Homily:
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B
Friends,
in these (what I’m calling) “intervening weeks” between the end of the
Christmas season and the beginning of Lent this coming week, we have been
presented with an image of Christ who is doing something new. In the third Sunday in Ordinary Time, we
heard Jesus proclaim that the “time of fulfillment” was at hand, meaning that the
third Christian age, in which the promise that God made to our first parents
after their first sin would finally be realized, had now begun. Then, in the fourth Sunday, we heard Jesus
teaching in the synagogue with his own authority and how he demonstrated his
authority when he drove the unclean spirit out of the man in the
synagogue. The people were amazed at
this “new teaching with authority” and perhaps began to see in Jesus the one of
whom Moses spoke: “A prophet like me will God raise up for you…” Then last week, the fifth Sunday, we heard
how Jesus entered the home of Simon Peter and healed Simon Peter’s
mother-in-law (and, subsequently, hundreds of others from that town). Although the next morning all came looking
for him, Jesus refused to become a spectacle (like many “wonder-workers” of the
day) and chose, instead, to leave that place to preach in other towns. He was truly a “new prophet” and could not be
contained to any one place.
This
week, we read a story of reversal. In
our first reading, we listened to the words of the Book of Leviticus, detailing
what someone with an ailment of the skin must do. Here we see a microcosm, if you will, of the
Fall. In the Garden of Eden, our first
parents sin and so are marked with death.
God, however, is life and death cannot dwell in the presence of
God. Therefore, Adam and Eve are driven
from the Garden and cannot reenter until they have been cleansed from this
“stain” of death. Leprosy (which, in the
Old Testament, was a “blanket” term for those with various skin ailments that
included, but was not limited to, what we now call “Hansen’s disease”), to the
people of ancient times, was an outward sign that death was touching a
person. Anyone marked in such a way
could not enter the temple—the place of encounter with God—to offer
worship. Thus, the person also became a
threat to anyone who wasn’t so marked and wanted to enter the temple to
worship. Thus, the leper had to stay
separated and declare himself “unclean”, lest others be "infected"
with death, too. And, just like with
Adam and Eve, who couldn’t cleanse themselves of the sin that caused death to
touch them, so too the leper didn’t have any way to cleanse the skin ailment on
his own. He simply had to pray that it
would clear up so that he could be restored to the worshiping community. For a first century Jew, this was just the
way the world worked.
In
the Gospel, we then hear the story of reversal.
First, the man approaches Jesus (a bold move for one who was supposed to
keep himself at a distance!). He pleads
with Jesus and Jesus does the unthinkable: he touches him! But, instead of the uncleanness coming out of
the leper and going into Jesus, what happens? Cleanness goes out from Jesus and into the
leper: a complete reversal! And how do
we know? Because, as the scripture says,
“the leprosy left the man immediately, and he
was made clean”. After, Jesus tells
the man not to make a big deal out of it—in other words, that he no longer has
to “shout out” about himself—but what does the man do? He immediately goes and tells everyone he
meets. No one went around shouting “I am
clean”, because it wasn’t necessary. But
this man does so voluntarily, reversing his obligation to declare himself
unclean. Finally, while the man can now
reenter the town and join the worshiping community, we see that Jesus
cannot! But is he really excluded? No!
Because, instead of everyone staying away from the ones outside of town,
they all come out to him! The presence
of Jesus causes each of them to recognize that they are "unclean", in
some way, and that they have been unable to become "clean" through
their own efforts. Thus, they
"separate" themselves from the town (and, thus, the worshiping
community) so as to meet Jesus and to be made clean. And so we see that Jesus takes our helpless
story and he reverses it: proving once again that the “time of fulfillment”
has, indeed, come.
If
we stop and pay attention for just a moment, we see that this is us! So much hullabaloo is being made about
"identity politics" and ending oppression of "marginalized
groups" (based, for example, on race, gender (actual or otherwise), sexual
attraction, socioeconomic status, etc.).
The fact of the matter is that we're all oppressed in some way: that is,
we all have some kind of leprosy that alienates us in some way. Take a hard look! We're all messed up in a lot of ways! And none of us is capable on our own making
ourselves clean. Thus, the good news
that we hear today. Look at what Jesus
did to the leper! He completely reversed
everything that pushed him away. And
how? By his own divine power, of
course. But what actuated that
power? The man embracing his leprosy and
taking a bold step to overcome it. This
man saw his “oppressed” state, but refused to remain a victim and approached
Jesus. And through Jesus, his
“oppression” was overcome.
This,
therefore, is the message for our day: stop acting like a victim and try to do
something to make it better. (This isn't
a good bumper sticker slogan, I know, but it's darn practical!) Recognize that you're a mess, yes. Recognize that you're a mess because life is hard
and full of suffering, yes; but also because you've given in to the victim
mentality and haven't made good choices.
Then recognize that there is something that you can do about it and
start to do it. Come to Jesus and submit
yourself to his will, like the leper from the Gospel reading: "If you
will, you can make me clean". Then
ACT! If there is anything disordered in
your life (of which you are the cause), start to put it in order. Most of us have a God-ordered path for our
lives (marriage, parenthood, etc.). If
you don't, you're probably not here. If
you don't and you are here, then your first job is to get yourself on a
God-ordered path. But if you are on your
God-ordered path, then look at what disrupts your journey on that path and
start to get it out of your life. For
example: almost anything produced by Hollywood, social media (the source of
gossip and narcissism!), 24-hour news programming, etc. You won't fix everything—there's still
suffering that just happens in the world—but at least you'll have mitigated a
lot of the self-inflicted suffering, right?
And
why all of this? Because there are real
victims out there—that is, those whose suffering is severe and not
self-inflicted—and they need real help. But we help no one when we sit around
wallowing in our own victimhood, saying "well, I can't because of x, y, and
z." Well, yes, maybe "x, y,
and z", but you can do something. Whatever that is, you need to do it. Even if that's just to shout out about it.
Friends,
in Jesus, our long exile has been reversed.
Everything that kept us separate from God is flipped on its head and
redeemed. But if we don't act, we'll
never fully realize it. The first act is
to believe: to believe in the power of Christ to flip it over. And so today, as you approach the Eucharist
(whether or not you are able to receive it), pray, before you receive it (or
before you present yourself before it); "Jesus, if you will, you can make
me clean"; because, I assure you, he does will it. Receive, then, his healing; and go forth
telling everyone how Jesus made you clean and put your life back in order so as
to make life's sufferings a little more bearable for you and, thus, for those
around you. Then we will begin to see
more clearly the truth that Jesus proclaimed: that this truly is the time of
fulfillment.
Given at All Saints Parish: Logansport, IN – February 10th
& 11th, 2018
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