November 4th - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (English) Fr. Chris
November 11th - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (English) Fr. Chris
November 25th - Christ the
King (English) Fr. Chris
How do you handle adversity? Most people give up quite
easily. When faced with something difficult often we move on to something
easier. If you think about your life were there times when you tried
to play a musical instrument or take up a sport and didn’t get it right
away? How hard did you work at it before you decided it wasn’t worth
the effort?
In trying a sport or in taking up a hobby of any kind it might
be prudent to give it up if you don’t have the amount of time needed to
master it. But when the adversity is in working through a difficult
relationship, handling an addiction or compulsion, or dealing with some
kind of conflict, giving up doesn’t make the problem go away. It
just gets hidden for awhile to come back again.
St. Paul told his church at Thessalonica not to be discouraged
by people who insisted that the end was near. He didn’t want them
giving up and simply waiting for the end to come. There was much
to do before that time arrived. The message of hope must be proclaimed
to the world. It would never do just to sit and wait. Likewise,
some of the members of the community were dividing the church by insisting
that people had to choose sides. They had to decide whether to trust
Paul as their leader or someone else. Paul reminded them that
divisions and difficulties will come. Don’t give up, but use this
time as a preparation for the final conflict with Satan.
Zacchaeus was a man that knew adversity. He was a tax
collector and so much of that adversity he brought on himself. In
the role of tax collector he was despised by all the Israelites.
He was an outcast by his own people. On top of that he was wealthy.
Most likely he gained much of that wealth by charging more than was required
for the tax. He was allowed to keep anything collected over the amount
he had to forward to Rome.
Then, Zacchaeus meets Jesus. His life is turned upside
down. He probably knew of Christ by seeing him perform miracles of
healing. He may have heard some of Jesus’ teachings. It could
be that some of the people told him about this rabbi. In any case
when Jesus makes his way to Jericho Zacchaeus doesn’t want to miss an opportunity
to see him for himself. Unfortunately, Zacchaeus is a short man.
No one is going to save him a place near the edge of the road to see Jesus.
So, he has to climb a tree just to get a glimpse. You can imagine
the amount of ridicule that got him. Yet, Zacchaeus stood his ground.
It was worth the risk of embarrassment and ridicule to meet this man that
he had heard so much about.
When Jesus came upon him he told Zacchaeus that he wanted
to stay with him that very day. Now Jesus is on the receiving end
of abuse. The people wonder why Jesus would give the time of day
to someone so sinful like a tax collector. Jesus saw within this
man and knew there was a restlessness there. Zacchaeus wanted to
change. Jesus would help him do that. Jesus stays with Zacchaeus
and tells him that God loves him. It is in the context of the meal
and the conversation that takes place that Zacchaeus knows that he must
not treat people with disdain even if they have treated him that way.
He makes a profound and radical conversion by meeting Jesus.
Then Zacchaeus does something unheard of. He declares
that he is a changed man. He will repay everyone that he has cheated.
He declares that he will not defraud anyone and that he will be a faithful
servant of Yahweh. He will give away half of what he has to the poor.
This public declaration will not be easy to back down from. If after
the excitement of the moment wears off he decides not to fulfill his promise
everyone will know. They will also despise him all the more.
Yet, if he fulfills his promise he will no longer be a wealthy man.
Can he do that?
Standing up to adversity no matter how it comes always has
a price. It might mean rejection like Zacchaeus received before meeting
Christ. It might mean being ridiculed like Jesus was when he chose
to spend time with Zacchaeus. It might mean a complete change of
life like Zacchaeus made after being touched by the presence of Christ.
It most certainly will require courage.
How does one judge whether it is right to stand up to adversity?
If being ridiculed for doing something just or right then one should persevere.
To preserve a greater good one can tolerate present difficulty. One
should not give up on a spouse or child even if it would be easier to do
so. Living out the faith and striving for holiness will merit some
ridicule from society. That is fine. Pray for insight and wisdom
to know when to persevere and when to let go.
On the terrible day of September 11th most of the people who
were on the planes that were hijacked had no idea they were going to be
flown into a building. They assumed they would be taken to some place
where the hijackers would negotiate their demands. But by the time
that the plane in Pennsylvania was taken over some of the passengers figured
out that they were in danger of their lives. Yet, they realized that
they had an opportunity to stop even more death and destruction from happening.
Some of them were able to prevent the hijackers from fulfilling their deadly
task. Sadly, to do that they gave their lives.
Those passengers wanted to live. All of them had people
who loved them. They had jobs and lives that were worth going back
to. They didn’t desire to crash that plane into the ground.
Yet, by doing that they believed that there was something greater than
their own lives. That something was what gave them the courage to
stop the hijackers.
Most of us live each day establishing goals and plans for
the future. We plan what we will do for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Maybe you are already thinking of what you will be doing for next year’s
vacation. You buy a car or home with a loan that must be paid back
over a number of years. You assume that you will be able to accomplish
that. So does the bank!
But all of us know that at some point we will die. We
know that all of our plans on earth will come to an end. Of course,
the problem is that we don’t know how much time we will have to accomplish
what we want to do. So, we have to do two things at the same time.
We make plans for our future on earth and plan for our death. For
some people that means doing two very different things. For some
people they live life as though they will live forever. Planning
for death is actually planning for ways to trick death or the taxman or
both. They always try to find ways to deny death and to enjoy this
world to the fullest. They try to squeeze as much pleasure or wealth
or whatever they value out of each day. Death is almost always a
cruel joke for these people.
The Sadducees were people like that. They were very
content with this world and tried to make their lives as comfortable as
possible. Since they didn’t hold to a belief in resurrection they
made this world the source of all their energy. In their story of
the woman who marries seven times they are hoping to show how a belief
in resurrection is foolish. They hope to show that Jesus and anyone
else who believe in an afterlife are foolish too.
Jesus doesn’t play their game. He shows them that their
way of living is foolish. He points out that when one lives their
life with the knowledge that God wants so much more for them than what
they can see, then this parable is pure nonsense. In life and death
we belong to the Lord. He has created us in love and wants us to
live with Him forever. Everything we do on this earth should be in
living in that hope. So, that the love we experience on this earth
is only a foretaste of the love that awaits us in heaven. Marriage
and family life are beautiful and wonderful. But, what we will experience
in the Kingdom of God goes beyond our wildest imagination. Likewise,
the service that we give to others is done because God has given us everything
that we need. We have been blessed in so many ways. There is
nothing to fear about giving of ourselves to others, even our very lives
if it is done in love and service.
This life is very good. God has made it so. But
what we experience here is only the beginning of something even greater.
Enjoy this world, of course. But live within the knowledge that everything
is held in the palm of God’s hand. Soldiers and martyrs know that.
They want peace and harmony. They don’t desire death. Yet,
they know that if they are called they can sacrifice this life for what
awaits. That is what hope and faith are all about.
We are called to live this life with great hope and faith.
The reason we come together each week and pray for the needs of the community,
break the bread, and share the Word is that we have faith and hope.
We know that God cares for this world and for each of us individually.
We know too that we are being fashioned and molded each day into a more
perfect image of God. Our love is perfected. Our forgiveness
and service are perfected too. All that we do is done with the expectation
of seeing the fullness in the Kingdom of Heaven. That is truly living
life to the fullest. Amen.
What does it mean to have a king? I know that question
has an elusive answer for us because we don’t live in a kingdom.
We might imagine what it would be like to live in England or Saudi Arabia
that have a royal family. But even in those cases, much of daily
life has to do with the quality of the person on the throne. Perhaps
its always been that way.
Even in Israel, kingship was something the people desired,
but weren’t sure what it would mean. When they asked for a king the
prophet Samuel tried to discourage it. He told them that a king would
be demanding. A king would require heavy taxes to pay for his court.
The people told the prophet that they didn’t care. They wanted a
king anyway. Samuel prayed to God and told him that the people have
rejected him. God told Samuel that it was not him they rejected but
God. But God would tell Samuel to anoint Saul as the first king of
Israel.
Saul started out as a reasonable king. He even won several
important battles that brought the people together. But somewhere
in his life something changed. Saul became jealous and petty.
He grew frightened of David’s popularity. He even tried to kill the
young warrior David. In the end Saul was defeated on the battlefield,
a small and petty ruler. King David succeeded him. David was
the great king. He seemed to know how to win the affections of the
people. He was also an able warrior. The people lived in peace
and prosperity under David’s reign. Everyone loved King David.
If only every ruler could be like him. But they weren’t.
David’s son Solomon was a ruler who liked the best of everything.
He entertained lavishly. These trappings of office required the people
to pay larger and larger amounts of tribute and taxes. By Solomon’s
death the people were glad he was gone. When Solomon’s son took over
the people asked what kind of ruler he would be. When he said that
he would continue the policies of his father the people rebelled.
Eventually the kingdom split in two, never to be reunited again.
All of the kings of Israel never seemed to have the right
combination of power and gentle persuasion like David. Yet the people
prayed and waited. They knew that someday God would send them a Messiah,
a savior who would be like David.
When Jesus came on the scene he seemed to fit the bill.
He was a gentle shepherd who could command the respect of the crowds.
He called disciples simply by telling them to leave everything for a future
promise in the Kingdom he would establish. They did it! They
believed that he would restore Israel.
When Jesus denounced violence and the overthrow of Herod and
Pilate the people were stunned. Isn’t that what a king is supposed
to do? Soon the crowds, the Pharisees, and the civil authorities
all turned against him.
On the cross, humiliated and apparently defeated, a criminal
recognizes who Jesus truly is. He knows he is a king, but not of
this world. He is a king who claims hearts. He is a king who
has the power to forgive sins and raise the dead to life. In his
hands is the power to grant everlasting life.
This kind of power is true power. It is not the elusive
kind of power that is there when someone like David is on the throne and
disappears when his grandson takes over. No, this kind of power can
change the world, but only when believers freely give over their lives
to him.
Christ does not reign as king by the exercise of coercive
power. He doesn’t force anyone to believe in him. He, instead,
invites followers to share in this power by letting go of earthly preoccupations.
Jesus told his followers that true power comes when they sell
all they have, give to the poor and join him. Real power is taking
up your cross. Jesus tells any who would believe that storing up
earthly treasure is foolish. It only leads to disillusionment.
Maybe the reason we have a difficult time with surrendering
to Jesus as our king is that we have been led to believe that is weakness.
We implicitly have bought into the earthly notion of kingship. You
know this is true when you see books that show you how to gain wealth and
happiness become bestsellers. We all want to be healthy and happy.
Taking the road that Christ offers is not appealing.
Yet, each week we are given a chance once again to turn away
from the world and embrace the cross. Next week we begin a new liturgical
year with the season of Advent. Maybe this Christmas we will see
the true meaning of power. A baby born in a stable that dies on the
cross. Maybe this year we will give the Lord our heart and mind and
discover where true power lies. Maybe this year…. Amen.