JESUS: LIBERATOR OF DESIRE?

I remember soon after President Obama took the White House, the Republicans did everything they could to stop whatever he wanted to accomplish. Economic bailout package? No way. Healthcare reform? Forget it. Tougher regulations for Wall Street? Never…

And not because they had any better ideas, but simply for the sake of stopping Obama. Political pundits began to refer to the Republican Party as 'The Party of No.'

I wonder if its not the same for Christians today; are we not portrayed as the 'Relgion of No'? Whenever Christianity appears in the news, it seems like it's because we are saying NO to something the modern world has deemed OK. One might even get the impression that Christians were just a bunch of sourpusses shaking their fingers at the world in condemnation.

With this in mind, one might be amazed to discover that Jesus came into the world not to shrink or restrict our desire, but actually came to expand it--even to set it aflame.

Despite all of his critiques of wealth and materialism, Jesus has nothing against desire. Rather, he is saying that by focusing on material things, that we are not desiring ENOUGH. We have set the bar way too low. Instead of focusing on that which perishes, Jesus wants us to refocus our desire on that which is permanent, "that which does not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no theif can reach nor moth destroy." (Lk 12:32)

And what keeps our desire low? Perhaps because we live in a consumer based culture that exploits our desire, using it as the grease that makes the economic machinery turn? That may be one factor. But I think Jesus nails the problem at its root, and that is fear. It is the fear that we live in 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' universe. The fear that if I lose what is tangible, I lose everything; that if I have nothing to show, then I have nothing. Jesus tells us over and over again to not be afraid: "Do not be afraid any longer, for your Father is pleased to give you the Kingdom." (Lk 12:32)

God wants to intrust us with the Kingdom--but we have to want it. If our hearts are not longing for it, how can they hold its bounty? "For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." (Lk 12:34) All too often our fear builds a wall of indifference. Comfort and security can lull us into complacency. We become numb, dead to our spiritual purpose.

And that's when we're in danger.

That's what we must be able to recognize this within ourselves, but we must also have relationships with people we trust who can guide us through these times, who can see this in us and can awaken us from our slumber. That's when we have to rely on the power of the sacraments and the renewing spirit of the liturgy. And finally, that's when we must rely on prayer. So let us close with a prayer by Sir Francis Drake that speaks powerfully to this matter;


DISTURB US LORD

Disturb us Lord
When we are too pleased with ourselves;
When our dreams have come true because we dream too little,
when we have arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us Lord
When the abundance of our possessions has made us lose our thirst
for the abundance of life.

Disturb us Lord,
To dream more boldly
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery
Where losing sight of land
We shall find stars

We ask you to push back
The horizon of our hopes
And to push us into the future
In strength, courage, hope and love.

AMEN