Preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church
Holy Wisdom Church
Stephen
Covey, now how many of you remember him? From the mid-1980s to well into the
present century he was recognized as a management guru because of his book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Business, government and many other organizations sought out his expertise. His
main time management goal was to convince people to plan ahead and not get
caught up in unimportant activities turning the more important tasks into
crises. Back in 2001 we invited a good Franciscan friend of ours to come to New
Skete to lead a 7 Habits workshop. As
a Franciscan he was trained to give this workshop to religious, so he used many
examples drawn from religious life. It was an eye opening experience for us.
And many of the principles are still a part of our vocabulary and life. Even
so, we could use a refresher course, as human nature tends to push us in the
opposite direction. How often life seems to be lived in the emergency ward!
Putting
off difficult decisions until they can no longer be avoided can happen in any
area of life and human institutions. It could be letting go of time-honored
practices that we can no longer manage or fixing an aging building before it
collapses. I am sure many of you have had to deal with the sad task of
convincing an aging member of the family that they need to move from their home
into an assisted living facility. No one wants to lose their independence and
it may be that unexpected fall and broken hip that makes the decision for them.
Human nature is programed to resist change, even though change is inevitable
and unavoidable! We have many expressions that spring from this dilemma: being “between
a rock and a hard place,” “at our wits end,” “nowhere else to turn” and “rock
bottom,” to name only a few.
The
phrase “hitting rock bottom” often refers to a crisis that someone has fallen
into which is so bad that it cannot get any worse. That issue may be about an
addiction. The individual may have lost their job, home, family, friends and so
destroyed their life that they are finally forced by circumstances to get help.
Sadly, some never escape from that low point. However, many who do reach out
for help have found 12-step programs to be beneficial. Addictions are often how
people act out while the actual problem prompting the addictive behavior lies
elsewhere. The 12-step program requires a rigorous self-evaluation and
stock-taking. Through that self-assessment the individual seeks to uncover the
factors that led to the addictive behavior. Underpinning all this work is a
fundamental principle, to get one’s life back together first requires one to realize
that the task is too big to do alone, help from a higher power is needed. Or we
would say God.
In
today’s gospel story the woman with the issue of blood has arrived a “rock
bottom” and is certainly at her “wits end” as she has tried everything she can
think of to solve her problem, including spending all her money on doctors.
Even so, things have only gotten worse, not better. It is at this point that
Jesus Christ enters the scene. We have no idea how she came to know about
Jesus, but at this moment in her life she tells herself that if she could just
touch the hem of Jesus garment she will be healed. My early experience in the
Orthodox Church was in an Antiochian parish where this gospel image was
re-enacted at every liturgy. As the priest brought the holy gifts into the
church and processed up the center aisle people would reach out and touch the priest’s
robes. As with the woman in the gospel story, these people were seeking to
connect with the holy in a tactile way.
What
does Jesus say to the woman? Your faith has healed [saved] you. He knew that
someone had touched him for he felt “the power go out from him.” He did not
tell the woman that her actions had saved her, but rather that her faith had
saved her. And this is what the story is telling us. Seeking to connect with
God is about faith not physical presence. Yes, Christ was physically present to
this woman, but that access to the healing power was not about touching Christ’s
garment but rather the faith behind that action. The reality to which the
physical act pointed: recognizing Christ’s presence everywhere and at all times
is the message. We cannot go back and insert ourselves into that scene, rather
it is Christ who inserts himself into our circumstances.
And
how do we experience Christ’s presence? People
in 12-step programs certainly notice the higher power and I would submit that
part of that experience lies in the support that comes from all the others
gathered at the meetings. I firmly believe that God is active in our lives and
in the world. God sends people to us to help us, even if we don’t realize it
and the people involved don’t realize it. Where does the motivation to help
come from? What sparks that movement? Sometimes we might think it is
serendipity when action and need coincide. For me serendipity is just another
word for God.
I
can’t tell you how many times my spiritual director has responded to a
challenging issue I am wrestling with and pointed to the little church and said
take it there, take it to prayer. He knows that I take my meditation time in
that church. So he is telling me to go to that place and put the issue in God’s
hands. And what happens? Sometimes just the act of passing the issue on reduces
the stress. Sometimes a new perspective on the matter emerges. Sometimes, just
like in 12-step work, the realization dawns around what I can change and what I
cannot change. And the most important insight is the awareness that God is part
of the process, present in the moment and always accompanying us on our
journey. The ultimate outcome may not change but how we get there does, and
that matters.
Each
Sunday morning during Great Lent we chant a hymn: “Open to me the gates of
repentance O giver of life, for at early morning my spirit seeks your holy
presence.” The original text said “seeks your holy temple.” But of course what
do you find in the temple but God. This is our quest. Lent is another
opportunity to remind us of God’s presence everywhere!
