Oct. 12 | Pentecost 18, Year C
Jer. 29:1, 4-7Â or 2 Kgs. 5:1-3, 7-15c
Ps. 66:1-11 or Ps. 111
2 Tim. 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19
Some of us treat life as a series of responses to distractions. Whether it is impulse shopping, text messaging, people watching, daydreaming, or something worse, we come to the end of our busy day with few things from our task lists being accomplished. The existence of the electronic personal organizer industry is a witness to the magnitude of the problem. We have electronic gadgets that not only record our appointments and tasks, but send us reminders about them—some can talk to us or even nag us. None of these remedies, however, treats anything but the symptoms. The only solution with lasting success is the hard and sacrificial (self-denying) work of a disciplined focus.
An image from basketball illustrates the necessity of such a focus. Toward the end of a close game, a lone basketball player steps to the foul line. The crowd is going wild. Those rooting for the player’s team are cheering him on, while those who oppose them are doing everything possible to distract him. They jump around behind the transparent backboard and wave anything they have. Internally, the player is subjected to the pressure of a possible multimillion-dollar contract, lucrative endorsements, and incredible fame. When the greats step to the line—the players who successfully shoot greater than 80 percent of their free throws—the commentators fill the waiting time by reporting how they spend hours before and after practice shooting foul shots. The player develops muscle memory and that, with a trained power of concentration, is the goal. The successful shooter has trained eyes, mind, and body to focus on the basket regardless of the pandemonium.
As in the individual, such training and discipline is also necessary for the Christian community. For the Church to function properly as the body of Christ, all its parts need to be trained and focused on the goal—to announce and demonstrate the direction and purpose of God in the world through Jesus Christ. Just as a basketball player does not shoot a successful foul shot by simply staring intently at the basket, or thinking only of the perfect trajectory of the ball, or totally focusing on having the proper spring in the knees, we cannot simply will ourselves to share the gospel successfully with our neighbors.
To know Christ and to make him known, all parts of the Church need to be trained and focused on the goal. We need to study the truth of God’s Word and commit it to memory. We must train our minds and bodies so that living the gospel becomes who we are and how we live. And we need to discipline our minds so that we are not distracted by promises of an easier way than God has provided through Jesus Christ. All this takes concentration and practice, as well as coaching from the Holy Spirit. Only then will we not be distracted by the self-righteous claims of special-interest groups, the cries of foul by the secular culture, and the threats of personal repercussions for our biblical stand. These distractions are not new. St. Paul told Timothy that the antidote is individual discipline and corporate focus on God.
St. Paul’s recipe for the life of the Christian disciple is a prayerful reflection on the Christ-centered and spiritually liberating message of the gospel. Through such reflection we gain divine insight and knowledge about God and our proper relationship with him. The manifestation of our inspired understanding of the gospel is our living testimony to God’s nature and will.
Look It Up:Â Luke 17:15-19
Think About It: When the healed Samaritan leper returned to give thanks to Jesus, he expressed his faith in the One who healed him and he was made well—not only in this life, but for all eternity.
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, teaches anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School.
