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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. Now remember, Jesus is God—the
Second Person of the Trinity—so he has the authority to do this, OK?” 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 their 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—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 7th, 2014
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