Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

We see Jesus, in the Gospel today, pushing people to look more closely at who they are, what they believe truly, and not just they do. He’s challenging them to make their concern for outward appearances be congruent with a commensurate desire for inward purity — he’s calling them to a deeper authenticity.

The modern notion of authenticity is something like, “I am who I am and no one can change me” or “I just say what I mean and I don’t care what people think.” The contemporary notion seems to rely on the idea that whatever is inside you deserves to come out (and you deserve to let it out) without fear of repercussion or judgment.

Jesus would agree, with part, I think. He would say that whatever is in you should be the thing you manifest outwardly as well. 

What is in us though? This is where our identity, our authenticity as Christians, runs up against the world’s notions. Where the world says, “I’m ok, you’re ok” as a kind of perpetual affirmation, Jesus says, “I’m ok — and you and I are one.” Over and over again we see that he finds his sense of purpose and mission based on his relationship with the Father. 

He knows who he is and whose he is and calls us to that same humble confidence so that what we say and what we do reflects that at our deepest core we find him. We who are baptized into his body and who feed on his grace week by week and who meditate on his word, over time, must reflect that inward and spiritual grace in our outward and visible lives.

What is in us should come out and should be true to who we are. That is authenticity. But, for Christians, what people should see is Jesus. What they should hear is Jesus. It should be a Jesus they could recognize as one who loves, restores, heals, and teaches. 

This is the authenticity to which we are being called — to which Jesus is calling us today. He is calling us to commit, as that wonderful prayer from the Book of Common Prayer reads, “that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days…”

If we can strive for that we will have found authenticity.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Robert