Chapter
17
by Fr. Thomas Keating
The Rejection at Nazareth
He came to his hometown and began to
teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said,
"Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is this not
the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers
James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?
Where then did this man get all this? And they took offense at him. But Jesus
said to them, "Prophets are not without honor except in their own country
and in their own house." And he did not do many deeds of power there,
because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:54-58)
This text describes
the dismal reception that Jesus received in his hometown. His relatives and
acquaintances could not figure him out. Here was someone who grew up in their
hometown, who went to their schools and synagogues, and who earned his living as
a carpenter. Now all of a sudden, he turns into a wonderworker and starts
telling parables that nobody can understand.
There is always some
uneasiness when someone we know suddenly becomes a celebrity. We do not know
what to do with the situation. We may enjoy basking in the reflected glory of
celebrities, but a wisdom teacher is something else because such people are
generally confrontational.
Remember the movie Oh
God? In the film the hero is visited by a divine personage and immediately
becomes a celebrity. His friends cannot figure out what has happened to him. The
film brings to mind how local friends and relatives must have felt about Jesus.
On one occasion his relatives came to rescue him from his preaching ministry
because they thought he was going mad.
A ministry,
especially a good one, is a losing game. Paul details the long list of his
difficulties, including "a thorn in the flesh" that was interfering
with his peace of mind. He kept praying to God to free him from the problem. One
would think that God would respond favorably to such a great apostle, make
things a little easier for him, or even provide him with the red carpet service.
Paul was traveling all over the known world of his time spreading the kingdom of
God, and what does he get? Shipwreck, imprisonment, stoning, rejection,
persecution, and the betrayal of false brethren. Why could not God, infinitely
powerful, do something to smooth the way for the divine message?
Difficulties are a
stumbling block for everyone, especially when one is working for God. We cannot
get enough money, enough help, a decent reception. If we finally get a good
crowd, it snows or there is a hurricane, and nobody can come. This God of ours
is not predictable. This is what the parables point out. They try to prepare our
minds for a different set of expectations from the ones we bring with us from
early childhood, and which social custom and even our religious group support.
Paul was thinking,
"I'm working for you, Lord, risking my life for you, and this sting of the
flesh is getting me down. Can't you do something about it?" There has been
much scholarly discussion about what this "sting of the flesh" might
have been. It was not an abstract problem; it was in his flesh. Maybe he had
arthritis. Maybe he had an emotional problem. Maybe his was an aggressive
personality that kept alienating his beloved disciples. Maybe he was impetuous
and had a sharp tongue. Whatever it was, it was serious. He besought the Lord
again and again saying, "Let me out of this mess. Help! Help!" And the
reply came, "Nothing doing. I prefer the way things are. My power is made
perfect in weakness."
This is news. God is
more pleased with our weakness then with our success. Why? Perhaps because for
most people success is self-defeating. Until we have been squashed, stepped on,
rejected, opposed, persecuted, and have endured all kinds of difficulties,
success is hard to handle. The experience of our weakness is God's special gift.
Paul had great revelations. Great revelations are almost certain to be balanced
by great temptations. God is completely just and fair as well as concerned about
the dangers of spiritual pride. The bigger the graces, the greater the
temptations.
After the divine
rejection of his prayer for deliverance, Paul was able to say, "I am going
to boast from now on about my weakness so that the power of Christ may be
manifest in me." This alerts us to the fact that beyond our ordinary
experience of God, with our interpretation of what we think or expect by way of
help, is the whole world of divine assistance that takes place in relative
secrecy. This world is hidden, but real and much more substantial, affirming,
and liberating then events or situations that we are inclined to interpret as
God's special blessing or help.
The kingdom of God
is active in accidents, disappointments, rejection, and opposition of the kind
that Jesus experienced from his own household and that Paul experienced in his
weakness. The kingdom of God is in the ordinary ups and downs of life; in the
daily routines that bring back the same old weaknesses joined to our inability
to overcome them. The presence of the kingdom is manifested in our efforts to
keep going, to keep loving, to keep hoping, without any evidence that God is
helping us. At the last minute we might find enough money to pay the bills for a
month or two. It is life on the edge, life in confrontation with difficulties of
every kind. According to Jesus, God identifies with our dilemmas, confusion,
struggles, failures. God is present in sad reflection that after a lifetime in
God's service, there is seemingly nothing to show for it. Jesus experienced
exactly this kind of situation. He just kept going. If people would not accept
him in one town, he went somewhere else. There is always something worthwhile to
do in this world. If we get thrown out of this job or that ministry . . . so
what? What we are doing is not as important as our attitude toward
what we are doing. That is what God is most interested in.
The attitude of
faith does not limit God's activities to what we see or feel, but recognizes the
divine messages that come coded in the events of daily life. This enables us to
say, "I'm not going to fight this problem anymore but make the best of the
situation. It may be a necessary remedy that God has sent me to come to know the
full extent of God's mercy."
If we are going to
connect fully with the mystery of God's love in daily life, our trust in God
needs to be unlimited. Once we have let go of our preconceived ideas and
prepackaged value systems that expect God to fit into the narrow confines of our
human judgment, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. He keeps
breaking out of them and inviting us to come along with him. "Gladly,"
says Paul, "will I boast of my weakness that the power of God may be fully
manifest in me." The power of God becomes greater in the degree that we
move beyond our limited ideas of God's action and allow the kingdom to unfold
within us.
More information can be obtained by reading the
book The Kingdom of God is Like . . .by Fr. Thomas Keating. It is offered
in our Book
Store.
