Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

LUKE 9:18-24
MY FATHER WAS ORDINARY. I DON'T MEAN HE WAS ORDINARY TO ME OR MY SISTERS; WE OF COURSE THOUGHT HE WAS SUPERMAN. BUT OBJECTIVELY, HE MADE A LIVING AND TOOK CARE OF HIS FAMILY AND ENJOYED FISHING AND HUNTING. HE LIKED A GOOD DRINK AND FOR A GOOD PART OF HIS LIFE HE SMOKED; AND HE GOT UP EVERY MORNING AND DID WHAT HE HAD TO DO. HE HAD ONE TRAIT, THOUGH, THAT I REMEMBER. HE WAS A GOOD FRIEND TO PEOPLE. IF A FRIEND ASKED HIM TO DO SOMETHING, AND HE SAID YES, HE WOULD DO IT. AND IF HE HEARD ABOUT A FRIEND WHO HAD GOTTEN IN TROUBLE, OR WHO WAS GETTING A DIVORCE, HIS REACTION WAS TO DEFEND HIS FRIEND. ALL THROUGH HIS LIFE IT SEEMS AS THOUGH HE TENDED TO SEE THE GOOD IN EVERYONE, AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT HE PUT UP WITH A GREAT DEAL OF GRIEF FROM ONE PERSON, BUT NEVER WROTE THAT PERSON OFF, ALWAYS BEING READY TO START OVER AGAIN.
JESUS ONCE SAID “UNLESS YOUR VIRTUE IS GREATER THAN THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES, YOU WILL NEVER ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” THE SCRIBES AND THE PHARISEES. OUR OVERALL IMPRESSION, IF WE HAVE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO SCRIPTURE, SEEMS TO BE THAT THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE SELFISH, POWER-CRAZY, AND OPPONENTS OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND TRUE. WE EVEN USE THE TERM “PHARISAICAL” TO MEAN SOMEONE WHO PREACHES ONE THING AND DOES ANOTHER. THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN DURING A PERIOD OF TIME WHEN THE SPLIT BETWEEN JEWS AND CHRISTIANS WAS MOVING INTO HIGH GEAR, AND THE WRITERS, PERHAPS, CAN BE FORGIVEN FOR THEIR MOSTLY BLEAK PICTURE OF THE PHARISEES. BUT WE SEE LITTLE HINTS IN THE BIBLE THAT THEY WEREN'T ALL BAD, AND IN FACT MOST WERE TRYING VERY HARD TO LIVE GOOD LIVES AND KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS. REMEMBER THE PHARISEE WHO STOOD BEFORE THE ALTAR AND SAID WITH ALL SINCERITY, “THANK YOU THAT I AM NOT LIKE THIS TAX COLLECTOR” AND WENT ON TO NAME THE THINGS HE DID BECAUSE HE LOVED GOD. AND THAT WAS TYPICAL OF THE PHARISEES; THEY SCRUPULOUSLY FOLLOWED THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; THEY WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS TO AVOID BREAKING A COMMANDMENT. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO WORK ON THE SABBATH. WELL, WHAT DID THAT MEAN? AFTER MUCH REALLY HEAVY THOUGHT, THEY DECIDED YOU COULDN'T COOK, YOU COULDN'T WALK MORE THAN A CERTAIN DISTANCE, AND SO ON. THEY KNEW THAT THEY WERE PROBABLY GOING OVERBOARD, BUT IT WAS BETTER TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF TOO MUCH THAN TOO LITTLE. AND THAT WAS THE WHOLE ATTITUDE. AND THEY SCRUPULOUSLY PRACTICED CHARITY, AND THEY FASTED AND PRAYED. THEY REALLY DID HAVE VIRTUE. AND JESUS SAYS “NOT ENOUGH” AND THAT ASTONISHED HIS DISCIPLES.
BECAUSE IF YOU ARE A PHARISEE, THERE IS A DARK SIDE AS WELL. IN ORDER TO AVOID CONTAMINATION, YOU DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE LESS RIGOROUS THAN YOURSELF. YOU BEGIN TO TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR ABILITY TO FOLLOW THE LAW. YOU BEGIN TO DO THE LAW FOR THE LAW'S SAKE, NOT FOR WHAT IT WAS INTENDED IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND YOU MIGHT EVEN SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO OBSERVE THE LAW EVEN BETTER THAN YOU HAD BEFORE – SOMETHING THAT THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEWS, ESPECIALLY IN ISRAEL, CONTINUE TO DO TO THIS DAY, TO THE EXCLUSION OF WORKING FOR A LIVING OR JOINING THE MILITARY, OR PARTICIPATING IN POLITICS. PHARISEES WERE MEN OF GREAT VIRTUE, BUT IN THE END, THEY CARED ONLY ABOUT HOW THEY INDIVIDUALLY LIVED OUT THEIR LIVES.
AND JESUS IS ASKING US TO GO BEYOND THAT. TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS NOT TO BE ABLE TO BELIEVE IN CERTAIN TRUTHS AS EXPRESSED IN A CREED OR THE DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II. TO BE A CHRISTIAN IS TO TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE OF TRANSFORMING OURSELVES AND THOSE AROUND US THROUGH THE GOSPEL MESSAGE. CAN YOU AND I LOVE AN ENEMY? CAN YOU AND I TURN THE OTHER CHEEK WHEN THE FIRST IS SLAPPED, OR GO AN EXTRA MILE WITH SOMEONE WHO MAKES US GO A MILE? CAN WE AVOID THAT “EYE FOR AN EYE” MENTALITY THAT LURKS BENEATH THE SURFACE, THAT PART OF US THAT IS SO SENSITIVE TO BEING “DISRESPECTED”? IF WE ARE INSULTED, CAN WE OFFER BACK A GOOD WORD, A COMPLEMENT, AND MEAN IT?
THE CHALLENGE JESUS GIVES TODAY IN OUR GOSPEL IS NOTHING LESS THAN A CHALLENGE TO BECOME MORE THAN HUMAN. AND IT'S NOT A BIT EASY, IN THEORY OR IN PRACTICE. A PERSON LIVING AS A PHARISEE WORKS HARD TO BRING ABOUT CERTAIN CHARACTER TRAITS; BUT THESE ARE FOR THE MOST PART EXTERNALITIES. YOU CAN BE A PHARISEE AND FAST AND PRAY AND GIVE ALMS AND SCRUPULOUSLY OBEY THE LAW. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE YOURSELF INWARDLY. THAT'S WHY THE PHARISEES BECAME SO UPSET WHEN JESUS ACCUSED THEM OF HYPOCRISY. THEY HADN'T TRANSFORMED THEIR INNER SELVES; THEY WERE STILL VERY SENSITIVE TO BEING “DISRESPECTED”. NOT ALL BUT SOME OF THE PHARISEES WENT TO A GREAT DEAL OF TROUBLE TO CALL ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES; IF THE LAW SAID YOU SHOULD WEAR A STOLE AROUND YOUR NECK, THE PHARISEE WOULD WEAR A REALLY WIDE STOLE. IF THE LAW SAID YOU SHOULD GIVE ALMS, A REALLY RICH PHARISEE WOULD HIRE SOMEONE TO POINT OUT THAT HE WAS GIVING ALMS, SO THAT THE WHOLE WORLD WOULD KNOW HE WAS OBEYING THE LAW.
BUT JESUS IS SAYING THAT IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HIM, YOU HAVE TO DIE, YOU HAVE TO DIE TO YOUR HUMAN SELF, AND TAKE ON A NEW WAY OF BEING, A WAY THAT TRANSCENDS BEING HUMAN. BECAUSE THE GOAL OF CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT TO OBEY LAW, IT IS TO TRANSFORM ONESELF INTO A CHRIST, AND IF YOU DO THIS, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT BEGIN THE TRANSFORMATION IN OTHERS AS WELL. WHEN YOU ARE INSULTED AND YOUR RESPONSE IS A COMPLIMENT, SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS HAPPENS, NOT ONLY TO YOU, BUT TO THE ONE WHO INSULTED YOU. WHEN SOMEONE SPEAKS EVIL OF YOU, THE INSTINCT IS TO SAY SOMETHING BAD ABOUT THAT PERSON; THE CHRIST-RESPONSE IS TO SAY SOMETHING GOOD. YOU GET THE PICTURE; YOU DIE TO SELF, YOU TAKE UP YOUR CROSS, YOU FOLLOW JESUS. AND, CARRYING YOUR CROSS, YOU FOLLOW HIM ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP OF THAT HILL OUTSIDE JERUSALEM, AND SOMEDAY YOU CAN LOOK OVER FROM YOUR OWN CROSS AND SEE THAT YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN DYING, BUT HE IS RIGHT THERE BY YOUR SIDE, PROMISING THAT TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH HIM IN PARADISE.