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	REFORMING THE BENT

The Gospel

LUKE 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because he came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will rise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.

The Media

"Bent"

Matchbox Twenty

"Can you help me," Matchbox Twenty sings, "I’m bent. I’m so scared that I’ll never get put back together. Keep breaking me in, and this is how we will live, with you and me, bent." The song is an important one because the idea of being bent is such an important idea in life. It is important because everyone of us is bent in one way or another—that is, we are wounded—we all have had rough times in life. Here, the man in the song is asking for his significant other to help him, and at the same time realizing that that significant other’s life is bent as well.

The story of Jonah is an interesting one. Jonah ran away from God, and because of it, ran into all kinds of problems, but eventually does what God asks. Jesus picks out the "teaching" part of the story—where Jonah preaches and the people of the town of Nineveh change their ways, reforming their lives after listening to Jonah. Jesus also tells a story from the first book of Kings about a queen from another country who listened to Solomon, and presumably changed her ways. The obvious conclusion from the two stories was that because people had a greater person than Solomon and Jonah in front of them, namely, him—Jesus—people ought to be listening to what Jesus said, change their ways, and reform their lives.

The circumstances of the stories are important. Jonah worked with the Ninevites and what they were doing in order to change them. Solomon accepted the queen where she was in her life, and changed her. That is, one has to work with what we have in order to reform. And what we have are our human natures, human natures that were created imperfect.

Or as Matchbox Twenty sings, we are all bent in some way. In their song, they tell the story of someone who is having a rough time in his life and is pleading for help because, as he sings, he is bent. It is a description of how everyone is. We are all bent by the very fact of human nature, and if we are going to change, we have to start with where we are, and proceed to make ourselves better with God’s help.

THOUGHT

In your opinion, what is the greatest drawback of our human natures?

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, we are fallen, bent human beings, because we are too prone to allow sin into our lives. Give us the grace we need to begin our reform right now. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike