We gave you strict orders. When it comes to matters of conscience, why do authoritarians think they can simply speak more loudly or command more forcefully? Readings for Today.
We gave you strict orders
Oh my. It seems the more they are threatened, the more the Jewish leaders think they simply need to speak more forcefully. They have paid no attention to the apostles, the works of God, and the reaction of the people. They are losing their control and they do not like it.
Sometimes when we are losing our grip on something, we think simply trying to hold onto what we are losing is enough. But isn’t the real question about whether or not we should be holding on in the first place?
For it is the case that sometimes God is telling us to let go. Just let go. When we hold onto things we should not, we insist more unrealistically that we should hold on. We think that we can insist on our way, without any discernment. We know what we hold onto is best for us, and there is no need to talk about it. Just do what I want.
But when we do what God wants, rather than feeling constricted by the need to hold on, it is rather that we become free. This is because of the words of Jesus to Thomas. “I am the way, the truth and the life.” And, “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.“
And the reactions of the apostles and of the Jewish leaders demonstrate two ways we can understand freedom. The apostles demonstrate the freedom that comes through faith. When we are more concerned about who it is that we become, we focus more on the will of God.
And this becoming who we were created to be means listening to God, for no one (not even ourselves) no us better than God knows us. And so who would know better what will fulfill us? Who will know better what it is we should be about?
But for the Jewish leaders, their view of freedom is being able to do what they want. In fact, this view of freedom is not unlike what many would propose today about what it means to be free. When we focus on what we want, we tend to overestimate the benefit that comes when we get what we want.
Sometimes we become so obsessed with what we want that we only focus on that. We can become addicted to it. We can become willing to do whatever it takes to keep it. Sound familiar? This is what the Jewish leaders do.
They have lost sight of what it means to follow God. They have lost sight of what originally led them to follow God in the first place. The privilege of being Jewish leaders has become more important than God. In fact, this privilege of being Jewish leaders has become a god to them.
And this is most evident at the end of the first reading. The freedom of the apostles is contrasted with the slavery of the Jewish leaders. A slavery to power, to prestige, to privilege. The more the apostles show that they are free, the more infuriated the Jewish leaders become.
Their only solution is to kill. Not to kill those things have become idols in their lives. But to kill those who invite them to become who they were created by God to be. The invitation to really coming to know Jesus, and to experience the new life only he can give, is an invitation they cannot accept. They would rather be small and petty, than free and saved.
But following the Holy Spirit leads to freedom. The apostles are no longer afraid of what might happen to them. They no longer are timid, but now they are bold. They no longer run away, but they run towards those who need to hear the word of God. They run towards those who need to meet Jesus.
The question then, is, what do you hold on to? What are you worried you will lose? What do you cling to? For these are the very questions we all need to ask. We need to focus on those things that cause us to be free. For we know that when we are committed to cooperating with God to become our best selves, nothing enslaves us.
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