In our project on the Book of Revelation, we recently encountered chapter 5 which gives us a sharp look at what it means to be like Jesus.
Sure, we all say we want to be like Jesus and we sometimes feel sadness at our inability to hit the mark. Many times we don't even try very hard to truly hit the mark. We aimed for a softened version of the mark.
If our desire to be the holiest is only an extension of our pride so that we cry out with a trumpet blast, "Look at me! Look at me! I'm so holy!", then Jesus is no more than a means to our own self worship.
With Jesus, the paradox that overwhelms is on full display in Revelation chapter 5.
4 and I wept much that no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Weep not; lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth; 7 and he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints;
The Roaring Lion is a slaughtered lamb.
The King of David is a slaughtered lamb.
The Conquering hero is a slaughtered lamb.
Man-made religion?
What man could write this?
So you want to be like Jesus? Be honest now.
Sure, you want to be Holy. Sure, you want to be pure. Sure, you want to be righteous.
I'm not so sure you are willing to be a slaughtered lamb though. Not many people signing up for that.
If you have read the Bible, especially the gospels, you see that many times the greatest sinners became the greatest saints and those who were publicly esteemed as the greatest, were lost. There is no place in the kingdom of God for the arrogant and that humbling of self is a hard, hard pill. We often cannot do it ourselves, so God does it for us.
He who humbles himself will be exalted and he who exalts himself will be humbled.
Mary Magdalen, Mary of Bethany, Peter, Paul, and the woman at the well were just some examples of people who understood the slavery of sin and the shame and despair that goes with it. Their pitiable hearts had been torn open with grief so that God could fill them with His grace.
In today's age, we see people who see it as weakness to admit they have made a mistake. They will suffer anything rather than accept an apology, forgive a transgression, mend a fence. If that's you, you do not want to be like Jesus.
You see, you aren't like Jesus when you merely love Jesus but hate your neighbor. Jesus identifies Himself with your neighbor. Jesus is the victim. Jesus is the persecuted. If you are the victimizer, if you are the persecutor, you do not want to be like Jesus.
If you are focused on your neighbor with contempt, you do not want to be like Jesus. You cannot get to heaven by focusing on me. Whether I am many levels above you in holiness or many levels below you in sin, your comparison of yourself to me can only lead to rationalization and self-deception.
If I am holier, you can only plead to God to uphold me in the grace He has mercifully extended to me. If I am a worse sinner, plead that much more that God lift me up. If you hate me because I'm above you, you are guilty of the sin of envy. If you hate me because I'm below you, you bear the sin of contempt. In either case, you have replaced love with pride and you convict yourself as no lover of Jesus.
You stand around the woman of sin, with a stone to throw at her rather than a hand to lift her up. You are not like Jesus.
No one is marching into heaven, strutting like a game rooster. If you are so fortunate to enter in, you will do so bloodied, beaten, humiliated, forsaken, persecuted but full of love.
No sin is more vile than deliberate malice, no sinner more pitiable than the hypocrite. No sinner is more assured of damnation than he who esteems himself the holiest of all while all around him are to be loathed and insulted.
No hardened sinner can be reached by hate or contempt. No beaten down person can be terrorized into holiness. It is love that conquers.
To conquer, one must be conquered. To rise up, one must be laid low.
This is hard, hard work.
It is so easy to consider my sins to be of little consequence by looking at what I perceive to be the greater sins of my neighbor. It is even easier to look at the blind, irrational rage of narcissistic people and use it as a justification to equal-or even surpass- their malice or violence. If my neighbor is the most arrogant, unapologetic, mean-spirited person that exists, how foolish it is for me to assassinate my own moral credibility by responding in kind. If I would be like Jesus, I would see him set free from the slavery of his pride rather than punished for it. Even more, I would patiently endure his tempests that I might show him what love looks like and perhaps merit the graces that would free him.
It doesn't mean that his malice wasn't malice. It doesn't mean that his lies were not lies.
What it means is that I am willing to endure it in atonement for my own sins which, if I am to be honest with myself, at least equal his.
In the end, there is only one path forward for the emulator of Jesus.
I must hope for the hopeless. I must believe the unbelievable. I must endure the unendurable. I must love the unlovable and I must forgive the unforgivable. This much, Jesus has done for me.
I must apologize for every rash word I have spoken, and I do. If what I said was true, but I said it viciously, I am just that much more guilty.
I repent of it.
I must forgive from the heart even those who will likely never admit even the smallest transgression. I must forgive even those things that appear beyond forgiveness,
For the measure by which I measure, will be measured out against me.
In short, if I would be like Jesus, I must take up my cross.
If I would be the highest, I must be the lowest.
If I would be praised, I must be ridiculed.
If I would be honored, I must be humiliated.
If I would be victorious, I must be annihilated.
There is a reason why the Bible says Jesus is the Lion of Judah but the devil goes about like a lion.
There are people in our own faith who make a cottage industry out of their constant self-promotion. This is something that makes me sick. Being a Catholic has nothing to do with constantly blowing a trumpet before yourself. You are not going to win souls; you can only repel them.
Jesus showed us. Self-immolation is the greatest proof that you want to be like Jesus. Some of you act as if you have already booked one of the heavenly thrones for yourself. Just stop it already.
You are a vile sinner in desperate need of God's grace. Just like me. There is no room for boasting. None. (Ephesians 2:8-10).
If I would be like Jesus, I would be wise to start by realizing that I am not very much like Jesus. I need a lot of work.
I am going to start today by allowing others to say what they will and do what they do. If I'm guilty, I will work to self-correct, If I'm innocent, I will endure the slander in silence.
I'm beaten. I'm exhausted and I'm easily overcome by anger and frustration.
Yet, He drives me forward well beyond my own strength. My life has one purpose- only one. The hope that drives me forward is that dream that one day, I will hear those words "Well done, faithful servant"
If I will rise with Him tomorrow, I must be bloodied with Him today. I must be spat on. I must be punched and kicked. I must be slandered and ridiculed and mocked.
I am sorry for all I have hurt by my sinful words and sinful deeds. I am sorry for my unforgiveness of wrongs even to those who are not sorry. I realize that some people must be stricken from my life but even in those cases, I do so for my own health and theirs and I release the hatred I hold for them.
Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Jesus, I trust in you.
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