“Delayed gratification”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, January 5, 2023
Hebrews 11:32-12:2 (Forward, p. 68) CEV p. 1268
This is something that is difficult for children and youth, but seemingly so also for adults these days. We have so much that is ‘instant’, whether it be foods or parcels or service. We want it, and we want it now, and often can’t understand why there’s a delay or accept that there is a delay. Indeed, people get up in arms over travel delays caused by major storms or delays in accessing shipments because of supply chain issues or delays in service calls because of increased demands. And, this creates problems in our churches, institutions and relationships, or with regards to our health, as well: we want things to be instantly better (or close to it), immediate remedies.
This poses a real problem for us as Christians, as with so many things in our faith, we are told to wait, or told that it is ‘a work in progress’ that will take time, that isn’t quite completed yet.
We see this in the roll call of faith heroes touched upon in today’s passage. They were all given promises, promises from God, but all of them had to wait, to wait for us. Indeed, all of them died without seeing those promises fulfilled. “Well,” you might ask, “what kind of deal is that?” We would consider this to be grossly unfair, and highly unreasonable to expect this of anyone.
So, all that they had to ‘keep them going’ was faith, a trust in a God that was there for them and that would not ultimately ‘let them down’, which is hard when one doesn’t even see the results during one’s lifetime.
But here we get an interest loop: we are told that Jesus too had to wait. He “endured the shame (and the pain and everything else) of being nailed to a cross, because he knew that later he would be glad he did.” He too had to wait it out, to endure—and, I must say, that what He went through was far worse than what we have. (In one sense, this is what His entire life was about). But He knew--or He trusted—that this life, and death, were not the ‘end of the game’, but only one fleeting episode. And so He could delay expecting instant results, instant gratification. And, if He could do it, so can we, for we have His help and His presence with us. Amen.
Forward notes: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (chapter 12, verse 1).
Commemoration: Sarah, Theodora, and Syncletica of Egypt
“During the fourth and fifth centuries, early Christians sought an alternative to the established church taking shape in the Roman Empire. They tried to live out a different answer to the relationship of church and state and formed new Christian communities in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. Women like Syncletica gave everything they had to the poor and lived as hermits. The Desert Mothers were all regularly visited by monks and nuns for their advice on the Christian life.
“Today, we remember that the Desert Mothers are a part of our ‘great cloud of witnesses.’ In community, they prayed for each other, learned from each other, and grew closer to God together. Our monastics continue to invite us into deeper communion with God and with neighbour. We too have the weight of the world to shed, so that we might run the path of salvation with greater freedom.”
Moving Forward: “Pick a Desert Mother to research (you might start with one of the three listed at the top of today’s readings).”