13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 9:51-62
IF YOU DIG AROUND IN BIBLICAL COMMENTARIES ABOUT TODAY'S READINGS YOU FIND THAT THE GOSPEL READING MORE OR LESS RECALLS THE PROPHET ELIJAH. WHEN JAMES AND JOHN WANT TO CALL DOWN FIRE ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE SAMARITAN TOWN, WE CAN REMEMBER THAT ELIJAH DID EXACTLY THAT TO THE MESSENGERS FROM THE KING OF ISRAEL, WHO WAS HIS ENEMY. WHEN WE HEAR THAT JESUS SAYS THAT HE HAS NOWHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD, WE ARE REMINDED THAT ELIJAH WAS KNOWN AS THE TISHBITE, WHICH HAD THE CONNOTATION “STRANGER”. THERE WAS A PLACE CALLED TISHBE, BUT IN ELIJAH'S TIME IT WAS ALL BUT ABANDONED, AND PEOPLE WHO SEEMED TO COME OUT OF NOWHERE WERE CALLED TISHBITES. AND FINALLY, WE SEE THAT ELIJAH LETS ELISHA GO BACK AND SAY GOODBYE TO HIS FAMILY, IN CONTRAST TO JESUS, WHO INSISTS THAT PREACHING THE GOSPEL COMES BEFORE ALL FAMILY OBLIGATIONS.
IN OTHER WORDS, IS LUKE DELIBERATELY TRYING TO GET HIS READERS TO SEE THAT JESUS, BOTH IN A POSITIVE AND A NEGATIVE SENSE, GOES BEYOND ELIJAH?
THE PROPHET CAN AVENGE HIMSELF ON HIS ENEMIES WITH GOD'S POWER. JESUS WILL NOT AVENGE HIMSELF. THE PROPHET MAY BE A STRANGER, BUT JESUS IS EVEN MORE SO; HE HAS NO HOME. AND THE PROPHET ALLOWS HIS DISCIPLE TO TEND TO HUMAN NEEDS BEFORE SETTING OUT ON HIS VOCATION, BUT JESUS DOES NOT.
AND THIS IS ALL PREFACED BY THE STATEMENT THAT JESUS RESOLUTELY HEADED FOR JERUSALEM, BECAUSE THE DAYS FOR HIM BEING TAKEN UP WERE BEING FULFILLED – JESUS MARCHES INTO THE CITY WHERE HE KNOWS HE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH. ELIJAH, WHEN HE LEARNED THAT THE KING SOUGHT TO PUT HIM TO DEATH, FLEES INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
MOST OF US, WHEN WE THINK OF JESUS, SEE HIM AS SOMEONE WHO LOVES US, WHO PROTECTS US, WHO LEADS US. HE IS THERE IN OUR GRIEF, HE FORGIVES OUR FAILINGS, HE CARRIES OUR BURDENS. THAT IMAGE SEEMS SO DIFFERENT FROM THE IMAGE OF JESUS IN THIS GOSPEL READING. HE REBUKES HIS DISCIPLES; HE TELLS ONE WOULD-BE DISCIPLE THAT IF HE FOLLOWS JESUS, HE WILL BE HOMELESS; ANOTHER, HE DEMANDS THAT HE LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD, BUT YOU, COME AND PREACH THE GOSPEL. AND TO A THIRD, HE SAYS IN EFFECT THAT IF YOU ARE GOING TO SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR PARENTS, THEN YOU AREN'T WORTHY OF BEING MY DISCIPLE. IF JESUS HAD BEEN NICER, WE MIGHT BE TALKING ABOUT THE 15 APOSTLES INSTEAD OF ONLY TWELVE.
IF WE TAKE JESUS' WORDS AND ACTIONS AT FACE VALUE AND MEASURE OUR OWN LIVES AGAINST THEM, I AM SURE WE ALL COME UP VERY SHORT, EVEN OUR PASTOR, EVEN OUR BISHOP.
BUT JESUS IS DESCRIBING FOR US AN ATTITUDE WE MUST INTERIORIZE, A WAY OF SEEING THE WORLD WHICH IS ESSENTIAL IF WE ARE TO BE DISCIPLES. HE IS NOT SAYING THAT WE CAN'T HAVE HOMES, OR FUNERALS, OR LONG GOODBYES.
HE IS TELLING US THAT WE CANNOT USE POWER OR COERCION TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL. IT IS OUR JOB TO PREACH THE GOSPEL. IF THE SAMARITANS REJECT US, OR THE VILLAGERS WHO WITNESSED THE DEMONS ENTERING THE SWINE AND CAUSING THEM TO DIVE INTO THE SEA BEG US TO LEAVE, WE HAVE DONE OUR PART, THE REST IS UP TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. BUT IF WE DO NOT PREACH THE GOSPEL, THEN WE HAVE FAILED.
HE IS TELLING US THAT A DISCIPLE SHOULD BE AT HOME WHEREVER HE FINDS HIMSELF; OR PERHAPS HE SHOULD NOT BE AT HOME EVEN IN HIS OWN HOME. A DISCIPLE SHOULD HAVE HIS EYES FIXED ON THAT HEAVENLY HOME, WHERE HE TRULY BELONGS. THIS WORLD SHOULD NEVER BE THE BE ALL AND END ALL OF LIFE.
AT A TIME WHERE IT WAS A SACRED OBLIGATION TO BURY THE DEAD, HE IS TELLING US THAT A DISCIPLE NEEDS TO BE AWARE THAT TRADITIONS AND HABITS AND PERSONAL BELIEFS CAN GET IN THE WAY OF GOSPEL LIVING. SOMETIMES WE NEED TO STEP BACK AND ASK WHAT IS OF GOD AND WHAT IS NOT. THE PHARISEES BEGAN WELL, AND HAD GOOD REASONS FOR WHAT THEY DID. BUT AFTER A TIME, DOING WHAT THEY DID BECAME REASON ENOUGH, AND THEY ENDED UP PRISONERS OF RITUALS AND RULES TO THE POINT WHERE THEY HURT THEMSELVES AND THOSE AROUND THEM WITH THEIR RIGID LEGALISM.
AND HE IS TELLING US THAT WE HAVE TO BEWARE OF EXCUSES, THE EXCUSES OTHERS MAKE FOR US AND THOSE WE MAKE FOR OURSELVES. BUT FIRST LET ME SAY FAREWELL TO MY FAMILY; I'LL GET INVOLVED WHEN THE KIDS FINALLY LEAVE HOME; I'M GOING TO GET INTO SOME SORT OF MINISTRY AFTER I RETIRE; I REALLY WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY FAITH, BUT I'M TOO BUSY NOW. SOMEONE WHO PLOWED IN THE DAYS OF JESUS AND EVEN NOW HAS TO AIM THE PLOW TOWARDS A POINT ON THE HORIZON; YOU HAVE TO DO THAT OR THE FURROW YOU CREATE WILL BE CROOKED AND WANDER ALL OVER THE PLACE. WITH EVERYTHING WE DO, WE NEED TO KEEP OUR EYES FIXED ON JESUS, ON OUR ULTIMATE GOAL, AND ASK HOW WHAT WE ARE DOING IS MOVING US CLOSER TO THE GOAL. IT IS A GREAT WAY TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE; JUST STOP DOING ANYTHING THAT ISN'T BRINGING YOU CLOSER TO YOUR SALVATION.
THERE IS A WONDERFUL STORY ABOUT MOTHER THERESA. SHE WAS INVITED TO ATTEND A MEETING IN CALCUTTA OF INDIAN LEADERS. THE SUBJECT WAS HOW TO END HUNGER IN INDIA. AS SHE WAS ABOUT TO ENTER THE BUILDING, SHE SAW A MAN LYING ON THE SIDEWALK, SKIN AND BONES, OBVIOUSLY DYING. SHE GOT ONE OF HER SISTERS AND THEY BROUGHT THE MAN TO HER LITTLE HOSPICE AND TENDED TO HIS NEEDS AND COMFORTED HIM AND FED HIM BITS OF FOOD AND WATER. HE WAS TOO FAR GONE TO RECOVER, AND DIED ABOUT TWO DAYS LATER, AND OF COURSE THE CONFERENCE WAS OVER. ALL THOSE DIGNITARIES HAD PASSED BY THE STARVING MAN IN THEIR HURRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO END HUNGER IN INDIA, BUT MOTHER THERESA KNEW THAT IF YOU WANTED TO END HUNGER, YOU HAD TO FEED THE HUNGRY THAT YOU FOUND; NO EXCUSES. SHE KEPT HER EYES ON THE POINT ON THE HORIZON.
THIS WEEK WE CELEBRATE OUR WONDERFUL COUNTRY. WE SEE, UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IN MANY WAYS SHE IS NOT PERFECT, SHE IS GOING ASTRAY. ISSUES OF MORALITY, ISSUES OF EQUALITY, OF SO MANY UNMET NEEDS AND WASTING OF RESOURCES THREATEN WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN US. RELIGION AND PATRIOTISM ARE ALIKE IN THAT BOTH BEGIN WITH HAPPY EMOTIONS BUT BOTH END UP EXPECTING SOMETHING FROM US IN RETURN. SO LET US PRAY THAT OUR COUNTRY GO BACK TO BEING THAT BEACON, THAT EXAMPLE TO THE WORLD THAT IT WAS MEANT TO BE.