A note of caution to some of us

“…All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matt 23:12)

Matthew 23:1-12 (Year A: Fourth Sunday before Advent 5^th November 2017)

As we journey towards the end of another liturgical year with the focus on the Gospel of Matthew since its beginning, we encounter many sayings and warnings from Jesus – not directed against the ordinary mass of people but against the religious elites and authorities of his time. Last Sunday, we heard of the exchange involving Jesus and Pharisees about which was the greatest commandment. Jesus left them in no doubt that the entire edifice of the Law the Prophets hung on two commandments, only, namely, the love of God and the love of our neighbour.  This Sunday, Jesus launches into a full-scale attack on the teachers of the Law and the religious authorities.

If we are listening and hearing at all, it is not possible to read, hear or preach this Gospel passage without a slight flutter of disturbance to the mind. You see, the message is very blunt: those who sit in places of authority (the ‘scribes and the Pharisees’ of Jesus’ time) are not honest and do not live according to the precepts and maxims they preach. Moreover, they are more interested in social position, power, and (though Jesus spells it out in other places) money.

Why is the passage just a little bit disturbing to us today? If we are honest with ourselves, all of us can admit to some affinity with the Pharisees.  Which one of us does not enjoy a little bit of social prestige and notoriety. If it is not the size of our houses or cars (assuming we have same) it is the string of initials after names and the use of terms of reverence in being addressed. Let’s be even more honest, in many of the ways that we practice liturgy and church ritual we like, facilitate and go along with the outer things of hierarchy and status of positioning, clothing, and title. I don’t need to explain what is meant here.

Lest readers immediately jump to a conclusion that we must all cast off hierarchy, ritual and ceremony let me be clear: what matters is the human heart and the relationships among us that spring from the heart. All of these other things are of lesser consequence.  Even still, it would be a great scandal, if, in assuming the office of leadership, preaching or sacramental ministry we were to say one thing and, by our very lives, do another thing. Much harm is done to the whole body of Christ including those distanced from church and from organised religion.

Line by line

‘Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples…’ (v.1)

The scribes and Pharisees are not listening. Jesus now turns to the crowds and his disciples – those who must listen to and follow their religious leaders. But, Jesus is also speaking to his disciples who, in time, will become leaders in their communities and, thereby, lay the foundations for churches in faraway places.

 ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat’ (v.2)

Moses was, to the Jewish people, the great Law giver. The reluctant leader servant who found himself at the head of a chosen and specially loved people communicated the Law to God’s people. The seat (‘cathedra’ in Latin or ‘cathaoir’ in Irish) symbolises, here, a position of authority and teaching authority at that. This is why the Bishop’s Throne or seat is so prominent in each diocese or, indeed, the chair of the President or Presider at the Sacred Liturgy.  He or she who sits on this seat is tasked with preaching the gospel, maintaining unity of the disciples and leading all under his or her care forward.  A heavy responsibility rests on the one chosen to do this.

‘..therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practise what they teach.’ (v.3)

This seems harsh. However, Jesus – and those who followed him in the Matthean community – spoke from hard experience.  In the history of the Christian church, we cannot deny the many times that those entrusted with authority to teach and ‘govern’ were either not up to the task or failed, abysmally, to match the message with their deeds (and too often their lack of deeds when it really mattered).  There may be a temptation to point to and lay the blame upon those in positions of leadership.  Which one of us can claim that we live fully according to the message we profess and believe in?  Yet, the whole community must be vigilant to hold those in leadership to account as well as to support them in their difficult mission.

We may note that, in this and other passages, Jesus is not asking his disciples to repudiate the teaching of the scribes but, rather, to discern the essential truth contained within their message and so badly attested by their failure to match words with deeds. In the final analysis, we must obey our informed consciences and God and not men or women even if their teaching is for the most part true (Acts 5:27-32).

‘They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.’ (v. 4)

Here is the rub. Even if the teachers of the Law and the Scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ time and our time were to be completely correct in their interpretation and application of the Law, they would have still failed were it a case of laying burdens on others while unwilling to lift a finger to move them. Perhaps, this matter has been most evident of late in regards to the intimate details of personal relationships and received teachings on sexuality. For sure, we must be faithful to God’s plan and will for our lives and we must be faithful to the teaching and tradition of the Gospel. But, do we know God’s plan in each and every situation? Do we know as much as God knows about this relationship and that case?  Do we willingly or otherwise add to the trauma of those who have undergone breakdown in the past and now find themselves in new relationships?  Do we preach a message of do’s and don’ts without lifting a finger to address the painful and scandalous circumstances in which people find themselves as a result of abuse, oppression or lack of rights?

The caution against tying up heavy burdens on others is instanced in the very difficult and sensitive area of new life and what is sometimes referred to as ‘crisis pregnancies’.  People of good will and compassion are very right to acknowledge, value and defend innocent life before birth.  To do and think otherwise is unthinkable for compassionate beings. Yet, in defending life – all life – are there some who add to the burden by judging and even criminalising those whose circumstances some of us would never imagine or bear?  Do we really know what it is like to be in a situation of despair and darkness?  Do we strive with all our beings to transform social conditions that no woman or girl feels they have no other option except that which we find unthinkable?

‘They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.’ (v. 5)

Oh yes, we love dressing up and wearing strange hats and long medieval gowns. Whether in the rituals of academia and graduation ceremonies or in the hallowed halls of the legal profession and the courts or in the cathedrals, churches and religious houses of the Christian church. Now, there is nothing very wrong with dressing up or, indeed, in the use of titles such as your honour, my Lord, your Excellency, Reverend, Doctor, Professor, Father, etc. However, we need to put first things first – decency, common sense, kindness, justice and compassion. Often, power, learning and social privilege get in the way so that the dressing up bit and the conferring of grand titles is worse than silly or mildly harmless practices for middle-aged men who like a bit of colour and fame in the limelight.

‘They love to have the place of honour at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues’ (v. 6)

O yes they did and yes we do. Let’s be honest – really honest – one likes the limelight and the honour whether at the top wedding table or in the top pews or in the sanctuary or chancel. ‘For you love to have the seat of honour in the synagogues … ‘ (Luke 11:43). A respected Roman Catholic scholar, John McKenzie, S.J., comments on this verse:

These are ordinary marks of human vanity, and the protocol of precedence in modern times is as rigorous as anything found in Pharisaism.

In other words, we should be careful about throwing stones at Pharisees from within our modern church glasshouses!

‘and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.   And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.  (v. 7—10)

If we were to take the Bible literally all the time an in all verses these lines would throw much of contemporary church practice into chaos. One is not suggesting such a radical approach (though one retains a certain sympathy for the ultra-anabaptist cults such as the Amish and Quaker traditions) is required. However, taking the context and overall thrust of new testament scripture verses such as these should caution against excesses of clericalism not to mention silly controversies over very second-order matters. In this regard the more high-end of Christian tradition does not have a monopoly of clericalism and associated second-order controversies. That said, charity, patience, tact and pragmatism is a good policy when it comes to various details of church life, liturgical practice, the lay-out of places of worship and ecclesiastical polity in general.

The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. (v. 11-12)

In the scriptures, to exalt is a term applied, typically, to God. Occasionally, it is applied to human beings. Jesus warns about those who exalt themselves before God has a chance to exalt them!  In fact, in a pithy saying he says that those who initiate the first move get demoted from their assumed position of greatness while those who wait patiently on God’s wisdom experience an uplifting to a position of responsibility and service (uplifting comes with a high price).

But, here is the rub:

‘The greatest among you will be your servant.’ (v. 11)

Servant leadership is the way.

We should be very careful in censoring those who ‘do not bother’ with organised religion or those who are openly hostile to it. Are those of us who profess faith and adherence to the creeds and the received tradition of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church to which all the Christian baptised belong actually live out the Gospel call? Do we put external and material goals ahead of right relationships and heart-full devotion to God? In other words, are we for real or not?  I am among those who believe – rightly or wrongly – that there is a great hope for our world and our country. Why? Because the younger generations have a refreshing honesty and courage often lacking in those who came before. This is said while acknowledging the huge sacrifices and goodness of most our elders and those of us entering the senior years of life.

All

“…with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt 22:37)

Matthew 22:34-46 (Year A: Fifth Sunday before Advent 29^nd October 2017)

The next time you read the Bible cover to cover you might like to use a yellow marker and mark over the word ‘all’ (assuming you are reading the Bible in English). You will run out of yellow marker. You will be surprised at how often this word ‘All’ crops up from start to finish:

-        In all wisdom
-        With all your heart
-        All the people of Israel
-        That all may be one
-        Christ in all-        All
-        All
-        & All.

John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist movement which sprung up from within Anglicanism spoke of four important ‘Alls’:

• 1. All people need to be saved.
• 2. All people can be saved.
• 3. All people can know they are saved.
• 4. All people can be saved to the uttermost

It can be said that the ultimate goal of history, of our own personal lives and of our communities is pretty straightforward when all is said and done. It is simply that God may be all in all.

But how?

The response by Jesus to some hostile questioning shows all that we need in order to be all (whole or holy):

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (verse 37)

Oddly enough sometimes we don’t stop and ponder what the meaning of the phrase ‘all your mind’ actually means. It doesn’t mean suspending our God-given human reason to question and deepen our understanding and commitment.  To ‘heart’, ‘soul’ and ‘mind’ could be added ‘body’.  (Mark and Luke refer, in addition, to ‘all your strength’).  In short, we are called to love with all our being – every bit of it.

But to love God – who is all – with all our being means something very concrete, here and now. It means to

Love your neighbour as yourself. (verse 39)

In other words, we can only know if our love for God is sincere and meaningful if it is expressed in love for our ‘neighbour’ in the here and now in this place, in these circumstances, and in this situation. To love is act based on a desire for what is truly good for our neighbour and for ourselves (we realise our own good through loving).  It could actually lead to such heroic deeds as giving up our seat on a bus to someone in particular need (provided that we are not pregnant or infirm). Then it might involve staying faithful to a commitment or an appointment when this dearly costs.  It might even lead ultimately to giving our life. Not such a rare thing in some parts of the world for people of faith.

In responding to the questioner Jesus brings together two foundation commandments from the Old Testament:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5)

‘…love your neighbour as yourself.’ (Leviticus 19:18)

So, there is nothing new at one level – Jesus is merely quoting Jewish scripture.  At another level, something new is happening. He is bringing two commandments together and directly linking them by means of a ‘new commandment’ which combines both. It is the hallmark of real Christianity which would follow much later as the Jesus movement within Judaism evolved into a gathering (ekklesia) of disciples a growing number of which would be gentiles.

The symbol, power and truth of the Cross is at the centre of Christian loving as revealed in Jesus Christ.  The cross has two beams:

• a horizontal one that indicates love for one another (the two thieves on each side of Jesus, for example, as well as the onlooking crowd including immediate family).
• a vertical one that indicates God’s love for us and our love for God.

Now the vertical beam cannot stand without the horizontal one and the horizontal one cannot hold without the support of the vertical one. So it is with one and the same love that has been given to us.

God is loved in and through our neighbour. But, we love our neighbour for himself or herself and not as an instrument to please and love God. That is the way God wants it. After all God who is in all, loves all wants us to love all with our all.

And that’s not all:

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (verse 40)

In one swoop Jesus reduces the 613 commandments of the ‘Old Law’ into two commandments not so much by abolishing them as by rooting then in the essential. His listeners were left speechless.

How we could simplify our lives and our laws and our canon laws and our rules of community if we took to hear the simple truth that underlying ‘all the law’ and the scriptures is the commandment to love God with our all and to do so sincerely by loving the person next to us now.

Very simple. Too simple in fact.

Love is the one thing you cannot overdo. If we risk everything for love we can liberate ourselves from false/dead religion together with 600 regulations and be conquered by that Love which has loved us from all eternity in the first place.

And that’s all for now.

Jesus, politics and money

“…Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matt 22:21)

Matthew 22:1-14 (Year A: Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity 22^nd October 2017)

Typically, passages from the scriptures and, especially the Gospels, that deal with subjects such as poverty, riches, taxes or politics are ‘spiritualised’ or ‘individualised’ by commentators and preachers in such a manner as to avoid political controversy or misunderstanding for a modern audience.

Let me be clear about this: by ‘spiritualising’, I mean taking a raw story (or parable) and turning it into a moral tale rather like a fable with a good moral lesson or ‘so what’ for the young ones hearing it.  By ‘individualising’ I mean hearing the story as an individual and applying it to my life in my immediate inter-personal environment.  According to the latter, we see ourselves as fellow pilgrims working out our own salvation and faith with others but, ultimately, on our own since we are, each of us, answerable for our lives now and at its end on this earth.  

Preachers and ministers are at pains to point out that Jesus did not get involved in ‘politics’ and ‘this-worldly’ affairs and by implication we might emulate this beyond our everyday, familial and job-related circles in which we live and move. And there are two things, it is said, you should never discuss in polite company: religion and politics.

I’m not altogether sure about any of this. Let me explain.

Zealots up to no good

The context of this Sunday’ reading is yet another conversation between Jesus and some disciples of the Pharisees along with the Herodians (the latter were loyalists to Rome and followers of ‘Herod the Great’ and were as zealous about paying taxes as the Jewish ‘Zealots’ party were about not).

The Herodians and Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus. The latter group tended to sit on the fence on the question of taxes, but, sided in practical terms with the political authorities as religious authorities tend to do for the sake of peace.  They knew where power lay in that backwater of a province on the Eastern fringes of the great Roman Empire.  They also knew the intense resentment and fierce independence of the people with whom Jesus shared his life. Remember that to be a tax collector at that time in that part of the world was to be a local agent of Rome and someone put on the same level as a prostitute. Those hostile to Jesus – the religious authorities of his time – thought they could use a combination of reverse psychology and clever questioning to catch him out on one or both sides of their specially erected question-fence.

Jesus got the better of them not by taking one side of their malevolent question. Rather, he posed a new question.  ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’, he asked his questioners. He recalibrated the discussion to begin from where we are at. His audience was living under a brutal colonial regime. An uneasy peace prevailed in between violent outbreaks and insurrections (the decisive one following in around 70 A.D.).  Jesus had not come to lead a Jewish revolt against their overlords. Neither, had he come to start a new religion in the sense that what he did and said proclaimed the kingdom of God among the chosen people (the Jews) and beyond to embrace the whole world (including the gentiles). Religion would be recast as a new way to the Father and all had access to this way through Jesus. 

Misrepresentations of Jesus as a political messiah

Jesus and those who came after him were not scholarly commentators. Neither were they preaching a party or ethnic political manifesto.  Claims, in more recent times, that Jesus was a true ‘socialist’ are plain silly. Likewise, attempts to enlist Jesus in a holy war against communism or free masonry under the banner of fascism or colonialism is diabolic. Then again, many have enlisted Jesus in violent purges of heretics from within the Christian fold.

Jesus did not offer a theory or programme of political liberation. However, he did witness to a radically different way of living and behaving – individually and collectively. This was and is revolutionary in the sense that it challenges the premises of everyday business, politics and even – dare we admit it – church life as we frequently encounter it. And we Christians in 21^st century need to be political for reasons that, hopefully, I can elaborate on further, below.

At the centre of this Sunday’s story is the question of taxes.  Taxes, as we know only too well, involve a transfer of money from citizens to political authorities. At the time in which the Gospels were seeded, taxes and tax collectors were not at all popular. Tax collectors were seen as corrupt, unjust and rapacious.

Consider some of the taxes people had to pay in 1^st century Palestine (the source for this is an online Carmelite liturgical site):

Levies on property (tributum soli).
Levies on persons (tributum capitis). (the levy on the workforce is estimated by some scholars to have been approximately  20% of average income – a figure not dissimilar to low-tax countries such as Ireland or the USA, today).
Golden crown for the Emperor
Salt levy for the Emperor
Levy on buying and selling: (to buy a slave incurred a levy of 2%).
Levy on professional practice: (even prostitutes had to pay this)
Levy on the use of public utilities (e.g. public baths in Rome)
Tolls paid on roads and on the movement of merchandise and usually collected by Publicans.
Forced labour: Everyone could be forced to render some service to the State for five years, without remuneration.
Special subsidy for the armed forces: People were obliged to offer hospitality to soldiers.

Does any of the above sound familiar? Change the detail and terminology a little and we find matters have not changed that much in 2,000 years!

And, of course, the religious authorities needed their cut of income for the times that Jesus lived in:

Levy for the Temple and for Cult:
Shekalim: Tithes (for the upkeep of the priests)First fruits of all land products: (for the upkeep of the cult)
Tithes had a particularly troubled existence until comparatively modern times in Irish history (see Cogadh na ndeachúna)

We get the picture!

That is one side of the matter.

The other side is possibly disturbing for us today.  What we say about Jesus and how we live according to his example and teachings has profound implications for our families, our extended families, our communities, our workplaces, our associations, our local politics, our national politics and our global politics. Should there be any doubt about this we ought to check out, again, the number of times the God of the poor and the God of righteousness on the side of the poor and the marginalised breaks into the Hebrew and Christian Testaments. God is not aloof and carefree on His Throne observing from a distance children going hungry, people being killed and his creation plundered by human beings. For reasons no theologian can satisfactorily explain, God is ‘in the thick of it’ wherever human beings suffer, are oppressed or excluded.  He is ‘in the thick of it’ as a powerfully powerless servant leader uniting himself with us in our hour of need and urging us on to be his eyes, his ears and his hands of compassion. I realise that this sort of talk is discomforting to the more classical notions of a God who does not feel, or suffer or get involved in particular ways in this always messy and often crazy world.

But, that, I suggest is God for us.

We live in a world which is propped up on (1) obscene levels of social and economic inequality, (2) disrespect for human life and rights at all stages in the lifecycle, (3) an utterly cavalier attitude to the natural environment as a means for exploitation, and (4) oppressive regimes that centralise market and state power in ways that exclude women, children, older people, particular ethnic groups, precarious workers, migrants, homosexuals and anyone who is a threat to the power structures of oppression.

We cannot turn our back to those who suffer in such a world.  The gospel does not afford us the luxury of ‘working out our salvation’ by distancing ourselves from the plight of others who cry out and who struggle for liberation. Neither does it afford us the luxury of serving God and our brothers without hearing the cry of the earth which is groaning and aching lest we have not heard it recently in the passing of hurricane Ophelia (to be followed by other names in the coming years).

To set people free and the earth too

The truth is that God has come to set his people free and the earth in which his people live.  We don’t have the option of remaining aloof. Yes, we must render to Caesar what is Caesar’s in the sense that the obligations of citizens must not be confused with the call to religious practice and integrity.  But, there are times when we will need to stand up to Caesar even at a high price such as paid by many down the ages. Religion is not to be privitised.

One practical way in which to live up to our call as citizens of the earthly world and, at the same time, as disciples of Jesus Christ is in the very mundane matter of taxation. When was the last time we heard a homily about tax?!  And how often do churches get a name for its teachings on the sixth commandment (concerning adultery and matters generally to do with sexuality and reproduction)?  And, how often do churches raise fundamental questions about tax evasion (that is, the deliberate and illegal non-payment of taxes whether by individuals or corporations)?  How often do we stop to reflect on the link between the taxes we pay and the essential services provided to others including ourselves? Yes, many forms of taxation need to be reformed and made fairer. Yes, many systems of public administration and service delivery need to be reformed and made more efficient (delivering more and better for the same amount of taxes raised). However, we fail in our duty as citizens and as Christians if we practice deceit by not paying lawful taxes. Had none of us ever known cases where someone does work ‘for cash’ to avoid paying Value Added Tax or income tax, as the case may be, because ‘everyone else is doing it’ or ‘who will know’ or ‘it will make no difference’. Let’s be clear, tax defrauding is the same as fare-evasion on public transport is the same as stealing money from someone’s wallet.

Paying tax is a political and moral matter just as is voting or, in the case of those called to do so, to serve in public office or to engage in legitimate, democratic, peaceful and human rights-respecting political activity.

In our times we need to reflect, again, on what it means to be a disciple of the good news. In fact, it is a very political news because it fundamentally challenges the way we do politics as citizens, voters, workers, businesses, families, and communities. It does not mean that we have to adopt a narrow set of policies or see our political vocation as necessarily belonging to some political party or movement. But, it does mean making a stand, speaking up and acting out even when it is inconvenient and possibly dangerous to do so. And that has implications in Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Iraq and everywhere else.

What have we been called to do?

“…For many are called, but few are chosen...’’ (Matt 22:14)

Matthew 22:1-14 (Year A: Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity 15^th October 2017)

And the story runs on. Jesus is giving out to the ‘Chief Priests and the Elders of the people’ (Matthew 21:23). Having entered Jerusalem in a dramatic challenge by riding on a donkey and behaving as an other-wordly King, friend and champion of the poor and the lost; He causes havoc in the Temple; curses a fig tree and proceeds to tell a string of disparaging stories or parables that apply to the religious leaders of His time. This was surely not a case of ‘how to win friends and influence people’. 

The mild, gentle and humble Jesus was at large in Jerusalem causing trouble and landing himself in big trouble. All right, you may say, Jesus was the Second Person of the Trinity and was entitled to do all that. We would be missing the point, however, if we thought that the fullness of humanity as well as the fullness of divinity in Jesus Christ did not present itself as a human being fully alive and on fire for truth, justice and the coming of God’s kingdom here and now as well as in the future.

The story of the King and his wedding party offers a crude and even violent image of those invited but who refused and were cut off by the King. We would be entirely mistaking the point to think of this story as a story about a vengeful God who behaves like human kings.  In the course of human history, the ‘Kings’ of this world including dictators and manipulators resorted and resort to the threefold methods of bullying: (1) violence of word or deed; (2) threats; and (3) denial of any wrong-doing on the part of the bully (it is all the bullied’s fault, so it is insinuated by the bully).   Even if this Gospel story of a bully king who insists, threatens, bullies and takes revenge, the passage has resonance for us today. 

The key point is that we have been invited to something wonderful. That wonderful treasure is hidden away from the appearances, forms and outward structures of the community of disciples. At the heart of weekly worship (above all but not exclusively in the Eucharist) and at the heart of daily witness is the Life that Jesus gives us. That Life is our light and our food and our joy in being able to go forward through the deep and dark valleys and bright and spacious uplands of life’s journey. 

We are not alone.

The point of the story is that we are, all of us, invited to partake in something truly magnificent, life-affirming and life-giving. The problem is that we don’t know it because we are too busy with our own puny plans and projects thinking that what is on offer is too remote or unrealistic to be worth the effort. If only we knew and tasted a little of what is on offer. 80% of life is about turning up, quipped the comedian Woodie Allen. Turning up is not enough, however, as one of the wedding guests found out in this story. Coming with the right attitude and receptivity (being ‘appropriately clothed for the occasion’) is an important ingredient of a successful enjoyment of what is on offer. ‘I find such and such a religious rite boring and irrelevant’ is sometimes heard on the lips of young and old. But, if we only took time out to realise that these short weekly earthly excursions to the local wedding feast are a form of aperitif for a Great Party later. And different Tables at the Eucharist, at home and in the workplace are linked.

The question should not be ‘why go to mass every Sunday’ or ‘why should Holy Communion be the principal service every Sunday’. Rather, it should be ‘what a privilege to take a full part in the Mass/Eucharist/Holy Communion/Lord’s Supper. It is not only a sound catholic principle (with a small ‘c’) but it is a sound biblical value consistent with the patterns and habits of the early Christian community who met frequently to break Bread and Word, sing together and share their beliefs, hopes, stories and lives.

I think that, here in Europe, we have much to learn about party-going worship behaviour in some other continents of the world. The party can be so good that you don’t even want to go home too soon! Or, rather, the party doesn’t stop at the door of the place of worship.

For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7b-8).

And so we find ourselves in a troubled world this Sunday morning some two millennia later.  Might we listen again to the raw force and possibilities contained in the story we have just heard? What do we hear? How do we take this story with us in to this new week that beckons? We find ourselves this morning at a banquet of his Word and Body laid out by our Lord and Brother. This place does not belong to anyone in particular and we are, all of us, invited guests of the One who has given his life for us and continues to be present among us where two or three gather in his name.  Those of us who have the great privilege of being invited to and present at the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day – the day of resurrection celebrated weekly every Sunday by the disciples of Jesus since the first century – might reflect on what it is that we have been invited to and what it is that we are called to do not just this morning but for the week ahead.

As it says in Acts 2:42:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The party extends beyond Sundays.

According to some Jewish rabbinical saying, God will ask us only one question when we meet him after death: ‘Did you enjoy my creation?’

From rejection to acceptance

“…the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom...’’ (Matt 21:43)

Matthew 21:33-46 (Year A: Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity 8^th October 2017)

Yet another parable of Jesus is presented to us in the Gospel of Saint Matthew. Picture a landowner, planting, a vineyard, some tenants and a few slaves and the harvest.  We may imagine different scenarios for this story ranging from our own role in possibly resisting the Word of God in our lives or the centrality of grace found in Jesus Christ the cornerstone of our redeemed lives. But, we need to be mindful of the historical context in which this parable or story is told. Matthew, as already said in previous blogs, is written by a Jewish Christian in a Jewish Christian community in the last half of the first century. These were seriously no fun times for Christians – or Jews who had submitted to Christ while remaining Jewish.  Persecution, torture, ostracism and death faced many as Rome crushed and dispersed the Chosen People and as the new faith founded on Jesus began to slowly spread West and East and South and North (usually the western part dominates the history books).

The message of rejection and acceptance features throughout scripture including, for example, in the Letter of Peter (1 Peter 2:4-7):

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: ‘See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner’,

Jesus the Christ was rejected by some of his own people and, above all, by those in control of the Temple, the interpretation of the Law and allocation of justice.  Yet, he was and is the cornerstone.  Those sent in the name of Jesus were rejected and persecuted by those who will not accept the Gospel and its demands.  We may find ourselves in the dual position of being rejected as well as being among those who reject.  We fail to see Christ in our brother who pleads with us for mercy and understanding. We may, without knowing it, reject Christ, daily, in the those who are different to us and who cross our path for a purpose in God’s larger design.

God’s plan is that each person should be conceived, born and nurtured by love, in love and for love. While it does not always work this way in practice, we can be sure that our place and our call is to respond, generously, to this love. If we feel rejected, so was our brother and Lord. If we feel loved and accepted then so we must extend that welcome and love to others.

The great majority of us were blessed with a loving mother.  Most of us have known a special love in the course of our lives. This is God’s way of helping us to grow in love for others.

We have been called to go out, give witness and bear fruit like those tenants to whom the vineyard was given when others failed to bear fruit.

May we go out and tell the whole world that God is love and that God has loved us in others and that love is the purpose and source of our call to serve the world.

Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:10)