Yet, we know that we still retain within our nature free will. Thus, at any time we can remove ourselves from the Body of Christ. At any time, we could seek to be someone that we are not. Jesus reminds us that if we put our hands to the plowshare and then turn back, we are not fit for the kingdom of God.
Though our sins are washed away through the blood of Christ and we desire to be in communion with God who is love, we have the ability to lose our way when we do not claim our true selves.
This happens all of the time. In the most egregious ways, we see Christians who have become dictators, murderers, abusers, and participants of every kind of evil. In subtler and less egregious ways, we have all stepped away from reality and have desired to be something or someone that we are not.
How often do we find Christian husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, priests and nuns, teachers and doctors, business owners and employees, forget their true nature?
As Christians, we are not merely human with body and soul. By Grace, we are Christian with a share in the divinity of Christ. Our true essence is Christian. When we forget who we are, then we lose our way.
We understand that, like Satan, our first parents desired to be something that they were not. This Original Sin is washed away in baptism with the gift of sanctifying grace.
Still, there is a great temptation for us as Christians to fall back into sin. Even if we do not choose to sin, the inclination to sin is always there because of Original Sin.
This inclination toward sin and evil is called "concupiscence."10 While baptism erases original sin and turns us back towards God, the inclination toward sin and evil persists and we continue to struggle against concupiscence.11
Our free will and intellect is not enough to overcome concupiscence. Only by returning to Christ through the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist are we made whole again. Our Father, through his Son and with the Holy Spirit, "re-members" us.
When our God, through the grace of these sacraments, "re-members" us, we in turn remember that we are not just fathers, mothers, teachers, etc. We are Christian fathers, Christian mothers, Christian teachers, etc.
Concupiscence is the effect of Original Sin and we must live with it until Christ returns in glory at the end of time. Therefore, we understand that, while we live in Christ and he in us, we still long for a perfect and eternal communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
St. Paul reminds us that we live in this world, but we are not of this world. There will be a day when we will not live in this world and, if we remain in Christ, we will live in the peaceable world that has no end.
The peaceable world includes a world without sin or even concupiscence. Presently, the peaceable world is not the world in which we live, but the world to which we belong. While in this world, we are ambassadors of an eternal world - a world of peace and perfect communal love with our Triune God.
Living in this imperfect world due to sin, we are constantly confronted with temptations to fix our imperfections. We try to bring a perfect world of peace according to our will, our might, our strength, and our intellect. We try to be "like" God.
How many political philosophies, treaties, legal systems, or financial strategies have we had in human history to try to bring about a just and peaceable world?
Certainly, this is our desire. This is also God’s desire. The prophet Isaiah foretells the coming of a peaceable Kingdom where the valleys will be raised and the hills will be made low. There will be a perfect and level playing field for all humanity.
But, our God can only win this peaceable Kingdom. It has been won! Christ our Lord won it for us already by laying down his life as a sacrificial offering to our Father on our behalf. Only Christ our King, our Lord and God and Prince of Peace achieved what we have long desired.
This peaceable Kingdom was won without guns, swords, or weapons of any kind. Christ did this alone by laying down his life for us.In his conversation with Pilate, Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my subjects would be fighting to keep me from being handed over. As it is, my kingdom is not here." (John 18:36-37)
In Christ’s kingdom, there are no weapons of war. In his kingdom, there is an everlasting peace. Recall his words to Peter who attempts to save Jesus from being arrested, "Put your sword back into its sheath." (John 18:11)
A peaceable world cannot be won with weapons. God who is forgiving, merciful, and loving can only win it. In Christ’s Peaceable Kingdom, "swords shall be turned into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks." (Isaiah 2:4)
Even as we consider paintings of St. Michael the Archangel standing above Satan with his sword drawn, we rarely see him thrust the sword into the beast. Most images simply show Michael with an upper hand as the devil is trapped or chained.
We do ask Saint Michael to defend us in battle. But, he does this by his very name: "Who is like God?" His name (in question form) mocks Satan who will forever be "like" God. He reminds us that we ourselves cannot be "like" God. As ambassadors of the peaceable Kingdom, we can only be ourselves. We can never be someone that we are not. We are human by nature and Christian by grace.
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NOTES:
10. (CCC 405)
11. (CCC 2520)
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