Giving ourselves to God

What does it mean to give ourselves to God?

Before pondering the answer to that question, perhaps we need to ask a different question first: who, or what is God? The ‘traditional’ Christian image of God has  been that of a supernatural being, living somewhere in the sky above us, who intervenes directly from time to time in the affairs of the world. I would argue that modern science has rendered that image null and void.

If God does exist, I think it is our beyond our human capability to define who and what God is. I like to think of God as the ‘essence of being.’ I’ve heard one person refer to God as ‘Being itself.’ They suggest that we are beings that exist in time and space, but that ‘Being itself’ exists outside of time and space. They believe that time and space exist within ‘Being itself.’ In that scenario, we can say that God exists in us and that we exist in God.

While we can’t be sure of exactly who or what God is, one thing we can be certain of is that God was revealed in the life of Jesus. Jesus achieved what might be described as ‘wholeness of humanity,’ breaking down all the various barriers that separate human beings from one another. We know that people who encountered Jesus obviously believed they had experienced something of God in that encounter, such was the affect of their experience. 

So, back to the question of what it means to give ourselves to God. The author of the Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus watching people put money into the chests of the Temple treasury, and he notes that many wealthy people have put in large sums of money. He also observes a poor widow putting in two copper coins which are worth a paltry amount. Comparing her contribution to those made by the wealthy, Jesus notes that her offering is worth far more than theirs, because while they are generous in their offering, it is still only a small portion of their total wealth, whereas she gives all that she possesses.

Jesus contrasts the action and attitude of the widow with that of the religious leadership in Jerusalem, whose legal expertise, in relation to the Jewish Law, gave them great power, prestige and influence over others. Jesus criticises them for using their expertise to draw honour and attention to themselves rather than using it for the honour and glory of God. They make themselves out to be holy and pious men in order to win the trust of the vulnerable in society, such as the widows, and then they use their legal expertise to exploit the vulnerable and take what little they possess.

Through his self–sacrifice on the cross, Jesus brought to an end the sacrificial cult of the Temple which relied so heavily on donations to the Temple treasury. Just like the poor widow in today’s gospel reading, his offering of himself represents total trust and abandonment of himself to God. 

We are also called to total trust and abandonment of ourselves to God, not in the sense of dying like Jesus did, but in terms of us achieving wholeness as he did. By breaking down the various barriers in life that separate human beings from one another. In doing so, God will be revealed in us just as he was revealed in Jesus. 

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