It’s Super Bowl Sunday! How many are rooting for the Chiefs? The Eagles? I’m looking forward to the Super Bowl ads.
Today is also World Marriage Sunday! It has been said that there are two great days in a person's life: the day we are born, and the day we discover why. For many people, the "why" is a relationship. The Bible is full of relationship stories: with God and with one another.
Today’s word of God carries us back to the wisdom literature of Ancient Israel in the Book of Sirach. The choices we make will be on a path to salvation or damnation. The author asks us to pray for God's grace to do the right thing.
Paul, in his letter to the Christian community in Corinth, Greece, writes about true wisdom, that is, Jesus Christ. The risen Christ is the revelation of God to us: everything God ever want to say or do for us, God did and said in Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit. Paul invites us to let Jesus's life and ministry be a guide for ours.
In the Gospel, Jesus describes what it means to be a disciple. He employs four antitheses, opposites (“you have heard...but I say”). Jesus uses a bit of middle eastern hyperbole to emphasize the importance of attitude over legalese. Our attitudes create our behaviors.
Jesus then gives four examples. One instance: “you have heard that it was said, you shall not murder; but I say to you: you shall not be angry.” Why? Because an attitude of anger or resentment can seethe into bad behavior, verbal or even physical abuse.
Discipleship with Jesus calls for a change of heart, a change of attitude, thinking and feeling positively about life.
I would like to look at Paul's letter and focus on Jesus as our true wisdom. He is our exemplar, our guide, our leader about how to live well.
A leader communicates purpose, generates trust, inspires hope, and translates vision into results. Jesus energized people. Trust among his disciples bound them together in their commitments. He inspired crowds with a hopeful vision: life in relationship with God forever. Finally, Jesus converted vision into action through his death and resurrection.
Matthew 23:10 advises, in so many words, that there is one master. And Jesus calls each of us to be guides and leaders in our own situations. Being called to do that is an enormous gift, but it carries great responsibility. We have to exercise two things Jesus possessed in full: confidence and character.
Confidence not only in ourselves, but first and foremost in God. The psalmists had that kind of confidence. God was their shield, their strength and their guide.
Second, we have to be men and women of character. Look at the leadership failures in this country in the last 100 years. I will guess you'll find many were not necessarily failures in competence, but in character. Greed, lying, intolerance, immorality, amorality – all character failures. These are things that sell news.
Leadership involves ethics, right and wrong, responsibility, a value system, integrity. That's why character counts. David Brooks makes that point in his best seller The Road to Character.
Character is going the extra mile; helping a fellow human being; being faithful in our relationships and responsibilities; working for the common good; trusting in a good and compassionate God.
Let's zoom in for a moment on ingredients of character:
• Integrity: Practicing what we preach and making sure that we lift people up, not pull them down. A humorous example is the famous Lincoln vs. Douglas debates in 1858. Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced. Lincoln replied calmly, “If I had 2 faces, do you think I would be wearing this one?” Integrity is the opposite of being two-faced.
• Authenticity: Hypocrites do things so others can see them. But what really matters is who we are when nobody is looking. Think about it.
• Humility: Jesus warns us not to be bewitched by titles and prominent positions and public flattery. “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
• Focus: Getting our priorities straight: faithful and responsible in our relationships with God and one another; grateful to God that we are; standing up for what's right; being generous and always ready to lend a helping hand.
Yes, those are key attributes of character. In light of Jesus as our true wisdom, our prayer might be:
Lord, help me to live a life of integrity, authenticity, humility and focus. Help me to have a concern for others. Give me compassion towards those who are struggling with life's problems. Help me to fix my eyes on Jesus Christ and to become like Him for others
