A few nights ago I watched a show that discussed a number of recent discoveries by astronomers and physicists, remarkable discoveries that have added to our knowledge of the universe. During the show, one commentator, while discussing the future, remarked,“It won’t be long before we know the mind of God.”
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| Hubble Telescope photo of hundreds of galaxies found in a tiny sliver of the night sky. Each galaxy contains perhaps 100 billion stars like our sun. |
That brought on a chuckle from me. But then, right there in today’s Gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus thanks the Father in heaven for revealing God’s wisdom and knowledge to his disciples.
So maybe knowing God’s mind isn’t completely impossible. Perhaps aided by God’s grace we can come to know God’s plan, at least partially, and share in His knowledge. But I have a suspicion this isn’t at all what our astronomer was thinking when he made that comment.
Let’s look again at Jesus’ prayer. First He first reminds us that God is both Father and Lord of earth as well as heaven. He is the Creator and Author of all that exists, the first origin of everything, the transcendent authority of creation. At the same time He is goodness itself and takes loving care of all his children. As Paul instructed the Ephesians, all fatherhood and motherhood derives from the Father.
Jesus also warns us that we can deprive ourselves of the knowledge of God and of His love. All it takes is intellectual pride, or coldness of heart, or stubbornness of will and we can effectively shut out God and his kingdom. And the worst of these is pride.
Some years ago, while studying the heresies that have plagued the Church over the centuries, the one factor common to all of them was simple pride: an attitude that one is holier than the Church, or smarter than the Church. No one, of course, is holier than the Church, for the Church is guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Pride is really the root of all sin, the strongest influence that propels us to reject God. It first attacks the heart, making it cold and indifferent toward God. Then it closes the mind to God's truth and wisdom and causes the prideful person to look to himself for life’s answers. Quite simply pride is an inordinate love of oneself at the expense of others; an exaggerated estimation of one's own learning, or abilities, or importance.
Jesus contrasts intellectual pride with the simplicity and humility of a child who sees purely and without pretense, and acknowledges his dependence and trust in one who is greater, wiser, more trustworthy. The childlike, the simple of heart, seek one thing — the greatest good, who is God himself. True simplicity of heart is always accompanied by humility, because humility inclines the heart toward grace and truth. Just as pride is the root or every sin and evil, so humility is the only soil in which the grace of God can take root.
But it’s hard to be humble, isn’t it? And the truly humble aren’t even aware of their humility. Their entire focus is outside themselves – on God and their neighbor. And so it’s only through humility that we can turn everything over to God, allowing Him to be the Lord of their lives. The Book of Proverbs has a wonderful verse about this -- God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble [Pr 3:34] – a verse that St. James quotes in his letter.
So one question for all of us today is: do we submit to God's word with simple trust and humility? For it’s through our humility that we can reap the benefits of one of the great truths of the Christian faith: We can know the living God.
That’s the essence of Christianity, that which makes it distinct: our ability to know God as our Father. Our knowledge of God isn’t limited to knowing something about God; through Jesus we can know God personally.
To see Jesus is to see what God is like, for as the Church Fathers never tire of reminding us: Jesus is the culmination of revelation. In Him we see God’s perfect love. We see One who cares intensely and immensely about each of us, loving us to the point of laying down his life for us.
Jesus also promises that God the Father will hear our prayers when we pray in Jesus' name, which is why He taught us to pray with confidence, "Our Father who art in heaven…" And so today, let’s pray to our Father in heaven with joy and confidence in his love and care for us.
Lord, give us the child-like simplicity, the humility and purity of faith to gaze upon your face with joy and confidence in your all-merciful love. Remove the doubts, the fears, and the pride that would hinder us from receiving your word with trust and humble submission. Amen.
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