Why would a God thirst?

The NRSV translation of the Bible put John 19:28-29 in this way: "After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfil the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth."

Some talk about the scripture that is being fulfilled is Psalm 69:21 - "They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Meaning the fulfilment comes in the type of drink that was given to Jesus. 

I guess. But does the drink type serve as a convincing argument for Jesus as Messiah? And, in his final moments, I question that Jesus is thinking, "Oh, hey I could fulfill an obscure scripture about drinking vinegar if I just request a drink. I know, I will say 'I thirst.' That will do it." 

Perhaps it is a misunderstanding to interpret "I am thirsty" as fulfilling one verse of of the scriptures. Perhaps in this line, Jesus fulfils all of scripture?

Throughout the biblical witness, there is a revealing story about the nature of God. That is God is a God who is constantly pouring God's self out out of love for creation. This is made most evident in the life of Jesus who identified himself as the source of the water of life (John 4). But even after death, when Jesus' side is pierced and water and blood flow out, God continues to be poured out onto creation. 

Could it be that Jesus is thirsty because he has poured himself out so much out of love for creation that he himself grows thirsty? He gives the water of life to others to the point that he goes thirsty. Could it be that God goes without the waters of life so that others may have their thirst quenched? 

On a smaller scale, Christians fast for similar reasons. We do not eat so that others may. And so when we give away our food so others may be fed, we become hungry. When God gives the waters of life away so creation may drink, God becomes thirsty. 

The thirst of God in Jesus is also a bit different from the thirst of other gods of the day. Other god's have a thirst that cannot be quenched. They have an thirst that demands that creation offers up sacrifice after sacrifice in order to quench their thirst. These gods are thirsty for more. God in Christ is not thirsty for more, but thirsty because he gave all that he has. 

Are we avoiding our passions?

According to the thought of the desert fathers, "the passions" were the attitudes, desires and actions that keeps us from right relationship with our neighbor, self, world and God. 

Dorotheos said "A man who gives way to his passions is like a man who is shot at by an enemy, catches the arrow in his hands, and then plunges it into his own heart." Giving way to our passions results in metaphorical suicide of our relationships.

In this season of Lent, we talk about fasting or avoiding the things that keep us from right relationship. Dorotheos continues to say "A man who is resisting his passions is like a man who is shot at by an enemy, and although the arrow hits him, it does not seriously wound him because he is wearing a breastplate."

Not a bad situation to be in. Avoiding the passions keep us protected and we are safe. However we are still forced to carry the burden of the heaviness of the breastplate the rest of our life.  

So how are we to live with these passions? We are to uproot them. Dorotheos says, "But the man who is uprooting his passions is like a man who is shot at by an enemy, but who strikes the arrow and shatters it or turns it back into his enemy's heart." 

Of course we know that we are not to give way to the things that keep us from right relationships but we cannot settle on avoiding the attitudes, desires and actions keeping us from right relationship. We must uproot them.

The thing about uprooting passions is that it is much harder than avoiding because when we uproot our passions we have to allow part of our own selves die with these passions. If we uproot our anger then our desire to be correct will have to die. Uprooting passions takes not only the sweat of the brow but also the blood of our lives. 

A young monk sadly said the following to the holy Poimen: "My body, Abba, has been weakened by ascetic practices, but my passions do not yield." "The passions, my child," answered the wise Father, "are similar to tough thorns; in uprooting them, your hands of necessity bleed." - Source

Why going through the motions is shallow AND good

The United Methodist Church tells a story about John Wesley who one night had his "heart strangely warmed". It is a fine story and we use it as a proxy for talking about how religious practices that do not warm our heart are shallow. I cannot count how many times I have heard, "I just say the Lord's Prayer/creed/song, I just go through the motions." As though going through the motions is not only shallow but somehow a detrimental action toward spiritual formation. 

Heschel is to Gandalf as Clark Kent is to Superman?

It is as though we only think something is worth doing if we really mean what we are doing. Put another way, we tend to believe the most valid expressions of religion/spirituality are those that have the proper motivations. We tend to think that only if your motivations are pure does the religious act have any weight. We tend to think that if we really do not "want" to be in worship or if we do not have the right motivations for being in worship then we should not attend worship. If we really do not mean what we say in a prayer then we should not say that prayer. Motivations are key in our popular understanding of religion and if our motivations are not in the right place then we are given a free pass to not participate in the religious act. 

Abraham Joshua Heschel, argues that the way we get a pure motivation for a religious act is by practicing that religious act. He says "the way to pure intention is paved with good deeds."

The thing is we understand Heschel's thought when it comes to something like physical exercise. Even if you do not have the purest of motivations to get in shape or even if you don't believe in working out - just by running on a treadmill will change your body.

Or take reading. Even if you do not like to read, if you read everyday at some point you will be a person who reads. The more you read the more you are shaped as a "reader" and you begin to see a value in reading that you did not see as a "non-reader". 

Going through the motions of a spiritual discipline is like learning to swim in the shallow waters. Over time, in the shallows, we become able to swim into deep waters. 

Remembering ≠ Thinking

When Christians gather for communion, part of the story we tell is the night in which Jesus ate the last supper. The story goes that he told his disciples to take wine, give thanks, break bread, drink and eat. Jesus told the disciples to do this ritual and "remember me". And to this day, Christians take, give thanks, break, drink and eat and remember Christ. 

And when we take communion we mentally think about Jesus - how he lived, what he taught, how he died, etc. This makes sense. The act of remembering is generally something we do to commemorate the past. We remember the love of our grandparent or the less than wholesome qualities of a loved one. We remember the the sacrifices made in wars when we have moments of silence or when we hear a national anthem played. We remember the past experiences of our childhood that shape us as adults. So it makes sense that when we have communion we think about the past of Jesus. 

The thing about remembering in the setting of communion is that there is little evidence that the remembering the disciples are asked to do is a cognitive exercise. Jesus gives the impression that the ritual itself is remembering. That is when we take, give thanks, break, drink and eat the body of Christ we re-member Jesus. When we do this act, we are putting the body of Christ together. We are re-membering the body of Christ. 

Remembering Jesus in communion is not about an intellectual or cognitive skill. The mystery of communion has little to do with what we are thinking and much more to do with what we are doing. When we eat together, we are putting the body of Christ together. We are re-membering. 

This is, in part, why discussions about the physical elements is missing the point. Can it be communion if it is oreos and soda? Should we dunk or have individual cups or share a common cup? Should we use wine or juice?

This is, in part, why discussions about the presence of Christ in the physical elements misses the point. Is it transubstantiation, consubstantiation, sacramental union, pneumatic presence? 

This is, in part, why discussions about online communion is missing the point. Can only those who are in physical presence with one another remember the body of Christ?

The remembering done in communion is not limited to the workings of your brain. The remembering done in communion is the act of putting the body of Christ together again, re-membering if you would like. And the body of Christ can be made manifest in the gathering of a group of people as well as in the heart of the individual who has shut their door.