Gospel: John 3: 9-15
"The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." How often do we seek to control God and make God subject to our will. We create elaborate theologies in order to find certitude and security, when in reality all we are doing is seeking to hide from God. We worship our definitions and our theologies, but not God.
We speak so much about Christian culture and the need for it. We create elaborate institutions, attachments to liturgical forms, music, architecture, education systems and the like. But we find ourselves worshipping those things rather than God. When confronted face to face with God alone, we run and hide in our theological categories, ideologies, and political strongmen claiming to defend Christendom. We create a countless array of false gods.
If Holy Week and the Easter season teach us anything at all, it is that the path of God is the path of the cross, one that is not secure or certain at all. It is one of utter faith and dependence in God alone, just as Jesus' time in the desert had been. The Christian must be a mystic, or nothing at all. The trappings of culture, institution, and ideology are idols and hiding places from God. Today is our day to embrace the Spirit and go where she wills.
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