Does the phrase “fine print” make you nervous or do you just ignore it? And how often have we heard, “don’t sign a document” without reading the fine print? When I was young, I didn’t care about the fine print. In our youthful years we are bold that way, like bulls in a China shop. We do what we want and often neglected to consider the consequences of our actions before we acted. But now, as eyesight changes, the fine print is more difficult to read, and when I want to consider consequences, I often find it difficult to do so. And often that creates a tension between what I want to do and what is best for me. Life is confusing that way. One of the realities of experience and maturing is that we learn there is a reason for the fine print, and it is often for our own good.
We have gotten used to the idea that fine print is tiny little letters to hide the truth for one reason or another. In reality, there is another meaning for fine print which we have forgotten. When printing presses changed the way documents were prepared it was easy to make smaller letters with very distinct detail and more information was able to ne printed on a page than when ink was from a quill pen and took up more space and often was blurry around the edges. Like fine art, the idea of fine print ahs the meaning of being very precise, detailed, and easy to discern.
So, there is fine print that can be deceiving and fine print that can be very precise and of often we are confused about which is which. For that reason, Jesus gathered his disciples to have chat and make certain there was no confusion about what eh was asking of them, and leading them into. He wanted to make certain they understood the fine print his worlds would take on, not just on the printed page, but in daily living.
In Jeremiah 20, there is a moment when he complains that he missed the fine print of his contract as a prophet. He faithfully went about his business of proclaiming the word of the lord but was surprised when it was not received in the spirit it was given. He said that too often he was made a laughingstock because the way of the Lord was so different than the way of the world. He said he was caught off guard and confused that he would be ridiculed rather than celebrated for doing what was the right thing to do and say. He complained and said, “Look at what I have gotten into by following your call! I am a laughingstock; I am going against the grain of my culture. I am losing friends.” In a sense he said: “Why didn’t you help me read the fine print before answering your call to be a prophet?” Why didn’t you tell me this wouldn’t be easy?
In Matthew 10, Jesus makes cetain that his disciples are not caught off guard like the prophet Jeremiah had complained about. He said, “Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, nothing secret that will not become know.” What Jesus means is, “The world’s large print IS always focused on the stuff that brings joy or earthly rewards. The hidden fine print is often the true cost of what you will pay. The real secret is no matter how much you have or can gather, a day will come when you unfortunately will die and all your stuff will be gone. That is the reality of life. And then, using the examples of worthless sparrows, he explained how valuable their lives were to God. And if God cares so much about the tiny parts of his creation, like silly little sparrows, why would you ever think that your life isn’t valuable or cared for by God. If God knows when a little bird falls to the ground, doesn’t that give even more comfort for each of us to be assured that God’s loving care will never leave us alone?
There is fine print that is hard to read and fine print that is intentional clear to discern. It is that precise nature of God’s love that he outlined at the beginning of his disciples’’ journey so they would always know what the deal was and the promise that would never leave or forsake them. Later on, over and over again, he would explain that his guarantee of God’s love for them would be evidenced by his ultimate surrender of life, as the guarantee of that love. Like Jeremiah of long ago, they would have difficulty at times understanding how that would play out, as they were sued to the fine print of the world which wants to hide what we don’t like to hear.
But his love was so great that from the beginning he wanted to make certain there would be no surprises! And a lot of loving help along the way! Jesus pulls NO punches. His entrance helps us exit! His coming down lifts us up! His call is for commitment. In other words, reading the fine print and understanding that it really is good news and an antidote to the world’s lies and deceit.
Jesus’ disciples were amazed at how blessed they were to be chosen to follow Jesus. They had front row seats for amazing miracles. They marveled at his teachings and how powerfully he was able to preach. Their hearts were warmed by his welcome of outcasts, and they were blown away when he raised dead people back to life. Of course they wanted to be with him longer! Of course they wanted to follow him. Certainly they were ready to share the good news and gather others to see and hear Jesus. They were pumped and ready to hit the streets.
And Jesus made sure they understood that there was to be no hidden surprises. He told them not everyone would welcome the good news of a new kingdom. He warned them that some of their family and friends wouldn’t invite them to parties any more. He told them the true cost of servant love. Jesus wasn’t trying to scare them, but was preparing them for the price he would pay. Jesus was leading a revolution and the world would fight back with all its might! At the same time, Jesus made sure they knew they wouldn’t have to face any or all of this alone. In Romans 6:5, St. Paul echoes Jesus’ promise as he wrote, “If we have been united w/Him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united w/him in a resurrection like his!” In other words, the world’s fine print about death is turned into great news about how Jesus turns it into life!
The world hides from death but Jesus lifts up. The world sells self-interest but Jesus washes feet. Advertisers tempt us to follow crowd (so that we can make them rich.) Jesus says follow me as you already are rich! Faith enables us not be fear or by deceived by the world’s fine print. But how can we do what so much goes against the grain? There is a book called Atchison Blue, written by Judith Valente, a writer from NPR, whose husband is a judge in Chicago. It is the reflection of a well-educated and respected woman, who married later in life, and sought to return to faith.
Her journey led her to spend time in a monastery in Atchison, Kansas with a group of nuns who became her spiritual family. She rejoiced in her job and wonderful husband, but struggled to feel accepted by his grown children. It came to a head one Christmas when the step daughters’ gifts to her seemed trite and forced. She was so frustrated because she wanted to love them, but really didn’t like or trust them. This was the fine print of extended family she had failed to understand when she got married.
One evening, while visiting with one of the nuns at Mount St. Scholastica monastery, she shared her frustration and guilt for not living in the faith she knew she was called to live. She asked, “How can I understand humility and write about it, but not live in it? Am I missing something in the fine print?”
The nun suggested she remember Paul’s beautiful words in 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient; love is kind, and not jealous. Love does not brag and is not arrogant … love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things, believes all things …. Love never ends.” The nun then told her to read it again, but substitute “God” for “love” … and so the words of 1 Corinthians then sounded like this: “God is patient; God is kind and not jealous. God does not brag and is not arrogant … God bears all things, God hopes all things, God endures all things, God believes all things, God’s love never ends.”
Judith was then told to substitute her own name instead of the word “love,” which made it sound like this: “Judy is patient; Judy is kind and not jealous. Judy does not brag and is not arrogant … Judy bears all things, Judy hopes all things, Judy endures all things, Judy believes all things, Judy’s love never ends.” In that moment, she said she was filled with love, and the good news of faith became greater than the fine print of human selfishness, angst, and sin!
This is how Paul helps us to understand the fine print; that God’s love changes us so his love is in us. His embrace becomes our embrace. His live becomes ours, and that is what discipleship really means. Jesus said the same thing in a more direct way. “You are disciples. Don’t be afraid of what that means! Anyone who loses or gives up their old life for my sake will find it!!
In other words, when I surrender ME, the God who embraces me, forgives me, loves me, and gifts me with all I need, gives me back to the world as a gift – just as He is such a gift for me.
Is that not the finest print and the greatest promise … ever?