3-2-21 - Zeal

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After Jesus’ rampage at the temple, John tells us, His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

Funny thing about the derivatives of the word “zeal.” “Zealous” has positive connotations as “on the case,” or “committed,” while “zealot” conjures images of bug-eyed maniacs raging about. The word originally referred to members of a Jewish political group in Jesus’ day who were eager to overthrow the occupying Romans. Jesus’ zeal, though, is directed not at the Romans but at his own religious leaders. In that sense, he was fairly apolitical; presumably he had views on the oppression and cruelty which the Romans exhibited toward his countrymen and women, yet his primary concern was with the corruption of message and heart which he saw in the temple leadership.

What is the place for zeal in the Christian life? The early monastic hermits whom we call the “Desert Fathers and Mothers,” men and women who went into the desert to seek union with God away from the temptations of daily life, preached the spiritual virtue of apatheia, a detachment from worldly concerns and agendas that they saw as the goal of the spiritual life. The point is not to be passion-less, but to channel all our passion into our relationship with the God who loves us passionately. I wonder what those abbas and ammas taught about Jesus’ scene in the temple.

Where do we find our balance between wholehearted passion – for justice, for evangelism, for liberation, to name a few, and apatheia, the spiritual value of letting go?

We might start with discerning when we are answering God’s call to a particular area of justice, and when our interest might be driven by personal concerns. I have a friend who has taken on the issue of sex trafficking. I asked her why that issue, and she said she felt God clearly tell her to work on that. She avoided it for some years because it is such an ugly area of human life – but ultimately she said yes. She is galvanizing communities to shine a light on perpetrators and bring freedom to survivors.

What issues get you “hot under the collar?” What about that matter hooks you, do you think? Do you feel God has invited you to participate in that aspect of God’s mission to reclaim, restore and renew all of creation? Do you feel the power of the Holy Spirit with you as you work, speak, weep or rejoice – or are you drained by the effort? Those are some of the ways to know where our passion is to be expressed.

However we discern our motivation, we can always be more intentional about inviting the Spirit constantly into our passion. When we are gripped with outrage over some injustice or corruption, we can note our reaction and pray right then and there – “God, is this a holy anger? Or is this anxiety or guilt or something else?” And if we sense it is a holy anger, take the next step and ask, “What would you like me to do, with you? Show me where to hold back and trust you, and where to move forward with all the fullness of your Spirit working in me.”

We call the great sacrifice our Lord Jesus endured for us – the whole thing, from his arrest through his crucifixion – his “passion,” from the word passio,or suffering. And yet this is also the word we use for ardent love – which is what drove Christ to endure his passion for us. If we let Christ live in us, I believe we will know when to bring it on and when to dial it back. It has to be his work in us, or it’s for nothing.

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