Biblical Texts: Matthew 13:44-46, 2 Timothy 1:6.
The church today (July 31, 2024) commemorates the life of St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuit order. Ignatius was born to a wealthy family, and was grievously injured while fighting a war. During his time of recovery, he asked for a book to read. The only book available to was Thomas à Kempis Imitation of Christ, so he set about reading it. That book changed his life.
Ignatius found in Thomas a faith he desired, and perhaps impulsively, he gave up his family fortune for a life of monastic discipline. He was very much like the man finding treasure hidden in the field, or the merchant finding a fine pearl. He was impulsive, seemingly reckless, an attitude we can sometimes associate with youth. It was simply all or nothing.
But Ignatius didn’t stop there. You have may have heard of the Christian discipline of the Examen, which is an Ignatian invention. At the end of the day, you consciously take time to,
- Become aware of God’s presence
- Review the day with gratitude
- Pay attention to your day, including your emotions
- Pray for one or two parts of your day
- Look toward tomorrow
In the Protestant world I grew up in, there was often a scepticism about spiritual disciplines (unless it was prayer or Bible reading). Something about them sounded a lot like working your way to heaven. But as I’ve grown older, and my impulsiveness has waned a little, I’ve come to see spiritual disciplines as more like aids to discipleship, ways of keeping the fire of love burning, when the initial spark has faded.
In the evangelical circles I grew up in, Tim Hughes ‘Consuming Fire’ was a popular worship song: ‘Consuming fire, fan into flame, a passion for your name.’ I loved that song, but I find it hard to sing now, mainly because in 2 Timothy 1:6, Paul instructs Timothy that HE needs to fan into flame the gift of God. Timothy needs to work with God, not simply pray (or sing) and expect God to do the rest.
Just to clear one thing up. I don’t mean to imply, by calling Ignatius or young people impulsive, that these are negatives. If your impulse is guiding you to what is good, holy, and true, then it is often a good, holy, and true impulse. Jesus’s words in Matthew 13 offer no condemnation of the merchant, and rightly so. When you find something of incomparable value, you’d be foolish to let it pass by. In reality, the only sane course of action is to give all you have to grasp hold of it.