Dirt and dust cover a barren landscape. A solitary farmer plunges a shovel into the rough earth. Slowly and deliberately, he carves a network of canals into the dirt. One canal connects to another, forming an array of trenches that end at a small dam. The farmer bends over the dam, his hands aching as he works a gear to open a small door. Water rushes out of a small opening, filling the trenches and soaking into the dirt. Day after day, the water permeates into the coarse earth and seeds buried deep therein begin to sprout. Months pass and vegetation grows over the once barren landscape. The lush crops sway in an autumn breeze as the farmer prepares for the harvest.
The Holy Spirit has labored over the bleak landscape of human existence since the beginning of time, toiling as He carved the law into the hearts of men. What began as precepts etched on stone tablets became a living and breathing being in the incarnation. Jesus demonstrated the importance of God’s precepts during His public ministry. In numerous encounters with the Jewish leaders, our Lord pointed to the importance of love within the context of the law. The doctrines of our faith are a gift from God: a network of channels into which we are called to pour out our love. By pouring out our love within the structure of the law, we nourish the seeds of God’s grace, which brings us joy in our present life and eternal happiness in the life to come.
How could it be that doctrines are a gift? Most of us think of rules as a burden: a series of arbitrary restrictions that oppress us and take the fun out of life. Confronted with a series of dos and don’ts that seem contrary to our nature, many of us simply opt out. Maybe we’re in favor of obvious rules such as the prohibition of murder or sexual relationships between adults and minors. These seem to make sense to most modern men, regardless of their creed.
The doctrines of the Church are another story. Go to Mass every Sunday, don’t use contraception, only receive the Eucharist if you’re properly disposed, one man and one woman for life…the list seems endless. If we look back into the early books of the Bible, such as Leviticus, our heads may start to spin: exact measurements for a structure to house the ark, incredible restrictions on diet, the punishment of death for disobedience. Surely these were all arbitrary rules from an oppressive God who wants nothing but to put us down. Don’t even get us started about the people that God has supposedly put in charge of administering these laws...
Despite the myriad of excuses that we may come up with about how rules are unfair and burdensome, sacred scripture holds that doctrine is not only a benefit to mankind, but a natural part of our existence. In his letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul echoes the voice of God when he says, “I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds.(1)” The precepts of God are a part of us. At the time of St. Paul, the law was seen as a Jewish concept. The Jews were under the law and the gentiles were outside of it. However, in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul tell us that “[the gentiles] show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.(2)” When we do wrong by ourselves, by others, or by God, something eats at us inside. This feeling deep within us is our conscience, and it operates inside of every man as the precepts of the heart.
St. Paul identifies the link between the law of God and the law of the heart, but Jesus connects the two in His public ministry. It is tempting to read Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees as a condemnation of doctrine, but it is important to draw a distinction: Christ clearly states that the problem lies not within rules or structure but within the hearts of men. If the law was the cause of the Pharisees’ sin, then why not just do away with the doctrines all together? Rather than dismiss the law, Jesus upholds it when He says, “Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.(3)” Jesus not only upholds doctrine, but he exalts it by saying, “If you love me, keep my commandments.(4)” Christ embraces the law and goes further by claiming that we show our love for God by following His commandments.
Merely following rules is not enough. Even if we see the importance of God's precepts, like the Pharisees did, we must seek more than outward appearances. Rules are an invaluable tool, but ultimately they are a mere channel, a framework upon which we build our love. Jesus frequently condemned the Pharisees not for following precepts, but for following the law without love. When faced with a man whose hand was withered, our Lord asked the Pharisees if it was lawful to cure of the Sabbath. They were silent and Jesus “looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.(5)” Christ calls us to accept doctrine and to carry out God’s commands in a spirit of love.
By following the precepts of God, we anchor our lives to a structure that is etched into our very beings. A life lived in the confines of the law alone is one that is dry, barren, and devoid of fruit. Jesus calls us to pour the love of our hearts into the framework of doctrine. Just as the law alone is insufficient, so too does love alone fail to bring us fulfillment. Uncontained love tends to spread out and dry up, turning fervor into weakness and exhaustion. The opposite is also true when love is not properly contained and ordered: a deluge of feelings and emotions overwhelms everything in its path, drowning out reason. When carefully guided into the confines of the law, our love is given order and direction. Properly ordered love nourishes the seeds of grace that God places in our hearts. In His time, these seeds grow into fruit that will last, bringing us satisfaction in this life and the immeasurable abundance of heavenly bliss in eternity.
References
(1) Hebrews 10:16
(2) Romans 2:15
(3) Matthew 5:17
(4) John 14:15
(5) Mark 3:5
(1) The Veteran in a New Field (1865). Obtained via nytimes.com (https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/arts/design/the-civil-war-and-american-art-smithsonian-american-art.html)
No comments:
Post a Comment