“Clothe yourselves with humility
in your dealings with one another…
Be sober and vigilant.
Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour” (1 Pt 5:5b, 8).
What is the Christian vision when it comes to the words above?
Jesus before Pilate. Jesus on the Cross.
“Jesus answered [Pilate], ‘You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above’” (Jn 19:11).
It is a scandal. The devil tried to devour the Lord, indeed. The devil is incapable of understanding the Law of Love.
St. Paul said in his first letter to the Corinthians: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor 1:22-25).
To look at Jesus before Pilate and see power and vigilance is foolishness to those who think that power is getting the most attention, getting the most votes, having the most people watch or listen to you, or having the most money. These are all worldly cares. Signs are also “of the world” because those who see them are still tempted not to believe. Our Heavenly Father gives us signs of His presence everyday and we discount these signs because of our worldly cares and attention.
At least I do, anyway.
Power is the ability to see things the way our Creator sees things. It is living in the Spirit of God — living the law of God because it is written on our hearts. Living the Law of Love means looking at the person across the aisle, the table, the Church, the border, the ocean…and forgiving them and seeking abundant life for them.
To be sober and vigilant is to choose to believe without seeing. It is to choose to believe that God will take care of me, of us: to remember His promises, and to know, by faith, that we are in His hands.
This is foolishness to the world. This is foolishness to politicians. This is even foolishness to some Catholics and other Christians. This is foolishness to anyone who seeks a worldly solution to a spiritual problem. The root of the spiritual problem is UNBELIEF.
The letter from Peter quoted above also says, “Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you” (1 Pt 5:7).
I am not sure it could be made clearer. We are in a spiritual battle, which means that it is on the inside. Jesus told us to follow Him. He promised us abundant life if we follow His ways. Do we believe?
The inner battle against the powers that seek to devour us, to divide us, is found in our hearts and in our choices (free will). Following Him means dying with Him. This may or may not be a material death. He, as the author of life, will determine that.
There is no power of ours that can add a second to our lives. There is no human wisdom that can trump even the foolishness of God.
It is the power of God, living in us, that can and will save the world from all its ills. We unleash the power of God when we surrender to His love.
2uolord 