Meditation for May 3, 2007
From The Rev. Peter A. Munson
Luke 6:27-38
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." (Luke 6:32-36)
The Art of Detachment
This passage from Luke - taken from Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain" (the parallel to Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew) - drives home the point that followers of Jesus are called to very high standards. We are challenged by Jesus to love and forgive and pray for our enemies, offer the other cheek when struck in the face, and give to everyone who asks of us. Jesus drives home His teaching by saying "love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return." (verse 35a)
Hmmm... "expecting nothing in return." Expecting nothing... as in not expecting a thank you, not expecting recognition or praise, not expecting any sort of accolades... expecting nothing, zip, nada. Sounds sort of super-human, doesn't it? Maybe even beyond what human beings are capable of? Don't all of us want to be seen - in some way - for being good or doing good or going "above and beyond"? It seems like that is just human nature.
Jesus makes it clear, though, that when looking at our actions, God is the standard, not other human beings. And that the reward we should be looking for is a reward from God, not any kind of reward from men. "Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful [the word "compassionate" can also be substituted here], just as your Father is merciful [compassionated]." (verses 35b-36)
Jesus reminds us that God sends down His grace and love and blessings upon all people. God pours out (and keeps pouring out) His blessings, whether folks want those or not, whether we are grateful or not, whether we strive to do good or whether we are bent on doing evil. God doesn't change His behavior based on the reaction of those who are on the receiving end of things.
And this brings me to the idea of detachment. God has been "working on me" in my quiet time over the last two months or so, and the lesson it seems that He wants me to learn is one of detachment. Should it matter whether 80-90 people hear a sermon I prepare (for example, in July) or almost 300 people hear it (for example, on Easter Sunday)? One feels better, one day certainly has a lot more energy associated with it, but should my sense of whether the sermon was any good or not depend on how many people heard it? If I prepare a Bible study for the high school class and only one student comes, is that a bad thing? Or instead, can I see it as a blessing - the fact that I had that 1:1 time with that student, and we got to spend that time together - just the two of us - seeking God's direction for our lives, through Holy Scripture?
"Detached" can sometimes have negative connotations ("aloof", "not connected"), but it also means "not involved by emotion" or "impartial". These other understandings of the word are what God seems to be pointing out to me during my quiet times. This is the message I am hearing: "Peter, I want you to be passionate and emotionally involved in what you are doing, and at the same time be detached with respect to the outcome... the results. Leave the outcome up to Me."
I think both things are necessary. If we are not passionate and emotionally involved in what we are doing, what is the point? It will become drudgery after awhile, and we will lose interest. I don't think that is what God wants for us. God is the Creator, and we - made in His image - are meant to be creative. But I think it is also true that we get way too caught up in "success" and evaluating how we did by trying to measure the reactions of others. Would writers keep writing if the only standard for success was how many people bought their book? Are you a failure as a writer if you never have a bestseller? That is the attitude of the culture that we are in. Success or "runaway success" is the standard. But that is not the standard that Jesus talks about. Jesus points to God, and says, in effect, "Love and do what you do out of your faith and love for God, and let the chips fall where they may. Love your enemies, do good, and lend... [here it comes again] expecting nothing in return."
In other words, be detached from outcomes. Be passionate about what you do. Try to live up to the very high standard that Jesus sets for us - to love as He loves us, to let your love and light shine on even the ungrateful and the wicked. And let go of all the emotional energy that you tend to have tied up in outcomes and results. Be passionate. But "let go and let God" with respect to how others react, or whether you get the credit that you think you deserve.
It's a tall order, I think - having this kind of detachment, "expecting nothing in return." But I think Jesus and God our Father are trying to tell us that if we make some progress in this area, if we learn that it is enough to be faithful and then leave the rest to God, we will learn something of the abundance of God. We will learn something of how freeing it is to live when we are not so anxious about how we are perceived. When we do what we do out of a sense of calling and passion and love, and we risk giving to people that others would say are not worth giving to, and we let go of the culture's preoccupation with "success", then we are free to sit back and see what God will do next. We begin to discover what Jesus means when He says: "A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap..." (Luke 6:38)
I suspect we will never fully understand what that "good measure" feels like until we learn something about detachment.
Help us to be creative, loving people, Lord. Help us to be passionate about what we do. Help us to love others as You love us. And help us to let go of outcomes and results. Help us to trust that You are in charge, and that "all things are being brought to their perfection by Him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord..." (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 528) Amen.