24 Hours That Changed the World: "Father, Let This Cup Pass From Me"
Many of us talk about finding God's will for our lives. Much of the time what God wants seems unclear. But sometimes, when it does become clear, our first response is, "Why me?" We are blessed by a story which tells us over and over again of a God who says things like, "You are precious in my sight and honored and I love you." (Isaiah 43:4) The snag is that we are supposed to love God back. Jesus tells us that loving our neighbor is one way of loving God. (Matthew 12:28-31) That make sense, since we can't hug God. John put it this way, "Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4: 11-12)
But all too often we are called to return that love in the form of nurturing a difficult neighbor, or confronting prejudice or injustice, and we find ourselves, like Moses or Jeremiah or Jonah, wishing someone else would take the point on this one. Often we're like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, saying to God, " I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can't You choose someone else?"
How do you find the strength, the courage, the wisdom to love those whom God calls you to love, knowing that sometimes they may be your enemies, people who insult you, abuse you, even threaten your life? For Christians, there is alway an obvious answer -- look at what Jesus did. There in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew that if he continued to love these enemies, caring for both the sinners and the righteous, speaking truth to both Roman collaborators and Zealot terrorists, finding the good in the poor and the rich, all would turn against him. Death by torture was the inevitable result. So what did he do?
He talked to God. He was honest. He expressed his fear and his sadness and his anger. He asked, just as we do, for God to show him anonther way, "Father, let this cup pass from me." But then he did something that we often fail to do -- he listened. There was no burning bush, no thunder, no earthquake. But just like Elijah, there in the silence he was answered.
What happened? He told us himself, "Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you." And he explained, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:9,13) And then he received the Holy Spirit, the source of all wisdom, courage and strength, and he was ready to face and love his accusers.
In John's Gospel Jesus says, "the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." (John 14:26-27)
God knows that his will is often difficult for us to carry out, but he promises us that if we will open our hearts and minds to the power of the Holy Spirit, we can face our fear and our distrust and our ignorance and do whatever it takes be the people we are called to be.
Why me? I just might be the one person in this very place and time that can be the healing hands of Christ's love for those around me.
Pray with me:
O God, send the power of your Holy Spirit upon me that I might see the world with your eyes, hear the cries of those in need, and be for them the healing hands of Christ's love. Amen.
