H AVE YOU EVER WAFFLED between doing what’s right and what is easy?
Pilate waffles back and forth between Jesus and his accusers seven times. He knows what is right — but he also knows what is easy. He knows what is right — but he also knows what is politically practical. He’s torn between the two. Ultimately, he takes the easy road, caving into political pressure and denying the truth that he sees right in front of him.
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A LOT OF US KNOW what it’s like to feel pressure to cave. To give in; to go against our better judgment. To do what is easy but not what’s best or right. The pressure to sexually arouse your boyfriend. The expectation that you’ll laugh at racist jokes told online or in the workplace. The cultural impulse to spend what you don’t have on weekends like this.
There are so many ways we feel that our life is diminished if we don’t slog our way through crowds looking for elusive bargains. Who really believes that your life will be enriched by wading through mall traffic to buy one more gift our kids or spouse or sibling or co-worker will probably not even remember three months from now?
There are so many ways we feel that our life is diminished if we don’t measure up to someone else’s image of what/who we should be. Of course we don’t believe it. But we’ve been taken captive by a false idea other people’s approval makes us complete. What a difficult life we live trying to meet somebody else’s standard of us being “enough.”
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I ENCOUNTER PEOPLE who allow themselves to be almost totally defined by others. The voices of others drown out their own. Their identity conforms to the needs and expectations of others.
I recognize them, because I struggle with being them. If my adult children are doing well in their jobs and relationships, that must mean I’ve been a good father. If I get a glowing email from someone in the church, I can feel like I did a great job. If it is a routine thank-you, that must mean I did just an adequate job. I must say yes to what others ask of me, putting my life and needs on hold, until I meet another’s needs or they won’t like me.
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PILATE ASKS, “So you are a king?” trying to force Jesus to state his identity in terms of public opinion. Jesus persistently resists the efforts of others to define him, to tell him who he has to be, to force him into existing categories.
Here’s the thing: Jesus makes Pilate a promise: “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate doesn’t listen, but we might. And if we do, what will we hear Jesus say? It’s simple: that we are enough. We are worthy of love and honor and respect. We don’t have to do anything — or buy anything — to earn God’s love because God has already given us that love freely and abundantly in Jesus Christ.
We don’t have to pretend to be something or someone we aren’t in order to be approved.
Throughout John’s Gospel we hear that the only begotten Son has taken on our flesh in order to reveal to us the Father’s heart. We are enough. You are enough. I am enough.
■ “You are enough” doesn’t mean that you have been measured and judged, and that you have finally earned the label of “enough.”
■ “You are enough” doesn’t mean that you’ve tried hard enough.
■ “You are enough” doesn’t mean that you are a final product.
■ “You are enough” doesn’t mean that you are everything. “Enough” means you don’t have to get everything, and you certainly don’t have to be everything.
■ “You are enough” doesn’t mean that you don’t need anyone or anything else.
■ “You are enough” does not mean you are flawless or you never make mistakes.
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ACCEPTING THE FACT that I am enough is hard. It is easier to internalize criticisms and compare myself against others.
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8:00 ending
A PASTOR SHARES THE STORY of her 3-year-old daughter who is speech-delayed. During the time with the children, pastor mom led them in singing “Jesus Loves Me.” The pastor’s daughter can’t sing the words but she smiles and sways to the singing. Then the little girl realizes what song it is that they are singing. She gets excited and runs to the books her pastor mom brings from home. She searches for a book as the rest of the children continue singing. Beaming with pride, she brings the book to the front and shows everyone. It’s Jesus Loves Me.
The little girl can’t sing but she can participate. She can listen. She can dance. She can smile. She can show her understanding by bringing the book and opening its pages to the words that declare Jesus’ love for her. She trusts the truth of the song: she is enough — a loved child of God.
— By Kimberly Knowle-Zeller, Christian Century email, Nov. 20, 2018
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10:00 ending (with video played)
A CURRENT SONG really speaks to me of this difficulty. I’ve been listening to it repeatedly over the past few weeks. I find it affirming when I doubt my value, my worth, my measuring up.
