Homily:
23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Cycle A
It is a mantra of our times. It’s only four words, but it manages to send
a compelling message that millions find easy to follow. The phrase?
“I’m OK, you’re OK.” Perhaps
we’ve heard it. Perhaps we’ve even used
it. In either case, we probably didn’t
think that there was anything wrong with it.
Basically, what this phrase says is that I’m fine just the way I am and
that if you’re comfortable with the way that you are then you’re fine,
too. On the surface, it is intended to
promote harmony between us: “I won’t criticize you if you don’t criticize me,
OK?” (Because we all know that it’s not
nice to criticize someone, right?) And
it is the acceptance of what this phrase proposes that promotes the kind of
thinking that leads us to say things like, “Who am I to criticize him?” or (on
the flipside) “Who is she to criticize me?”
Of course we all know that our compulsion to make judgments
about the way people act or the things people say is not something that we can
turn off, like a switch. Rather, it is
something that is very natural to us, because our reason constantly seeks to
make sense of the things that happen around us.
And so, when we convince ourselves that it is wrong to criticize people
openly we find that we end up criticizing people covertly; through gossip (and
we do love to gossip, don’t we?), passive-aggressive behavior, and holding
grudges. This is what society tells us
we should do. Keep our judgments and
criticisms to ourselves, or at least don’t bring them out into public. But what does God have to say about it? I think our Scriptures today show us.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see that God appointed
prophets to be those people that our modern society tells us we shouldn’t be:
the one who openly criticizes the actions of people, who declares certain
actions as wicked and calls the evildoers to repentance. In short, a prophet of God is one who
troubles those who have become comfortable in their wrongdoing. As often is the case when God called his
prophets, Ezekiel’s first reaction was very similar to the reaction we often
give today: “Who am I to criticize?” And
God responded to him just like he responded to all of the other prophets: “You
are the one whom I have appointed.
Therefore, you will go and you will speak to them what you have heard
from me.” To Ezekiel God adds a
statement making clear the consequences of the responsibility he is giving to
him: “You will go and speak these words to them. If you don’t, then you will be responsible for their
guilt.” And so we see that, in
ancient times, God called some to be responsible for calling his people to repentance.
Then, in the Gospel reading, we see Jesus revising this
principle. Jesus, who came to redeem us
from sin and to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom, teaches us that, in this
kingdom, each of us is responsible for one another. Therefore, he says, “if your brother sins
against you, go yourself and tell him
his fault.” In other words, don’t wait
for someone else to correct him, but go to him yourself. This is how it must be in God’s kingdom. But how?
You know, it’s not often in the Gospels that Jesus is recorded as having
given specific instructions for how to accomplish something; but being
reconciled to each other is so important for the building of God’s kingdom that
Jesus’ teaching on this topic is recorded for us here.
First he says “go and tell him his fault between you and
him alone.” In other words, don’t make a
spectacle of it—and, for heaven’s sake, don’t gossip about it!—but go to the
one who has sinned against you and tell him how what he has done hurt you. Notice, he doesn’t say to ignore it either;
because to ignore it leaves your brother in sin; and, like Ezekiel, if we leave
our brother in sin and don’t say anything, then his guilt becomes ours, too.
If that doesn’t work, Jesus teaches, then bring along one
or two others to speak to him. In other
words, bring in an “objective third party” who can reinforce your admonition to
your brother and hopefully bring him to repentance. Again, do not make this a spectacle, but
rather do it privately. Who knows, when
you do this you may find that you yourself were wrong, which can help bring
about the reconciliation faster.
If that doesn’t work, then bring your brother to the
church, Jesus teaches. Now this still
isn’t a public thing. Jesus isn’t saying
that we should come here and proclaim it to the congregation from the
pulpit. Rather, he is saying to bring it
to the pastor and the respected leaders in the community; because perhaps your
brother will listen to them.
Finally, if all else fails, Jesus says, “treat him as you
would a Gentile or a tax collector.” Now
I know that this can seem harsh—for elsewhere in the Scriptures Gentiles and
tax collectors are despised and treated poorly—but remember how Jesus treated
Gentiles and tax collectors: he treated them like persons whose sin was clear,
but who he nonetheless loved and desired to see come to repentance. Thus, his admonition about praying. If you would treat him as I would treat a
Gentile or a tax collector, that is, with love, you will pray for him and for
his conversion. And when two of you
agree to pray for his conversion, then I will be there with you and what you
pray for shall be granted to you by our Father in heaven. This is a radically different notion than
what society teaches us, right?
And so now we see that the mantra “I’m OK, you’re OK” is
patently false. We know that there are
“right” and “wrong” ways of living and that, most of the time, we’re not
OK. What we don’t need is to be left
alone so that we become comfortable living in our errors. What we do need are people who love us enough
to tell us when we are doing wrong so as to help us become OK. And we need to be those people for others.
“Yes, father, but I, too, am a sinner. And so, who am I to judge?” Who are you?
You’re a Christian! And you have
God’s Holy Spirit living within you!
When you were baptized, you were baptized into Christ, who is priest,
prophet, and king. Thus, you are a
prophet; and therefore, like Ezekiel, you are obliged to speak the words that
God’s Spirit gives you to speak. Through
baptism God has called each of us to be responsible for one another, in charity. And what is the charitable way? The way that Jesus lays out for us in our
Gospel reading today.
My brothers and sisters, if we really want what Jesus
wants—that is, to be a family of love that makes present his coming kingdom on
earth—then we must take up the task of being responsible for one another as
Jesus has taught us. And this is
difficult, because love is difficult.
Strengthened by the love that Jesus poured out on the cross, however—the
love that we receive from this altar—we can do it. So let us take courage so that God’s work of
love may be fulfilled in each one of us.
Given at All Saints Parish:
Logansport, IN – September 10th, 2017
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