Tension and being lifted up

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today teach us to learn from tension between people and the ideas they profess.

From Henry Ossawa Tanner, 'Nicodemus Coming to Christ'

Luke describes and ideal attitude towards possessions in the Acts of the Apostles.

* [4:32–37] This is the second summary characterizing the Jerusalem community (see note on Acts 2:42–47). It emphasizes the system of the distribution of goods and introduces Barnabas, who appears later in Acts as the friend and companion of Paul, and who, as noted here (Acts 4:37), endeared himself to the community by a donation of money through the sale of property. This sharing of material possessions continues a practice that Luke describes during the historical ministry of Jesus (Lk 8:3) and is in accord with the sayings of Jesus in Luke’s gospel (Lk 12:33; 16:9, 11, 13).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the need to be born again.

* [3:15] Eternal life: used here for the first time in John, this term stresses quality of life rather than duration.

Ann Mausbach offers an example of how it is in the tension that we can form understanding and meaning.

Many times, when we think about letting Spirit in our lives, the word surrender surfaces, but I think what Jesus is trying to tell us today is that it isn’t so much about letting go as it is in opening up. Surrender means to give up and this is the opposite of what God wants for our relationship. God wants us to lean in. Being open requires us to work with the tension that is inherent in all relationships.

Kermit Zarley shares one point of view on the new birth that Jesus presents to Nicodemus.

So, by truly believing in Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, and thus accepting him as our Savior, we have the promise of eternal life in the eschaton–the blessed world-to-come.

Don Schwager exhorts us to experience life in the death of Jesus as he quotes Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D. on how Jesus descended so that we might ascend.

"Spiritual birth happens when human beings, being earthly, become heavenly. And this can only happen when they are made members of me. So that he may ascend who descended, since no one ascends who did not descend. Therefore everyone who needs to be changed and raised must meet together in a union with Christ so that the Christ who descended may ascend, considering his body (that is to say, his church)6 as nothing other than himself." (ON THE MERITS AND FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND ON INFANT BAPTISM 1.60)

Friar Jude Winkler explores the conflicts that Luke’s optimism about the community may overshadow. There are words in the Gospel of John that require us to contemplate many scenarios about Jesus that arise from ambiguity.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, Michael Poffenberger
Executive Director, Center for Action and Contemplation quoting Brian McLaren on the importance of considering hearing difficult prophetic truth.

Truth, especially prophetic truth, can be hard for all of us to hear sometimes. Our hope is that together we can develop a contemplative stance that can lean into the places where we’ve grown too comfortable. As one of our CONSPIRE 2018 presenters, Brian McLaren, points out, “Comfort and power can become great enemies of true spirituality, which explains why we often say that the prophets come not only to comfort the afflicted, but also to afflict the comfortable.” We are so grateful to be in this sometimes uncomfortable community with you. We strongly believe that each person’s participation truly matters and impacts the whole.

In the tension between what we know now and the revelation of other knowledge we find the space for the necessary contemplation that opens our understanding to the Spirit.
References


(n.d.). Acts, chapter 4 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts4:56

(n.d.). John 3:16-17. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/john3.htm

(n.d.). Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/online.html 

(2014, February 2). Was Jesus Original in Telling Nicodemus To Be "Born Again"? - Patheos. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kermitzarleyblog/2014/02/was-jesus-original-telling-nicodemus-to-be-born-again/ 

(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/

(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved April 10, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/