Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle A

MATTHEW 7:21-29
MANY YEARS AGO IN BUFFALO A YOUNG PHYSICIAN JOINED OUR TRAINING PROGRAM. HE HAD HAD A HARD LIFE. HE’D BEEN RAISED BY HIS MOTHER, NEVER KNEW HIS DAD; HE HAD STRUGGLED TO PUT HIMSELF THROUGH COLLEGE, AND HAD TO TAKE TIME OFF TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO GET THROUGH MEDICAL SCHOOL. ON THE WAY HE GOT MARRIED, BUT AFTER TWO CHILDREN, HIS WIFE DESERTED HIM AND THE CHILDREN, AND RAN OFF WITH SOMEONE ELSE. HE STRUGGLED TO GET THROUGH HIS RESIDENCY WITH THE HELP OF HIS MOTHER WHO PROVIDED CHILD CARE. AFTER THIS, HE WORKED IN EMERGENCY ROOMS FOR ABOUT SIX YEARS, BECAUSE THIS ALLOWED HIM TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH HIS DAUGHTERS. EVENTUALLY HE MET A YOUNG LADY WHO WAS AN ARDENT SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST, AND HE BECAME ONE ALSO, AND THEY GOT MARRIED, AND HE FINALLY HAD GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE HE COULD PURSUE TRAINING IN CANCER MEDICINE.HIS TIME IN THE TRAINING PROGRAM WAS UNEVENTFUL. HE HAD A HAPPY HOME LIFE AND TOOK HIS RELIGION VERY SERIOUSLY, AND ALTHOUGH I USED TO THINK SEVENTH DAY ADVENTISTS WERE PRETTY STRANGE, HE WAS LIKE MOST SERIOUS CHRISTIANS, MORE INTERESTED IN HIS OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD THAN WITH PROSELYTIZING OTHER PEOPLE, AND WE FOUND THAT OUR RESPECTIVE DENOMINATIONS HAD MORE IN COMMON THAN WAS DIFFERENT..AFTER HE FINISHED HIS TRAINING PROGRAM, HE MOVED TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. I RAN ACROSS HIM SEVERAL YEARS LATER. HE WAS THE HEAD OF A LARGE CANCER CLINIC, MADE A LOT OF MONEY, HIS KIDS HAD GROWN AND LEFT HOME, HE AND HIS SECOND WIFE HAD DIVORCED, HE HAD A TROPHY GIRL-FRIEND TO WHOM HE WAS NOT MARRIED, AND HE NO LONGER BELIEVED IN GOD.TODAY JESUS TELLS US ABOUT TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE, THOSE WHO HEAR WHAT HE HAS TO SAY AND ACT ON WHAT THEY HAVE HEARD, AND THOSE WHO HEAR, BUT DO NOT ACT. THE FORMER CAN WEATHER THE STORMS OF LIFE, AND THE LATTER CANNOT.WE ALL HAVE STORMS IN OUR LIVES. JESUS PROMISED THAT WE WOULD. HE DID NOT SAY THE HOLY PEOPLE, THE GOOD PEOPLE, THE CHURCH-GOING PEOPLE WOULD BE SPARED. BUT SOME OF US, AND I’M NOT EXCLUDING MYSELF, MIGHT LOOK AT OUR OWN LIVES AND SAY, WHERE ARE THOSE STORMS? WE WHO LIVE IN LONGMEADOW, IN THE 21ST CENTURY, WHO HAVE GOOD HEALTH THROUGHOUT MOST OF OUR LIVES, WHO MAKE VERY GOOD LIVINGS, WHO DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHETHER WE WILL GO HUNGRY TONIGHT, OR WHETHER WE WILL HAVE TO SLEEP IN THE RAIN, MIGHT LOOK AT OUR LIVES AND SAY, “I DON’T SEE A LOT OF STORMS.” NOW I AM AWARE THAT MANY OF OUR PARISHIONERS HAVE HAD TRAGEDY IN THEIR LIVES, DEATHS OF LOVED ONES, DIFFICULT MARRIAGES, CHILDREN WHO DISAPPOINT, GOALS NOT ACHIEVED. BUT JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT FAITH-SHAKING STORMS. AND IF YOU ARE STILL COMING TO CHURCH, MAYBE YOU HAVEN’T HAD THAT KIND OF STORM.IN JESUS’ TIME AND IN THE EARLY CHURCH, PERSECUTION WAS SUCH A STORM. AND IF YOU DIDN’T GET PERSECUTED IN DIRECT, PAINFUL WAYS, YOU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF SHUT OUT FROM GOOD JOBS, PREVENTED FROM LIVING IN NICE NEIGHBORHOODS, OR MARGINALIZED IN OTHER WAYS BECAUSE YOU WERE A CHRISTIAN. AND IT WAS NO WONDER THAT NOT EVERYONE STAYED A CHRISTIAN UNDER THESE PRESSURES. I THINK WE CAN ALL IMAGINE OURSELVES GOING THROUGH THIS KIND OF STORM, THE STORM WHERE EVERY DAY YOU WONDER WHERE GOD IS, WHY ISN’T HE HELPING, WHAT DOES HE HAVE AGAINST YOU?BUT THERE IS ANOTHER, MORE SUBTLE KIND OF STORM. MY FRIEND, PERHAPS, WENT THROUGH THIS, AND LOST HIS FAITH. THIS IS THE STORM OF SUCCESS. IT IS ONLY NATURAL FOR PEOPLE TO TRY TO BETTER THEIR LIVES. AND SOMETIMES, AFTER A GREAT DEAL OF HARD WORK, AND A LITTLE LUCK, WE FIND OURSELVES SUCCESSFUL, OR FAMOUS, OR POWERFUL—WE FIND THAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED AND PERHAPS EVEN GONE BEYOND THOSE GOALS WE SET OUT TO REACH. AND IN THIS SITUATION, THERE ARE SOME WHO SEE NO NEED FOR THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES THAT THEY HELD SO STRONGLY WHEN THEY WERE JUST STARTING OUT. IT’S KIND OF WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO EUROPE DURING THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. AND WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR FAITH IN THIS KIND OF STORM, YOU MAY NOT EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU ARE MISSING, BECAUSE YOU HAVE WHAT YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED, YOU ARE COMFORTABLE, AND YOU DON’T SEE A NEED FOR ANYTHING ELSE.JESUS WARNS US THAT IF WE WANT TO WEATHER STORMS, WE HAVE TO BUILD OUR FAITH ON ROCK, AND THE WAY TO DO THIS IS VERY SIMPLE; WE STUDY HIS WORD, AND WE ACT ON IT. WE LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS, AND THEN WE ASK WHETHER OUR LIVES REFLECT WHAT HE SAYS; AND IF THEY DO NOT, WE TRY TO CHANGE. AND THEN WE STUDY MORE, EXAMINE MORE, AND CHANGE MORE. BECAUSE THAT IS HOW WE BUILD, AND IF WE AREN’T DOING THAT, WE MAY THINK WE ARE DOING ALL RIGHT NOW, BUT WHEN THE STORM COMES, THE STORM JESUS PROMISED WOULD COME, WE ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING OUR FAITH, WE ARE IN DANGER OF HEARING OUR MASTER SAY, “I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME.”WHEN THE STORM COMES, WILL WE BE READY? ONLY IF WE BEGIN BUILDING AND CONTINUE TO BUILD ON A FIRM FOUNDATION. AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO THIS IS TO LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF JESUS, AND ACT ON THEM.