A Special Homily Given at the Serra Club One-Day Retreat
Saturday April 9, 2022
"Coming to Terms With Life's Inevitable Changes: An Exodus Spirituality"
Many who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done
began to believe in him. So, the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and
said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone,
all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.”
So, from that day on they planned to kill him.
John 11:45-56
Fundamentally, what we have here is a story about a bunch of institutional religious leaders who could not handle change. Lazarus had been raised from the dead by Jesus, a simple rabbi outside their institutional circle, and since they could not compete with him, all they could do is to plot a way to keep their political and social power from being infringed upon by eliminating that threat. For them, facing the possibility of having to change was just too painful.
Their response was not too much different from our own church leaders’ response to the sexual abuse crisis. Some responded to the sexual abuse of children by going public to stop the abuse because it was the right thing to do. Others responded with circling the wagons to protect the institution, their reputations and their power. For them, facing the possibility of having to change was just too painful
Their response was not that much different from some groups in our church today, in the face of an evolving church with all its messiness, who want to go back to the “good old days” when women knew their place, when priests and bishops ran the show, when the laity were not consulted, when truth was either black or white and when they had felt they had certainty and control. Like the People of God, out in a desert between Egypt and the Promised Land, some of our members, with selective memory and its nostalgic yearning, want to “return to Egypt” rather than complete our present desert crossing! For them, facing the possibility of having to change and having to give up control is just too painful.
In my reading of the situation, their responses are not too much different from our own political leaders’ response to the flood of changes in American culture. Some of our leaders and citizens are responding by trying their best to incorporate women, immigrants and people of color into the mainstream of American life. Others of our leaders and citizens are responding by trying their best to protect the status quo of a by-gone America. Fundamentally, the present political battle of our day is about whether to keep going forward or whether to turn back, between how much change to embrace or how much change to resist. For many, facing the possibility of having to change and having to give up control is just too painful.
In our gospel reading today, we can hear the fear and trembling in the words of the religious establishment when the Sanhedrin met to discuss Jesus and his rising popularity.
'Besides the raising of Lazarus, that man Jesus is performing all kinds of miracles. If we leave him alone, everybody will believe in him and then the Romans will come and take away our land and our nation, not to mention our positions and, along with them, our power. He simply must be stopped now!'
Rather than open their minds to what Jesus had to say, pathetically their response was to develop a plan to eliminate the threat – a plan to assassinate him. Jesus was a threat, not only to the political and religious structures of his day, but to the positions and power of those who were leaders of it!
Change does that! It threatens the status quo and that scares some people to death, especially those with a vested interest in keeping things the way they are! I know that the Brown family of Brown-Forman had a tradition of making family members Presidents of their Corporation since its founding. I remember when they deliberately started to choose Presidents outside the family circle. Like any sound company, they obviously understood that a new day required a new way. Rather than heroically embracing those necessary changes that go with an evolving world, other people foolishly choose to spend their time and energy trying to eliminate any threat to the status quo. Historically, people who resist necessary change usually lose in the long run.
All of us, at various points in our lives, face the same dilemma when confronted with change. If we need to go for alcohol and drug treatment, we can either go or sink into denial and lash out at those who rub our noses in the truth. For many, facing the possibility of having to change is just too painful. If we have a mysterious lump or sore on our bodies, we can either go and have it checked out or sink into denial until it is too late to save our life. For many, facing the fact of possible cancer is just too painful. If we are victims of domestic violence, we can look the other way and keep it secret or we can go get help and save our lives. For many, facing the possibility of having to change and having to give up control is just too painful.
When it comes to change, welcomed or unwelcomed, I would recommend that we all remember the words of Jesus when he said, “The truth will make you free.” Yes, the truth may make us free, but in the meantime, it will probably make us mad! People who tell us what we want to hear are not necessarily our friends, while people who tell us what we don’t want to hear are not necessarily our enemies. The real truth, no matter how uncomfortable it can be to hear, will in the end set us free.
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