Homily: 6th Sunday
in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Today we
continue hearing from what is, for sure, the greatest sermon ever given: Jesus’
Sermon on the Mount. While in the last
two weeks, we’ve been given passages that focus on one central theme, today we
seem to have been given a bunch of different lessons. Each one of these lessons, it seems, could be
expanded into an entire book. And so, we better get started… ready?
Even though
Jesus does hit us with a lot of heavy punches that seem to be coming from all
sides, there is, nonetheless, a common theme.
The core of them all, I believe, is that true discipleship is in
the heart: not in merely outward appearances.
Firstly, however,
we must acknowledge that our exterior behavior must follow God's
will. This is exactly what Jesus means
when he says, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law…” If he did, that would give us a false
freedom: a freedom from morality which, because of our human nature—a nature
that is moral at its core—simply doesn’t exist.
What Jesus is trying to tell us, however, is that exterior behavior,
that is, appearances alone, are not enough. For a true, faithful
citizen of God's Kingdom, rather, the attitudes and desires of the heart must also be
in harmony with God's plan for our lives.
This, therefore, is what Jesus means when he says: “I have come… to fulfill
the law…” that is, to bring the Old Testament Law to its fulfillment both
in the exterior and the interior of mankind.
Now, friendship
with God (which is precisely the thing that Jesus offers to us) requires a
union of hearts. And we know, because it is written elsewhere in the Bible,
that God
“wills all men to be saved”—which means that he desires that the
hearts of all men will be united with each other in his heart. And so, if this is true, how can our
friendship with God be complete when we harbor resentment or contempt
towards some people, or tarnish their good name by spreading rumors about
them or speaking ill of them? And how can I live in intimacy
with a God who loves every man and woman as a father loves his
children, when in my heart I desire to use some of them only as an
object of pleasure and self-indulgence? And how can I be a true
friend of God, when I make promises that I don't intend to keep? While other
people may be satisfied with merely exterior appearances—a kind of “I’m
okay, you’re okay” attitude—God is interested in the complete package: and
so Christ teaches us to look not just at the exterior, but all the way into our
hearts, as well.
Here’s the
thing: If we live our faith superficially, looking like a Christian on the outside
only, our lives will never have the meaning or the power that they are meant to
have. Rather, we will end up
just following the latest trends and fashions, never really having the stability
or making the progress in life that Jesus wants us to. But if we live our faith from the inside out,
that is, keeping Christ alive in our hearts, we will be people who set the
trends, not just follow them. Strange as
this may sound, it's kind of like the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat.
You see, a
thermometer merely tells what the temperature is in a particular area. If your thermometer reads seventy
degrees and you place that thermometer in a room that is currently eighty degrees,
then it won’t be long before the thermometer reads eighty degrees. This is because thermometers change according
to its environment.
The thermostat,
however, does just the contrary. Instead of
changing in accord with its environment, it acts to change the environment in
accord with a setting that was given to it by an outside power. Instead of adjusting to the room temperature,
it adjusts the room temperature. Thus, if
the thermostat is set at seventy degrees and the room is eighty degrees, the
thermostat will influence the heating or air conditioning systems so that the
temperature of the room will gradually change to conform to whatever the
thermostat is reading. The room,
therefore, not the thermostat will become seventy degrees. Thermometers
passively reflect what’s around them; thermostats actively affect what’s around
them.
If our hearts
are truly Christian, that is, if they are filled with knowledge of God and with
his grace, then we will be like thermostats and the world around us will change
to match up with God’s will for human flourishing. But if our faith only goes skin deep, that
is, if we are only going through the motions of friendship with Christ, then we'll
just be like thermometers, and the Gospel will have no effect and our
communities will continue to splinter and divide.
(Ron and
Helen Russow example: “Perfect example of Christians being thermostats is on
the front page of this weekend’s paper… Ron and Helen gave a beautiful
testimony to what love really is and how prayer and sacrifice are integral to
it. Many people who struggle to know
what real love looks like will read that and begin to seek it out in their
lives. This is what it means to be a
thermostat!)
Thankfully,
Jesus is very practical about what can corrupt our hearts and turn them
into thermometers instead of thermostats.
He
identifies anger, lust, and dishonesty as hidden viruses capable of
damaging, and even destroying, our integrity, our souls! And all of us, if we are being honest, must
admit that we struggle with temptation in each of these areas. And so what are we to do? Are we simply doomed? I mean, when Jesus looks at our hearts, does
he look away in disgust? No, of course not! Rather,
he comes with the medicine of his grace to cure us. We have to give him the chance to give
it to us, however, and today's First Reading tells us how:
"If
you choose," the Book of Sirach tells us, "you can keep the
commandments; they will save you."
My brothers and sisters, every day of our lives, we remain free to
choose the thoughts and actions to which we will commit: either godly ones, or
selfish ones. And so, when a lustful
thought flashes through our minds, we don't have to accept it;
rather, we can reject it and turn to Jesus and Mary instead. And when selfish anger boils up in
our hearts, we don't have to let it rule our lives; rather, we can turn to
Christ on the cross and learn from him how to turn the other cheek. And when we are tempted to get ahead by compromising
the truth, we can hold our tongues and cling to Sirach's promise: that
"Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he chooses shall
be given him."
Friends, Jesus wants us to choose life, a fulfilling life here
on earth and eternal life with him in Heaven, by choosing to reject temptation
and to follow him. During this
Mass, he will give us the grace we need to make that
choice, every day. And so, let’s thank him
for that; and then let’s go forth from here to put his grace to good use.
Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – February 11th
& 12th, 2016
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