PASSION BY: SARAH MAITLAND

FIBERVISION home

Is there passion in your life? What is Passion? Some say that it is an emotional event that motivates us to take positive action. I believe that there is very little passion in our lives. There are some things that masquerade for it.....like getting excited over a sports event or developing a hobby or arguing a cause. These things are only events; there is no significant merit in any of them to elicit the kind of passion the Lord spoke of. He never used the word "passion." He used words like: "SALT that has lost its savor" and "he who does not HATE his own father and mother." Passion must have Kindness for its sister or it is misdirected. Wars have been started and innocent people have been slaughtered in the name of Passion and a good many of its participants drafted out of mediocrity into the thick of a battle over a cause that was never theirs. Perhaps the major difference between life and death is Passion. Without it, in life one "is dead even while he lives." There is no sin (or is there?) in choosing to live Passion-less. There is the motion, the logistics, the progressive 365-days-a-year, the occurrences, the life choices, the funeral arrangements .... the end. The end of a dying ember that chose to dwell far from the Fire lest it too become enflamed. If it got too close, it would in turn be a torch and burn everything it touched. Moses spoke with the Lord Who was in a burning bush that was not consumed. It is not just coincidence that Passion is often likened to fire and flame. Passion is rarely accepted in its purest form. It is greeted with embarrassed silence or disdain or disbelief or simply annoyance. If it is challenged, it is only because it has crossed a secure boundary in someone's belief system. There is a story in the Bible regarding the God of the Old and the New Testament that evokes curious imageries of just how deep His passion is. When Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the Ten Commandments from the Lord, the people were "having a party" at the Lord's expense. God's anger erupts. At first, one might be puzzled by an apparent lack of patience, even a "Divine tantrum" in the light of humanistic evaluation. The Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses wanted to "start over" with a new people .... wipe out the ones his anger was kindled against and "begin again." Perhaps no other narrative so illustrates the Lord's passion as this one. This is a narrative easily passed over as a sermon topic. This is the same Jesus Christ who hated Lukewarm. You could Hate or Love because they are both strong emotions ... but you could not be lukewarm .... not if you didn't want to be spat out of His mouth. Some contend He was so angry because they were sinning in revelry and debauchery; others are sure that He was most angry because they had made another god while Moses was away. There is surely an element of possibility in each of these things, but it was much more than this. The God who wanted to "start over" was looking for a heart, a Passion in his people. He was looking for a people who cared more about life than whether or not their shoes would wear out during the journey..... cared more about life than whether there was enough manna and quail to go around and spending the rest of the time dreaming of the onions and leeks of Egypt ... cared more about Him than to turn their most valuable possessions into a god who was very safe and comfortable and did not desire or demand anything from his worshippers. Moses had taken his shoes from off his feet for he stood on holy ground...the same ground that Jesus Christ would walk in His earthly life to seek and save that which was lost ... the same ground that soaked up Mary Magdalene' s tears and perfume as she lavished on Him her gratefulness. It would be many years before He met face to face with man on common ground and revealed His heart .... it would be many years before He "started over' with a new generation of those who could answer His passion. There just isn't enough Passion in life. When "deep calls to deep," will there be a response? Where are the "rivers to swim in - the torrents?" To "march to the beat of a different drummer, however measured or far away," you have to hear the drum first. Passion -- awake, and stay alive in those who possess you.