The Long Ad

Commercials and ads have found their way onto YouTube and Facebook so that whatever is free isn't exactly free anymore.  Media seems to always drift into advertising as its primary goal.  When I have subjected myself to these ads, I find that the bottom line is my attention.  The advertiser does not care what I think of the product, but only that I think of the product.  Whatever silliness, lies, sexual innuendo, or supposed seriousness will get my attention is what must be pushed onto the screen before my eyes and ears in order to occupy some of my mental landscape.  Fill the mind, get the heart.  This is a good picture of how the world works.  One big, long ad.

For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’  (Matthew 11:13)

I think of Jesus sitting and eating with tax collectors and prostitutes.  He must have seen and heard all kinds of things, many not particularly good.  It did not seem to matter to him what he saw, but what he sought.  Looking would not make him sin, but what he was looking for.  In this I see how he had mastered being in the world, but not of it.  What we see does not matter much, only what we seek.

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!  (Matthew 6:22-23)

I think of Jesus listening to all sorts of questions and accusations concerning himself and his work.  Not only were people skeptical, they were trying to trip him up in his words and catch him doing something wrong.  He heard them, but he did not listen to them.  Many voices came to him, but the only one he heeded was the voice of his Father speaking to him and through others.  What we hear does not matter much, only what we take to heart.  "Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away."  (Luke 8:18)

For some people every comment, question, or statement has to do with some theological controversy, some political bend, or some new diet or health trend.  Certain words or favorite quotes or songs or hobbies will indicate whether the person is "for us or against us."  People with minds consumed with such ideas lie and wait for something to prove whether a person is reliable and right or untrustworthy and wrong by their use or misuse of certain "code words."  The burning question in their minds is "Are you for us or against us?"  Then they know how to deal with you.  Such a life has been filled up with reactions so there is not any room left for any real actions.  "They preach, but do not practice. . . .  They do all their deeds to be seen by others."  (Matthew 23:2-3)

When we are in the world but not of it, we see, hear, and react to all sorts of things, many of them not of God.  But those many things that come pounding down upon us do not necessarily decide in themselves what we will seek, what we will take to heart, or what our actions will be.  What will make the difference is what we look for, what we listen for, and how we act when no one else cares.

Jesus looked for the Father at work and joined him there.  Jesus listened for his Father's voice for comfort and direction and authority.  Jesus acted when the time was ripe and right, both personally and in his whole earthly vocation.  It is not what we look at, but what we look for.  It is not what we listen to, but what we listen for.  It is not how we react to people and events, but what we do when no one else cares what we are doing.  When our attention is on Jesus and his Father, then we can be in the world, but not of it.  "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  (Matthew 6:19-20)