Sunday 23 A

September 7, 2014

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We live in a contentious and a litigious age.

These are big words which only mean that we like to get in each other=s face and take one another to court almost at the drop of a hat.

Jesus gives us some basic rules for living in a Christian community which fly in the face of the way we often live.

I had an experience that involved a few extremely conservative students at  Catholic University.

These students belonged to a group that had appointed themselves to be watchdogs in the sanctuary.

They reported three priests for not genuflecting every time they passed the tabernacle while preparing for Mass, as well as using some inclusive language such as "all people" for "all men."

The bishop asked them if they had approached the priests first before coming to him, and when they said "no," he told them that their "tattling" on us was inappropriate.

He told them to speak to the priests directly.

I=ve had an experience at St. Therese while I was there.

A letter was written to the Bishop about me, not entirely complementary.

That person asked that their name not be given to me.

I told the Bishop that it was difficult, if not improper, to respond to an anonymous complaint.

He agreed.

In the years following that person never came up to me to tell me face-to face that they had any problem with me.

To the credit of most parishioners here, you have no problem telling me face-to-face that you disagree!

There can be no room in any Christian community for rumors and innuendo;

no room for talking behind another=s back what you don=t have the integrity or courage to say to their face in Christian humility.

The sharpest criticism by Jesus toward anyone was about self-righteousness and a condemnatory spirit.

Any pastoral leader today really needs to try to touch that part of believers that tries to be tolerant and understanding.

We need civil discourse in the church.

We're a community of believers and there are certain family dynamics that govern our behavior.

For example, if we know someone is involved in an adulterous relationship and it is widely known, perhaps he or she might be asked not to continue to serve on a marriage preparation team.

Most of you in the pews are working hard to do what is right.

The church is called to be a community of people helping each other, not condemning and causing division.

Today's society places great stresses on people and we are never allowed to judge their hearts.

The job of a preacher is to help people feel that God is close to them and understands their burdens.

The job of every disciple is to build bridges between people.

Not to tear them down or build walls.

There is no room for scolding or making people feel excluded, an attitude that creates polarization rather than building up the Body of Christ.

We need to try to follow the words of Jesus today: "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name I am there."

This doesn=t happen automatically.

Reading this scripture in context, the real meaning is more like this:

AWhere two or three are gathered together to seek agreement, to seek understanding, to seek reconciliation and love, I am there.@

Sunday 22 A

Image: Moses and the Burning Bush, from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

August 31, 2014

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Over Peter=s strenuous objection, Jesus realized that he would be taken out of the social-political process of his time.

And in those days, he knew that the easiest way to do that would be to kill him.

But the recent execution of the Baptist by imperial whim had caused enough of an uproar: such blatant injustice couldn=t happen again.

No, Jesus had to be killed with some semblance of legality, and in a way that the blame could be shared enough to be spread out into manageable portions.

The social-political setting was tailor-made for this historic maneuver.

Rome was a foreign occupation force that allowed limited local government.

The priests had considerable power, but they were appointed by Rome, therefore answerable to Caesar.

The Sanhedrin could not execute anyone but could hand anyone over to the Romans.

And Rome was happy to oblige.

But how did Jesus get caught in the middle?

He was just a wandering preacher from hillbilly Galilee who healed a few sick people and was popular with peasants because he told fairy tales about God stepping in to raise the lowly and enrich the poor.

What harm was there in this?

Well, Palestine society was a zero-sum affair.

There was only so much money and power to go around.

Which meant that if the poor got richer, the rich would be impoverished,

and if the lowly got exalted, the powerful would lose their power.

Procurators and priests started looking to their own jobs C and eyeing each other with more understanding glances.

What would the priests and Caesar lose if Jesus were successful?

The priests would lose the Temple, since Jesus professed to be the real dwelling of God.

That meant they would lose the Temple tax as well as their employment.

But it was more than personal inconvenience and money; they took priesthood seriously.

They were deathly afraid that their traditional religion was in jeopardy,

that faithful Jews would be led into heresy by this popular layman with a new idea of God.

So, out of a sense of duty, the priests were willing to take responsibility for killing Jesus.

They knew leadership often calls for hard decisions and expediency.

Caesar himself was not too worried far off in Rome.

He knew that he could devastate Jerusalem any time he wished.

Much like America can devastate any small nation any time it wishes.

But Rome preferred peace all over its empire and held the provincial governor responsible for keeping things quiet.

The governor in turn depended on the local procurator to quell local disturbances.

And the procurator depended on the priests to keep their own people in line.

It was a heady brew of religion and politics.

No wonder people asked Jesus about their mixed allegiance to God and Caesar.

No wonder Jesus refused to answer the question.

But while it is permissible for a wandering preacher to sidestep huge social-political issues, that will not do for political and religious leaders.

They think they are in charge of the future of God and Caesar.

One moderate member of the Sanhedrin offered this advice: AIf this Jesus-event is of God, you can=t stop it; if it is not of God, it won=t work. Let it run its course.@

 The other leaders said he lacked decisiveness.

But do you wonder what would have happened if church and state had not colluded to kill Jesus?

What was the worst that could have happened?

For Rome, there might have been a peasant revolt.

But there was anyhow.

For the priests, some Jews might have left Judaism to follow Jesus.

They did anyhow.

Jesus was executed to save the Jewish Temple and the Roman Empire.

But, today there is no temple; and Rome is just another city.

Gamaliel was right: Eventually, things go God=s way no matter what priests and politicians do.

That=s something we would do well to remember when making our decisions and living our lives

things go God=s way no matter what priests and politicians B and we --do.

So we might as well do the right thing instead of the expedient thing in the first place.