Thank you for joining us here at Resurrection Parish for the 5th Sunday of Lent. As the Lenten season is drawing to a close, so we have reached the last week of our current message series, “No Offense.” Yes, I know that there is one more Sunday during Lent, but with the long reading of the Passion next Sunday there will be no homily. Besides I will need to get ready for Holy Week.
There have been three facts about offenses that have been the foundation for this series. We said that offenses in life are inevitable. They are coming our way. We can’t go a month, a week, a day, sometimes a few hours without encountering something that offends us, even slightly.
We said that offense is a trap. They are baiting us to steal life and joy and relationships from us. Offenses keep us from being the best version of ourselves, so it’s a trap to learn to avoid.
Finally we have a choice about how we handle offense. When faced with the trap and temptation of offense, we can choose to give in or we can choose to handle an offense in a healthy way so it doesn’t enter our hearts.
Last week we talked about the real key to getting rid of offense: forgiveness. To be free from offense in our hearts, we have to forgive! We have to cancel the debt that people owe us.
It is one thing to get ahead, and another thing to stay ahead. Every good plan includes a plan to get ahead, and then to stay ahead. So that’s what we’re going to talk about today: how to be un-offend-able, or how to avoid the trap of offense in the future.
We are going to look at today’s first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah to help us learn this lesson, but first a little background. The section of Jeremiah we read today was written shortly after many of the Jewish people were sent to Babylon in exile, and the prophet is writing to the exiles. Jeremiah is reminding the Jewish people that the exile is a result of their repeated disobedience to God. Over and over again, they thought they knew better than God and could handle things on their own, and over and over again they got into things over their heads. Yet Jeremiah is not just rubbing things in and telling them, “I told you so.” He is offering them hope by also reminding them that God is always faithful, and willing to show them mercy and welcome them back.
Jeremiah writes, “The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jer. 31:31). The Covenant is the relationship God established with his people. God is describing the new relationship he wants to have with his people.
“It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt; for they broke my covenant….” (Jer. 31:32). On Mount Sinai God entered into a covenant with the Israelites, promising that they would be his people and he would be their God. God then gave Moses the 10 Commandments and the rest of the Law for the people to live, but they broke it over and over again.
God continues, through Jeremiah, by saying, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33).
Unlike the old covenant which was written on stone tablets, and was seen more as external obedience to a Law, the new covenant will be internal, written on their hearts. God will reign over their hearts, which is the type of relationship that God has always wanted with them. For their part, the Israelites are to act like they belong to God, showing him honor and respect, and submitting to God’s reign over their lives.
This is how we engage in covenant relationship with God, by allowing him, and him alone, to rule and reign over our hearts, in our lives, in our relationships, and in our daily interactions. The reality is we don’t have to be trapped by offense any longer. We don’t have to give into the foreign rule of offense over our hearts.
Here’s the point for today; even though offense is inevitable we don’t have to live offended. God wants to place his law within us and write it upon our hearts. He wants us to be liberated and free, and that means we just have to let him rule our hearts.
Let’s talk about 5 ways to let God rule over our hearts, 5 ways keep our hearts free from offense.
Humble ourselves. Humility is one of the biggest keys to becoming ‘un-offend-able’. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (John 12:24). Humility is a dying to self, a lowering of ourselves, it is the chief call of discipleship. Pride and entitlement increase the likelihood of offense.
Expect offenses. If we know offense is headed our way, we can spot it, and not be surprised and not be trapped by it. If we see it coming, it’s not a big deal.
Adjust expectations. Unmet expectations are breeding ground for offense. There are two kinds of unmet expectations: Unrealistic and Unexpressed. The best way to adjust our expectations is to either drop them if they are unrealistic or to talk about them if they are unexpressed.
Recognize triggers. We all have them. This is about knowing yourself. What are your triggers? What are those things that set you off? The better we are at recognizing our triggers the better we will be at avoiding them.
Take inventory. Offense can be subtle. It’s the tiny offenses that are the most dangerous. Sometimes there’s stuff going on inside us we don’t even know about, and it needs to be uncovered.
Humble ourselves, Expect offenses, Adjust expectations, Recognize triggers, Take inventory: they spell out HEART.
These are all tools to keep our hearts free form being offended. God wants to place his law within us, to write it upon our hearts. He wants to be our God, and for us to be his people. Act like a liberated people, a people set free, and people free from offense and entirely un-offend-able.
Every habit begins with a decision, and every journey begins with the first step. So, let’s say good-bye to this series and say good-bye to offense.