AIMING FOR WHOLENESS
Matthew 11:2-9, 16-19, 25-29
Rev. Paul Wrightman 9/12/21
THE GREAT SWISS PSYCHOANALYST CARL JUNG SAID,
“FOLLOW YOUR LONGING AND IT WILL LEAD YOU TO GOD.”
WE CAN SEE THIS PROCESS AT WORK
IN OUR SCRIPTURE PASSAGE FOR TODAY.
WHAT JOHN THE BAPTIST HAS HEARD ABOUT JESUS
HAS RAISED A QUESTION FOR THE BAPTIST.
JOHN’S VISION OF WHAT WAS TO COME EMPHASIZED JUDGMENT,
PUNISHMENT, AND VINDICATION.
WHAT JOHN IS HEARING ABOUT JESUS
DOES NOT FIT THESE EXPECTATIONS.
SO HE WANTS JESUS TO DECLARE HIMSELF AND CLARIFY THE ISSUE.
THE PHRASING OF THE QUESTION –
“ARE YOU THE ONE WHO IS TO COME,
OR ARE WE TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER?” –
SETS THE TONE FOR THE WHOLE PASSAGE.
JOHN THE BAPTIST AND HIS DISCIPLES
ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE.
BUT WHAT EXACTLY ARE THEY LOOKING FOR,
WHAT ARE THE DEEPEST DESIRES OF THEIR HEARTS?
IF THEY CAN BRING TO CONSCIOUSNESS
THE DEEPEST DESIRES OF THEIR OWN HEARTS,
THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ANSWER THEIR OWN QUESTION.
JESUS DOES NOT ANSWER THEIR QUESTION DIRECTLY.
INSTEAD, HE POINTS TO WHAT HE IS BRINGING ABOUT.
JESUS IS APPLYING ONE OF JOHN’S CRITERIA TO HIMSELF:
“YOU WILL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS.”
JOHN’S DISCIPLES ARE SIMPLY TO TELL JOHN
WHAT THEY SEE AND HEAR.
THE IMPLICATION IS THAT EACH PERSON
MUST COME TO THEIR OWN CONCLUSION
ABOUT WHETHER JESUS IS THE ONE
FOR WHOM THEY ARE WAITING.
THE WORKS OF JESUS ARE IMAGINATIVE EXAMPLES
OF RESTORATION.
SOMETHING THAT WAS MISSING IS FOUND.
SOMETHING THAT WAS WOUNDED IS HEALED.
SIGHT, MOBILITY, HEARING, LIFE, AND DIGNITY ARE RETURNED
TO PEOPLE WHO LOST THEM.
JESUS IS RESTORING GOD’S GOOD CREATION.
HE IS RECONNECTING PEOPLE WITH GOD
AND THE RESULT IS A WHOLE HUMAN PERSON.
THIS ACTIVITY MAY NOT BE
WHAT JOHN THE BAPTIST IS LOOKING FOR.
IT DOES NOT HAVE THE EDGE OF JUDGMENT
THAT JOHN’S PREACHING PUSHED.
AS JOHN’S DISCIPLES LEAVE,
JESUS SEARCHES THE HEARTS OF THOSE REMAINING
BY QUESTIONING THEM ABOUT WHY THEY WERE
ATTRACTED TO JOHN.
WHEN THEY WENT INTO THE DESERT OF SELF-EXAMINATION
WHERE JOHN LIVED, WHAT DROVE THEM?
WHAT WERE THEY LOOKING FOR?
THIS QUESTION, WHICH WILL BE REPEATED THREE TIMES,
IS THE STRATEGY OF A SPIRITUAL TEACHER
TRYING TO UNCOVER THE DEEPEST DESIRES OF THE HEART.
ONLY IF THEY UNDERSTAND THEIR DEEPEST DESIRES
WILL THEY BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO JESUS.
ONLY IF WE UNDERSTAND OUR DEEPEST DESIRES
WILL WE BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO JESUS.
DID YOU EXPECT TO SEE A MAN
WHO WOULD BE EASILY INTIMIDATED?
WERE THEY – ARE WE – LOOKING FOR SOMEONE
WHO WAS THE PLAYTHING OF EVERY INFLUENCE,
AT THE WHIM OF SWIRLING OUTER FORCES?
THE ASSUMED ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS NO.
WHAT THEN DID YOU GO OUT TO SEE?
JESUS LAUNCES A SECOND PROBE INTO THEIR DESIRES.
IF IT WASN’T A MAN WHO WOULD BE EASILY INTIMIDATED,
THEN WHAT WAS IT?
LOOKING INTO THE HEART TO SEE WHAT DRIVES US
IS NOT AN EASY TASK.
FINDING OUR ROOT DESIRE IS A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY.
A GUIDE IS HELPFUL AND, IN THIS TEXT, JESUS IS THE GUIDE.
ONE OF THE DUTIES OF THE GUIDE IS TO PUSH THE QUESTION
AND NOT ALLOW US TO SETTLE FOR SURFACE ANSWERS.
DID YOU EXPECT TO SEE A MAN DECKED OUT
IN THE SPLENDID FASHION OF THE DAY?
THOSE WHO WEAR FANCY CLOTHES LIVE IN PALACES.
DID YOU GO INTO THE DESERT
FOR POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE AND GLITZ?
ARE YOU A ROYAL WATCHER?
IF SO, IMPLIES JESUS, YOU’RE IN THE WRONG PLACE.
WHAT THEN DID YOU GO OUT TO SEE?
THIS IS THE THIRD PROBE AND, HONORING THE LAW OF THREES,
IT IS THE ONE THAT REACHES ITS TARGET.
OR DID YOU ENCOUNTER A TRUE PROPHET
OUT IN THE LONELY WILDERNESS?
THE REAL LONGING IS TO CONNECT WITH A PROPHET,
A GOD-GROUNDED PERSON WHO CANNOT BE PUSHED AROUND
AND WHO CONFRONTS THE ABUSES OF PEOPLE
WHO LIVE IN PALACES.
THEY WANTED – WE WANT –
A PROPHET WHO COULD NOT ONLY CRITICIZE SIN
BUT COULD POINT TO REDEMPTION.
THEY MAY NOT KNOW IT,
BUT WHAT JESUS DOES IS WHAT THEY WANT.
WE MAY NOT KNOW IT,
BUT WHAT JESUS DOES IS WHAT WE WANT.
THEY WANTED, BOTH FIGURATIVELY AND LITERALLY,
THEIR SIGHT RESTORED,
THEIR LEGS MOVING,
THEIR EARS OPEN,
THEIR LIFE FLOWING,
THEIR POVERTY ENRICHED.
IN OTHER WORDS, THEY WANT WHOLENESS AND RENEWAL.
AND SO DO WE.
THE DEEPEST DESIRE OF THE HEART IS TO BE CONNECTED TO GOD.
PEOPLE HAVE STRAYED FROM THIS RELATIONSHIP
AND, CONSEQUENTLY, LIVE IN EXILE FROM THEIR TRUE SELVES.
BUT THEY SEARCH FOR WHAT THEY HAVE LOST.
THEREFORE, WHAT THEY WENT OUT TO SEE
WAS THE POSSIBILITY OF RECONNECTING,
OF RESTORING WHAT THEY HAD LOST,
OF REINHABITING THE GARDEN IN THE FIERCENESS OF THE DESERT.
IMAGINE IN YOUR MIND’S EYE THE CROWD SURROUNDING JESUS,
AND IMAGINE THAT CROWD,
AS IT UNDOUBTEDLY WOULD HAVE BEEN,
AS DIVIDED INTO TWO UNEQUAL PARTS.
BY FAR THE LARGEST PART,
WHOM JESUS HAS JUST FINISHED ADDRESSING,
WOULD HAVE BEEN THE “PEOPLE OF THE LAND,”
A SPECIFIC TERM IN JESUS’ DAY USED TO REFER TO
THE POOR, THE ILL, THE WOMEN AND THE CHILDREN,
ALL THOSE CONSIDERED “UNCLEAN” FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER,
ALL THOSE REJECTED BY THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT
FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER.
JESUS NOW TURNS TO THE SMALL GROUP OF MEN,
SCRIBES AND PHARISEES,
REPRESENTING THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT,
CALLS THEM “THIS GENERATION,”
AND LAMENTS AT THE FACT THAT NOTHING CAN PLEASE THEM.
THEY RESPOND NEGATIVELY TO EVERY INVITATION.
THEY ALLOW THEIR IMAGINED POSITIONS OF PRIVILEGE
TO KEEP THEM FROM GETTING IN TOUCH
WITH THEIR DEEPEST LONGINGS.
THEY CAN’T RECOGNIZE HEALTH AND WHOLENESS
EVEN WHEN IT IS STANDING BEFORE THEM,
SPEAKING TO THEM, PLEADING WITH THEM.
TURNING BACK NOW TO THE COMMON PEOPLE,
THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND,
JESUS COMPARES THEM TO LITTLE CHILDREN.
LITTLE ONES CAN RECEIVE REVELATION.
THE CHILD MIND, OR AS SOME TRADITIONS CALL IT,
BEGINNER’S MIND, IS EAGER AND OPEN.
IT IS NOT DEFENSIVE, OR CLUTTERED
WITH MANY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS,
OR INORDINATELY ATTACHED TO WHAT IT THINKS.
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY,
THE CHILD MIND IS ESSENTIALLY RELATIONAL.
IT DOES NOT THINK IT IS SOMETHING IN ITSELF,
AND SO IT DOES NOT SPEND ITS ENERGIES
IN PROTECTION AND ISOLATION.
EVEN AS A MATURE ADULT, A PERSON CAN HAVE
A CHILD, OR BEGINNER’S MIND.
THIS MEANS THE MIND IS IN SERVICE
TO THE DEEPER DIMENSIONS OF THE PERSON,
PRIZING THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE EXPERIENCE
THAT OPENS THE PERSON TO GOD.
IT IS NOT RESISTANT, BUT RIPE FOR REVELATION.
THIS MIND IS READY TO ENTER INTO THE MIND OF JESUS
AND TO KNOW WHAT JESUS KNOWS.
BEGINNER’S MIND IS IN TOUCH
WITH THE HEART’S DEEPEST DESIRES FOR HEALING AND WHOLENESS.
BEGINNER’S MIND IS WILLING TO LET GO AND LET GOD,
WILLING TO RELAX INTO ONE’S REAL SELF,
AND IN THIS PROCESS OF RELAXATION
TO EXPERIENCE HEALING AND WHOLENESS.
BEGINNER’S MIND PUTS US BACK IN TOUCH
WITH THE PROFOUND REALITY DESCRIBED IN PSALM 139,
WHERE THE PSALMIST PRAISES GOD, SAYING:
“OH YES, YOU SHAPED ME FIRST INSIDE, THEN OUT;
YOU FORMED ME IN MY MOTHER’S WOMB.
BODY AND SOUL, I AM MARVELOUSLY MADE!
YOU KNOW ME INSIDE AND OUT,
YOU KNOW EVERY BONE IN MY BODY;
YOU KNOW EXACTLY HOW I WAS MADE,
BIT BY BIT, HOW I WAS SCULPTED
FROM NOTHING INTO SOMETHING.”
BEGINNERS MIND, WHICH SOME PEOPLE CALL
PUTTING ON THE YOKE OF JESUS,
OR SEEING WITH THE EYES OF JESUS,
RECONNECTS US WITH OUR DEEPEST YEARNINGS
AND OUR DEEPEST SELF.
SOMETIMES WE NEED TO GIVE EACH OTHER
PERMISSION TO RECONNECT,
TO BE LED TO OUR DEEPEST SELF BY A WISE SPIRITUAL GUIDE,
WHO BECOMES A VEHICLE FOR GOD’S SPIRIT
TO CONNECT WITH OUR OWN.
A POWERFUL EXAMPLE OF THIS OCCURS
IN THE BOOK KITCHEN TABLE WISDOM
BY RACHEL NAOMI REMEN, M.D.
SHE WRITES:
“FOR EACH OF US THERE ARE CONDITIONS OF HEALING
THAT ARE AS UNIQUE AS A FINGERPRINT.
SOME TIME AGO A YOUNG MAN WAS REFERRED TO ME
BY AN IMAGERY-TRAINING PROGRAM FOR PEOPLE WITH CANCER.
DESPITE A DIAGNOSIS OF MALIGNANT MELANOMA,
HE HAD BEEN SO POORLY MOTIVATED
THAT ONLY A MONTH AFTER COMPLETING THE INTENSIVE TRAINING,
HE COULD NOT REMEMBER TO DO HIS DAILY IMAGERY MEDITATION.
JIM WAS AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER AT A MAJOR AIRPORT.
HE WAS A RESERVED AND QUIET MAN
WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN THOUGHT SHY
UNTIL YOU NOTICED THE STEADINESS IN HIS EYES.
HE TOLD ME WITH EMBARRASSMENT
THAT HE WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE IMAGERY CLASS
WHO COULDN’T STICK TO THE PROGRAM.
HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY.
WE TALKED FOR A WHILE ABOUT HIS PLANS FOR HIS LIFE
AND HIS REACTION TO HIS DIAGNOSIS.
HE CERTAINLY CARED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT GETTING WELL.
HE ENJOYED HIS WORK, LOVED HIS FAMILY,
LOOKED FORWARD TO RAISING HIS LITTLE BOY.
NOT MUCH SELF-DESTRUCTION THERE.
SO I ASKED HIM TO TELL ME ABOUT HIS IMAGERY.
BY WAY OF AN ANSWER, HE UNFOLDED A DRAWING OF A SHARK.
THE SHARK’S MOUTH WAS HUGE AND OPEN
AND FILLED WITH SHARP, POINTED TEETH.
FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES THREE TIMES A DAY
HE WAS TO IMAGINE THOUSANDS OF TINY SHARKS
HUNTING THROUGH HIS BODY,
SAVAGELY ATTACKING AND DESTROYING
ANY CANCER CELL THEY FOUND.
IT WAS A FAIRLY TRADITIONAL PATTERN
OF IMMUNE SYSTEM IMAGERY,
RECOMMENDED BY MANY SELF-HELP BOOKS
AND USED BY COUNTLESS PEOPLE.
I ASKED HIM WHAT SEEMED TO PREENT HIM
FROM DOING THE MEDITATION.
WITH A SIGH, HE SAID HE FOUND IT. . .BORING.
THE TRAINING HAD GONE BADLY FOR HIM FROM THE START.
ON THE FIRST DAY, THE CLASS HAD BEEN ASKED
TO FIND AN IMAGE FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM.
IN THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSION,
HE HAD DISCOVERED THAT HE HAD NOT GOTTEN
THE “RIGHT” SORT OF IMAGE.
THE WHOLE CLASS AND THE PSYCHOLOGIST/LEADER
HAD WORKED WITH HIM UNTIL HE CAME UP WITH THIS SHARK.
I LOOKED AT THE DRAWING ON HIS LAP.
THE CONTRAST BETWEEN IT AND THIS RESERVED MAN
WAS STRIKING.
CURIOUS, I ASKED WHAT HIS FIRST IMAGE HAD BEEN.
LOOKING AWAY, HE MUMBLED, ‘NOT VICIOUS ENOUGH.’
IT HAD BEEN A CATFISH.
I WAS INTRIGUED.
I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT CATFISH, HAD NEVER EVEN SEEN ONE,
AND NO ONE HAD EVER TALKED ABOUT THEM
IN THIS HEALING ROLE BEFORE.
WITH GROWING ENTHUSIASM HE DESCRIBED WHAT CATFISH DO
IN AN AQUARIUM.
UNLIKE OTHER MORE AGGRESSIVE AND COMPETITIVE FISH,
THEY ARE BOTTOM FEEDERS,
SIFTING THE DAND THROUGH THEIR GILLS,
EVALUATING CONSTANTLY,
SORTING WASTE FROM WHAT IS NOT WASTE,
EATING WHAT NO LONGER SUPPORTS
THE LIFE OF THE AQUARIUM.
THEY NEVER SLEEP.
THEY ARE ABLE TO MAKE MANY RAPID AND ACCURATE DECISIONS.
AS AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER,
HE ADMIRED THEIR ABILITY TO DO THIS.
I ASKED HIM TO DESCRIBE A CATFISH FOR ME IN A FEW WORDS.
HE CAME UP WITH SUCH WORDS AS ‘DISCERNING, VIGILANT,
IMPECCABLE, THOROUGH, STEADFAST,’ AND ‘TRUSTWORTHY.’
‘NOT BAD,’ I THOUGHT.
WE TALKED FOR A WHILE ABOUT THE IMMUNE SYSTEM.
HE HAD NOT KNOWN THAT THE DNA
OF EACH OF OUR BILLIONS OF CELLS
CARRIES A HIGHLY INDIVIDUAL SIGNATURE,
A SORT OF PERSONAL DESIGNER LOGO.
OUR IMMUNE CELLS CAN RECOGNIZE OUR OWN DNA LOGO
AND WILL CONSUME ANY CELL THAT DOES NOT CARRY IT.
THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IS THE DEFENDER OF OUR IDENTITY
ON THE CELLULAR LEVEL,
PATROLLING THE SELF/NOT SELF BOUNDARY CONSTANTLY,
DISCERNING WHAT IS SELF FROM WHAT IS OTHER,
NEVER SLEEPING.
CANCER CELLS HAVE LOST THEIR DNA LOGO.
THE HEALTHY IMMUNE SYSTEM
ATTACKS THEM AND DESTROYS THEM.
IN FACT, JIM’S UNCONSCIOUS MIND HAD OFFERED HIM
A PARTICULARLY ACCURATE IMAGE FOR THE IMMUNE SYSTEM.
BUT JIM STILL SEEMED DOUBTFUL.
THE TEACHER AND THE CLASS HAD TALKED OF THE IMPORTANCE
OF AN AGGRESSIVE ‘FIGHTING SPIRIT’
AND OF THE ‘KILLER MOTIVATION’
OF EFFECTIVE CANCER-FIGHTING IMAGERY.
HE FLUSHED AGAIN.
‘IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE?’ I ASKED HIM.
NODDING, HE TOLD ME THAT CATFISH
GREW BIG WHERE HE HAD BEEN RAISED,
AND AT CERTAIN TIMES OF THE YEAR
THEY WOULD ‘WALK’ ACROSS THE ROADS.
WHEN HE WAS A CHILD THIS HAD STRUCK HIM
AS A SORT OF MIRACLE
AND HE NEVER TIRED OF WATCHING THEM.
HE HAD KEPT SEVERAL AS PETS.
‘JIM,’ I SAID, ‘WHAT IS A PET?’
‘WHY, A PET IS SOMETHING THAT LOVES YOU,
NO MATTER WHAT,’ HE REPLIED.
SO I ASKED HIM TO SUMMARIZE HIS OWN IMAGERY.
CLOSING HIS EYES, HE SPOKE OF
MILLIONS OF CATFISH THAT NEVER SLEPT,
MOVING THROUGH HIS BODY,
VIGILANT, UNTIRING, DEDICATED, AND DISCRIMINATING,
PATIENTLY EXAMINING EVERY CELL,
PASSING BY THE ONES THAT WERE HEALTHY,
EATING THE ONES THAT WERE CANCEROUS,
MOTIVATED BY A PET’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND DEVOTION.
THEY CARED WHETHER HE LIVED OR DIED.
HE WAS AS SPECIAL AND UNIQUE TO THEM AS HE WAS TO HIS DOG.
HE OPENED HIS EYES.
‘THIS MAY SOUND SILLY, BUT I FEEL SORT OF GRATEFUL TO THEM
FOR THEIR CARE,’ HE SAID.
THIS IMAGERY TOUCHED HIM DEEPLY
AND IT WAS NOT HARD FOR HIM TO REMEMBER.
NOR WAS IT BORING.
HE DID HIS MEDITATION DAILY FOR A YEAR.
YEARS LATER, AFTER A FULL REVCOVERY,
HE CONTINUES THIS PRACTICE A FEW TIMES A WEEK.
HE SAYS IT REMINDS HIM THAT, ON THE DEEPEST LEVEL,
HIS BODY IS ON HIS SIDE.”
GOING BACK TO TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING,
I SEE JESUS LOOKING AT BOTH SIDES OF THE DIVIDED CROWD,
THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND,
AND THE PEOPLE OF THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT,
AS HE INVITES THEM ALL TO SEE
WITH THE BEGINNER’S MIND OF LETTING GO AND LETTING GOD:
“ARE YOU WEARY, CARRYING A HEAVY BURDEN?
COME TO ME.
I WILL REFRESH YOUR LIFE, FOR I AM YOUR OASIS.
SIMPLY JOIN YOUR LIFE WITH MINE.
LEARN MY WAYS AND YOU’LL DISCOVER
THAT I’M GENTLE, HUMBLE, EASY TO PLEASE.
YOU WILL FIND REFRESHMENT AND REST IN ME.”
AMEN.
OUR NEXT SONG, YOU RAISE ME UP,
BEAUTIFULLY CAPTURES THE ESSENCE
OF WHAT JESUS HAS JUST SAID.
THE SIMPLE YET PROFOUND WORDS TO THIS SONG
CAN BE FOUND ON THE YELLOW INSERT IN YOUR BULLETIN.
YOU MIGHT WANT TO READ THEM AS A PRAYER
AS JON PLAYS THE MUSIC. . .