Archive for the ‘Conference Talks’ Category
The Bamboozler and the Call of the New Evangelization
Friday, March 7th, 2008
“The Bamboozler and the Call of the New Evangelization”
Diocesan Youth Conference
March 7, 2008
White Oak Retreat and Convention Center
Winnsboro, South Carolina
The Rev. Jeffrey Kirby
I. A friend once shared a powerful story with me about him and his father. His family was very involved in their parish community. One of the sons of a family close to them sadly attempted suicide. He didn’t see his life as a masterpiece of God’s work, and he sought to solve some temporary problems in his life with a very permanent solution. Thanks be to God, he was unsuccessful in his attempt. My friend and his father went to visit this young man in the hospital and the young man was crestfallen in repentance. He was deeply sorry for his attempt at suicide, and very grateful that he survived. He was thankful to be alive. My friend and his father spent time with him. They prayed with him.
On the drive back from the hospital, in the car, my friend’s father began to cry. We’re not accustomed to seeing our fathers cry. It’s awkward isn’t it? After some very awkward moments, my friend’s father told him: I want you to know why I’m crying. I’m not crying for that young man back in the hospital. He knows who God is, where he stands with God, and how much God loves him. I’m crying for all these people who may not know who God is, where they stand with him, and how much he loves them.”
You see, it was the Christmas season and people were all a hustle and bustle along the streets, bouncing from store to store. And my friend’s father was crying for them, for the ones who might not know God and how to approach him.
II. But who are these “other people”? Let’s be honest and acknowledge that each of us are these other people. We have these questions within our hearts: Who is God? Where do I stand with God? How can I approach him? These are our questions.
A few years ago, some friends and I made a ten-week backpacking trip through Europe. Sometimes my back still reminds me of that trip. Whatever we needed, we carried. We went throughout various countries. On one of our trips, we stayed at a youth hostel. Another person at the hostel must have seen our rosaries or hear us talk about God, or see our prayers books. Eventually he asked me, “Are you a religious person?” I said, “Yes, just like you.” He was caught off guard and said that he was not a religious person. I explained to him that, yes, he was. You see, the desire for God is written on our human hearts, it’s an important part of our human nature. It’s part of what makes us a human person. Now, just like our physical muscles, we can choose to exercise and strengthen our religious desire, or we can let it sit idle and become soft. If we don’t exercise, we still have muscles. If we don’t pray or seek God, we still have a religious desire. Our questions, then, are a part of us. They flow from within us, and the way we answer them will shape us spiritually. The answers to these questions will condition the way we live and the way we see life.
III. Now, before we dive into our search for answers about who God is, where we stand with him, and how we can approach him, we have to acknowledge that everything we can possible say about God, it still will not completely encompass him. God is greater than anything we can ever say or write about him. We cannot completely understand God. If we could, we would be God. God is bigger than we are. He has a divine nature and surpasses us in glory and wisdom.
From this infinite cloud of Mystery, however, God himself has freely chosen to share with us the knowledge he has of himself. He wants to tell us about himself. Like a good friend, God wants to walk with us and let us know who he is. Also, like good friends, he wants to slowly disclose things to us. He wants to wait until we’re ready and able to receive his unveiling. God has walked with humanity and shared himself with us. His revelation of himself reached its fullness in his Son, Jesus Christ. In Christ, we have the final and fullness of public revelation.
This knowledge is a gift. We could not have required it, forced it, or demanded it. God lovingly and freely chose to reveal himself to humanity. It is a gift. God does not want his children to be roaming around, searching and confused for incomplete or untrue answers. He has unveiled himself to us and shown us his love.
We can know God because he has told us about himself.
IV. In his unveiling of himself to us, God calls for a response. If we share our lives with friends, don’t we also hope that they will share theirs with us? God tells us about himself, and then asks his disciples to respond. God asks us to respond. Will we hear his voice? Will we share our lives with him?
The only adequate response to God’s invitation is love; for us to love God. We can know where we stand with God by our love for him and our neighbor.
Our love depends on our knowledge. Truly, we can only love what we know. And, so, we desire to know more about God who has revealed himself to us.
What has God told us about himself? What knowledge can order and nourish our attempts at loving God?
V. In our country in the 1960’s, there was a social phenomenon known as the Civil Rights’ Movement. Great social leaders stepped up and called for change, called for all people to be respected and given the protection of the law. Various leaders in this movement had to break some pre-existing assumptions. They told people that if they believed that they were second-class citizens, that others were better than they were, that they had no dignity except that given by others, then they had been “had, hoodwinked, and bamboozled.”
These are good terms and I’d like to use them as we attempt to explore the knowledge that God has given us about himself.
We live with a fallen human nature that is always willing to sell itself short and to follow the popular trends of the day. Sometimes by exposing these cultural beliefs, it helps us to better understand the truth. By breaking through the currents of popular thought and assumption, we can better encounter the reality of the truth.
Let’s see what happens.
VI. Our fallen mind and heart want us to believe that God is whatever we want him to be. We can shape and mold God according to what we want. God is practically a fantasy, and can be turned into whatever we desire: he can be Father, Mother, or Thing. There is no understanding of a real God or of his love. It’s all whatever we or our society determines. Ideology and politics replaces revelation and theology. Cultural trends tell us that life is not a gift, but we and creation are evolutionary accidents.
If you believe this, then you’ve been had, hoodwinked, and bamboozled.
In the face of these assertions, what has God told us? What have we been called to believe?
We believe in One God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.
Our fallen mind and heart are inclined to the cultural insistence that Jesus is only one of many options. Our culture asserts that Jesus was a great teacher and prophet (and maybe a son of God), but that he is only one choice. Other religious choices exist and we could just as well choose them. It’s all about what we want, or about what we think is good. Our culture also wants to make Jesus just an historical figure and limit his teachings to first century Palestine. Our culture argues that Jesus was great for his time but we have to modify and update the truths he taught. Jesus has to conform to our times and to what we think it important now.
If you believe this, then you’ve been had, hoodwinked, and bamboozled.
In the face of these assertions, what has God told us? What have we been called to believe?
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made.
Our fallen mind and heart want to accept the cultural claims that there is no sin or need for redemption. We can save ourselves, if we even need to be saved. Our culture tells us that our only challenge is to “actualize” ourselves, and bad psychology assures us that we are our own gods and determine ourselves. It’s argued that we have “grown beyond” sin and views of needing forgiveness.
If you believe this, then you’ve been had, hoodwinked, and bamboozled.
In the face of these assertions, what has God told us? What have we been called to believe?
We believe, for us men and for our salvation the Son of God came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried.
Our fallen mind and heart want to consent to the cultural claims that the Bible is a nice story, that can be very encouraging but isn’t really the revealed Word of God. It’s cute, along with Cinderella and Snow White. We want to dismiss the Bible and the power of God’s Word in our lives and the life of our society.
We seem to ignore the reality of Christ’s Resurrection. We live our lives now as if they are all we will have. We feel the urgency to “do this” or “do that” because we “only live once.” We tallow ourselves to do things because we don’t want to miss out, or because we think we have to try everything once. Isn’t that the popular expression? We want to believe that this world is it and the only thing that matters is what happens here and now, in this world and in my life. We dismiss the world to come, the power of living in God’s grace, and the awesome reality of God’s glory in heaven.
If you believe this, then you’ve been had, hoodwinked, and bamboozled.
In the face of these assertions, what has God told us? What have we been called to believe?
On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
Our fallen mind and heart generously accepts the cultural claims that we are the only ones who can judge ourselves. We accept the peculiar belief that we ourselves are the sole measure and determiner of our lives. We falsely believe that we do not have to answer to anyone, or live for anyone, or change our lives for anyone. We want to live only for ourselves, our desires, our passions, and our interests. The idea of loving sacrifice is rare or non-existent. We create our own kingdoms and we expect all others to bow and adjust to it. We even expect God to follow our rules and live by our dictates.
If you believe this, then you’ve been had, hoodwinked, and bamboozled.
In the face of these assertions, what has God told us? What have we been called to believe?
Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
Our fallen mind and heart believe give wayward assent to the cultural claims that we are the arbiters of life, that we determine what life has “quality,” and what life merits respect and protection. We attack the most vulnerable, such as the unborn with abortion and the elderly with euthanasia.
We are told to believe that we inspire and sustain ourselves. Our culture claims that the person him or herself is the spirit of the age, and that only “the light within” should be valued and trusted.
If you believe this, then you’ve been had, hoodwinked, and bamboozled.
In the face of these assertions, what has God told us? What have we been called to believe?
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the prophets.
Our fallen mind and heart accepts the idea that the Church is not an important reality, that it is merely an institution, (perhaps even an outdated institution) with some opinions, which we can accept or reject. We are told that you can choose which church to belong to, and that it doesn’t matter (as long as you’ve chosen it and are happy). Our culture tells us that the Church is like a Baskin Robins with multiple flavors, and you can choose the one that you like best. The Church is not seen as a living organism, intimately united to Christ. The Church is ignored as the messenger of Christ and the sole teacher and interpreter of his teachings.
The sacraments are seen as empty rituals or cute ceremonies. They are valued as rites of passage or cultural expressions. Their power to change the person, and help the disciple to encounter Christ is rejected.
The resurrection of the body is considered a joke by our fallen society. It’s seen as a creation of believers because they’re afraid of death. Our culture tells us to ignore the resurrection and to live only for today, for “the now” of our lives.
If you believe this, then you’ve been had, hoodwinked, and bamboozled.
In the face of these assertions, what has God told us? What have we been called to believe?
We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, AMEN. We each say, as members of the Church, we say, “Amen,” “So be it,” “Yes, we believe.”
VI. In looking at the misbeliefs and assumptions of our culture, we can see the Creed in a new light. The Creed stands as a summary of our faith, the faith that comes to us from the apostles. It is a complete summary? No, but it is a helpful collection of our basic beliefs.
The Creed is a help to us. It’s a “first date” with God, who wants to tell us about himself and who wants to hear us tell him about ourselves. God wants to be in a loving relationship with each of us.
This is a challenge to us and to our cultural and personal beliefs and assumptions. What will we do?
If we accept this relationship, then we enter into an exciting and life-giving journey of discipleship with the living and true God, Creator of the heavens and earth, Lord and Redeemer of all.
In reading the New Testament, isn’t it a powerful testimony that the apostles and disciples were never bored. The Master was always wonderfully teaching, working miracles, healing, and showing the Father’s love. We can imagine that each day the apostles must have woken up and thought, “What will the Master do today?”
Brothers and sisters, do not let your discipleship grow weak or stale. In prayer ask yourself, “What will the Master do today?” and then watch what he does. Recognize his presence and see his desire to be with you, in the good times and in the bad ones.
Dear young people, the Lord wants you to know him, and so to love him. He knows you and he loves you. Enter your faith journey. Allow yourself to be “lost in Christ.”
Go ahead. Be bold. Be lost in Christ, so that he can show you the way.
God bless you.
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