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Sunday, July 22, 2001
Rev. James A. Todhunter

To me one of the endearing, if sometimes frustrating, aspects of the writings of St. Paul, is his frequent determination to pack everything into a limited space. He is rarely content to settle for making one point. He wants to make every possible point he can. So passionately determined is he to get the entire Gospel in there, that he can sometimes put us on overload. The First Chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians is like that. It is dense but it is also amazingly rich. I can’t unpack it all, but let us at least taste of its richness. I’ll just comment on three aspects of what Paul has to say about the Christ.

First, Paul says that the Christ "is the image of the invisible God." God is invisible. God is unseen. Yet we have been given an image that we call the Christ. And that image we know as Jesus of Nazareth. Many things contribute to that image: historical memories, personal testimony, stories and teachings. The human being Jesus (what he did, said, and was) all contribute to this image. The great affirmation of the early Church was that this human being, Jesus, was the Christ. What this means for you and me is that everything we can ever possibly want or need to know about the invisible God, we can know in the human being Jesus of Nazareth. Paul says "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell." Does this mean that Jesus of Nazareth is the only expression of this invisible God and that the only way to this invisible God is through this Jesus? Not at all. That does not follow. The invisible God is free to be revealed in any way the invisible God chooses. But our faith teaches that you do not have to look any further than Jesus of Nazareth. We know Christ by reflecting on his image. An image is a spiritual reality – we reflect on the image of Christ in prayer, by visualization, by reading scripture, by just thinking about him, by looking at an icon. There are many ways to embrace the image of Christ. Faith is communing with that image. "He is the image of the invisible God."

Second, Paul says of the Christ, "He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together." The point is this: all creation exists in Christ. Imagine a big circle. And within the circumference of this circle is found everything – Paul has a long list of things visible and invisible: "thrones, dominions, rulers, powers, …the church." And you and me. We are all in the circle called Christ. And in Christ it either all holds together or it doesn’t. If you and I are in Christ, then what is our attitude toward this image of Christ I just talked about? If we don’t see ourselves as in Christ, or we are not convinced there is a Christ to be in – then the alternative is chaos and meaninglessness. This applies to our institutions, both spiritual and secular. Paul’s view is that everything in all creation has the opportunity to be in harmony with, in resonance with, the Christ. A personal recognition that one is in Christ carries with it some important understandings. If I am in Christ, then I don’t have to look very far to find the image of God. It is right there before me and around me. And if all creation is in Christ, that means everyone else, including my bitterest enemy, is in Christ, too. It seems to me that, understood this way, every fight, every quarrel is, in essence, a family fight, a battle between siblings in the same household. Incidentally, the Rhineland Christian mystic and teacher, Hildegaard of Bingen, does this wonderful theology in which she says that this Christ who contains us all, was in fact given birth by the feminine aspect of God, like Jesus was born of Mary; and that, even now, this feminine energy enfolds and sustains the Christ. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. And you and I and all creation, exist in this Christ.

Third, Christ, this visible image of the invisible God, exists in you and me. Paul says that his calling is to make known the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and now to be revealed, which is: "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Now this may seem like a contradiction with what I just said about you in Christ. Yet, in the exploration of this mystery, it isn’t. In fact, the great medieval theologian, Meister Eckhart, stressed that a Christian needs to approach God holding these two concepts together, i.e. pray out of the understanding that you are in Christ, but also, that Christ is in you. This latter understanding is important, too, because we frequently live without this awareness. In which case, the image of Christ is hidden, bottled up, locked up inside you. The purpose of prayer and of acts of compassion and justice are to uncover and free the image of Christ in you. The purpose of meditation, in any tradition, as I understand it, is to move through the layers of the mind that obscure our essence – rational thought, emotions and feelings, the unconscious levels of the psyche, in order to reach an awareness of the very center of our being. This is initially a process of letting go, of trusting silence and eventually trusting a kind of nothingness. It is a journey into the very invisibility of God. But this image of Christ can be both our guide and our destination. For in this process the image of Christ is unlocked. It occurred to me a while back that the idea that is portrayed in that old devotional painting of Jesus knocking at the cottage door (I think you know the one I mean); that that picture is only half the story. Jesus may also be knocking within you, wishing to get out. I am moved by this understanding, because for so many people, the experience of God is believed to be getting something from "out there" that you don’t have ("getting religion"); whereas it may be more helpful to see it as something you are already have – in abundance within you – only waiting to be freed. Isn’t that good news? After all, Jesus did say, "The Kingdom of God is within you."

How do these three understandings of Paul play out in our personal lives? In many ways: in a determination to see justice and peace happen. If all are in Christ, then each person and each institution will not ultimately be authentic until they are brought into resonance with love, compassion, and fairness. The rule of Christ is not to be imposed, nor is it oppressive or coercive. The rule of Christ needs to be recognized as already there: pervasive and inclusive and compassionate. In our personal lives and relationships, we are also called to live in tune with this pervasive Christ. One is called to engage in personal acts of gentleness and honesty and integrity.

But also this understanding can help us in our daily lives to gain the capacity for living happily and fully. I find the familiar story of Mary and Martha a simple and direct case study. This story has had many different interpretations, with people arguing on the side of Mary, or on the side of Martha, or for contemplation versus service, or type A personalities versus type B personalities, SJ’s versus NF’s, etc. Let me simply suggest that a key to understanding the story is where Luke says "But Martha was distracted by her many tasks." What she was doing, extending hospitality and caring for an honored guest, was perfectly appropriate, in fact, well in keeping with the expectations laid upon a host. But she was distracted. Distraction is an internal attitude. We can experience distraction while busy with many things, or we can be distracted while doing one thing. For example, yesterday afternoon I was trying to read and someone in the neighborhood was using a power tool. It was very distracting and I found myself getting annoyed. I moved from room to room even. Then I realized that it wasn’t the tool that was distracting me. The fact was that I really wasn’t very interested in what I was reading. The problem was in me. Martha was trying to do too many things while her mind was elsewhere. It would have been better for her to simply sit at Jesus’ feet and listen, as Mary did, or to devote herself fully to serving them. I think her distraction came from her attempt to, as we say today, "multi-task." The great Franciscan St. Bonaventure once said, "The perfection of a religious (person) is to do common things in a perfect manner, and a constant fidelity in small matters is great and heroic virtue!" What he is talking about is bringing a quality of total presence to whatever one is doing, whatever it is – washing the dishes, listening to the news, reading the paper, driving to work, serving, singing, thinking, planning, praying. And what can help us is to feel connected to the Christ within, and gently immersed in the Christ without. We can feel connected with the image of Christ and dwelling within it. And to know above all, that what gives us life and sustains life in us is the mysterious presence of an invisible God. AMEN.

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