There is a rite of passage that just about everyone in our country still goes through. It is that time when a teenager, usually in their final years of High School, go through training and receive their driver’s license from the State. Then Dad or Mom has this exciting moment when they look their teen in the eyes, with a look that is filled with responsibility, and say “here are the keys.”

From the State’s perspective, their job is done when they give their driver’s license to us. With that little card, they are telling us that we have a competent understanding of the driving laws in the state and that we have proven proficient in handling a five-thousand-pound human killing machine called an automobile.

But with those keys and that little card comes a huge responsibility. In driving a car, which is an extremely common thing these days, we now have the power to destroy life and thousands of dollars of property. You can bet that when an accident occurs, the state is going to hold someone responsible. When someone is grossly negligent in driving their car and cause the loss of life and property, not only will the state revoke your license, but they can even send you to prison.

In life there are various types of responsibility placed upon us. As we grow older and more competent in our skills, we are given more responsibility at work, church and other organizations. With each invitation to lead comes a new level of responsibility. Of all these levels of leadership and union, the very first level is in the exercise of the most powerful gift we have been given – OUR FREE WILL.

This is such an integral part of our existence that we often don’t recognize how powerful it is and how often we exercise it. You see, the real power is in our ability to choose. Some might say that a car has great power and applies a lot of force at ninety miles per hour, but one must choose to accelerate the car to that speed. Once could choose to drive their car into a crowd and kill someone, but they first had to decide to do it. The vehicle is only the tool used to accomplish the will’s desire.

On the Lord’s Day of Judgement, it is our gift of Free Will that will be examined!

When we come before the Lord on judgement day, He is going to examine what we did with that powerful gift of free will. Did we choose Him and a selfless love or did we choose the creation and a self-centered love? What elevates Humanity above all other creation is this ability to freely choose and then be held accountable for our choices.

Adam committed original sin because he chose Eve, the creature who had fallen from grace, over the creator God. When she handed him the fruit, he was given a choice. Does he eat this fruit and enter into sin with Eve or does he remain faithful to his love for God and obey His command not to eat of the fruit? (Gen. 3:6) He chose the creation over the creator.

He had knowledge of who God is and what He does and yet Adam rejected God and chose His creation over Him. We are no different today, we are equally as guilty as Adam. How many times have we used our free will to deny or reject God? This is the critical truth that we need to see today.

Many today mistakenly say that if they could just see Jesus do miracles, they would believe He is God and obey Him. Based on the evidence of those who actually did witness Jesus do miracles, this is not true. Many in the New Testament saw Jesus do miracles, but chose not to yield to Him.

St. Thomas is the classic example of exercising free will contrary to the will of Jesus. Jesus had told the Apostles, on three different occasions, that He was going to Jerusalem, be put to death and rise from the dead. When Jesus shows up in the locked room where all the apostles were except Thomas, the rest of the apostles accepted the testimony of the women who went to the tomb and came back and proclaimed Jesus’ resurrection.

Thomas gets a bad rap for this story, but he is only behaving like we would. Thomas’ actions reveal to us how and why we can choose a belief contrary to God’s truth. When the apostles share with Thomas that they too had seen the risen Lord, Thomas chose not to believe that Jesus has risen until he has the empirical evidence of seeing Jesus’ wounds.

Jesus enters the locked room a second time with all the apostles in attendance and immediately confronts Thomas with an invitation to see his hands and put his fingers into Jesus side. (Jn. 20:27) What the Lord does next should be a huge clue to what God expects from us. Jesus then commands Thomas to stop doubting and believe in the truth that Jesus told him.  

We were made for truth, but our world is filled with so many lying voices that everything is now suspicious. We don’t know what to believe and, like Thomas, want evidence to prove that what God says is true. We are living out the same way by demanding evidence before belief is chosen.

Jesus became Man through a miracle of the incarnation. He taught us the truth and proved the validity of His words by His miraculous powers. Like Thomas, Jesus commands us, His Church, to cease exercising our free will to choose not to believe in Him and His word.  Jesus has done all that is needed for us to see and believe. Now we are culpable for our choices.

Jesus now turns to you and says “here are the keys!” 

Only the keys are not to a car but to Eternal Life. What will you do with this power gift?

Moses:

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you …”. Deu. 30:19-20a NRSV