HerbEly

Preaching in Nineveh

    Now we are at the third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Jan 22, 2012). Duing the coming year the, Sunday gospel readings will be going through Mark. This Sunday, the gospel reading relates the immediate response to Jesus call by Andrew, Simon, James and John. The first reading is from Jonah (3:1-5) who finds himself preaching to Nineveh (a city in what is now Iraq.) He went against his will, not doubt remembering the slaughter Israel suffered at he hands of Nineveh. To his surprise, the Ninehvites responded. Maybe they felt as Paul did in the second reading 1 Cor 7:29-31( "…the time is running out.") Today we are little more relaxed, we don't feel that the end of the world is near - unless we believe those who think that the Mayan's predicted the end in December 2012. 

    Does this mean that there is no urgency for us to respond? None of us knows for sure when our own end will come. Even if it is decades away, the life of the Spirit is one of joy, peace and escape from despair. Some people live in terrible circumstances and yet find serenity and joy. It is available to everyone - but like the Ninehvites, we have to respond!

 

Foreigners, Gentiles, and Wise Men from the East

    The scripture readings for Epiphany Sunday, (January 8th) are an example of how the the lectionary ties together an Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel reading around a common theme. In this case, the theme is God's universal call. In Isaiah 60:1-6 Jersualem hears that:

(Foreign) Nations will come to your light,  and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

 In that time (and in this) Jerusalem looked on the Nations as enemies.

    In Ephesians 3:1-6 St. Paul tells us:

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

The Gentiles, thought of as enemies will become members of the same body.

    In the gospel (Mt. 2:1-12) we read that wise men came from the East. They recognized Jesus as a King, even though the residents of Jerusalem did not.

Those of us who reside comfortably inside a congregation need to ask ourselves this question: "Why was it that the Epiphany came to outsiders instead of the establishment?"

 

Why do we need an Incarnation?

When Bill Clinton used to say "I feel your pain" It would drive some conservative commentators crazy. "What is important is what you think, not your feelings" they would say. The president's ability to connect with audiences on an emotional level was an important part of his effectiveness. People do not like cold, distant politicians.

With the Incarnation, we have a God who walks among us, is human and can share our joys and suffering. Many support groups operate on this basis. No one can understand a heart attack survivor in the same way as another heart attack survivor. In Jesus, we have someone who has shared suffering and can relate to ours. 

Merry Christmas. Let us celebrate the birth of a God who shares our lives.

 

The God of our Expectations

    Expectations, it is often said, are planned resentments. I find this slogan depressing - even though there is truth in it. It is depressing because it assumes that we will always be disappointed. One might as well say that every silver lining has a cloud. The truth in it is that, whenever we experience resentment, our expectations are a root cause. We look forward to some event. It doesn't happen the way we wanted and anger is the result. Rather than dwelling on the anger, we should look back and ask ourselves if our hopes were realistic - or, if we were expecting a bad result, how could we have been prepared?

    During Advent the scripture readings present us with dramatic cases of God acting beyond our expectations. On third Sunday we saw John warning his contemporaries that they did not recognize the Messiah because of misplaced expectations. On the 4th Sunday, 2 Samuel 7 tells how David expected to build a house for the Lord, only to learn that the Lord would build a house for David. This would be a kingdom that would last forever. In the gospel we hear how Mary's expectations were completely changed. She was to be the one through whom the Lord's promise to David would be fulfilled.

    When we find ourselves angry or resentful at the way God is acting in our lives or in the world, we had best check our expectations. David and Mary misunderstood the Lord's plans. Why should we do any better?

    The Lord's plans will be different - and better - than we had any right to expect.

 

"…one among you whom you do not recognize,..'

So says the strange and forbidding John the Baptist in the gospel for the third Sunday of Advent (Dec 11, 2011). John preached at a time of intense debate about the coming Messiah. Many were fooled by their own preconceived notions of what the Messiah should be. John bluntly warned that they did not recognize Him.

Today many of us have preconceived notions of what God and government should do. If John were walking among us today, he would he tell us "… there is one among you whom you do not recognize…" 

Be skeptical of politicians and pundits who are confident that they know what God's plan is for our country and the world.

 

Building a Highway

     As we settle into Advent, a time of preparation for the coming (Advent literally means "coming to"), we think of the coming of Christ at Christmas. There are two other advents that we are awaiting: the final coming of Christ and the individual coming of Christ into our own hearts. On this 2nd Sunday (as on every Sunday on the Catholic liturgical calendar) we get three readings and a re-sponsorial psalm. In the first, Is 40:1-5, 9-11 we are urged to:

make straight in the desert 

   a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up, 

   every mountain and hill made low; 

the rough ground shall become level, 

   the rugged places a plain.

     I take this as a metaphor for our own selves and as an admonition to build a highway for God into our own hearts. The we ask:

• What are the hills, valleys and rough places that are blocking construction?
• How can we remove them?

Since all of us are capable of self deception - sometimes on a massive scale - we will need help with the first task. Prayer, meditation, a good written guide and a spiritual advisor will help us take inventory of the resentments, fears, prides, and other obstacles. Once that is done, we face the impossible task of removing them by ourselves. Are we stuck forever? We get our answer from the Gospel (for this year the gospel readings will come mainly from Mark.) One is coming, indeed has come, who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and enable us to remove obstacles and make the rough ground level.

 

The Difference between Religion and Spirituality

The gospel reading (Mt. 22:1-14) for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time provides an example of what may be meant by this saying: "Religion is for people who don't want to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who have been there and don't want to go back." While this saying overlooks some of the positive aspects of religion, it's point is made clear by the parable of the Wedding Banquet. In the parable a king prepares a wedding banquet for his son. Several of the invited guests are too busy with other things to come; others greet his messengers with hostility. Frustrated, the king sends his servants into the streets to invite anyone who will come. The street people, all except one, are grateful to be rescued and come in wedding clothes. The one who did not bother to dress is shown the door.

The parable sheds light on the religious people who are busy, satisfied with their lives - after all they are not living on the street - and see no need to accept the king's invitation. The street people, on the other hand, are living in a metaphorical hell. (In biblical times the life of street people was a special kind of hell.) When rescued by an invitation they respond with gratitude. That expression of gratitude and show of respect to the king by wearing wedding clothes can keep them from going back to the hell from which they came.

This saying emphasizes a point: Sincerity of heart (spirituality) trumps self-satisfied respectability (religion.) It, however, overlooks the positive value of religion. It has institutionalized teachings and practices that can serve as guides for the sincere of heart. One can have a deeply sincere heart and be self-deceived as to what is truly good. Religion can serve as a guard against self-deception.

Institutionalized religion also has downside. It puts fallible humans in positions of power, making it all to easy for them to become self centered and corrupt. This is a danger for all of us sitting in the banquet hall. Enjoying the grace-filled gifts of the King, we can forget that we were rescued and turn our backs on the king's ongoing invitation.

 

Risky Rejection

    As we come to the end of the liturgical year we reach the closing chapters of Matthew. These chapters feature a growing confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees who are rejecting His message. 
On October 2 (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time), Mt. 21:33-43 tells the story of a Landowner who sent servants to a vineyard that he had leased. The tenants rejected the servants, who in this parable stand for prophets. Lastly the Landowner sends his Son, also rejected and then killed. The tenants foolishly thought that this would secure ownership of the vineyard.
    At one level the parable does not make sense. What tenant would be foolish enough to think that the Landowner would cede ownership of the tenant killed his son? The parable is best read as a warning: Prophets are unpleasant people - unpleasant because they are telling us truths that we don't want to hear. Our natural instinct is to reject them. We do so at our own risk. The prophets are telling us truths (usually about ourselves as a society) that we need to hear.

Disrespecting Dad

    On this coming Sunday (26th Sunday in Ordinary Time) we will hear the story of the father who asked each of his two sons to go into the vineyard and work. (Mt. 21:28-32) The first son flatly refused, then changed his mind and worked. The second treated his father respectfully, agreed to work but then went elsewhere. Then, as now, speaking disrespectfully to one's father is not a way to win a father's affection. Dad's heart, however, was softened by a disobedient son who knew he had done wrong and made amends,

    This story has a stinging surprise in it. Jesus had been speaking to temple elders and chief priests. All of them spoke respectfully of religion and, like the second son, said the right things. Then Jesus tells them:

“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him."

    The tax collectors and prostitutes, definitely not respected people, were living in a kind of hell of their own creation.  Just as the first son, they saw the error of their ways and repented As the first reading (Ez 18:25-28) says,  someone who "turns from wickedness, …does what is right and just will surely live, not die."

 

Workers in the Vineyard: Out of tune?

    As we look at the bible readings for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary time (September 18th) we may find ourselves a bit resentful on hearing the gospel. Mt. 20:1-16 tells parable of the workers in the vineyard. Wages are paid in reverse order: those who did the least work get paid just as much as those who bore the heat of the sun all day.

Who would not feel resentful? Doesn't justice demand that those who did the most work get the most pay?

Let's reflect for a moment. We may find that our attitude falls short of Paul's in Phil 1:20-24. Paul is so much in tune that he does not care whether he lives or dies. He simply wants to be of service.

If our attitudes were in tune we would realize that there is great rejoicing over the rescue, even in the last minute, of one who was lost and doomed. We would be grateful for the opportunity to do a day's work. (As Barbara Reid observes, those who started late would have worked in the morning - if they had found someone to hire them. Those who worked all day at least had the satisfaction of knowing that they could provide for their families.) Were we in tune, we would recognize in our hearts that our work does not of itself earn our reward. Instead it is through grace that we are rescued and able to do a day's work