Homily for Sunday, 14 August 2016

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings of the day: Jeremiah 34:4-6, 8-10; Psalm 40:2, 3, 4, 18; Hebrews 12:1-4; Luke 12:49-53

Who enjoys a confrontation every now and then? I do not imagine many of us enjoy or go seeking confrontation with other people. Our Christian faith favours a non-confrontational, certainly non-violent approach to resolving disagreements and conflicts. Does Jesus himself not teach us to “love one another,” even our enemies; people we find disagreeable, to be kind, to control our anger, and to forgive others’ wrongs generously? Does Jesus not show us the way of love to its fullest by giving his life on the cross for us; submitting meekly to the worst of human evil? The God of the Old Testament is first and foremost a God of mercy; of “steadfast love”; of “loving kindness.” Confrontation and destruction, even of the worst sinners, are the last resort of the God of the Old Testament.

Not many, let alone God, enjoy confrontation. But then why do our readings today seem to suggest otherwise? Jesus seems ready to confront those who choose not to hear his message and to act against him; against his Gospel: “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the world? No, I tell you, but rather division”! The “division” he brings will affect even families: “Five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three.” What kind of Saviour is this? Here, Jesus is looking for a fight. And he seems to realize that his divisive message will cost him his life. We hear Jesus speak of bringing “fire to the earth” and of a “baptism,” his own passion and death or perhaps the final judgment at the end of time, for which he longs to be “completed.” This is hardly the nice, peaceful Jesus with whom we’re comfortable.

And the prophet Jeremiah in our first reading is no more nice and peaceful than Jesus is in our Gospel. Jeremiah works from a position of privilege: He is an “official” prophet of several kings of ancient Israel; a member of the royal court. Israel’s kings often would hire personal prophets to guide them in government. David and Solomon had Nathan as prophet. Nathan is famous for convicting David of his wrongful relationship with Bathsheba (later Solomon’s mother) and for having Bathsheba’s husband Uriah killed in battle in order to take Bathsheba as his wife. Nathan is to David and Solomon whom Jeremiah is to Uzziah through Zedekiah, of whom we hear in today’s first reading. Jeremiah is Zedekiah’s personal prophet. For those of us who are into sports or fitness, we could think of the royal prophet’s role as like the “personal trainer” of heart, soul, and conscience to the king and his officials.

The kings’ personal prophets were expected to confront kings or their officials if they were doing serious evil. But Jeremiah goes too far for the liking of Zedekiah’s officials. By the time Zedekiah becomes king of Israel, the nation and its monarchy are in deep trouble. Several prophets have been warning Israel’s kings and people for years that Israel is more and more in danger of being taken over by the more powerful nations around it like Assyria and Babylon. The way to avoid being taken over, its people being deported to these other lands, and the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple especially, was to trust in God to deliver them and to look after the most in need in Israel with justice and mercy. Do not make alliances with other nations and worship their gods, the prophets would say. Many kings and other elites would not listen to the prophets.

Yet Jeremiah goes too far for the liking of Zedekiah’s officials, who listen to him but do not like what they hear. Jeremiah’s message is that it is now too late to turn from their worship of foreign gods and trust in other nations instead of in God. They are better off accepting a time of exile in Babylon (which actually happened), where they would repent of their sins of injustice and worship of false gods.

To Zedekiah’s officials, Jeremiah’s message that the people of Israel should “go out to the Chaldeans,” to Babylon; into exile, and abandon their homeland is treason, and so they demand that the king have Jeremiah put to death. In this way, Jesus’ story is similar to that of Jeremiah: Jesus, like Jeremiah, risks his life by confronting the people of his time with a message they did not want to hear.

Jeremiah was not dropped into a cistern by Zedekiah’s court officials, and Jesus was not crucified; taken outside the city and made to die the shameful death of an outcast, without reason. What was in Jesus’ message that made many of his hearers so angry? What drove these people to have Jesus killed?

These questions are difficult to answer based only on today’s Gospel reading. But we know, because Jesus himself predicted this: His message would cause divisions even within the closest of human relationships, families; households. Jesus will “bring peace to the earth” at the end of time. This is God’s promise to us for which we praise God every time we pray at Mass, “Glory to God in the highest and peace to people of good will.” Yet until then we have a decision to make: Are we for or against Jesus Christ; for or against the core of his message; of his lived example; his Gospel?

Our answer to this question will either unite and bring us peace or divide us, from the most distant to the most intimate of relationships. And what is at the core; the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Let me propose that at the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is and has always been the most essential of human rights: The right to life from the moment of conception to natural death, without exception.

And defense of this human right to life is not limited to any one particular issue. Nor is it a permission to speak for the right of a person to be born, but then not to defend this person’s basic dignity: The right of children to be cared for and raised by her or his mother and father; the right to adequate water, food, and shelter; the worker’s right to a living wage; the right to social assistance in situations of poverty or other crises; the right to freedom of movement and expression; the right of migrants and refugees to be treated with dignity, not to have their families separated or to be subject to policies that put their lives in danger.

Defense of these human rights is defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This means for us to confront any injustice, near and far; any affront to the human right to life and rights that flow from it; from the Gospel. And the Word of God we hear calls us not to enjoy or seek out confrontation; not to gossip; not to create undue division, whether in our world; our Church; our families and households. To seek out division and confrontation on purpose is sinful. Yet the Word of God; the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the message of Jeremiah we hear today call us to face confrontation; to face any abuse of human life and dignity; any sin, individual or social, with courage.

Our second reading today, from the Letter to the Hebrews, reminds us that we “have not yet resisted to the point of shedding [our] blood.” Fortunately for us, Jesus has already resisted in this ultimate way to the point of death against sin. His resistance has redeemed us; has made our salvation possible. Not many, if any, of us will be called to be martyrs in the sense of being killed for our faith, although I encourage us take time to pray today for the people in our world who do continue to witness to our faith; to give their lives in the confrontation in our world against sin; against evil.

They, like us, do not seek out confrontation. But the martyrs, Christ’s witnesses who have given their lives, like us, recognize the stark choices before them: Good or evil; trust in God or trust in false gods; unity and peace or division within human relationships; eternal life or death. And the closer we are to the core; the foundation of the Word of God; of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is our human good; our dignity; our salvation, the less there is a middle ground in these choices we have before us.