If
you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are
above...Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that
are on earth
That
sounds like pretty clear advice – and indeed, Paul is a past-master
at viewing the world in black and white binary terms...As he
addresses the Colossians, he is asking them to draw a firm line
between their former selves and their true selves, those selves that
are hidden for now, only to be revealed when the Kingdom breaks in in
all its fullness.
The
only trouble is that, when I look at my own life, that opening “IF”
feels like quite a significant word.
Yes
– I was baptized as a baby, went through that symbolic drowning of
all the old order, the original sin, if you like...and what's more my
parents went on to honour the baptism promises, doing everything in
their power to help me realise that to be a Christian was to live a
different kind of life. And yes, I long to love God with all my
heart, soul, mind, strength and to love and serve my neighbour
selflessly...And I take the call of God on my life, and the joyful
obligations of priesthood very seriously indeed but (oh, goodness,
why is there ALWAYS a but?) that IF brings me up short every
single time.
IF
I have been raised with Christ – then surely my life should look
very very different.
If
the only evidence there is for a Christ-like transformation is the
way that I spend my Sunday mornings and the institution that employs
me, then I rather think I'm doing it wrong. Please don't think that
I'm fishing for compliments if I say that I don't honestly think
there is very much that distinguishes me from my atheist friends,
whose lives are every bit as moral, every bit as free from Paul's
catalogue of evils as, on a good day, I aspire to be.
So
– if my transformed life is buried treasure,hidden with Christ,
then sometimes it feels as if it's rather better hidden than I’d
like...I find myself asking “Where’s the evidence, Fleming?”
I
know myself quite well, by this stage...and I know that often my
actions are shaped by anxiety rather than trust...I can all too
easily imagine myself delighting in having stored up supplies for a
rainy day (in fact, I might as well admit that yes, I do have a
Brexit cupboard – though I take some comfort in the fact that my
initial motivation was to be sure that I have something in reserve if
life gets so bumpy in London that my family need to return home).
I
want to feel safe – and to be able to ensure the safety of those
whom I love.
But
I’m working on it.
I
know that while I might not always have enough for all my WANTS I
have infinitely more than my basic needs...And that in any case, all
those THINGS aren’t actually what matters.
The
parable of the rich man with all those barns might well be a parable
for 21st century life. For decades we’ve worked on the
assumption that more is better – and that there will always BE
more...that we can carry on expecting growth in every area...that
somehow a money tree WILL grow, that our poor beleagured planet will
shake itself and continue to meet all our demands, even as we strip
it bare of so many precious resources. Now we are, perhaps, reaching
the crunch point – the point when our souls are required of us. Too
many of us have done very nicely thank you, at the expense of
others…- those in the global south whose lives are being decimated
by climate change – those in our city who find themselves turning
again and again to the Food Bank as our society seems intent on
cutting costs by making life ever harder for those who are already
vulnerable…
I
may not be alone in recognising a tendency to think “Somebody
should DO something to make things better...” without accepting the
responsibility to do something myself – right here and right now.
There’s
something grotesque about the rich man talking to himself
“Soul...relax, eat, drink, be merry” - for the soul is not
sustained by anything you might find stored in a barn. Instead the
life and health of our souls is found in Christ alone – and the
choice is ours...to live into this as the central truth that shapes
our lives, or to turn aside, and pin our hopes on the things of here
and now.
Let’s
pray for the grace to make Kingdom choices and so live that it’s
clear for all to see what we really value – Christ, our life.
I
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