THE TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – B
Warning: At your own peril follow the path this week’s readings open before you. Take them to heart and you will never see things the same way nor make decisions as you did before. And worst of all, what you used to take as a sign of blessing and God’s favor may not appear that way ever again.
The I of the Book of Wisdom is taken to be Solomon even though the Book of Wisdom was written centuries after his death. Solomon has always been seen as the epitome of what it means to be wise. Here Solomon tells us that he prayed and prudence and wisdom were given to him. In other words, neither is a natural talent; both are gifts from God. The end result is that Solomon sees things the way that God does and nothing is as Solomon saw it before prudence and wisdom became reality’s filters for him.
Go down the list of items in the reading and you will find just about everything that society values today. Wealth and its trappings. Youth and beauty. Power. Even health. None of them seen through Wisdom’s eyes is as important as Wisdom herself. The reading ends with these words: Yet all good things together came to me in (Wisdom’s) company, and countless riches at her hands. Follow that line of thinking and you can see how it was that the rich were thought to be those blessed by God and would, therefore, be first in the kingdom of heaven. We’ll see what Jesus has to say about this. And you will appreciate the shock registered by those who heard what he said. Maybe you’ll be shocked, too, even angered. That’s all right. That’s where prayer will come in, prayer to see things the way Jesus does – if you dare.
We sometimes fail to remember that the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword. But remembering that, we will not be surprised, at least in retrospect, that from time to time, while sitting under the word, that is the Scriptures, we were unsettled and wondered, How can this be? What we have forgotten is that conversion is a life-long process beginning when we first come to believe and concluding only when our lives have run their course. And every step along the way, if we allow it, begins with grace and is supported by grace as we are called into deeper union with Christ. Put another way, it is God’s love that draws us.
So, we come to the gospel reading for this week. A man, probably a stand-in for you or me, runs up to Jesus and pays him homage. Can’t you identify with his question, at least when you are praying? Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What do I have to do to get to heaven? In a nutshell, Jesus tells the man to keep the Commandments. Do what God asks. Notice the man’s answer: Teacher, all of (the commandments) I have observed from my youth. That is a jaw-dropping avowal. All of them. From my youth. Not many people can make that claim. And it is clear that this is not idle prattle. How do we know? We know because of Jesus’ reaction. Jesus looked at the man with love. Jesus knows the heart and knows that the man has from his youth been single-minded in his desire to do God’s will.
The man asked Jesus how to get to heaven. Jesus answered. But now comes the offer of vocation, the invitation to move to a deeper realm and follow the new way. You are lacking in one thing. Go sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. Jesus challenges the man to have Solomon’s experience and dares him to see things differently. Can the man stop seeing his wealth as the confirmation of God’s love for him? Can he wrest himself from these things in which he finds his security and that may well blind him to the needs of others, or at least, cause him to see the poor in ill light? Remember, in Jesus’ time and perhaps in our own, poverty was seen to be a punishment for sin, either this man’s or his parents. It is that perception that Jesus wants to change. It is clear that the poor have primacy of place in his concerns and they must occupy that place in the concerns of those who follow Jesus.
Clearly the man had come to Jesus awed by what he had seen Jesus do and heard him say. Or, perhaps the witness of others drew him. Something made him conclude that Jesus had the words of everlasting life. The crowds and the disciples following Jesus attested to that. But hearing Jesus say that he had to go and sell what he had and give to the poor and then come and follow Jesus, the man’s face fell and he went away sad. Don’t take from this that the man would no longer inherit eternal life. Jesus had assured him of that already. That doesn’t change. What is lost is the opportunity to rid himself of everything that is in the way of making Jesus the center of his life, of experiencing the emptiness that only Jesus and the love of God that Jesus brings can fill. What Jesus had wanted the man to become was Jesus’ other self, to do what he does and to speak as he speaks, to enter the reign of God and so help others, especially the poor, the sick, and the disenfranchised, to know God’s love.
Now we come to another of Jesus’ declarations that turns perceived reality upside down. Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Now we can discuss what the term needle means. Was Jesus speaking literally of a needle for sewing? Or, as is often thought, was Jesus speaking of the narrow-gated entry into Jerusalem that was so low and so narrow that a camel could only go through it were its entire load removed before hand. In the end, it doesn’t matter. What we need to hear is that it is no simple endeavor to enter God’s kingdom. It is not a matter of doing what comes naturally, as an old song had it. If that were the case, where would come the need for grace? Where would be the difficulty?
As nakedly as Jesus has put the demands for entry into God’s kingdom elicits consternation from the disciples. Then who can be saved? In other words, they are asking who can meet Jesus’ demands. And the answer is simple and straightforward. No one can do this on his or her own. But all can with God’s grace empowering them.
This brings us back to a sidebar, if you will, and the question of vocation. The word vocation, as you know, means calling. To consider vocation is to ask what God is calling you to do or to be. Most obviously, your state in life is your vocation. If you are married, your marriage is your vocation and you serve the community in that vocation. If you have chosen to be single, as a single person you serve the community in fidelity to that vocation. If you are a priest, a deacon, or a vowed religious, through that vocation you serve the body that is the Church. What we might miss is that in each of the vocations, in order to follow Jesus, it is self that must be emptied if one is to serve in imitation of Christ. And, of course, in each of those vocations and recognizing the totality that is Jesus’ call, each one can be overwhelmed by the demands and do what the rich man did. Go away sad because it seems too much is being asked. Who can do this?
It is presumptuous of me, I know, but I would challenge you at this point to take a moment to stop and pray, perhaps for the prudence and wisdom that Solomon prayed for. That will result in your being able to view your situation, your gifts and blessings, as God does. In that moment of prayer, ask Jesus what he would have you do. What is Jesus calling you to do and to be in the community we call Church? The first thing you will notice is that if there is a vocation, it will be attractive. You will be able to imagine yourself doing it. Is Jesus inviting you to be a lector? An Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist? A greeter or an usher? Is Jesus inviting you to be a minister to the homebound? Is there the possibility that you are being asked to go on mission to a developing country? Could you minister to someone dying with AIDS or to those in advanced years? Could you minister to someone in dementia? That’s not an exhaustive list. Those are just some suggestions that might prompt you to wonder and wondering, to dare to say yes if God will support that decision with grace. Remember there are primary vocations and avocations. Marriage is a primary vocation. Being an Extraordinary Minister of Eucharist is an avocation or secondary vocation. The balance between the two needs to be kept.
One more question to ask while you are praying about vocation. What will you have to give up in order to respond to the Lord’s invitation? It is not without significance that we approach the Table to receive Eucharist empty handed. What gets in the way of your taking up the ministry? It is interesting to wonder how the story would have worked out, who the man would have become, had he gone and done as the Lord invited and then followed Jesus. And you can wonder the same thing. When you serve, what will be the impact on your faith community, the broader community, the world? How will others experience Christ through you?
A final note that you ought not miss. When it comes to the question of reward for having given up everything to follow Jesus, don’t miss that Jesus promises the restoration of everything given up and persecutions. There may well be a share in the cross that you can’t anticipate. You may be rejected or even denounced by those who do not accept your ministry or misunderstand it and find it threatening. When you think about it, that shouldn’t be a surprise. You are imitating Jesus. It’s possible you will wind up the way he did. But then comes resurrection and God’s eternal embrace.
Sincerely,
Didymus
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