LIVE THE STORY
Author: Fr. Michael Byron
June 04, 2019
Don’t forget
your story. But don’t be a slave to your
story.
All of us
are here in worship today because of a very specific story. Some of us are here because this is where our
family has been rooted all our lives. That’s the story. Some of us are
here because a job transfer sent us to this part of the world. That’s the story. Some us are here because we had a radical
conversion experience. That’s the
story. Some of us are here today because
we were desperate for a place of welcome and we found it here. That’s the story. Some of us are here because we are hanging on
to our Catholic faith by a thread, and Pax gives us hope. That’s the story.
And beyond
the stories that have led us to be in this building this morning, there are the
bigger stories of history that have drawn us to Minnesota. Some of us live in this place because our
ancestors were scared or starved or threatened out of their homelands, either
last year or 200 years ago. Some of us
are here because the Twin Cities provides opportunities that aren’t available
elsewhere. Some of us came here to go to
school and we stayed because we liked it. Some of us are here because of a spouse or partner whom we love who
lives here.
We should
never forget our story that has brought us to be in this place on this
day. But we should never fool ourselves
into thinking that the story has ended, or can be frozen in time. Our story is what grounds us. But it must never become something that
entraps us. We are all here because of
some very specific confluences of time and events, of people and relationships,
of loves and losses. But all of those
are still subject to change, for better or worse.
Maybe all
this threatens to sound a bit abstract, but I reflect on it because of Jesus’
behavior in today’s gospel of Luke, the very end of that gospel, his last hour on
earth before the Ascension. And his
behavior seems very strange.
Jesus’ very
last words to the disciples before leaving them are, “Stay in this city”
(Jerusalem). And his very next and last
act is to lead them out of the city, to the town of Bethany, from where he
disappears from their sight. What’s that
about? Perhaps it’s nothing more than an
attempt to tell them never to forget their story. Never forget Jerusalem and all that happened
there—the Last Supper, the betrayal, the trial, the cross, the tomb, the
resurrection. And from there is soon to
come the outpouring of the spirit to empower them to carry on the mission. Never forget the drama of Jerusalem, because
it is your primal story of faith. But at
the same time, once the spirit comes, you can’t remain stuck in Jerusalem. His instructions are clear: This gospel is intended to be preached—by
you—to all the nations and to the ends of the earth. To turn this Easter good news into a local
historical museum piece is positively to do violence to the story.
Never forget
Jerusalem. But never imprison this story
in Jerusalem. Our stories are meant to
ground us, but not to constrict us. When
Jesus ascended into heaven it brought an end to his thoroughly Jewish human
life. As far as we know, Jesus never
traveled very far beyond the borders of Israel and certainly not to the ends of
the earth. His mission was mostly in his
own homeland and for his own people. That was his story. But that
wasn’t/isn’t the end of the story. Because by his own words he commanded us to do something that he himself
never did; namely, to take this Jewish story of salvation and proclaim it to
any who will listen.
“Don’t leave
the Jerusalem story behind,” he says, “but don’t keep it all locked up in
Jerusalem.” To do things with this story
that even Jesus did not is an incredibly bold and courageous thing to be tasked
with, and it would be both foolish and impossible to attempt it apart from the
empowerment of the Holy Spirit. That is
why the promise of Pentecost is so necessary, and we will celebrate all that
next weekend.
Don’t forget
your story. But don’t be a slave to your
story. It’s ongoing. It’s ever-widening, and it won’t be complete
until the day we stand before God. If
our story to date involves conflict or anger or estrangement, it need not end
there. If it involves grief or illness
or addiction, it need not end there. If
it involves gratitude and joy, great relationships, it may not end there. Even when it includes the prospect of death,
as it did for Jesus, it doesn’t have to end there. “Stay in the city until the Holy Spirit comes
upon you,” Jesus said. Be true to your
story. But once the Spirit arrives, then
get out of town and live in to the story that has yet to be, armed with the
grace of God to meet whatever lies ahead.
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