Sunday, June 30, 2013

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

LUKE 9:51-62
WHEN I WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL IN CALIFORNIA, THE HIPPIE MOVEMENT TOOK HOLD. THEY WERE PRETTY THICK IN SAN FRANCISCO, JUST NORTH OF WHERE I LIVED. AND OVER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IN BERKELY, THEY WERE ALL OVER AS WELL. ANY TIME YOU WENT ON THE CAMPUS THERE WERE PEOPLE WITH CARDBOARD TABLES TRYING TO GET YOU TO SIGN PETITIONS – END THE WAR, IMPEACH THE PRESIDENT, SAVE THE FOREST OR OCEAN. IT WAS AN INTERESTING TIME, AS YOUNG PEOPLE TUNED IN, TURNED ON, AND DROPPED OUT. IT WAS A TIME OF COMMUNES GROWING MARIJUANA AND INVENTING NEW RELIGIONS. IT WAS A TIME OF GREAT EXPERIMENTATION IN ART AND MUSIC. AND THERE WAS A SMALL SUBSET OF THE HIPPIES – THEY CALLED THEMSELVES “JESUS PEOPLE”. THEY WERE DISTINGUISHED BY THE LARGE CROSSES THEY WORE, THE LONG HAIR, AND THE CLOTHING WHICH RESEMBLED WHAT THEY IMAGINED JESUS WORE. AND THEY WENT AROUND IN BANDS PREACHING AND PRACTICING, ACCORDING TO THEM, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE – ALL THE WHILE BEGGING FROM PASSING STRANGERS.
ONE MAN SAYS TO JESUS, “I WILL FOLLOW YOU” AND JESUS TELLS HIM IT WOULD MEAN GIVING UP A PLACE TO LIVE AND WANDERING THE ROADS OF PALESTINE. HE COMMANDS ANOTHER TO FOLLOW HIM, AND THAT PERSON WANTS TO WAIT UNTIL HIS FAMILY OBLIGATIONS HAVE BEEN DISCHARGED. AND A THIRD SIMPLY WANTS TO GO BACK AND SAY GOODBYE, AND TO THAT ONE, JESUS SAYS IN EFFECT THAT IF YOU HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW HIM AND LOOK BACK, THEN YOU AREN'T WORTHY OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. I HOPE JESUS IS SPEAKING FIGURATIVELY, BECAUSE I LOOK BACK, I MAKE EXCUSES, I DON'T REALLY WANT TO STEP OUT OF MY SECURITY, AND I CAN SEE MYSELF IN ALL THREE OF THESE MEN WHO WANT TO FOLLOW JESUS BUT ONLY SO FAR; THEY ARE EACH UNWILLING TO LEAVE BEHIND THAT TO WHICH THEY ARE ATTACHED, AND THAT IS JESUS' CALL TO EACH OF THEM. I THINK WE GET THE MESSAGE – IF YOU ARE GOING TO COMMIT TO JESUS, REALLY COMMIT. IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE A CATHOLIC, COMMIT TO THE CHURCH AND HER TEACHINGS.
BUT THERE IS ANOTHER QUESTION HERE. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FOLLOW JESUS? DOES IT MEAN TO BE LIKE ONE OF THOSE JESUS PEOPLE, TRYING TO IMITATE THE WAY JESUS LIVED, OR AT LEAST HOW WE IMAGINE HE LIVED, RIGHT DOWN TO THE CLOTHING AND THE SANDALS? AFTER ALL, SAINT FRANCIS WAS PROBABLY A JESUS PEOPLE. BUT I THINK WE ALL RECOGNIZE THAT HE DOESN'T MEAN THAT WHEN HE ASKS US TO FOLLOW HIM.
A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK THAT FOLLOWING JESUS IS GOING ABOUT DOING GOOD. WORKING IN SOUP KITCHENS, MANNING THE PICKET LINES FOR ABORTION CLINICS, VISITING THE SICK, FEEDING THE HUNGRY – ALL THE WORKS THAT JESUS DID AND JESUS TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS TO DO. AND ALL THESE THINGS ARE GOOD, AND CERTAINLY APPROPRIATE ACTIVITIES FOR CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. BUT WHO IS TO SAY THAT THE PERSON ACTUALLY FEEDING THE HUNGRY IS SUPERIOR TO THE PERSON WHO WORKS AT SOME SECULAR OCCUPATION AND PROVIDES THE MONEY THAT BUYS THE FOOD? AND CAN WE TALK ABOUT CHRISTIAN MINISTRY IN THE WORK PLACE, WHERE PEOPLE DO THEIR VERY BEST TO EXERCISE THEIR SKILLS AND TREAT THEIR FELLOW MAN WITH HONESTY, EVEN THOUGH THEY GET PAID FOR WHAT THEY ARE DOING? JESUS CALLS ALL OF US TO BE MINISTERS, AND IF WE CAN BE MINISTERS IN THE WORK WE DO, WE AREN'T FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. BUT GOING ABOUT DOING GOOD IS PROBABLY NOT THE SAME THING AS FOLLOWING JESUS.
I THINK THAT FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS THAT WE TRY TO SEE THE WORLD THE WAY HE DID; WE TRY TO RESPOND TO SITUATIONS THE WAY HE WOULD. IF THIS IS THE CASE, THEN FOLLOWING JESUS IS OPEN TO EVERYONE, REGARDLESS OF YOUR STATE IN LIFE, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE RICH OR POOR, MALE OR FEMALE, A PRIEST OR A LAYMAN. AND IT MEANS THAT YOU CAN BE FOLLOWING HIM EVEN WHEN YOU AREN'T OUT DOING A GOOD WORK, OR EVEN WHEN YOU AREN'T AT YOUR OCCUPATION. YOU CAN BE FOLLOWING HIM EVERY WAKING MOMENT. AND THAT'S WHAT HE CALLS US TO DO – EVERY WAKING MOMENT.
SO HOW DO WE GET THIS MIND-SET, TO PUT ON CHRIST, AS SAINT PAUL CALLS IT. TO LIVE, NOT MYSELF, BUT CHRIST LIVING IN ME, TO PARAPHRASE SAINT PAUL AGAIN.
OUR BEST SOURCE OF LEARNING ABOUT THE MIND OF JESUS IS THE NEW TESTAMENT, ESPECIALLY THE GOSPELS. SOME OF US MAY THINK WE ALREADY KNOW – JESUS WAS WARM AND FUZZY AND ACCEPTING, AND PATIENT AND KIND. HE WAS INDEED. BUT HE ALSO WASN'T AFRAID TO CALL A SIN A SIN, TO CONFRONT GOOD PEOPLE WHO WERE MISSING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES, LIKE THE PHARISEES; AND HE WASN'T AFRAID EVEN TO REBUKE HIS OWN FRIENDS WHEN THEY STRAYED – AS HE DOES TODAY WHEN THE APOSTLES OFFER TO CALL DOWN FIRE FROM HEAVEN TO PUNISH THE PEOPLE WHO WOULDN'T GIVE THEM HOSPITALITY. WE ALL TRY TO BE WARM AND FUZZY, BUT VERY FEW OF US HAVE THE COURAGE TO DO THE OTHER THINGS.
WE LEARN ABOUT THE MIND OF JESUS BY LISTENING TO HIS CHURCH. AFTER ALL, IF WE ARE CATHOLICS, AND SERIOUS ABOUT OUR FAITH, WE BELIEVE THAT WE BELONG TO THE CHURCH THAT JESUS FOUNDED, AND SAID THAT HE WOULD PROTECT ALL THROUGH TIME. IF WE REALLY BELIEVE THIS, WE AT LEAST OWE IT TO OURSELVES TO KNOW WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES. IF WE DON'T MAKE THE EFFORT WE CERTAINLY MISS OUT ON A MAJOR WAY TO FOLLOW JESUS.
THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THESE DAYS WHO BELONG TO NO ORGANIZED RELIGION. MOST OF THEM ARE NOT ATHEISTS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME TELLING YOU WHAT THEY BELIEVE; THEY ARE “SPIRITUAL” BUT NOT “RELIGIOUS”. BUT JESUS WAS SAYING, “FOLLOW ME.” THERE ARE GOOD PEOPLE IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD, PEOPLE WHO ARE MEMBERS OF ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT RELIGIONS OR HAVE NO RELIGION AT ALL. THAT WAS TRUE IN JESUS' TIME AS WELL, BUT HE SAID , “FOLLOW ME” AND “I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE”, AND “NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.” IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO BE GOOD, TO BE SPIRITUAL.
IN OUR CHURCH THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE ONE FOOT IN THE CHURCH AND ONE FOOT IN OUR SOCIETY, WHO SEE NOTHING INCOMPATIBLE ABOUT IGNORING WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES AND YET CONSIDERING THEMSELVES GOOD CATHOLICS. THAT'S NOT A CONDEMNATION. BUT IT IS A REASON FOR EACH OF US TO ASK THE QUESTION, “WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FOLLOW JESUS?” AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, “AM I FOLLOWING JESUS.” BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO BE JUDGED UNWORTHY OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.