Gospel: Luke 12: 8-12
We have been led to believe that to deny Christ and blaspheme the Holy Spirit has to do with creedal statements and bombastic pronouncements in the public square, but this is not at all what Jesus is referring to in today's Gospel portion. As an incarnational religion, Christianity is not about abstract propositions about Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Their presence is found in the midst of the world within concrete realities, not in arcane intellectual propositions.
Jesus identified himself with human beings. He took on human nature; he stated that what we do to others we do to him. He stated that every person is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a vessel that contains the Spirit. To deny Christ and blaspheme the Spirit is to deny the humanity of another person - to deny Christ's identity in others, to deny that the Spirit dwells within others. It is to dehumanize, delegitimize, and deprive hope to others as individuals or as groups of people.
We have made this passage about creedal statements because we have used them to deprive others of being identified with Christ, of being a temple of the Holy Spirit. But final judgment is not about creedal statements; it is about feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, visiting those who are sick and in prison, welcoming strangers - because they are Christ in the person of others.
No comments:
Post a Comment