Becoming the Other
“Becoming the Other”
Readings: Isaiah 40.21-31; 1 Corinthians 9.16-23
February 5th, 2012 – Fifth Sunday in Epiphany
Rev. J. Manny Santiago
To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak.
I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.
I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
1 Corinthians 9.22-23
Introduction
The Spaniard philosopher and writer Miguel de Unamuno once wrote: “Only in solitude do we find ourselves; and in finding ourselves, we find in ourselves all our brothers [and sisters] in solitude.”
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Corinth, tells us that he has become “all things to all people.” He writes: “To the Jews I became as a Jew, […] To those under the law I became as one under the law […] to those outside the law I became as one outside the law […] To the weak I became weak…” You are probably thinking that Paul had one of two problems: he either had multiple personality disorder or was a hypocrite. When I first encountered Paul’s writing I thought that he was, indeed, a hypocrite. How can you become one thing to someone and one thing to another person? How can you be a chameleon? Isn’t that hypocrisy? And, if you are a hypocrite, how can you say that you serve God?
All Things to All People
It is true that there are times in our professional lives when we try to be all things to all people. Many of us find ourselves trying to make everyone happy. This, in turn, brings a lot of stress. Believe me… There’s even a well-known joke that goes like this: “The Perfect Pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes. He condemns sin roundly, but never hurts anyone's feelings. He works from 8 a.m. until midnight, and takes plenty of time to rest, pray, study and be present with his family. The Perfect Pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates $30 a week to the parish. He is 29 years old and has 40 years' worth of experience. Above all, he is handsome. The Perfect Pastor has a burning desire to work with teenagers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens. He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his parish. He makes 15 home visits a day and is always in his office to be handy when needed. The Perfect Pastor always has time for parish council and all of its committees. He never misses the meeting of any parish organization, and is always busy evangelizing the unchurched. The Perfect Pastor is always in the next parish over!” I am sure that this is certain for many other professions. I blame the Apostle Paul for this!
God and the Other
However, I doubt that what Paul is referring to is the pastoral profession – or other service profession for that matter. What Paul is writing about is the Gospel: the good news of a new day and a new reality which Jesus preached with his actions for justice. Paul, then, has something to teach all of us in this regard.
As Miguel de Unamuno said, “in finding ourselves, we find in ourselves all our brothers [and sisters] in solitude.” We are all interconnected to one another. Unless we conquer and colonize the Moon, as a politician recently suggested, the truth is that we are living in a world in which every action that we take affects the lives of millions of people all over the world.
It is for this reason that the Church is called to be a church in solidarity. Paul’s invitation is not to be hypocrites, but to become “the other” in order to experience the reality of those around us. In order for our actions to be relevant, they must come from a place of understanding and solidarity, not from intellectual activity alone. We might understand the reality of pain and suffering and hunger intellectually, but if we have not lived it, if we have not delved into the causes, if we have not heard those who suffer and we have not walked a mile in their shoes, it is almost impossible for us to really make a difference.
In fact, what the prophet Isaiah writes is about a God who understands this. At first, it might seem like Isaiah is talking about a God far removed from God’s people. Isaiah brings us a God who is mighty and high, who sits above the circle of the Earth and looks at us, grasshoppers, while nothing compares to this God. However, when you pay a closer look at what Isaiah is writing, there is a whole different image.
This God, who seems so might and powerful as to not having anything to do with us, is in fact, closer to us than we think. This is the God who gives “power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.” From the Christian perspective, this is the God who strips off God’s own divinity in order to walk with us. A God who, like Paul says elsewhere, does not take divinity as something to hold on to, but strips this divinity off in order to become one of and with us. This is the God whom we follow and whose example we are called to emulate.
What’s next?
In recent days one of the primary candidates for the Republican nomination made headlines by stating that he is not concerned with the very poor in the USA, for they have a safety net. His might and power, his richness and desperate need to be recognized as a leader, has stopped him from being in solidarity with others. He dismissed the other because, according to him, they have a “safety net.” The problem is that this candidate and many in his party want to dismantle this safety net altogether! And I wonder; will he care about the very poor in this land when his dreams of dismantling the government run programs that are the safety net of the very poor become a reality? I think not.
If we are to pay attention to the Gospel message, if we are to pay attention to the works and deeds of Jesus which the Apostle Paul makes references to, then we – the church – ought to walk the walk and not only talk the talk. We are invited to become the other in order to manifest the love of God. We are to embody our concern by walking on the other person’s shoes for a mile or two… We are to embody the gospel by making God’s presence a reality. This is the message the Paul brings to the people of Corinth. It is not about hypocrisy or multiple personalities; it is the message of a God who became one with and for us and expects us to do the same for each other. This is the God who, like Miguel de Unamuno wrote, found God-self in solitude, and in this solitude, God found us, and decided to accompany us and to walk with us… This is the God who became all things for all people… Now God expects us to follow God’s steps. Amen.
