Inescapable Powerlessness

One of my really great friends said to me yesterday,

"I was in church and I just decided that life is beautiful."

And she's right. It really, really is. And I've been reading 2nd Timothy, the last letter Paul wrote before he died and its obvious that Paul finds life quite beautiful. Simply and entirely because of the gospel. And he says that he is not ashamed to be joyful because he knows whom he has believed and is convinced that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to Paul. He goes on to talk about how everyone is turning away from him, and he is alone in this prison cell sentenced to die, unable to do any more ministry, unable to verbally proclaim the gospel, and he writes a letter to one guy. His beloved child Timothy. He entrusts all of his last thoughts and his reflections and his wisdom in a letter to Timothy. He didn't seem to worry about the chance that the letter might get lost or destroyed on the way or that Timothy wouldn't care or understand, or that Timothy would not carry out and spread the words paul said. And maybe thats because Paul knew that God is bigger than anything else and would do whatever he wants with the things Paul had to say before he died. And God did more with Paul's letters than anyone could have ever predicted.

Richard Rohr says that Jesus called us to be the yeast, and that you can only be the yeast if you have no desire for your own power. Because we naturally want to be the whole loaf. The yeast is invisible. And we do not want to be small and invisible. It is a fragile, humble position. What other positions are offered to us? The salt, and again, we demand to be the meal. Or he calls us to be the light on the mountain but we decide to try to become the whole mountaintop. Its only when we have nothing to prove or protect that we can follow Jesus because demands All. The gospel undeniably calls us to powerlessness. If we climb the spiritual ladder, conquering theology, knowledge, doctrine, service, prayer, scriptures...were going to miss Jesus who is found at the bottom of the spiritual ladder, not the top. Who came down into creation, who did not count equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing taking the form of a servant and being obedient all the way to death, even death on a cross.

God loves imperfect things. Only the imperfect believe that. Therefore, Rohr says, People who have suffered, are twisted out of shape, and are oppressed have broken dependency on the perfectible self, and have a lead on those who are good, sound and strong.

He says that every time we pray Thy Kingdom come, we must also pray my kingdom go.