Lord, Teach Me! By Wayne Miller

Lord, Teach Me! By Wayne Miller

Sixth Sunday of Easter 

Piety

Grant, Almighty God,

that we may celebrate with heartfelt devotion these days of joy,

which we keep in honor of the risen Lord,

and that what we relive in remembrance

we may always hold to in what we do.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, forever and ever.

Study

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 15:1-2, 22-29

It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities.

Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.” Because there arose no little dissension and debate by Paul and Barnabas with them, it was decided that Paul, Barnabas and some of the others should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question.

The apostles and elders, in agreement with the whole church, decided to choose representatives and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. The ones chosen were Judas, who was called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers. This is the letter delivered by them: “The apostles and the elders, your brothers, to the brothers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia of Gentile origin: greetings. Since we have heard that some of our number who went out without any mandate from us have upset you with their teachings and disturbed your peace of mind, we have with one accord decided to choose representatives and to send them to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are sending Judas and Silas who will also convey this same message by word of mouth: ‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities, namely, to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meats of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage. If you keep free of these, you will be doing what is right. Farewell.’” The word of the Lord.

Only a short time in the life of the new church, and, already, the rule-makers and rule-keepers want to impose their tradition as the source and summit of the new Way. But, already, there were two powerful leaders, both cultural and religious Jews from very different walks of life, who have been irrevocably transformed by their encounter with the Risen Lord. Both realize the necessity of providing consistent formation to their new brothers and sisters. And both support – each in their own unique way – the absolute primacy of living lives dedicated to the new, perfectly-simple commandment given by Jesus: “love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another”!

But as leaders, they knew that all beginners, child, and adult, need simple rules to build a solid foundation and structure for the first half of their new lives. My favorite contemplative, Friar Richard Rohr, stresses that we need good grounding if we are to be living, functioning disciples of the Lord Jesus in our world.  But we must build that solid container so that we can know and understand and forgive when we, and our brothers and sisters, inevitably fail to live up to the rules. Father Rohr calls this “falling upwards” into the second half of our lives.

Can you forgive yourself, or your brother, for transgression with the same enthusiasm and abandon that the Father so readily forgives and loves you?

So, back in Jerusalem, the two greatest leaders of the fledgling church, with a roomful of their most trusted advisors, committed themselves to prayer and discernment trusting that the Holy Spirit gave them the answer. And the cycle began again: setting aside the 613 commandments of the Torah for the ONE Great Commandment – and four “essential” rules of behavior. 

Abstain from: 

• meat sacrificed to idols, (worship only the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit!)
• consuming blood, (the only “life-giving liquid” is the Living Water of Jesus)
• meats of strangled animals, (see Rule 1)
• unlawful marriage (live Fruitful, Covenant Relationship with one another so that you may know how to live Fruitful, Covenant Relationship with God.)

Actually, it seems a pretty good start for the Rule of The Way.  I pray that the brothers that accompanied Barnabas and Paul back to Antioch provided cogent insights to these four succinct commands in their “word-of-mouth” presentation. It is so important to have a loving homily to “unpack” the proclaimed Word.

Oh, how I love their child-like innocence, believing that a simple checklist would answer the mail. Two millennia later, we have 2857 paragraphs in our Catechism. My Secular Franciscan Order has just 26, but a very comprehensive Constitution. We, humans, are a curious tribe, forever seeking to be circumscribed so that we may KNOW what is GOOD and what isn’t.

Action

Abba Father, please help me to live every moment of my life with the vision and perspective of Your Perfect Commandment. Help me to know and be faithful to all the loving, living guidance you provide through my leaders and brothers and sisters. Sustain in me a living conversation with Your Son, and the Joy of the active presence and gift of Your Holy Spirit. Teach me to be your man in my world.

Give me the wisdom to see each encounter with Your children as Your Gift; another opportunity to fall upwards into Your limitless acceptance and forgiveness. May I always live in covenant relationship with You and all Your children.

De Colores!