Hermetic Homiletics

24 April 2005, part 2

Forgiveness it is then. But the focus will be on the struggle that we carry within ourselves in order to get to that point where we can really forgive.

Something that Thomas Keating talks about in The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience, is that we have negative energy centers in our lives. Those he identifies are the affection/esteem center, happiness center, and power center.

The affection/esteem center is the part of us that wants acceptance and affirmation. The happiness center is the part of us that wants to experience a glorified self, which can happen through stardom or even simply numbing comfort. The power center drives us to attain control over event and power over others so that the world can conform to our image. Add it all up and we build a false vision of the self, or the "false self." This false self is the sin-activity in our lives. It is not good. It is not holy. It is the darkness we carry within.

It is the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives that works to liberate us from our false self with all of its selfish concerns. In this liberating activity, more and more of our true self is unveiled. As the Holy Spirit always points us to Christ, we find that our true humanity is nothing less than the humanity of Christ. As this (our true humanity, or our true self) emerges in our own lives, it does so as the result of the inner conquest of those negative energy centers that strive for acceptance, happiness, and power. As we are emptied of those negative, self-serving energy centers, we are able to be filled with the positive, self-giving energy of forgiveness and grace, which is love.

This is what happened to Stephen, he was liberated from his sinfulness and filled with the Holy Spirit of the Living Christ, which drove him to give of himself in a holy way: he blessed his enemies and prayed for those who cursed him, knowing while he did so it would cost him his life. It is our call as Christians to become like Stephen, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and conformed to the image of Christ, who is the spiritual sacrifice for the sins of the world.

This is what Peter talks about. For him, the “spiritual sacrifice” to which we are called is our own self-giving that happens when we forgive those who hurt us. We proclaim “the mighty acts of him” when we say to those who curse us (in one way or another) “once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” In other words, the proclamation happens when we say wordlessly, through our actions, “I know you are used to living in a world where sinful human ego-trips lead people to lash out at you when you threaten them or do them harm. But this time is different. Whereas you are used to merciless reaction, through me you now receive mercy. Yes, what you’ve done hurts, but you are forgiven, by the Spirit Christ through my very flesh, in the hope that you too may be free as I am.” That’s Christian witnessing. That’s why the church exists, to spread that message in that way.

But how do we get there? Through our experience. Often, we human beings don't "get" something until we've experienced it for ourselves. This is why our corporate prayers of confession, the assurance of pardon, and the passing of the peace are so important. The experience of forgiveness in our own lives teaches us not just how to forgive, but why we forgive, even if we don't know how to vocalize that. It helps us to become aware of our false selves and how powerful the darkness within indeed is. That awareness helps us to confront our false selves and to open ourselves up to being human in a new way, to embrace our true selves. As the darkness within is overcome by the Holy Spirit, the creative power of love in our lives, we find that we are driven to forgive because we know whe power of forgiveness in our own lives. When a people are open to this process, they not only share their holy experience, they share the power behind their human transformation, and they make a difference in this world.

posted by irreverance @ 10:07 AM