Many “popular” groups criticized Pope Benedict XVI for being too “stuff shirted” and conservative. Among other things he discontinued his practice of administering communion in the hand. As a result he was criticized by the “popular” people.
When I listened to Benedict’s explanation of this decision, I learned the purpose of his action. Many people, it seems, were taking the communion host from the Pope and sticking it in their pockets, so they could take it home as a souvenir—a consecrated host touched by the Pope! Benedict made a decision, not because he wanted to return to the ways of the past, but because he had a responsibility before God to value and protect the sacred.
Jesus taught his disciples to value the sacred treasures that they had been given (Matthew 7:6,12-14).
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
Each of us has enough common sense to withhold steak from our dogs. If we start feeding them steak, they will continue to demand it from us. Steak is expensive; we don’t toss it to the dogs when cheaper food will work. And who would give expensive jewelry to the pigs to play with? When we value something is involved we are careful what we do with it. Dogs and pigs do not have the capacity to value expensive things.
When we are careless about the sacred gifts God has given us, and don’t take time to distinguish between trustworthy people and those whose understanding of the sacred is no different from that of dogs and pigs, we risk being torn to pieces.
We live in a culture of “relativism.” This means we work on the principle that one person’s opinion is as good as another. Values are relative to people’s personal whims. Working from this philosophy what is “sacred” depends on what a person thinks is sacred. If the communion host is just a piece of bread or if the Bible is just another book, does it really make any difference? If a person is motivated by the Holy Spirit or by a desire to make the world a better place, does it make a difference? If a person bows to Jesus Christ as Lord and another bows to economic power, does it make any difference?
When we stop and remember the price that was paid for the life of the Holy Spirit within us, we realize that the treasure we hold in our hearts is sacred. We hold within us a treasure that goes beyond the value of special foods and expensive pearls. The Son of God submitted to death—even the humiliating death on a cross—to pay for the priceless gift that God wanted to give us. By his obedience to the Father he broke the grip of Satan and released us from the realm of death into the realm of the sacred.
Because of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we, though earthen vessels, hold within us the sacred power of God. We are not quick to let it go—to make it food or toys for the dogs and the pigs. Having received a new identity—as children of God who have the right, now, to call God “our Abba”– we value and nurture who we are “by grace.”
Because God has made his grace so readily available to us, we tend to take it for granted. Bibles abound, the Eucharist is celebrated daily throughout our cities, and God’s channels of grace flow freely all around us. Because his gifts are so abundant, we tend to ignore them rather than marvel at them, and give our attention to mundane things instead.
Through the eyes of faith we are able to see and value the sacred treasures that have been entrusted to us. We are not so careless as to treat what Jesus died to give us, the way we treat dog food or cheap jewelry. We never stop giving thanks and being amazed at the treasure God has placed in our hearts.
“Abram moved his tents and went on to settle near the terebinth of Mamre…There he build an altar to the Lord” (Genesis 13:17-18).
