Wednesday, April 10
Readings: DN 3:14-20, 91-92, 95; JN 8:31-42
The first reading tells the dramatic story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who refuse to worship the golden statue of King Nebuchadnezzar. So he throws them in the furnace where they are joined by a mysterious stranger and miraculously survive! Nebuchadnezzar has a conversion moment (I mean, who wouldn’t!) and praises the God of Israel.
In the gospel we continue to hear the sometimes obscure monologues from Jesus. This time he is saying that Jews were not really following Abraham even though they thought they were following Abraham. Jesus says that if they were truly following Abraham, they would have recognized Jesus and his work as the work of God.
What I take from these readings is the simple but profound question, “Who is the God you serve?”
I have always loved writer Anne Lamott’s quote about our beliefs, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out God hates all the same people you do.”
We might also change the phrase a bit and say, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out God has all the same priorities you do!” This means that your idea of God blesses the life you are living and raises almost no fundamental questions for you. Fr. Jim Callan also often says, “Show me your calendar and your checkbook and I’ll tell you what is important to you.” By implication, we might be able to figure out what God we serve by looking there as well.
Most of us have inherited our ideas of God from others. Often it’s parents or teachers. And if we identify as Christian, then our ideas of God have also been heavily influenced by Roman rule, capitalism, colonization, patriarchy and violent conquest. I wish it were different, but when Christianity became the “official” religion of Rome in 313 CE, the religion was indelibly marked by some values that might have very little to do with the gospels. And then if we have grown up in mainstream white, Christian churches here in the United States, then our view of God has probably been deeply shaped by consumerism, materialism and white supremacy.
What would you say are the “dominant” values of our mainstream culture in the US?
Sociologist Robin Williams Jr. came up with a list that when I read it, I cringed. And yet it felt “true” in many respects. They are: 1) Equal Opportunity; 2) Achievement and Success; 3) Material Comfort; 4) Activity and Work; 5) Practicality and Efficiency; 6) Progress; 7) Science and Rational Thinking; 8) Democracy; 9) Freedom; 10) Group Superiority.
While this is not an exhaustive list, it’s a start. And I list these values because they might say something about the “God we serve” here in the United States (and these may not be the top values of the gospels!) or at least a lot of what has shaped our ideas of God. And while these may not be your specific “values” that you base your life on, it would be hard to have been raised here and not be influenced by them.
For today, just sit with the question, “What God do you serve?” Notice what comes up in you. And breathe into it.