Relationship With Christ -What is it?

There once was a young man who wanted to become a monk in a near-by monastery.  But he had a problem.  This particular monastery followed a strict discipline and rigid ascetic practices.  And this young man was known by many in his community to be a slow and undisciplined. Despite the views of his community which he heard many times, he decided to try anyway; so he placed himself under the direction of the Novice Master at the monastery to begin the required formation. 

After two months, the Novice Master was called in by the Abbott of the Monastery to see how the new young recruit was doing.  The Novice Master told the Abbott that the new recruit was not doing well.  He was having great difficulty in learning the rule, and was undisciplined in following the required practices.  “In fact”, he told the Abbott, “for the previous two months he has been assigned only the daily task of cleaning the dirt from the monk’s sandals as they entered the prayer room, and sweeping the dust from the floor.   As a result, he recommended that the young man be dismissed.

The Abbott, being a compassionate man, asked to speak to the new recruit.  When he arrived, and after sharing a few stories, the young man expressed the difficulty and struggle he was having in formation, but still affirmed his desire to become a monk.  

The Abbott gave him the following advice:   “From now on, as you clean the dirt from the sandals, and as you sweep the dust from the floor, I want you to say to yourself:  I am removing all obscuration to being the beloved of Christ.”  

And what do you mean by obscuration, the young man asked the Abbott?  An obscuration is anything that prevents you from seeing things as they really are, replied the Abbot.

So the young man agreed to try this new discipline.  At first, every now and again, he would forget what he was supposed to say.  And he would meet with the Abbott for a refresher, but soon he was pretty good at following this basic instruction, and he carried it our faithfully every day as he did his task. 

Six months later, the Abbott called the young recruit in for another meeting.  After the normal greeting, he asked the recruit: “Have you been cleaning the dirt from the sandals?”  Yes, was his enthusiastic response?  “Have you been sweeping the dust from the floor?”  Again, yes was his quick response.  “Have you removed all obscuration to being the beloved of Christ?” 

There was a long silence and puzzlement as he pondered this question. Then suddenly, like a light bulb coming on, a bright smile broke on the young man’s face as his mind and heart was awakened as to what the Abbott was trying to teach him.  He suddenly realized that the sandals, even with the dirt, were still sandals:  That the floor, even with the dust, was still the floor:  And that he, even with all his limitations, those things he saw as impairing him; his weaknesses, his faults, his warts; he was still the beloved of Christ.

Soon there-after, the young man was initiated into the community as a monk.  As time would later show, he became the best and most loved of all the monks.  At times, he would chuckle to himself when others teased him about his slowness, when he forgot the rule. But with the birth of his special insight, this awakening in his heart, he was able to see himself in a new way. And as for all those people who entered the doors the monastery for the first time, no matter what their position, no matter what situation in life, no matter what their difficulty or struggle, he saw them all as the beloved of Christ, and he welcomed them, every one of them, as Christ himself.

My friends, you are all the “beloved of Christ”.  There is nothing more you have to know; there is nothing more you have to do, that will change this fact, but we can all forget this ever so easily.   Just like we hear in the letter from James: “For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like the man who looks at his face in a mirror, and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

By way of personal disclosure, over the years, I have often forgotten that I am, by my very nature, the beloved of Christ. I have found that when I do forget, I can become very judgmental; very hard on myself, and very critical of others.  And I certainly realize how devastating judgement and criticism can be, and the damage it can cause to those I am in relationship with. Judgement does not heal; judgement does not transform.  Only love can do that. If we think about this through the lens of our marriages, friendships, or those we work with; it is virtually impossible to love someone and be judgmental at the same time.

So through prayer, I wage my battle against forgetting I am the beloved of Christ.  For this, I need Christ’s intervention. I need that inner awareness of Christ’s mercy in my life. I need to know that He is Present, that He cares.

I experience and believe fully what is said in the first letter of John:  “I love because God loves me first.”  It’s only from my experience of God’s unconditional love for me that I am able to begin to love others unconditionally.  Head knowledge of this is just not enough.       

In the gospels, the Scribes and the Pharisees took great pride in their knowledge of the scriptures and the laws they contained.  In the gospel of Matthew, we read that a Pharisee, a lawyer, asks Jesus a question in order to test Him.  Which of all the commandments is the greatest? And of course, we know the answer.  Love God, Love neighbor.  It always seemed strange to me that the ones who knew the scriptures so well would use the commandment of love to test, and even to trick Jesus to throw Him offside.  These are not the actions of love, but of judgement. Maybe this is why Jesus referred to them as white-washed tombstones, pretty on the outside, but empty within.  Head knowledge is a great thing, but our Christian faith will be of little or no value, have little or no impact, if based on knowledge alone.  Something much greater is needed.

I believe, and this is what the story illustrates, until people have had some inner spiritual experience that awakens their hearts to a new way of seeing, to an experience that they are in fact loved unconditionally by Christ”, than knowledge of Christ will only remain at the rational level with little power to transform, either ourselves or others.  I can know well Jesus’ teachings about “loving my enemies, and doing good to those who hate me, but without Christ’s intervention in my life, I will fail miserably at living it out.

This past weekend, Archbishop Mancini again called our church communities in our Diocese to the “Assembly Of God” gathering.  As a preliminary to this assembly, he invited us to review the 2017 Lenten series videos to help us prepare.  I had a chance to review these videos. In the first of these videos, the archbishop emphasised three things:

1. A relationship with Christ is essential to our mission as church, and this must be visible in our lives and in the way we live. In other words, we must begin to see ourselves as the beloved of Christ. 

2. In our call to live out the New Evangelization, we are not speaking of new knowledge or content, but rather the sharing of our faith aimed at new audiences, using new methods and expressions that are relevant for today, and applied with new intensity. 

3. Our church needs to be seen as a community taking on this missioning task as a primary focus. 

These three points were again emphasized during the “Assembly of God” gathering this past weekend.

Above in my story, I described “obscuration” as; “anything that prevents us from seeing things are they really are”. 

Unfortunately, in society today, there are many whose vision is obscured by cultural influences of our day that lead to actions that will not bring the happiness and well-being they seek.  Many feel insignificant, often isolated and alienated from others, that of having no experience of a connection with God or community.  Many are searching for a purpose or meaning in their lives in places that will eventually fail.

The Archbishop speaks about the importance of letting these people know, particularly those who are no longer engaged in church, that they are loved and wanted by God.  They need to know that they are significant in God’s eyes, that they are first and foremost the “beloved of Christ”.  

And he describes the church’s future role as one of providing for them opportunities to receive this experience of having their hearts touched by Christ.   And of course, the church that he speaks about is not this building we are in, nor is it the organizational structure to which we belong.  It is you and me, all of us who have been touched by Grace and have had our hearts transformed by Christ.