Are
We Giving or Giving Back?
In
the Gospel today we see too different cultures: that of the pharisees
and
that of Jesus. In the culture of the pharisees salvation came from
keeping the Law; in the culture of Jesus salvation came from accepting
the gift of God's Love. Both cultures still exist among us today.
These different perceptions of God lead to different perceptions of
self and different perceptions of our neighbor and of how to relate
to others, of how to love. The pharisees saw themselves as doing and
earning and giving to God. The followers of Jesus see themselves as
receiving an abundance as gift and as offering this back to God. The
love of giving back will also include fasting, self restraining love
that desists from what is destructive to others or to oneself. The
culture of the Pharisees was a gloomy kill-joy one. Jesus was a person
who went to weddings, made wine flow in abundance and enjoyed the
fullness of life. He saw that there were times for rejoicing as well
as times for restraint and fasting.
There
is a big difference between the attitudes of giving and of giving
back. This is as true in the relationship between us and God that
we call religion, as it is in marriage and in every other the relationship.
If we see our religion as giving to God, we see it as so many obligations
that God has imposed on us and so many things that we have to do to
earn love and to avoid God's punishment. We have to keep the commandments
- not steal, kill or commit adultery. We have to go to Church on Sunday
and we have to love our neighbor. All of these things we try to do
because we are afraid that we may suffer punishment in this life and
eternal rejection in the next. It is a religion where there is a reluctant
giving to a demanding God. This is a very Old Testament approach to
God.
The
New Testament is called the Good News and the good news is precisely
this: it tells us about a God who gives first, loves first, who loves
unconditionally, who loves us whether we deserve it or not. This God
is described especially in the parable of the Prodigal Son or more
correctly the parable of the Prodigal Father. The point of this story
is that no matter what the son did, no matter how badly he behaved,
he could not change the Father's attitude of love towards him. The
Father loved him because he was his son and not because of his behavior.
If we take our concept of religion from this story we see our religion,
not as giving love to God, but as giving back some of the abundant
love that we have already received. If we have received abundantly
from a loving and caring Father we will want to offer a little back
to the same Father in joy and thankfulness. Our fear will not be of
punishment but of failing one who has been so generously loving. From
this perspective our religion will be seen as a joyful giving back
to a generous God.
Our
paradigm or concept of God will also be our paradigm of ourselves
and of others. If I see my God as one to whom I have to give, I feel
oppressed by his demands on me. If I see myself as some one on whom
great demands are made I will also find myself making heavy demands
of other people. On the other hand if my God concept is of a generous
giver I will have a sense of optimism, thankfulness and generosity
which will show in my attitude and way of dealing with others.
My
paradigm will also mold my prayer. If my God is a god to whom I must
give, my prayer will also be one in which I am constantly asking God
to give to me. It will be a barter kind of prayer; I give and I expect
a give back. If however I see God as one who gives abundantly and
who loves me more than I could ever love myself, I will be content
to be silent in God's presence, confident that God will never give
me what is second best for me. I will be grateful, taking myself and
my petty needs out of the way so as to be open to the abundance of
life that God has promised us. This is what we to when we meditate.
We take the focus off ourselves and our selfish demands by saying
the prayer word, then God who is never outdone in generosity gives
us fullness of life in ways beyond out wildest dreams.
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Taken
from Sundays
into Silence - A Pathway to Life. Copyright © 1998 by Claretian
Publications
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