Homily:
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
There’s a well-used phrase
that we hear a lot around the holidays of Memorial Day, Independence Day, and
Veteran’s Day: “Freedom isn’t free.”
It’s often used in reference to the men and women who have served in our
armed forces in order to secure and maintain the liberties that we enjoy as a
nation who declared its independence 244 years ago. What it refers to, of course, is the cost
associated with securing and maintaining our “freedom”: for time spent in the
armed forces is time spent away from home and personal pursuits and it can lead
to even greater sacrifices: sacrifices like one’s livelihood or even one’s
life. Our “freedom” comes at a cost, this
phrase emphasizes, and those who enjoy it should not take it for granted.
In our Gospel reading today,
Jesus draws out a similar point. As he
taught the crowd of would-be disciples, he spoke to them in parables. Both his teaching and the conclusion of his
teaching give us the impression that, underneath it all, what he is saying is
that “salvation isn’t cheap”. I’ll try
to explain:
First, before anyone here
starts throwing the phrase sola gratia at me, I’ll clarify
something. Sola gratia is Latin
for “by grace alone”, and it was one of Martin Luther’s big contentions against
the Church in the 1500s: that is, that the Church seemed to be teaching that
man could somehow earn or acquire salvation, even if only in part, through
his/her own action, while his study of the Scriptures seemed to reveal that it
was by “grace alone”, which is the Catholic teaching. And so, when I say that Jesus’ teaching in
today’s Gospel implies that “salvation isn’t cheap”, I don’t mean that we
somehow have to do something to earn salvation. That would be heresy. We have been redeemed by the sacrifice of
Jesus ALONE and this salvation is freely given to all who would receive
it. It is the “receiving it”, however,
in which some work must be done.
Therefore, although salvation is free, it isn’t cheap. Here’s what I mean.
In the Gospel passage, Jesus
goes out from teaching in private (that is, “out of the house”) and into
teaching in public. In private, those
who were with him were usually disciples.
In public, however, those who gathered often weren’t. On this day, Jesus decided to teach them in
parables and many scholars say that this was to highlight who among them was
ready to be a disciple (and, thus, ready to follow him) and who was more of a
“gawker”: someone curious about what all the hub-bub was about, but not very
ready to respond. Parables, you see,
didn’t always have a straightforward meaning.
Those, therefore, who were ready to be Jesus’ disciples would remain
curious about them and they would seek Jesus out to learn more about the
parable and what it meant. Those who
were not ready to be Jesus’ disciples, however, would become disinterested if
they didn’t understand the parables and, thus, would walk away. Because he knew what the demands of
discipleship would be, Jesus needed this early test to sift out those who were
truly ready to become his disciples from those who were not open to it.
In many ways, the parable
itself trolls those who were not there seeking to become Jesus’ disciples: for
they are like the ground that is trampled because it is the path or too rocky
or choked with thorns to bear fruit.
Jesus did this all the time to the Pharisees, right? Often, they’d be standing there in front of
him and Jesus would rattle off a parable that would be a thinly-disguised jab
at the poor spiritual leadership that the Pharisees provided. This jab at those in the crowd who were not
ready to follow Jesus was not so pointed, but it was, nonetheless, there. But the thing that makes me say that Jesus is
implying the phrase, “salvation isn’t cheap”, comes at the end of the
parable. There he says, “Whoever has
ears ought to hear”.
Up to that point, Jesus’
parable was just a metaphor for the way God’s word would be received by
different persons. There was no moral
judgment in it. When he adds that last
line, however, he adds moral weight to the parable. With that line, what Jesus effectively said
was, “you can choose to ignore this, but you shouldn’t.” Here we find the work imbedded in the gift of
salvation. “To hear” means that you’re
ready to take responsibility for what you’ve heard. If you choose not to, then you could be
culpable for the consequences.
Salvation, like the seed sowed, is given freely; but if you are not
receptive to it (that is, closed off to it or holding onto obstacles to
receiving it) then it cannot be yours.
To be ready to receive it, however, costs something. Thus, only those who have made themselves
ready to receive it, truly have it.
Therefore, once again we see that salvation is truly free, but it is not
cheap.
The great reminder for us here
is this: Jesus wants intentional disciples. In other words, he doesn’t want disciples who
follow him only when it seems to work out well for them. Rather, he wants disciples who recognize the
costs of discipleship and who, nonetheless, choose to follow him anyway. Jesus explains this to his disciples when he
explains to them why he speaks to the crowds in parables. In effect, he says: “I teach in parables
because many of them have closed their hearts to my word and they won’t even
choose to do the work of figuring out the parable. These cannot be my disciples. Those who seek to understand them, however (that
is, those who have ears and have chosen to hear), have shown that their hearts
are open to my word, where it may take root.
These have a chance to be my disciples, because they are intentional
about it.”
Friends, a parish
registration, a crucifix on your wall, a bible on your coffee table, or a
rosary on your rearview mirror does not make you a disciple of Jesus. They may be signs that you are a
disciple of Jesus, but they do not make you one. You become a disciple of Jesus when you a)
recognize that you have ears to hear and b) you choose to hear what Jesus has
to say and thus strive to follow it.
More specifically, you are an intentional disciple of Jesus when
you engage actively in his teaching, seeking to understand what it means, so
that it might take root in you and grow, producing fruit for the building of
his kingdom. This means ALL of his
teachings, including the hard ones. (You
know, like that one where he says, “You’ve heard it said, ‘You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy’, but I say to you, ‘love your enemies, and pray
for those who persecute you’...” We’re
pretty quick to forget about that one, aren’t we?) If we refuse to do so, Jesus teaches, we risk
losing access to salvation altogether.
In the first reading from
today’s Mass, we heard God proclaim that the fact that the word he sends forth
from his mouth will fulfill that for which it was spoken is something as sure
as rain and snow not returning to the sky until they have watered the earth and
provided for the growth of plants. This
is a bold claim! Nonetheless, we see
that God has sent forth his Word into the world in the person of Jesus Christ
and it has fulfilled that for which it was sent, the redemption of
mankind. While plants cannot resist
growing once they have received the rain or snow, men can resist the grace of
redemption, if they choose to do so: and often we do. To overcome this, we must be intentional
about our discipleship.
Friends, we all need work
becoming more intentional disciples of Jesus, and the effort begins with an
intentional effort to listen to the teachings of Jesus, seeking to understand
them so as to put them into practice. To
this end, I want to challenge you to join me this week in studying Jesus’
Sermon on the Mount, which is found in chapters 5 through 7 in Matthew’s
Gospel. There are a lot of teachings in
that sermon, many which you’ve heard many times before. Don’t, however, just read through it and say,
“Oh yeah, I remember that one”, and then move on. Rather pause at each one and ask yourself,
“Do I really know what that means?” If
you do, ask yourself if you’re living it and how you can live it better. If you don’t know what it means, talk to
Jesus about it and ask him to help you understand. This kind of work is pleasing to Jesus, for
it is the work of a true disciple.
One look at the TV or social
media will show us that the world desperately needs those who proclaim the name
of Christ to be intentional disciples.
Strengthened, therefore, by our Eucharist—our thanksgiving—may we
become fruit-producing disciples for the world.
Given at Saint Mary Cathedral: Lafayette, IN – July 12th,
2020
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