Lk 4:24-30 Humpty Dumpty
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Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place"...They rose up, drove him out of town, and led him to the brow of the hill to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away.
Ah, to be young and strong. How wonderful! I can’t say there is anything wrong with that, except for the fact it is not very good preparation for growing old and weak. How does being strong help you when you grow weak? Everyone feels "mighty" when they are strong and horrible when they are sick.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.
Is this a lesson regarding humility? After all, Humpty had it all, but fell off a wall…and broke into a million pieces. So, did climbing to the top help him prepare for his fall? No. But if he conquered this wall once, could he not do it again? Not in a million pieces! So it would seem as though his great accomplishment really didn’t help him at all when he fell off the wall. Correct. But it must have felt good to be up so high, right? I don’t know.
There are many who have it all and end up losing it all. Marilyn had it all, but was a drug addict. Robert had it all, but was an alcoholic. I know a young man who thinks he has it all but doesn’t. His greatest problem is not his wealth, accomplishments, achievements or acknowledgments. His greatest problem is his pride. I know a young lady that has it all: intelligence, beauty, a heart of gold, a soul that is pure. But her greatest problem is her confidence.
I can say I know God. I can even say I love God, but do I believe in Him and am I willing to follow him through thick and thin; in good times and in bad? Am I willing to give it all - not most or a lot, but all - up for Him?
It’s not good to have it all, almost. It’s not even better to have it all, period. What matters most is to have what counts the most: JESUS CHRIST!
Every Christian has to drain themselves of themselves; scratch themselves off the face of the earth. How? By getting rid of their mirror and putting up a portrait of Jesus Christ. If we wish to believe in Him and follow Him, then we must get rid of all that holds us back: our pride, our vanity and our sensuality.
As a young seminarian, I was told that I had to comb my hair a certain way. I couldn’t believe it! I couldn’t believe that after all I had given up - my family, my job, my money, my freedom, my future wife and children, my home and independence, wealth and adventure, I was now being told I needed to comb my hair a certain way? “You gotta be kidding me?” was my prayerful response. I was ready to leave. I was fed up with all this nonsense. But then I got a hold of my senses, and realized that I was going to return to all these things because of just one thing: my hair? Oh, how the devil plays his tricks!
Naaman, the highly esteemed and highly respected army commander of the king of Aram, had it all, including a problem: he was a leper (cf 2Kgs 5:1-15). He was a brilliant strategist, a mighty warrior, a soldier’s soldier, but was just about ready to call it quits, give up for good, and give into despair when he was told to go to the river Jordan and bathe there. Naaman was so used to doing things the hard way that he could no longer believe in an easier way.
Do I need plastic surgery to look more luscious? Do I need one more piercing to feel better about myself? Do I need another wardrobe to break my brokenness? Do I need another drink to forget all my problems? Do I need to hold onto a memory that should have been long forgotten? Do I need to drive people to the brow of the hill to hurl them down headlong (cf. Lk 4:29-30).
Do I need a little bit more of Christ? Do I need Christ? Do I need Christ through me, with me and in me? Do I have everything but Christ? Do I want Christ and nothing else?
Adam and Eve were high above all, Adam and Eve had a great fall. Only the King’s son and all of his friends could help put Adam and Eve back together again.
Ooooh....Some of Father Alfonse's seasoned scrambled eggs to comment on! Love the Humpty Dumpty/Adam and Eve analogy. :)
ReplyDeleteI find it difficult to focus on Christ with every ounce of my mind, body and strength. I desire to love him and form an intimate relationship with him, but then I feel jaded he hasn't given me a more fulfilling life. (Yep. I'm one of the logics who is boring and does everything boring.) I get so wrapped up in my own selfishness that I forget my blessings. I look at everything I don't have: a husband and children, a lucrative career, popularity, sensual appeal, positions of authority, etc. I'm constantly comparing myself to others, even people I don't know, thinking I'm a total wretch! I hate the idea of my youth fleeting and my accomplishments not as successful as Joe Bob, Jo Ann, and Dr. Joe Smith. Of course, the devil enjoys planting negative thoughts in attempt to draw me further away from God!
In the end when we pass on, none of this stuff really matters. My gosh, if I could train myself to think more like Jesus Christ, be more Christ-like, and desire Christ over everything in my life (earned or envied) I'd feel much more at peace. I wouldn't be an egg falling from a brick wall and breaking into a million pieces. I'd be a farm-raised egg neatly packed in a carton and cherished for my high protein content.
-Jennifer
I've realized that I am not called to do something BIG for God, like leave my responsibilites to serve in a foreign country's mission field (as if anything I did on my own would bless Him!), rather, I can grow in love by doing the simplest of acts of love for those around me. Thank you, my Lord, for giving me everything I need to grow in holiness!
ReplyDeleteThe only problem I have experienced in my growing love of God is how much more incideous satan becomes and how easily I can be fooled by him when I take my eyes off Jesus for a second.
ReplyDeleteI can be madly in love with Him and then comes along satan who can plant one little thought with his lies and start the ball of doubt rolling downhill gaining speed and power that I have to have someone, someone I trust and love to slap me back into reality and remind me how much He loves me and how much I love him. Even though I often forget and start the journey down that hill, he always catches me before I fall.