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I will spit you out of my mouth

(Rev 3: 16)

          I am sure you still remember the first time you served in the Christian Life Program. You were overflowing with enthusiasm. No task was too difficult. You carried the heavy cooler, the food basket, the bag full of CLP materials, the electric fan and even the television set for the use of KFC all the way from the parking lot to the second floor venue of the CLP. You came early to hang the streamer, post the directional signs, and arrange the chairs and tables at the venue. You came prepared for the group discussion. You diligently followed up the members of your discussion group – calling them up to remind them of the CLP schedule, bringing the tapes to them if they miss a talk, going to their homes for the one-to-one discussions – and really felt a deep personal concern and love for them. You were fired up with the Holy Spirit and burning with enthusiasm.

           For most members of the community this enthusiasm has remained strong. As a result, this year the Expatriate Chapter will establish a record of sorts. Since January 1997 we have conducted five CLPs (with one still ongoing), compared to only one in 1993, two in 1994, three in 1995 and four in 1996. The total harvest for this year alone is expected to be around 41 couples and 80 singles, handmaids and servants or 162 new members. In comparison, the cumulative harvest for the previous four years is a total of 208 persons. In addition, we have organized a Youth Camp, two MER I, one MER II, several Covenant Orientation, CLP Training and Evangelization Training, one CFC Leaders Retreat and another one scheduled end of November, and other teachings and workshops. The enthusiasm for service of the members of the community has been both overwhelming and heartwarming. This I can only attribute to a special grace from the Lord.

           Indeed we should always serve the Lord with enthusiasm. We should constantly ask for the grace of zeal for service. However, our zeal for the Lord should not be confused with the purely emotional feeling of enthusiasm. Our zeal should be based on profound love and not on shallow emotion. In his widely known book, The Way, the Blessed Josemaria Escriva gives a very useful advice on this matter: “My enthusiasm is gone,” you wrote me. Yours has to be a work not of enthusiasm, but of love conscious of duty – which means self-denial.

           When the emotional feeling has diminished and enthusiasm has faded, that is the time when the Lord is calling us to a closer and more mature personal relationship with him, a relationship based on faith, nurtured in hope, and driven by love. When we reach this point in our spiritual journey, we should pray for the outpouring of God’s grace and mercy. Like the Psalmist, we should ask the Lord, “Rise up, help us! Redeem us as your love demands” (Ps 44:27). And equally important, we should stay alert and be on guard lest the evil one mislead or deceive us, so that, instead of growing towards spiritual maturity, we are drawn into a state of spiritual lukewarmness.

           In his book Lukewarmness: The Devil in Disguise, Francis Carvajal forewarns us with these words: The lukewarm person does his norms of piety out of a sense of duty or guilt. As a result, they are lifeless. He may even show a singular zeal in performing these works, but they leave a bitter aftertaste. What was once love of God deteriorates more and more into mere love of the law. What was once love of truth is now merely a defense of the truth. What was once love for neighbor is now, at best, a desire to convert him. Perhaps one still talks about God, but one no longer talks with him.

           To avoid falling into a state of spiritual lukewarmness, we must always keep ourselves open to new graces. This can only happen if we remain faithful to our covenant of daily prayer and Scripture reading, which is our direct link to God. We must avoid the pitfall of still “talking about God but no longer talking with him.” St. Gregory the Great said, “He who does not advance, slides back.” We can only advance with God’s grace and if we allow God to pull us. But he can only pull us if we are linked to him through daily prayer and reflection. In the spiritual realm, there is no such thing as maintaining a static position. We either move closer to God or we draw farther away from him.

           When our struggle for holiness becomes reduced to a mere effort, no matter how vigorous, to avoid mortal sin, this is a sure sign that we are sliding back towards spiritual lukewarmness. This condition leads us to gradually give less emphasis to our duty to love God and neighbor. Consequently, we become careless towards small infidelities. Slowly, we may find it difficult finding sins to confess, not because we have suddenly become perfect, but on the contrary, because our soul has been gradually engulfed in darkness. Without the fullness of the light that comes only from Christ, we will have difficulty seeing exactly where we are. Our souls will grope in darkness, confused about what is right and what is wrong. Perplexed, soon we will cease examining our conscience. And if we still manage to do, we will do it in a perfunctory manner.

           St. Teresa of Avila said: The lukewarm do not embrace the cross; they merely drag it along. When we start looking for the most comfortable way of rendering service and choosing the path that is always pleasant and requires the least effort, we should pause for a moment and reflect to make sure that we are not falling into a subtle trap of Satan towards lukewarmness. We must always bear in mind that if we run away from the cross, we will never find Christ. It was in Calvary that he redeemed us; it is there that we will find him.

           God does not ask us for the sacrifice of things as much as the sacrifice of self. Our service in Couples for Christ and its Family Ministries has to be a work of self-denial. Like John the Baptist, we should serve so that Christ might increase and we should decrease. Only if we stop looking downward at ourselves could we start looking upward to Christ lifted up on the cross. When our eyes are fixed on the Lord, we can advance and be drawn to embrace the cross.

           The lukewarm person who flees from Christ would soon also flee from his commitments, in particular, his covenant in Couples for Christ or Singles for Christ. When he does this, he will find himself alone. And then he will also try to flee from himself. To do this, he will make himself busy. He will make himself constantly preoccupied with, for example, work at the office, social functions, sports and leisure activities, so that he can somehow give some meaning to his existence. He will also need to feel useful. Otherwise, with not much meaning to what he does, emptiness and loneliness will engulf him.

           Francis Carvajal tells us that: One clear sign of lukewarmness is the tendency to constantly acquire more things, more whims, more needs. All the while, the soul becomes more attached to worldly affairs. As we become more attached to this world, we become more and more detached from God. With his heart empty, the lukewarm vainly tries to fill it with worldly things. Feeling lonely, the lukewarm futilely searches for joy in worldly affairs.

   The Book of Revelation explains why lukewarmness results in emptiness and loneliness: I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth (Rev 3:15-16). Since God created us for himself, our soul, by its very nature, craves for its Creator. Thus if God “spits us out of his mouth,” we will be lost. We will feel empty. We will experience loneliness. Such is the tragic fate of the lukewarm.

   My brothers and sisters, in the spiritual battlefield, there can be no imaginary truce. There can be no lull in the fight. Similarly, in our personal relationship with Jesus, there cannot be a standstill. There cannot be a limit to developing friendship with Jesus. We either more forward to meet him or we will be drawn back away from him. When he allows us to carry the cross, we should not merely drag it. We should place it squarely on our shoulder and embrace it. Any other way leads to lukewarmness. We should remain faithful to our covenant of prayer and Scripture reading. We should keep our hearts open to God. Then the Lord can and will provide the grace for us to avoid the hidden danger of lukewarmness.  And then we can continue to fight and serve with zeal.          

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