July 1, 2007 at Saint Mark Church Norman, OK
1 Kings 19:16, 19-21 + Psalm 16:1-2,5,7-11 + Galatians 5:1, 13-18 + Luke 9:51-62
There is a way of thinking in our age that has never seemed quite right to me. I’ve heard it expressed as advise to graduates more times than I can count. I’ve heard it from young people advising their peers like the blind leading the blind, and I’ve seen it peddled in advice columns with all the authority of the printed page. It always seems shallow and self serving. “Follow your feelings.” is the silly suggestion offered when nothing better comes to mind.
The folly of this thinking came to mind as I was reading and reflecting on this Gospel passage for the past couple of weeks. Following one’s feelings is this world’s proposal for success or recipe for feeling good. The truth of the matter is it does not make one feel good. It makes one narcissistic. “If it feels good, do it” is the moral measure of that system.
But that system is not compatible with any communal living or with Gospel life. Confronting or rebuking this silly idea proposes something else for disciples; it is better to be good than to feel good. We shall hear more of that from Jesus next week.
James and John in this gospel want to follow their feelings. Jesus rebukes that idea without exception. Life in the Kingdom of God is not about following feelings. In fact, not many feelings lead to the Kingdom of God.
There is something higher, something greater than feelings that moves a would-be disciple. It is Jesus himself
We ought not follow our feelings through this life he proposes with his rebuke. Our feelings ought to follow us. This powerful rebuke still speaks to us anytime our feelings lead us rather than Jesus. Do not waste time on revenge no matter how justified you think it is. Seek other opportunities. Do not daydream about romance. Face the harsh challenge of real love in an unloving world. Do not commit yourselves to a way of life the kills the spirit. Follow what gives life. Do not keep looking to others for permission or approval. Look within to a higher self that is there by grace and unfolding all the time. Finding, discovering, celebrating our reason for being alive is not an experience of feelings. It is an experience of faith lived in holy obedience to the Word and the Will of God.
Our decisions, day in and day out, big ones and little ones have to do with the truth of who we are and what we were created to be. Our response to disappointments, rejection, tragedies, and sin may not come out of feelings of anger, revenge, or righteousness, but only from the depths of our faith and our love rooted in and living in the Life of Christ. It is the only way to Jerusalem. As Jesus of Nazareth began to realize and understand what God asked of him, he did not follow his feelings. His feelings followed him. And so, feelings compassion, forgiveness, and mercy followed from the truth of who he was. So, it must be for us. We cannot be led by feelings. But we may see our feelings flow out of what we have become.