Saturday in the Fourth Week

Jeremiah 11:18-20; Psalm 7:6-11; John 7:37-52

Discernment is a tricky business.  In today’s Gospel we see two different approaches to deciding what is true.  Neither is enough on its own.

Jesus comes to Jerusalem and makes a stunning pronouncement.  “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”  Some people said, “Wow!  This guy is really something.”  Others said, “He’s the Messiah.”  Others say, “He can’t be the Messiah.  He doesn’t fit the Scriptures.”  This is the appeal to biblical authority, often used today in painful ways.  John wants us to see the limitations of this way of thinking, so it’s easy to dismiss these folks.  They want their Messiah to fit their picture.  Good thing we’re smarter than that!  End of story?

Not so fast.  What about that first group?  They are impressed by Jesus.  John wants us to be like them, to hear Jesus and believe in him and follow.  But I wonder.  In my life, I’ve been impressed and moved by a lot of people who turned out to be less than a Messiah, less even than a prophet.  And I know I’m not alone.  So how do I temper my immediate emotional response to truly discern what is up at a given time?

Biblical literalism and unmediated response are two sides of a single coin.  What’s missing is genuine communal conversation and reflection.  We need to search our tradition, we need to examine the Scriptures, and we need to listen to our hearts and minds: and we need to do this with others, in a manner that lets us hear the subtle movement of the Spirit.  It takes longer to reach a point of clarity, but it’s worth it.

I imagine the crowd actually having a lively conversation, even arguing, as they hear Jesus.  I hope they didn’t separate into hostile camps too quickly, but stayed curious about what the others thought.  John’s story, in which you’re either with us or against us, doesn’t bode well for long-term growth (as we know from the history of his communities).  It sounds clear, but it’s the clarity of dissociated, binary thinking.  

Jesus speaks to each of us, and to all of us.  And it’s hard to understand, sometimes, what he’s saying.  It’s good to have friends, and even opponents, to sort it out.

Who do you go to to help you discern?