On what do you keep your eyes fixed?
Two reporters had an interesting conversation at the top of a skyscraper. They had been invited to cover the progress of these two huge buildings which were to be joined at the top by a crosswalk. They stood at the connecting I-beam, high above the city streets. One said, “I couldn’t imagine crawling across that.” The other took him up on that statement and asked “Would you crawl across that beam for $10,000?” “Absolutely not” he said. For $100,000? “No way.” Then he asked, “Would you cross that beam if your child was in trouble on the other side and needed you and that was the only way to get there?” Even before he spoke his answer, the reporter could tell from the look in his eyes that, yes, he would. The difference, of course, is what he kept his eyes and heart focused on. He would do it for his child.
Today’s Gospel offers us the image of a Jesus who would cross that I-beam. We get a glimpse into the fierce and powerful love that burns in his heart – the one that will brook no compromise nor waver in its course. And that comes with a price. “I have come to set the earth on fire – literally – to ‘throw down fire upon the earth. I have a baptism to receive – how great is my anguish until it is accomplished.” Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, is focused in on the world in danger on the other side of the I-beam – the world of sin and death that has and will continue to enslave God’s people, unless he is willing to walk into the fire, unless he is willing to pay the price for our freedom.
You see, there is always a price to be paid for setting the earth on fire, and for walking into that flame. Every time we come into a church and see the cross – we are reminded of the price. The price of fire is always sacrificial love. The price of fire is always a life of greater and greater holiness. And we’ll never receive our baptism unless we are willing to pay that price, to walk that i-beam.
That price has not changed over the centuries. Nor has the process of setting the world on fire changed either. Our second reading tells us: “… let us persevere in running this race, with our eyes fixed on Jesus.” We do it by keeping our eyes fixed on the right thing. That reporter would do it for his child. Jesus did it for us. And when we keep our eyes fixed on what is needed for love, when we keep our hearts focused on the needs of the other, we can walk into that blaze as well.
Sometimes, it can feel so lonely. I think of our college students, mostly back on campus or beginning classes this week. “Why am I the sober one at this gathering? Why am I choosing to honor the gift of my body that I want to give pure to my future husband or wife? Why am I not passing off someone else’s work as my own?” I think of spouses on business trips when not everyone around them is living the devout life. I think of the sacrifices that parents whose children need life-long supervision and extra care are called to make. Most of the time, we don’t get cheered for doing the right thing.
But, when the cost of discipleship is great, when we would rather skip the price of walking into the fire, the author of Hebrews adds this encouragement: “There is a great cloud of witnesses who spurs us on,” an unseen loving presence of all of our loved who have gone before us… the saints… who kept their eyes focused on others, who did what was needed for love, who walked into the fire ahead of us.. They pray for us, believe in us, encourage us, and spur us on. Like the spectators at a marathon, or those along the long route of the Tour de France, gathered in twos and threes and fours – their message is the same: You can do this. We’re pulling for you. The witness of their lives invites us to keep our eyes focused rightly…
Perhaps you know the story of a woman who came across Mother Theresa as she was in the gutter, picking maggots out of a dying man’s body. The woman said, “I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars.” Mother Theresa responded, “Neither would I.” She did it because she knew that man was a beloved child of God… She kept her eyes fixed on Jesus, who dwelled in that man, the Jesus who shows up as she called it “in all his distressing disguises.” When we keep our eyes on others in their need, we are ourselves keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Most of us will never have to walk across an i-beam suspended thirty seven floors up. But today’s scriptures won’t let us forget that there is always a price to pay for doing what is right…a price for setting the world on fire with the love of our savior. And like that reporter who would go across that i-beam bridged chasm for his child, we too can cross the journey of our lives in faith – when our eyes are fixed on Jesus.