Morality for Mystics
A Reading from John’s Gospel:
Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no-one, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Homily:
Lord, we pray for the preacher, for You know his sins are great.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
“The Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.”
I once had someone tell me that all this Christianity stuff went over their family’s heads, and that the basic teachings of the Church—of good and evil, right and wrong, morality—well, they could just teach all that to their kids at home. No need to muck things up with liturgy, theology, sacraments, that sort of thing. Best to keep it simple for these at-home ethicists.
And don’t get me wrong: it’s wonderful when parents intentionally set about to teach their children right from wrong. Lord knows we could all use a little more moral formation in youth and in life. But is that what the Church is for? Is that what we do here twice a week, and every day at home: teach right from wrong? Obviously the Church is concerned with morality, and thus Christians look all the more foolish and hypocritical when we fail to practice what we preach. True.
But the Church is not primarily a school of moral instruction. Morality is an integral part of religion, of course, but only a part; in the same way that a body needs a spine yet is much more than a spine. What did Jesus say is the sum of all the Law? “Love God with all you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the whole of the Law and the Prophets: so central and universal to human endeavor that we call it the Golden Rule.
And indeed the ubiquity of this rule is really quite remarkable. Regardless of culture, place, or time, every serious philosophical and religious tradition has produced this Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Like mathematics, it is not so much invented as discovered. It was already there, in us, in our world. And we keep unearthing it, even as we so often strive to ignore it.
You can find this same basic moral Law in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Platonism, Wicca; there’s even a form of it endorsed by the Church of Satan. There are certain things, it seems, we simply can’t not know. And the other half of the Law—loving God with all you are; that is, reverence for the divine, for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful—you can find that elsewhere as well. There’s always something holy in human affairs, some sacred cow.
Morality is universal; maybe not in its particulars, but in its bones. Murder is always bad, truth is always good, virtue is ever to be emulated, &c. &c. So if we can get morality elsewhere—everywhere—why be here? Why come to Church, why all the smells and bells? Can’t I just watch PBS, learn to “be a nice fella”?
Religion is about more. It’s about transcendence. Transcendence is the very thing that makes us human, that separates man from the beasts. Our desires are infinite. There is a hole in our soul that can only be filled by the limitless and the eternal. Animals can experience emotion, loyalty, selflessness, love. But if you give an animal all its basic needs, it will be happy. It will be satisfied. A dog is content to be a dog; it doesn’t sit around wondering about purpose or meaning or value or truth.
But you do, and so do I. We desire, we yearn, for something beyond ourselves, beyond our world. Our appetite for what is beautiful, good, and true can never be satiated, we never have enough, and thus can only be fed by an infinite Source. No matter how much stuff we cram into our lives, how many possessions or experiences or distractions or entertainments, deep within we are unsatisfied. Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in You.
Every culture, every faith, has known that beneath, beyond, and above the world of our senses, of our bodies and our minds, there is Something that is both nothing and everything all at once. We call it Goodness, Truth, and Beauty; Consciousness, Being, and Bliss; Existence, Knowledge, and Love; Father, +Son, and Holy Spirit. Different names, different words, for the One who is ultimately ineffable, beyond all thought, beyond all words. And this all men call God.
It is God whom everyone is always really seeking, whenever we strive for meaning, purpose, truth, joy, value, love, peace, wholeness, art. And the Christian path, the Way of Christ, is how we know to get there. Christianity seeks oneness with God. That’s what atonement means: “at-one-ment.” We want that mystic encounter, that divine union, that oneness with the One. That’s what all of this is about! —because we believe, in Jesus Christ, that God and Man are One. So that when we’re one in Jesus, we are one with God. That’s what we find here.
You want God? There He is: in that Man, on that Cross. We don’t just listen to Jesus here; we don’t just copy Him. We become Him! We eat Him. We drink Him. We breathe in His Spirit. Billions of people for thousands of years have found God in this Man, and so can you. So can we all! The entire process is mystical: a lifelong expanding spiral of faith, ever returning to old things dying and being reborn anew. The Font of our Baptism is a pool without bottom. No matter how deeply you dive, there will always be some greater depth.
Everything that Christ has to give is given to us in our Baptism. Yet one can spend 40 years in the worship and service of God only to find that he has barely scratched the surface! Believe me. It is a long, hard, joyous road that we can only walk because Christ walks it for us. It costs us all, yet gives us more, infinitely so. Christianity is death and resurrection every day. Such a gift, this life of God, is given for us all—yet rarely finds acceptance. This is what Christ gives us here: His life, His death, His resurrection. Pick up your cross and follow.
In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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