In celebrating the Feast of St. Timothy, Jesus revealed to
us that Grace is undeserved. That we are not the faithful and wise servants we
ought to be in order to gain the favor or God. Last week, Jesus revealed to us
that we passively receive Grace, in the Parable of the Sower. We do not earn
the right to gain the seed, it is simply given fully and completely to us,
regardless of the condition of our hearts.
Today, the final Sunday in the Gesima season, we finish
preparing for Lent in hearing Jesus tell us that Grace is not easily
understood. Jesus speaks, saying,
Indeed, it sounds as if Grace is not understood at all, not
just because we aren’t smart enough, but because it is hidden from us. What
chance do you have if God is the one hiding something from you? None.
What God has hidden from the Apostles is the centrality and
necessity of the cross. Notice how they gloss right over it in the Gospel read today!
The main and only point to Christ taking on flesh skips in one ear and goes out
the other.
Really, today could be called Hidden Sunday, because even in
the Old Testament (1Sam.16:1-13), there is more hiding going on. However, in God dealing with
Samuel, you hear of how God hides. For, in hiding the Lord’s chosen in the
lowly shepherd David, the Lord did not hide David, but hid his worth.
“Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his
stature…for the Lord looks on the heart.” Jesus says this of David, because
David was not next in line, or worthy, or qualified to be king, as King Saul
seemed to have been. Yet, hidden from men, lay the salvation of Israel from the
hands of king Saul and their enemies.
Even in the epistle (1Cor.13:1-13), Jesus is still speaking of hiding things.
This time it is how much we are known, for now we see in a mirror dimly. All
this talk about love, prophesies, tongues, and knowledge and their true meaning
is hidden from us. You don’t find it in romance, in rituals, in charismatic
gifts, or in books. Rather, you WON’T find them, no matter how hard you look or
how you lie about it when you shout, “Eureka !”
The reason why God hides Himself (Is. 45:15); the reason why
God dwells in thick darkness (1Ki. 8:12) is because He wants to be found where
He wants to be found and not where you want to find Him, that is in your love,
in your gifts, and in your understanding.
Repent! The Lord is not going to return in secret and heal
the blind and the sick once again, shrouded in mystery. The Lord is not going to
look for hearts who are in love with Him or are full of love in order to create
His kingdom on earth. The Lord takes no delight in the strength of kings, their
legs (Ps.147:10), or their capacity for victory and love.
This is because the Epistle is not talking about you and a
program to increase correct love in your life. It is telling you about the
hidden God. St. Paul
is describing the love that the Lord has towards you. Jesus is speaking to you,
in that letter; please don’t hear about your own love, but about Christ’s love
for you.
Jesus does not want to speak in tongues; He wants to give
love. Jesus does not want to prophesy, know everything, or remove the
mountains; He wants to love you. He does not want to give away all that He has
or deliver up His body as a sacrifice, but He does because He wants you to know
the depth of His hidden love.
Nowhere is love more patient than Christ on the cross.
Nowhere is love not envious or boastful, or arrogant or rude, than in the
suffering of Christ. Nowhere is it more tolerant or welcoming, than in the
death of God. For Jesus does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but prohibits anyone
but Him paying for it.
With the light and truth of the cross, the Lord shines in
the darkness and reveals all that is hidden, even Himself. For nowhere is God
more fully known than in the sacrifice of Jesus.
Dear Christians, this is the love that never ends. This is
the love that pass away. This is the exact place God wants to be un-hidden. The
Lord is not a king, He is a servant. The Lord is not strong, He is weak. The
Lord is not wise, He is foolish. Yet in this seeming weakness of Jesus, God
gains complete perfection in redeeming His fallen creation.
In Jesus’ servant hood, His kingship is perfected. In Jesus’
weakness, His strength is made perfect. And in Jesus’ foolishness, you are
forgiven. St. Paul
and Samuel are not talking about God keeping things from us. They are talking
about God hiding His glory in this stinking, sinful flesh.
Paul and Samuel are prophesying that God, in His infinite
cleanliness and sovereignty, has accomplished salvation from behind enemy lines
and in the guise of an enemy and this makes no sense to you. Grace is still far
from your mind
You only see this grace dimly, because you are still waiting
for God to act mightily in your life. You retain your childish thoughts,
because you are still expecting lightning from heaven to prove to you, once and
for all, that God is real.
You may have missed it, but this blind man has not. You may
have not understood, fully, the incredibly revealing statement that Jesus has
made, but your faith has not. For the blind man and your faith, follow Jesus.
They mark and take note of every move and every word, until finally, they stare
at His body on the cross and say, “Eureka .”
Jesus hides Himself in suffering and weakness in order that
you would find Him, this Lent, on that road to the cross. He wants you to know
that in His weakness, He has the power to give sight, meaning, that though God
becomes weak, the weakness of God overcomes death on a cross.
Even though Christ is bearing all sin; in that innocent
guilt He retains His holiness, in order that each and every baptism, each and
every proclamation of the Gospel, and each and every eating and drinking of
communion give life, light, salvation, the forgiveness of sins.
Thus, at these words, you know the Son of David is passing
by, even this day. For you sing David’s hymn: “Hosanna, hosanna! Blessed is HE
that comes in the Name of the Lord.” And at the singing of David’s hymn,
David’s Lord mounts the Altar in triumph as both victim and the victor.
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