From Action to Passion

Bread and Wine Reading: "From Action to Passion", Henri Nouwen


Scripture Reading: John 3: 14-17
And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

In this essay, Nouwen tells of a friend of his who, dying and debilitated from the ravages of cancer, was bemoaning the fact that he could not do what he once did. A social activist, the man was accustomed to living out his faith through action, through service to the world, through making things happen in the name of Christ. But, as Nouwen says, “the central word in the story of Jesus’ arrest is one [he] never thought much about. It is ‘to be handed over.’” This is the Greek translation. It’s used both when Judas “hands Jesus over” and when God “hands Jesus over”. This, of course, is a passive term. The etymological root of Passion, the term that we use to describe Jesus’ suffering journey to the cross is probably the Latin passionem, or suffering. And, interestingly, if you look up the word “passive”, the root is shown as passiuus. Under “Passion”, it says “See Passive” and under “Passive” it says “See Passion”. The two words are related. The “Passion”, then, the time of suffering and being “handed over”, is to move from action to being out of control of what is going on in one’s life.

Nouwen says that “it is important for us to realize that when Jesus says, ‘It is accomplished’, [‘It is done.”, in some translations], he does not simply mean, ‘I have done all the things I wanted to do.’ He also means, ‘I have allowed things to be done to me that needed to be done to me in order for me to fulfill my vocation.” This is hard for us to grasp. Our society tells us that we must be in control of our lives, in control of our own destiny, or we will fail. We are told that if we do not take control, we will end up penniless and worthless. And, yet, Jesus is “handed over”, moving from a life of activity and action to a time of passivity and passion. Nouwen says that “Passion is a kind of waiting—waiting for what other people are going to do…All action ends in passion because the response to our action is out of our hands. That is the mystery of work, the mystery of love, the mystery of friendship, the mystery of community—they always involve waiting. And that is the mystery of Jesus’ love. God reveals himself in Jesus as the one who waits for our response.”

Jesus’ Passion was the transition from the “doing” of Jesus to the “becoming”. And the becoming has a great deal to do with our response. And when our doing is done, it will be time to wait…to wait to become. Each life seems “unfinished” at its end in terms of our world. Most of us are convinced that the greatest success in a life well lived comes from doing all that you planned to do, completing this earthly journey with finished projects and perfectly manicured existences, with lives neat and intact so that those remaining can simply put them away into boxes or photo albums, books or memoirs, or memories of yesterday. But life is always left “unfinished”. That is our true Passion, our true waiting. The Passion is not the end; it is the invitation to others to join in the action in the name of Christ. And, “handed over”, Jesus waits for our response…

Discussion Questions:
1.) Do you think we place too much value in “action” done for God?
2.) How do you think of that notion of being “handed over”? How comfortable are you with that?
3.) How does that speak to our faith if we embrace the Passion as a time of waiting?

So go forth into Christ’s Passion, respond, and then wait…!

Grace and Peace,

Shelli