Sunday, September 21, 2014

Beyond “Fair”

September 21, 2014–– 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 55:6–9 / Philippians 1:20c–24, 27a / Matthew 20:1–16a
Beyond “Fair”

It has been said that there are two types of people in the world, including those who divide people into two groups and those who do not. I think one of the most basic contrasts is between the attitude of people who believe they always “deserve” what is best or even fair as opposed to those who tremble at the thought of getting what they deserve. There is another way to say this: proud and humble gets to the root. Jesus’ story of the proud Pharisee and the humble publican comes to mind.

Our human nature has an inherent recognition of right and wrong. We instinctively know when we are treated unfairly. Except… fair is not really much of a biblical theme. God’s revelation to us has a lot to say about justice and mercy and love, but “fair” is much more a human construct. Fair is almost always connected to what we think we deserve, and what we think we deserve is tempered ultimately by whether we are, in biblical language, proud or humble.

The Gospel of John (ch 6) tells of an incident in which people come to John the Baptizer with praise and adulation. His response is, No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. St Paul confronts the Corinthians with the same thought: What do you have that was not given to you? (1Cor 4:7a). This is a picture of biblical humility.

Contrast this attitude with that of the prophet Jonah. He had a proud, uncharitable spirit. Jonah neither expected nor desired the welfare of the Ninevites; he only went there to declare and witness their destruction. It was all about Jonah. Sometimes even God’s people show us how not to be!

Several of our popular magazine titles illustrate this. First there was People (all of us), then there was Us (as opposed to “them”), and then there was Self, which mostly reduces the focus to me. My point is to suggest that a very large portion of “popular culture”, as evidenced by our magazine names (and even more by their content!), is almost completely opposed to anything that is essentially Christian.

This takes us to Jesus’ parable about the vineyard workers. It is typical of our fallen human nature to see things selfishly from our own point of view. The all-day workers complained––it was “unfair” that the one-hour workers were paid the same. And yet this story has a much greater point: the mercy of God goes beyond fair. God does not give us what we deserve. He certainly does not give us less than we deserve. God gives us more than we deserve. Beyond fair.

To grasp this, we need to be converted. We need to be changed. We need to be transformed from people who look at the world around us and our own situations merely from our own selfish perspective (What’s in it for me?). When our focus is on ourselves––how much do I get?…. is yours bigger or better than mine?…. why am “I” having to go through this hard thing?…. ––we are only making ourselves miserable (and worse, cutting ourselves off from being able to see God’s mercies). St Paul expresses transformation when he tells the Philippians, For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. This world is not all there is. So Paul asked the Corinthians, What do you have that was not given to you? What we have is mercy. From God’s perspective, if we got what we deserved, we’d have less than nothing; we’d be in hell. It’s all about gift and grace. Beyond fair.

This is what God is saying through Isaiah: ….my thoughts are not your thoughts…. your ways are not my ways…. Humbling ourselves before the greatness of God is not meant to demean or discourage us. It is the greatness of God that goes beyond fair. This is why we can dare to be different and have hope in spite of all the things that seem so unfair and the many things which are, indeed, unjust.

There is an incredible picture of what this looks like which happened not too far from us in this part of Pennsylvania, and with which most of us are familiar. It is the epitome of what we would call “unfair”. On October 2, 2006 a milk truck driver named Charlie Roberts who serviced the local community drove to the West Nickel Mines Amish School in Lancaster County (PA). Then the sound of gunfire was heard from inside. When local police broke into the one-room schoolhouse they found 10 Amish girls ages 6-13 had been shot by Charlie Roberts, who then committed suicide.

In the midst of their grief over this shocking loss, the Amish community didn’t cast blame, they didn’t point fingers, they didn’t hold a press conference with attorneys at their sides. Instead, they reached out with grace and compassion toward the killer’s family. On the afternoon of the shooting an Amish grandfather of one of the girls who was killed expressed forgiveness toward the killer. That same day Amish neighbors visited the Roberts family to comfort them in their sorrow and pain. Later that week the Roberts family was invited to the funeral of one of the Amish girls who had been killed, and Amish mourners outnumbered the non-Amish at Charles Roberts’ funeral.


In a world where violence and suffering dominate the news, and in a society that often points fingers and blames others for what is “not fair”, this reaction seems incomprehensible. Many have asked, “How could they forgive?” The short answer is simple: This is Christian Faith. This is how God has loved us through his Son, and so we pass that kind of mercy forward. The Amish understand that part of Christian Faith so well, and we need to know it has its origin and home in Catholic Christianity. If the world is divided into two kinds of people (and I believe it is in many ways), we are to be those who live, in Jesus Christ, beyond fair.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

September 14, 2014–– 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Numbers 21:4b–9 / Philippians 2:6–11 / John 3:13–17

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross


Each one of the Scripture texts for today is worthy of book-length reflection, but perhaps it’s best to make three basic points.

The Numbers story illustrates the nature of sin: Sin is a poisonous snake always ready to bite, and its venom means death (apart from intervention beyond anything we are able to do for ourselves). [1] If you are “playing with sin” today––any kind of sin––you are risking eternal death.

The Epistle and the Gospel tell us what God has done. He has provided a remedy for the poison of sin. The Divine Son takes the sin of the world upon himself, and because he is God, he “absorbs” sin and defeats it. Just as Moses mounted an image of a snake on a pole and invited those bitten to look upon it and be healed, [2] when Jesus was lifted up on the cross the salvation of everyone who believes in him was accomplished.

If this incredible thing is true, why are the effects of sin still so devastating in our world and even in our personal lives? God does not force spiritual healing on anyone. Moses mounted the image of the snake, but each Israelite had the personal responsibility to look at it in order to be healed. Jesus makes the same point in his words to Nicodemus: ….the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. Clearly one meaning of lifted up is the literal physical crucifixion of Jesus, so when Jesus mounted the cross he was taking the sin of the world upon himself. Every week––and for some of us, every day––we acclaim, Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world.

Still, there is more in what Jesus said. What marks a person who has faith in the saving death of Jesus Christ? What does “believe” mean (for it can so easily be a cliché)? There is a figurative way to understand lifted up––it is extended to us! [3] When we model faith in his death on the cross for sin, so that our very lives proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord, then in each and every Christian believer, Jesus Christ is being lifted up.

On this day when the Church calls us to exalt the Holy Cross, let’s be people who do just that by honoring Jesus Christ in all that we are and all that we do. The foundation for real living is knowing that Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross to save us from the poison of sin. Then––starting from the inner passion of our hearts and extending into the way we live each day––we can truly be his witnesses. When our own lives cause Jesus to be lifted up, we join all those for whom every knee bend[s] and every tongue confess[es] that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Responsible Love

September 7, 2014 –– 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ezekiel 33:7–9 / Romans 13:8–10 / Matthew 18:15–20
Responsible Love


This past Wednesday was the Feast Day of St Gregory the Great. He was elected Pope as the Church entered the 7th Century, was one of the four great Latin Fathers and named Doctor of the Church. In the Office of Readings for that day there was a selection taken from his writings based on the text in Ezekiel:

….a preacher is called a watchman. A watchman always stands on a height so that he can see from afar what is coming. Anyone appointed to be a watchman for the people must stand on a height for all his life to help them by his foresight.

He goes on to confess how hard this is, for human preachers have to deal with their own weaknesses and the distractions of life in this world: “So who am I to be a watchman, for I do not stand on the mountain of action but lie down in the valley of weakness?” Then he gives the only solution that offers any peace: “Truly the all-powerful Creator and Redeemer of mankind can give me, in spite of my weaknesses, a higher life and effective speech; because I love him, I do not spare myself in speaking of him.”

Preaching is a fusion of two seemingly incongruent things: the knowledge and authority of God joined to the weak limitations of a human messenger. But because we believe God has spoken, and that he has formed the Church to be the medium of his truth, those of us ordained by the Church (to proclaim what God has said and done) do this often criticized act of “preaching”. One way that I seek to give integrity to my preaching––to take seriously what I believe comes from God––is preach to myself and invite you to listen. I do this because of the serious charge given here to Ezekiel. If I do not declare God’s truth faithfully, then God holds me accountable for my listener’s sins. If I do declare God’s truth faithfully, then (speaking of a wicked man) if he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt but you shall save yourself. It is a frightful thing to be a preacher!

The bottom line here is that we take who God is and what he says as top priority. This is why Jesus says, If your brother sins…. go and tell him his fault. If he does not listen, take one or two more others with you…. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. This extends beyond “preachers” to all  Christians.

What is going on here? First, Jesus wants us to take sin seriously. In the Epistle reading St Paul tells us to love one another. “Love” is a loaded word in our world. It is used (and abused) to speak of many things, from the trite and ridiculous to the grossly immoral. How do we know what love really is? Paul puts “love” here in the context of keeping the commandments. Jesus said, If you love me you will keep my commands (Jn 14:15). Jesus is also saying in today’s Gospel that love for our brothers and sisters means being concerned about sin in their lives. Remember, all Christians are called to be holy ––“different for Jesus’ sake.” And, we are to help each other!

Just as there is a tension in the act of preaching––the contrast of strength and weakness (in God and a human messenger), there is a tension in our mutual quest for holiness. We are to be both critical and humble. Jesus says that if two people can come to one mind about what is right, then that is doubly good. Maybe it takes the counsel of several; often our perspectives are too much our own (or that of the world around us). The ultimate arbiter and authority is the Church. I do not ask you to live according to my opinions and practices, and you are not to judge me merely from your personal understanding (although we cannot escape our personal perspectives, and sometimes they are right). But we are all called to subject our thoughts, words, and actions to the teachings of the Church. It is in the Church that whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Do we take what God says through the Church seriously enough that we truly try to live it? Do we take what God says through the Church seriously enough that we are willing to confront our brothers and sisters with it? Do we take what God says through the Church seriously enough that we all are willing to be humble with each other and admit that we are a work in progress? Do we remember each day, and embrace the reality, that as Christians we are called to be saints?

Not all of us are called to be preachers, but every one of us who owns the name of Christian is responsible to let the life of Jesus flow into and through us. And we are responsible to others who also own that name; they are our brothers and sisters.


You shall love your neighbor as yourself…. love is the fulfillment of the law. Love means telling each other the truth, and humbly letting God’s truth come to us through the Church.

 
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