Resolving our opposites in Jesus
Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after
me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his
life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will
come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each
according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who
will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
When we were little children we
played a game called “Opposite Day.” Do
you know how to play it? It’s very
simple: you say the opposite of what you mean.
If you say, “I don’t like Cheetos,” that means you really do like
Cheetos. If you said, “I love you!” that
really means you don’t like or love that person. On many occasions this game came in very
handy. For example, at dinner my mom
told me to finish my vegetables and I said, “No, I don’t like vegetables!” When she gave me the evil eye (which comes
standard in all moms), I quickly smiled and said, “Just kidding, mom. It’s opposite day! Of course, I love vegetables!” You can easily see how kids would love this
game but parents would hate it. The game
Opposite Day drives a stake into the heart of the old maxim, “Say what you
mean, mean what you say.” Opposite Day
is a fun kids’ game.
In the
gospel today, Jesus sounds like he wants to play “Opposite Day,” too. Listen to these ironic lines: “Whoever wishes
to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will save it.” But Jesus doesn’t follow that by smiling and
saying, “Just kidding, guys! Of course
you don’t have to lose your life!” No,
Jesus was being dead serious: in suffering you will find joy, in death you will
find life, in giving everything away you will gain the whole world. Remember how that popular prayer attributed
to St. Francis of Assisi ends? It goes:
“For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Jesus insists that his followers must play
“Opposite Day” because, in this bizarro world in which we live, that’s the only
way to see things as they really are.
Have you ever resisted Jesus’
invitation to play “Opposite Day”? I
know I have. We want things to be simple
and straight-forward, but Jesus says, no, you must play and become like little
children. We say, “I want to have
premarital sex and show my girlfriend I love her!” Jesus says, “No, it’s Opposite Day, and
you’ll show her more love by being chaste.”
We say, “I want to make lots of money and become rich!” Jesus says, “No, it’s Opposite Day, and
you’ll be richer when you give your money to the poor.” We say, “I want to do my own thing and be
unfettered and free!” Jesus says, “No,
it’s Opposite Day. And you’ll only taste
true freedom when you become a slave and servant of others.” You see, Opposite Day is a silly game for
children, and one that every disciple of Jesus must play very seriously.
John Donne
captured this same point in his Holy Sonnets.
He wrote: “Take me to you, imprison me, for I, Except you enthrall me,
never shall be free, Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.” It’s only when we see Jesus in heaven that
all the opposites and contradictions in our life will become simple and
straightforward. In the meantime,
though, it’s time to play Opposite Day.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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