The Final Struggle
The love story between God and humanity is not finished. We tend to look at Scripture, at the crucifixion, and most intently at the resurrection, and we naturally assume that how we follow God is based only on something that occurred thousands of years ago. While our love story with God reached its climax in the person of Christ, we are still living in this part of the story. Through the Church, the story continues to develop until we are finally reunited with God. That being said, we are currently in the age of the resurrection, which means that we are nearing the end; as is the case with all good stories, the end is precipitated by a great struggle. This struggle will occur in two places: within the heart of the individual and within the Church itself.
We know that we are going to go through this struggle because the rest of our history follows this exact same pattern. The flourishing of God’s people was precipitated by the fall, the original covenant with Abraham in scripture was precipitated by the tower of Babel, The covenant with Israel was precipitated by enslavement in Egypt, and the ultimate salvation of humanity was precipitated by Christ’s death on the cross. Look at your own struggles in life. You may realize that there were many times when great hardship opened the door or prepared you for much greater things. In fact, the personal and individual struggle in the age of the resurrection is an ever-present struggle with personal sin that we all face on a daily basis. This is a battle that we can win with the help of God if we let Him. But as a collective community of believers who work together to build the kingdom of God in the light of the resurrection, we have a much greater struggle on our hands. The same spiritual forces who tempted humanity at the fall, who led to the atrocities at Babel, who delighted in the enslavement of God’s people in Egypt, and who orchestrated the crucifixion of Christ are now attempting to bring Christ’s Church to her knees. There is only one way that the forces of evil will be more successful than they should be at this - if we give up on the individual struggles we face when it comes to sin. We are meant to defend the Church and the people of God, and we cannot do that if we do not have control over ourselves.
Today, the day before the feast of Pentecost which is also the birthday of our Church, we are reminded of this struggle that comes before the end. Paul was sent to Rome as a prisoner from Jerusalem, yet he laid the groundwork for the home of the Church. In the Gospel, it is reiterated to Peter that he will be led where he does not want to go and that he must follow Christ in death before the final triumph of the Church. The Church will win. The forces of evil will lose. But you will find that the struggle that awaits us before God’s final victory will be difficult for us. It is already difficult to overcome our own sins. It will be even more difficult to defend the Church against the forces of evil. But like Peter and Paul, who joyfully went to Rome as prisoners of the world, the meaning of this difficulty is our joy. It is our final struggle before we finally come back fully into the loving arms of God.
Today's Readings:
