Ride on! ride on in majesty!Hark! all the tribes hosanna cry;
O Savior meek, pursue thy road
with palms and scattered garments strowed.
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
O Christ, thy triumphs now begin
o'er captive death and conquered sin.
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
The angel-squadrons of the sky
look down with sad and wondering eyes
to see the approaching sacrifice.
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh;
the Father on his sapphire throne
expects his own anointed Son.
Ride on! ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow thy meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, thy power, and reign.
Words: Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868), 1820
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,For all the triumphalist language that occurs in hymns and lessons today, I am not a Christian triumphalist. While I do believe in the majesty, power, and victory of God I also believe in the ways our understanding of majesty, power, and victory are radically redefined in Jesus (and by other great religious teachers as well). I am not attracted to any vision of forced conversions and am appalled at the notion that anyone would bend the knee and confess through manipulation, coercion, or fear. Such is not the way of Jesus.
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
--Philippians 2:1-11
I do believe this passage from the letter to the Christians in Philippi--the "kenosis" (or "emptying") hymn and the verses leading into it--contains a universal truth. The true path to becoming like God is not a path of acquiring and holding on to power but a path of self-emptying in service to others.
That God's power should be placed at the disposal of the cosmos so that creation might even happen in the first place, and then be sustained, is an act of self-giving. For theists the question is always there: why does anything exist? And why should any deity "make room" for the "other." In Christian thought the answer has always, at its core, been about love.
This is consistent with our imagery of incarnation, with Jesus' teachings on discipleship, with Jesus' own passion and death, with everything we affirm about God's vindication of Jesus in the resurrection.
We find true life, and joy, and our own fullness of being in communities of mutual service, in the giving of self that springs from strength and freedom and joy and love (not an emptying that truly leaves us empty and exhausted because it is done from paucity or fear or coercion). That sort of community manifests the qualities we find in the divine life of the Most Holy Trinity. It is a mutual giving that is additive, not subtractive. Love is something that increases with giving.
May the path Jesus shows all of us transform our hearts and minds this Holy Week that we may be renewed in love, compassion, and service.
Gregorio Allegri - "Miserere" à neuf voix:
Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
--the BB
1 comment:
Truly lovely. I love what you say about triumphalism. I agree with you.
The Philipians reading from 2:16-11 is what we read and I was the lector at our vigil mass last night. What a fine liturgy we had too.
In any event, the reading also reminds me of the many, many Sunday nights I spent at a lovely monastery of Dominican nuns in CT. That reading of that at compline always touched my heart as we headed toward the Great Silence.
I especially love what you said here -- "The true path to becoming like God is not a path of acquiring and holding on to power but a path of self-emptying in service to others."
Amen my brother.
Post a Comment