How to rest in Jesus despite His anger?

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Praedicare

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Friends,

Are we allowed to be loved by God, or to ‘rest’ in God?

Yesterday I opened up some of the hardest passages in the entire New Testament: Matthew 23-25. Pharisees. Hypocrisy. Fire. Hell. Eternal death. The Virgins. The Sheep. The Goats. Judgment. Damnation.

It shocked me, the bluntness with which Christ spoke. He was angry. Suddenly, all those who preach love, gentleness, and how “precious” we are in the eyes of God (such as Nouwen or Vanier) seemed to ring hollow. All that stuff about God’s mercy, kindness, etc., comes off as uninspiring in the face of the angry Christ.

When I read stuff like this, I become deeply troubled and saddened. It seems to me as if God is requiring that we do an impossible set of things (perfect love, perfect charity, perfect Other-focus) before He truly loves, heals, or saves us. Christ actually rejects His “own” (the foolish virgins who call Him “Lord”), as if they were not His own!

All the stuff from modern spiritual writers about “resting in God’s arms” and “Jesus loves me just as I am” falls apart for me, in face of this. Unless I become an extrovert, constantly feed the poor, clothe the naked, etc., am I going to suffer torture for eternity? Does desire and “relationship” with God mean nothing?

What freaks me out so much is the fact that Jesus, when He came on Earth, went straight to the people who were never doing God’s will, and forgave them: prostitutes, publicans, and sinners. He walked up and said “your faith has made you whole/saved you”. They didn’t even do anything, and He was merciful. At the end of time, however, those who didn’t do all He demands won’t be saved or healed? Why the change?

How can we trust God? How can we ever contemplate, pray, or “rest” in God when He is probably saying “you’re not feeding the poor or clothing the naked, so the more you do all this hypocritical praying the more you are damning yourself” ?

Thanks for any thoughts…
 
Those who received His mercy knew they were sinners; those who got the heat from
Him thought they were not. Big difference.

Pharisees (and I am not burning on them, they were admirable in many ways) sought Him out to trip Him up, while sinners such as Zacchaeus sought Him for Himself.

I don’t read into the Gospel that we must all become charity workers to aspire to His arms; but that we must seek Him in our life. We must not be “lukewarm” and then call on HIS name once we can’t breathe; we must “seek Him while He may be found.”

ICXC NIKA
 
Praedicare said:
Friends,

Are we allowed to be loved by God, or to ‘rest’ in God?

Yesterday I opened up some of the hardest passages in the entire New Testament: Matthew 23-25. Pharisees. Hypocrisy. Fire. Hell. Eternal death. The Virgins. The Sheep. The Goats. Judgment. Damnation.

It shocked me, the bluntness with which Christ spoke. He was angry. Suddenly, all those who preach love, gentleness, and how “precious” we are in the eyes of God (such as Nouwen or Vanier) seemed to ring hollow. All that stuff about God’s mercy, kindness, etc., comes off as uninspiring in the face of the angry Christ.

When I read stuff like this, I become deeply troubled and saddened. It seems to me as if God is requiring that we do an impossible set of things (perfect love, perfect charity, perfect Other-focus) before He truly loves, heals, or saves us. Christ actually rejects His “own” (the foolish virgins who call Him “Lord”), as if they were not His own!

All the stuff from modern spiritual writers about “resting in God’s arms” and “Jesus loves me just as I am” falls apart for me, in face of this. Unless I become an extrovert, constantly feed the poor, clothe the naked, etc., am I going to suffer torture for eternity? Does desire and “relationship” with God mean nothing?

What freaks me out so much is the fact that Jesus, when He came on Earth, went straight to the people who were never doing God’s will, and forgave them: prostitutes, publicans, and sinners. He walked up and said “your faith has made you whole/saved you”. They didn’t even do anything, and He was merciful. At the end of time, however, those who didn’t do all He demands won’t be saved or healed? Why the change?

How can we trust God? How can we ever contemplate, pray, or “rest” in God when He is probably saying “you’re not feeding the poor or clothing the naked, so the more you do all this hypocritical praying the more you are damning yourself” ?

Thanks for any thoughts…
Click to expand...
My first piece of advice is to not take passages out of the Bible and try to build a case for or against salvation. The Bible is to be read as a single tome with the central theme that God’s love for us resulted in the creation of the universe (including all of us) and His Covenant love that grants us the free will to join with Him for eternity. He loves us so much, He communicated through the prophets, wrote down some basic laws to follow, and eventually sent His Only Son to be sacrificed for our sake. The Son sent the Holy Spirit to be with us until the end of time when Christ promised to return. Living by God’s Word is like trying to read the entire Code of Justice from the federal government on down to your neighborhood board policy: it’s possible but most people will violate something somewhere at sometime. We’re not perfect but God is: Trust in Him!

Secondly, I would suggest you read the Bible keeping a thought in your head at all times: why did God inspire the many writers to record the many stories over such a long period of time and spread over vast areas of the region? Simply because He loves us. His love is so great, He can overcome any of our sins and forgive them like that! Wipe the slate clean, start anew! He gave us the grace that comes from Reconciliation and we can avail ourselves of this sacrament as many times as we want. Not to abuse God’s forgiveness but to shape our lives and become more and more like Christ the Ultimate Example of how to be holy. Remember, all the saints started off as sinners! It’s only be God’s grace that they became holy so we can follow in their foot steps and become holy as well.

God Bless you!
 
There are godly reasons to be angry, for anger is not innately sinful.

e.g: Parents become angry at their children for disrespecting their parental authority.
:hmmm:

Christ wasn’t angry at the Pharisees for performing the rituals and doing the works. Such practices are spiritually profitable, otherwise God wouldn’t have ordered Israel to follow them.

He reacted specifically to those who rank the rituals above everyday compassion.

Both the formal and informal practices are spiritually profitable. Some make the mistake of valuing one over the other, which is what the Pharisees seemed to have done.
 
Praedicare said:
Friends,

Are we allowed to be loved by God, or to ‘rest’ in God?

Yesterday I opened up some of the hardest passages in the entire New Testament: Matthew 23-25. Pharisees. Hypocrisy. Fire. Hell. Eternal death. The Virgins. The Sheep. The Goats. Judgment. Damnation.

It shocked me, the bluntness with which Christ spoke. He was angry. Suddenly, all those who preach love, gentleness, and how “precious” we are in the eyes of God (such as Nouwen or Vanier) seemed to ring hollow. All that stuff about God’s mercy, kindness, etc., comes off as uninspiring in the face of the angry Christ.

When I read stuff like this, I become deeply troubled and saddened. It seems to me as if God is requiring that we do an impossible set of things (perfect love, perfect charity, perfect Other-focus) before He truly loves, heals, or saves us. Christ actually rejects His “own” (the foolish virgins who call Him “Lord”), as if they were not His own!

All the stuff from modern spiritual writers about “resting in God’s arms” and “Jesus loves me just as I am” falls apart for me, in face of this. Unless I become an extrovert, constantly feed the poor, clothe the naked, etc., am I going to suffer torture for eternity? Does desire and “relationship” with God mean nothing?

What freaks me out so much is the fact that Jesus, when He came on Earth, went straight to the people who were never doing God’s will, and forgave them: prostitutes, publicans, and sinners. He walked up and said “your faith has made you whole/saved you”. They didn’t even do anything, and He was merciful. At the end of time, however, those who didn’t do all He demands won’t be saved or healed? Why the change?

How can we trust God? How can we ever contemplate, pray, or “rest” in God when He is probably saying “you’re not feeding the poor or clothing the naked, so the more you do all this hypocritical praying the more you are damning yourself” ?

Thanks for any thoughts…
Click to expand...
olrl.org/doctrine/cry.shtml
 
The Church teaches that God wants us to obey Him. He is a jealous God and will brook no other Gods. Thus we cannot worship money, lust etc.
However Christ came to show us we are worth many sparrows and that God seeks us as His created as a Shepherd to his flock. We are His sons and we can call upon this familial relationship when we sin. He will come after us, leaving the 99 seeking out the lost one.

In this is the certainty of my faith and the hope of my salvation. My actions cannot save me; rather the sacrifice of Christ redeems us. This terrible sacrifice is the horror of my salvation; that such as God had to suffer and die for me breaks me and I fall upon my face.

However He lifts me saying, as he said to so many, Go, sin no more. It is this demand that I must aspire to always as a symbol of my gratitude and love; no matter how many times I fail. In showing this love He asks us to love others as we would ourselves; treat others as we would want Him to treat us; judge others as we would be judged.

From this comes alms; charity and the badges of our faith. It is not a balance between justice and mercy; rather a seamless joining of rights granted by His crucifixion and the responsibilities of a loving relationship.

In marriage we have responsibilities arising from our love. So much more in our love of God. Take them for his yoke is light. I am always failing but my right of the ring on my finger and the sandal on my foot allows me to raise my voice to my Father in the knowledge that He will hear and come a great distance towards me as I fight my way back.

Relationships bring rights and responsibilities. Not hard to understand in my married life with children. Not hard to comprehend with my Father ever searching the horizon for my return.
 
Praedicare said:
Friends,

Are we allowed to be loved by God, or to ‘rest’ in God?

Yesterday I opened up some of the hardest passages in the entire New Testament: Matthew 23-25. Pharisees. Hypocrisy. Fire. Hell. Eternal death. The Virgins. The Sheep. The Goats. Judgment. Damnation.

It shocked me, the bluntness with which Christ spoke. He was angry. Suddenly, all those who preach love, gentleness, and how “precious” we are in the eyes of God (such as Nouwen or Vanier) seemed to ring hollow. All that stuff about God’s mercy, kindness, etc., comes off as uninspiring in the face of the angry Christ.

When I read stuff like this, I become deeply troubled and saddened. It seems to me as if God is requiring that we do an impossible set of things (perfect love, perfect charity, perfect Other-focus) before He truly loves, heals, or saves us. Christ actually rejects His “own” (the foolish virgins who call Him “Lord”), as if they were not His own!

All the stuff from modern spiritual writers about “resting in God’s arms” and “Jesus loves me just as I am” falls apart for me, in face of this. Unless I become an extrovert, constantly feed the poor, clothe the naked, etc., am I going to suffer torture for eternity? Does desire and “relationship” with God mean nothing?

What freaks me out so much is the fact that Jesus, when He came on Earth, went straight to the people who were never doing God’s will, and forgave them: prostitutes, publicans, and sinners. He walked up and said “your faith has made you whole/saved you”. They didn’t even do anything, and He was merciful. At the end of time, however, those who didn’t do all He demands won’t be saved or healed? Why the change?

How can we trust God? How can we ever contemplate, pray, or “rest” in God when He is probably saying “you’re not feeding the poor or clothing the naked, so the more you do all this hypocritical praying the more you are damning yourself” ?

Thanks for any thoughts…
Click to expand...
Jesus isn’t angry-although He’s diametrically, intrinsically opposed to evil/sin. But while He forgives, forgiveness is unnecessary unless He also identifies and convicts us of sin. Evil can’t be rooted out; righteousness cannot prevail, unless unrighteousness is aknowledged.
 
The Church teaches that God wants us to obey Him. He is a jealous God and will brook no other Gods. Thus we cannot worship money, lust etc.
However Christ came to show us we are worth many sparrows and that God seeks us as His created as a Shepherd to his flock. We are His sons and we can call upon this familial relationship when we sin. He will come after us, leaving the 99 seeking out the lost one.

In this is the certainty of my faith and the hope of my salvation. My actions cannot save me; rather the sacrifice of Christ redeems us. This terrible sacrifice is the horror of my salvation; that such as God had to suffer and die for me breaks me and I fall upon my face.

However He lifts me saying, as he said to so many, Go, sin no more. It is this demand that I must aspire to always as a symbol of my gratitude and love; no matter how many times I fail. In showing this love He asks us to love others as we would ourselves; treat others as we would want Him to treat us; judge others as we would be judged.

From this comes alms; charity and the badges of our faith. It is not a balance between justice and mercy; rather a seamless joining of rights granted by His crucifixion and the responsibilities of a loving relationship.

In marriage we have responsibilities arising from our love. So much more in our love of God. Take them for his yoke is light. I am always failing but my right of the ring on my finger and the sandal on my foot allows me to raise my voice to my Father in the knowledge that He will hear and come a great distance towards me as I fight my way back.

Relationships bring rights and responsibilities. Not hard to understand in my married life with children. Not hard to comprehend with my Father ever searching the horizon for my return.
 
I think something that Jesus told the mystic Sister Consolata Betrone is important to remember here: “Do not think of me as a harsh God, because I am foremost the God of love!”

Also, please keep in mind my favourite Bible verse, where Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” - John 15:9

There are also these verses to keep in mind:

" For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38-39

Of course there are things occurring in the world which anger Jesus (and rightly so). However, if we are doing the best we can and do our best to remain in a state of grace, it’s important to remember that we are resting in Jesus’ grace and that He simply asks us to continue doing our best. If we mess up badly, we go to Confession and continue down the path of salvation. 🙂
 
Praedicare said:
It shocked me, the bluntness with which Christ spoke. He was angry. Suddenly, all those who preach love, gentleness, and how “precious” we are in the eyes of God (such as Nouwen or Vanier) seemed to ring hollow. All that stuff about God’s mercy, kindness, etc., comes off as uninspiring in the face of the angry Christ.
Click to expand...
It shouldn’t be considered an either/or situation. God can be both loving and angry, He is both merciful and He is just.

Consistently **rejecting **His mercy results in our being confirmed in this rejection upon our death. As C.S. Lewis observed: at the moment of our death, we either say to God “Thy will be done,” or He says precisely that to us.

This notion of God requiring (impossible) things out of us in order to give us salvation is, frankly, heretical. It’s also quite a common caricature of Catholicism. Firstly, God does not require the impossible, and to say so is to seriously call into question certain revealed attributes of God. But secondly, no amount of good works will earn you your salvation. Only dying in a state of grace will accomplish that, and the state of grace is a free gift of a loving Father. Thirdly, any works that you accomplish when you are not in a state of grace—even if you saved millions of people from death by one, heroic act—would have precisely zero supernatural value.

Likewise, having a perfect love for God and neighbor is not the fundamental requirement of salvation, but is a consequence of being in a state of grace, which, as we’ve already said, cannot be somehow earned. We should all strive for perfect love, since we should strive to grow in holiness. Being holy like God is holy is the basic vocation of every human being, it is our great dignity, and we should each strive for that degree of holiness for which we were each personally created.

Praedicare, I would recommend some basic resources:

jimmyakin.com/justification-in-catholic-teaching
jimmyakin.com/righteousness-and-merit
catholic.com/radio/shows/are-works-necessary-for-salvation-8636
catholic.com/radio/shows/working-out-your-salvation-28221
catholic.com/video/what-role-do-good-works-play-in-our-salvation

Finally, you’ve probably seen ads for this book: shop.catholic.com/the-drama-of-salvation-set.html

I would heartily recommend you pick up a copy, since it will address a lot of these issues in great depth, and give you a great bedrock upon which to build your understanding of salvation.
 
Another thought …

Why did Jesus speak that way to the Pharisees? Because he was urging them to repent, the same way the Old Testament prophets rebuked Israel for their sin. The Pharisees were blinded by their religious pride and thought they didn’t sin, and Jesus was trying to get them to see their need for mercy and forgiveness – he did this precisely** because **he loved them and desired their repentance.
 
Praedicare said:
Friends,

Are we allowed to be loved by God, or to ‘rest’ in God?

Yesterday I opened up some of the hardest passages in the entire New Testament: Matthew 23-25. Pharisees. Hypocrisy. Fire. Hell. Eternal death. The Virgins. The Sheep. The Goats. Judgment. Damnation.

It shocked me, the bluntness with which Christ spoke. He was angry. Suddenly, all those who preach love, gentleness, and how “precious” we are in the eyes of God (such as Nouwen or Vanier) seemed to ring hollow. All that stuff about God’s mercy, kindness, etc., comes off as uninspiring in the face of the angry Christ.

When I read stuff like this, I become deeply troubled and saddened. It seems to me as if God is requiring that we do an impossible set of things (perfect love, perfect charity, perfect Other-focus) before He truly loves, heals, or saves us. Christ actually rejects His “own” (the foolish virgins who call Him “Lord”), as if they were not His own!

All the stuff from modern spiritual writers about “resting in God’s arms” and “Jesus loves me just as I am” falls apart for me, in face of this. Unless I become an extrovert, constantly feed the poor, clothe the naked, etc., am I going to suffer torture for eternity? Does desire and “relationship” with God mean nothing?

What freaks me out so much is the fact that Jesus, when He came on Earth, went straight to the people who were never doing God’s will, and forgave them: prostitutes, publicans, and sinners. He walked up and said “your faith has made you whole/saved you”. They didn’t even do anything, and He was merciful. At the end of time, however, those who didn’t do all He demands won’t be saved or healed? Why the change?

How can we trust God? How can we ever contemplate, pray, or “rest” in God when He is probably saying “you’re not feeding the poor or clothing the naked, so the more you do all this hypocritical praying the more you are damning yourself” ?

Thanks for any thoughts…
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that in the passage you mention, Jesus is reacting to the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who were planning His arrest, conviction and death.

Those like yourself who turn to Jesus for mercy, compassion and forgiveness, will receiving it, have no doubt about it.

Jim
 
Praedicare,

“70 X 7” said Jesus…that we must forgive one another. If we, who are so sinful are to do this, then what will Jesus do who is all perfect?

As Jesus said, “I thirst”…for sinners.

Just love him who loved you first.

As Mother Teresa taught her novices to pray, “Jesus in my heart, I believe in your tender love for me, I love you.”

May the Good Shepherd fill you with peace.
 
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