point, I think. Both postures are founded in the “Gimme” mentality, but one makes a demand presupposing that the positive response will happen because “it’s deserved” or “it’s unjust for you not to conform to my demand.” The other is a contrite request, recognizing a lack of foundation, and therefore expressing something more of a need than an excess.
The people in our streets today who are part of the “Occupy” movements are aligned with the “I deserve, I demand, you are unjust” mentality. I heard an audio capture from a news report in Canton, Ohio
And so I propose a new kind of “occupy” movement, one that we can get behind, one that should resonate with any who truly seek salvation and a place in the eternal kingdom of our Lord. As Christians, we should have the “Occupy Heaven” mentality!
Those in Occupy Wallstreet have abandoned homes and lives for the sake of protesting to receive that for which they have not labored. We in Occupy Heaven should abandon our ties to this world for the sake of seeking to receive the blessing of attaining a place in eternal life with Christ, a gift and a grace for which we have not labored.
Those in Occupy Wallstreet are demanding equality in terms of redistribution of wealth, not recognizing that if this were to occur, there would not so much be piles of money that resulted, but rather piles of debt that has already been incurred. We in Occupy Heaven are not demanding equality, but rather praying for mercy, because we know that we have amassed a large debt of sin, and we seek to have it forgiven equally. Some of us have larger debts than others, but the equality we seek is mercy that forgives all debt from all of us debtors.
Those in Occupy Wallstreet are demanding free tuition, free housing, free health care, free living, without the need to contribute on their own to that which is required to house, feed, and sustain their existence. We in Occupy Heaven are seeking a home in a place where there is no sickness, no sorrow, no sighing. In short, we are seeking entry to the one place in all of creation where “need” does not exist, and so indeed, if that is true, all of our needs will be met by the One whom we seek to serve in faith and love.
The Occupy Wallstreet people hate the system, and hate the people who are part of the system. The Occupy Heaven people love one another, and although we do so imperfectly, we love even those who hate us. The only system we are part of is the system that is the Church, who is the Bride of Christ, and while she, being in this world suffers from the sinful place in which she resides, she is beautiful, she is being made perfect to be received by her Bridegroom, and we also therefore love her, for we are part of her.
There is no positive example in what we are seeing in the world for us to follow. But as you see, if we take the rantings of the world, if we find the places where the world is failing to follow Christ, and if we truly and literally “go the other way”, we have hope, for there is full faith and credit in the kingdom of our Lord.
"Going the other way" is the definition of repentance! We simply need to decide where our allegiance lies.
Here or there?
Each of us has ‘free will’. We get to pick. But we must choose wisely.
To the choice of heaven or here, the only response I can offer is, “Gimme heaven”!
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