ATC 2 Obey

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Martin Luther said, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason…my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen,” (Reply to the Diet of Worms, 18 April 1521).

Your listening to All Things Catholic. I’m your host, Deacon Rudy Villarreal and together we are going to explore what it means to be Catholic.

Building on last week, I think it would be good for us to speak a little about obedience. What does it mean to “obey”? Now this is probably one of the most misunderstood concepts of our faith. Perhaps it is my cultural heritage as an American, but I have to admit I have struggled with obedience from time to time (queue “Born to Be Wild”).

Well, we’re not going to start with Church documents or an org chart or anything like that. Like last week, we begin our discussion about obedience with Scripture. There’s a really good summary of this point in Hebrews 11:1-40. There is so much here, but I want to read a few versus for you.

By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, through which he was attested as righteous…(11:4).

It was by faith that Noah, after he had been warned of the things that had not yet been see, took heed, and built an ark for the welfare of his household…(11:7).

It was by faith that when Abraham was summoned he obeyed and went out …(11:8).

It was by faith that Abraham offered up Isaac when he was tested…(11:17).

It was by faith that he [Moses] abandoned Egypt…(11:27).

It was by faith that they crossed the Red Sea…(11:29).

What do we learn from Hebrews? The author goes on to tell us: We should fix our eyes on Jesus, our pacemaker and trainer in faith. In stead of the short-term joy that was within his grasp, he endured the Cross, disdaining the shame, and took his seat on the right hand of the throne of God (12:2).

Clearly the author of Hebrews wants us to imitate all these faith examples from the Old Testament right through to Jesus Christ.

Now this is very important because it is at the heart of the disunity in the Christian faith. From Luther on, the Protestant sees the Catholic Church as promoting a system of works – that we earn our way to salvation. The Protestant says grace is freely given. Nothing is required of the Christian except faith.

Ok, are you sitting down? You’re not driving, are you? Get ready for this!

The pattern in Scripture from Abel to Noah to Abraham to Moses to Naaman the Syrian who dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, to the blind mind whom Jesus told to wash in the Pool of Siloam to receive his sight, to Jesus Christ who begged that the cup should pass him, the pattern is faith – obedience – blessing. Faith-obedience-blessing on page after page of the Bible. Don’t take my word for it! Read it for yourself!

God says, “trust me.” The person does what God asked. Then God blesses.

Can we really say that all of these examples in Scripture including Jesus are wrong? And can we say that in any of these examples, the person had a hand in saving themselves? Did Noah save himself and the world? Did the Hebrews part the Red Sea on their own? Did the blind man heal himself?

Alright, Deacon, I get it, but why do I have to obey the Church or the bishop or my pastor? Now that is a good question.

Maybe we can look back to the beginning of this episode to find a clue. You see, Luther and Calvin initially embraced the idea that you don’t need the Church at all. But in short order, the Christian faith began fracturing into many different groups – some, like those who denied Christ, no longer seemed like Christians at all. What was their solution?

Calvin essentially taught he and he alone determined what the authentic teaching of the Bible was. Luther would go on to write, “I do not admit that my doctrine can be judged by anyone, even the angels. He who does not receive my doctrine cannot be saved.”

So, in the end, the fathers of Protestantism began to put a fence around the playground as it were. You are free to interpret Scripture on your own as long as you stay inside the fence. Curiously that’s the Protestant critique of Catholics! Now last week we walked through the authority of the Church rooted in Scripture and in the actions of the apostles and the early disciples. If the Church has authority, then we are called to obey the Church. To not listen to the Church leads to chaos and disunity and confusion.

But are all Church teachings the same? That is a HUGE question entirely, but here’s the Reader’s Digest version.

Our faith in Jesus Christ is always greater than all the individual propositions and teachings we can come up with – period.
We, like the martyrs before us, stake our lives on the fundamentals of our faith – on our belief in God’s saving love for us fulfilled in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
We acknowledge that throughout history, we may be called to define formal positions on what it means to live a life of discipleship rooted in the Gospel and guided by the Holy Spirit, but we cannot be absolutely certain that we are always right.
However, to do or say nothing is an abdication of our responsibility as disciples, hence the need to define Church teachings.
Still, to suggest that all of these positions – all of these teachings bear equal weight is presumption. The Second Vatican Council reminds us that the Church does not have an answer for every question posed today, (GS, 33). <1>

Ok so bottom line, like we learned last week, the Church has authority rooted in Christ Jesus who established the Church first through Peter and through the apostles. And that Church developed a structure that we saw carried out in the Acts of the Apostles, not only by the apostles, but also through the disciples. So, we turn to the Church that Christ Jesus gave us and as long as the Church is not asking us to sin, we obey. That’s really the bottom line. We do that out of a spirit of love for God and out of a spirit of unity with Christ’s Church on earth.

Do you got it? Do you get it? Good! Now go make disciples! May Almighty God bless you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit! +Amen!

One quick announcement before we part, don’t forget to send me topics you’d like me to address on the show. You can send them to me via the comment form on the website, www.deaconrudysnotes.org, or by sending an email to rudy @ deaconrudysnotes.org.

You’re listening to All Things Catholic. Our theme music was composed by Silent Partner. You can find all sorts of helpful information on the website at www.deaconrudysnotes.org. I’m Deacon Rudy Villarreal. Until next time, peace!

Notes:
<1> Gaillardetz, Richard R. By What Authority? A Primer on Scripture, the Magisterium, and the Sense of the Faithful. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2003.

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