First Sunday of the Great Fast: Sunday of Orthodoxy; The Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
Day 7 of the Great Fast.
Hebrews 11:24-26,32-40; 12:1-2; Hebrews 12:1-10; John 1:43-51; Matthew 20:1-16.
Read Hebrews 11:24-26,32-40; 12:1-2
Sometimes we might see an item advertised in a flyer at an exceptional price, but when we go to the store, we find that there were only a few of them, they are all sold out, and there is a different item there to buy instead. That is called “bait and switch.”
Many aspects of our faith are attractive – the peace of loving relationships, the stability of self-control from which to pursue God-given goods, the inter-personal health that grows out of forgiveness. Sometimes we rightly want to emphasize those, availing ourselves of God’s provision in our difficult days and to show others the blessing a life of faith could be for them. Sometimes, though, our culture idolizes ease, comfort, and individual well-being and we can begin to equate that with the just desserts of a life well-lived; our expectations of life can then narrow with less room for suffering. Avoidance behaviours creep in, insulating ourselves from the pain of others. We can then feel ripped-off when life’s tragedies land at our door.
But we cannot accuse our Lord of engaging in “bait and switch.” The faith that Jesus originated and is perfecting in us is one in which “for the joy that was set before him (He) endured the cross.” A “great a cloud of witnesses” suffered for Him, “of whom the world was not worthy.” The gospel is truth in advertising. What we’ve signed up for is explicitly stated at the outset. Suffering may be repellent, but joy is the most attractive thing in the world, greater than mere happiness. Joy transcends suffering because it is rooted in eternity rather than circumstances. For communion with the One who “is seated at the right hand of the throne of God,” let us lay aside every cheap imitation of joy.