Blaise Pascal said that there are four groups of people: Those who have found God, those that are seeking God, those that are seeking God to eradicate Him, and those that don’t even care.
Last week, we covered King Herod. He was a seeker who sought to destroy God by trying to murder Him as a baby. Christ was a threat, a potential usurper. Today, we are going to focus on the chief priests and scribes.
We are so comfortable nowadays, especially here in the States. In fact, we are so comfortable that we are bored out of our minds. Consequently, we fill our lives with video games, Netflix, porn, Snapchat, and any form of entertainment that we can find. We will seriously grapple at anything at this point. One of the only things that will snap us out of our entertainment stupor is someone encouraging us to maybe think about doing something more productive or purposeful.
“Don’t challenge my entertainment, Pal.” (Pokes finger in your chest.)
We are, also, so comfortable that, for the most part, we’ve left reality behind and now embrace any kind of absurdity we can dream up. All that matters is how we feel about something. Feelings and desires trump everything in our current culture. In fact, feelings and desires are considered even more real than reality itself.
To add to all of this, we think science can answer all of life’s questions. Except, there are certain groups who claim to looooovvveeee science yet curiously disregard it when it doesn’t quite conform to their ideology. We live in strange times, my friends.
So, on the one hand, we have a very secular crowd that encourages indulgence, comfort, scientism (when fitting), and the constant quest for the next thrilling thing to keep one occupied. Try to mention God to them and they have about as must interest in Him as they do in studying the composition of rocks. “God? Ugh, that’s so ancient times. We gotta be a progressive people!”
But, what about believers? Ever had this conversation or one like it?
“Please come to church, it’s so important to give that time to God.”
“Yeah, I’m good. Ya know, I’m just gonna go find Jesus out on the trails of this mountain.”
“Sure, you can definitely find God out in nature, but He’s actually physically present in the Church. You can receive Him in the Eucharist–Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity!”
“Honestly, I don’t think God even really requires me to go to church. I’m good with what I’ve got going right now in my life. I’m super spiritual. I don’t need all that man-made religion.”
Soooooo….apathetic. Even for a large number of believers, including quite a few Catholics, there is a real indifference to Christ. For so many, Jesus has become this teddy bear guy that just wants you to be “so happy and so rich.” He asks nothing of you. He doesn’t even really ask you to come to be with Him at church. In fact, some have decided that Jesus left it up to us how we do religion. He doesn’t want to impose, you see.
Now, let’s talk about the chief priests in the story of the Magi from the book of Matthew.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired (Herod) of them where the Messiah was to be born. Matthew 2:4
And that’s it. Here’s what’s amazing. The chief priests, the very people who know scripture and are the leaders of the Jews, do nothing. Here are these people who have been waiting around for a very long time for the Messiah to come and they don’t even go to see what all the fuss is about. They know the prophecies. They know the Messiah will be born in the city of David. They know that a star is to appear at His coming. Now that some dignified foreigners have shown up (the Magi) following a star to ask about the King of the Jews, they show zero interest. It’s just…eh.
They even tell Herod where to find the Messiah.
They (the chief priests) said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Matthew 2:5-6
After that, though, the chief priests and scribes check out. There is no record of them heading out to investigate the news; no mention of them showing up out of curiosity at the manger. Here are the supposedly most spiritual people in the land and they can’t even muster some interest for the very thing they are waiting on–the Messiah.
Were they too comfortable? Had they become apathetic? Too worldly? Could they not find the time for God? Oh, I get it. There was some other more important pressing matter.
Hey, I can relate. There was a time when I was just too comfortable to even get out of bed in the morning to attend church. I know what an apathetic faith life looks like–it looks like one focused solely on me. Oh, and trust me, I get being too worldly. All those times when I chose my sins over what is best, right, or good. I’ve made every excuse in the books to not find time for God: I’ve got chores, I need to wash my hair, check my social media again, binge-watch that show just…one…more…time. I know well the sin of indifference.
Christ should be the single most important thing in our life but, sadly, large numbers of people have grown indifferent to Him. It seems there are so many other shiny things to focus our attention on that Jesus gets put in the closet behind the clothes we don’t wear anymore. I’ve heard from people that have lived in countries where Christians are persecuted that it is actually harder to be a Christian in America. We are so satiated, so insulated, and so comfortably numb that we just don’t care to bother with Christ which causes our faith to fade out like the Beatles on “Hey Jude.” Many have become like the chief priests; it seems we just can’t be bothered with Him.
We have to show up every day for our faith, Catholic Pilgrims. If indifference towards Christ is the way to go, I should see thriving, joyful, truth-filled, vibrant people all around. However, I don’t. I truly don’t see a healthy, fulfilled society. The greatest challenge for us as Catholics today is to fight off the soul-sucking slumber of indifference and strive to stay awake. What a great challenge: To go out and meet Christ every day in all that we do.
