A while back, I heard a Catholic podcast where the guy said something that really surprised me: “Sometimes,” he said “I think Jesus is sick of believers, when really, He wants more followers.”

Jeff Cavins, in his book “The Activated Disciple,” says something very similar when he offers this observation:

“There’s a big difference” he says, “between being a fan of Jesus — and being a follower. There is a danger in simply being someone who may be ‘on fire,’ loves the faith, watches and listens to Catholic radio and tv, orders teaching CD’s and even has Catholic bumper stickers.” These are all VERY good things, of course — but “the danger,” he says “lies in the fact that you can, without knowing it, exchange a dynamic, daily relationship with Jesus with simply consuming the faith.”

I certainly see this tendency in my own heart, and I bet I’m not alone. 

I happen to really like what Jesus says and does. 

I am inspired by His example.

When He says: “Love your enemies,” I am captivated by the beauty and the power of His words. When He says: “There’s no greater love than to die for your friends,” I feel a surge of desire to do the same. His parables make me think about the ways I could be more merciful, more humble, more selfless. When He favors the lowly, the sick, the poor, the powerless, the widow and the orphan… when he tells me: “Deny yourself, take up your Cross, and follow me” — there’s a deep and abiding sense that this is the way I want to live and act all the time.

But if I’m being honest… I don’t actually do it. 

I mean… I still like Jesus — I like what he says and does — and I find great joy in the idea of being a Christian. But I haven’t gotten to the point where I am IMITATING Jesus with all of my heart. Rarely do I love people the way they actually deserve to be loved… 

…The way that God loves…

In many ways, you could say that I’m still just sort of a “fan” of Jesus, just a “believer” — and not always really truly… a follower.

All of these observations tie in well with what Jesus says to the Pharisees in our gospel this weekend:

“This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” 

What he is warning us about is this: 

We might be really awesome fans of Jesus. We might even think a lot of the right things, say a lot of the right things, follow this or that culturally Catholic custom… but our heart, our deepest inner core, our truest identity, our daily desires — might still be very far from Him.

This is important for us to come face to face with.

Because God is inviting us to something so much bigger, and so much more satisfying than simply agreeing with Christian beliefs and religious practices… He wants more than for us to just enthusiastically nod our heads along and say — “Yeah, you tell ‘em Father!”

St. James, in our second reading today says it pointblank: 

“Be doers of the word and not hearers only”

In other words: Be radical disciples, radical followers of the Lord — not just fans! Step up, rise to the immense challenge of Christ’s invitation, go on this adventure — this mission of doing God’s work! Because, as James goes on to say later in his letter:

“Faith, without works, is dead.”

We’ve all heard the phrase: “Actions speak louder than words.” 

Did you know that was originally said by Saint Anthony of Padua? “Actions speak louder than words,” he says, and then he goes on… “Let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empt of actions. It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions.”

We don’t want to do that right?

We don’t want to just be HEARERS of the word… We want to be DOERS as well! We want to actively follow Jesus — We want to be his disciple — THIS is the foundation of a Christian moral life.

…

Let’s pause right there. 

Because I just said the “M” word — “MORALITY.” 

I suspect that the second any priest starts talking about morality — a thought process starts churning away in a lot of people’s minds.

“Oh boy, here goes Father again… giving us the RULES. Telling us all the fun stuff we can’t do…Why’s he have to be so judgmental? Why does he seem to ENJOY making me feel GUILTY all the time?”

And to that, I respond with this:

Being a doer of the Word and not just a hearer is not first and foremost about anxiously following a bunch of rules. 

Christian morality is not about asking over and over: “What am I allowed to do? What’s forbidden? Will this be a mortal sin… or just a venial sin? Where’s the line… because I want to get as close as I possibly can!!!!” 

That’s what the Pharisees do… they become obsessed with the details of the obligations… and miss the heart of those obligations.

Maybe this will come as a shock to some of you, but living a Christian life is NOT first and foremost about NOT SINNING. Our faith is NOT a sin-management program!!!! That would be a sad and unattractive way to go through life… obsessively avoiding actions and behaviors that somebody else told us would make us into bad people…

No thanks… count me out!

Thankfully, the Good News is this: Christian morality is about saying YES to all the stuff that will bring about our true, ultimate, lasting, HAPPINESS.

St. Augustine, whose feast day we celebrated just this past week, had this to say: “Everyone wants to be happy. There is no one who will not agree with me on this almost before the words are out of my mouth.”

This changes the entire notion of morality, doesn’t it? This changes how we go about following the commandments of the Lord.

Rather than having it all based on obligations, burdens, and guilt — Christian morality is really about what makes the human person truly happy and fulfilled. Living a virtuous, well-ordered life… actually makes you JOYFUL…

Saint Augustine says in another place: “HAPPY are we if we do the deeds of which we have heard and sung. Our hearing them means having them planted in us, while our doing them shows that the seed has borne its fruit.”

This is what our first reading from the Book of Deuteronomy was getting at with regard to the Law and the Commandments: “Hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, THAT YOU MAY LIVE.” 

Do you hear that? Follow these commandments — heed these laws — DO THE THING — that you may live! That the seed might bear its fruit and you may FLOURISH!

Jesus says in another place: “I have come that you may have LIFE… and have it ABUNDANTLY.”

If somewhere along the line, you were led to believe that being Catholic is mostly about following a list of rules and doing your absolute best not to screw up so that you can earn your way to Heaven, then I’m really sorry…

You were fed a false gospel.

Jesus came to save the screw-ups, to call the lost and broken, to offer us hope, to fill us with His own LIFE through the sacraments — a fulfilling, truly meaningful life centered totally on God.

He came to give you and me both the grace and the freedom to say “YES” to goodness,  YES to holiness, and YES to life right now. He doesn’t want to control us or squish our desires. He wants us to freely desire to lead a good, morally upright life so that we may live.

I’ll go even further and put it this way:

If following Jesus is making us miserable, burned out and exhausted… then we’re doing it wrong! 

Maybe we need to surrender… Maybe we need to offer Him our hearts…

In fact, let’s do that right now.

Repeat after me:

Lord, take my heart.

Jesus, I want to follow You. 

I don’t want to just be a fan… I want to be your disciple. 

I don’t want to just believe the right things….. I want to LIVE the right things! 

I want to DO the right things!

I’m sorry for the ways I have not followed you…

I don’t want to just be a hearer of the Word — I want to be a doer!

Amen.