15th Sunday
OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
Before
God got a hold on him, Amos was a sheepherder and a tree surgeon.
Before God found him on the road to Damascus, Paul was a lawyer and a
zealous persecutor of Christians. Before Jesus walked past Matthew,
he was a tax collector; James, John, Peter were fishermen; Luke was a
doctor. What about Mary? She was a teenaged girl betrothed to Joseph.
We have a prophet, twelve apostles, and the Mother of God. From who
and what they were before hearing their call, all these ordinary
people became extraordinary players in even more extraordinary
events. Amos is called to chastise a corrupt priest of the royal
court. Paul is called to cease his persecution of Jesus' followers
and become one of them. The other apostles are all called to leave
their ordinary jobs, to become students of the Master, and give their
lives to the preaching of the Good News. And Mary, a virgin girl, is
called to become the woman who bears Christ into the world. By the
Word of our loving God, ordinary people—just plain folks—are
pulled out of the tedious minutiae of just getting through another
day and fashioned into instruments of the Divine Will and set out to
accomplish a divine purpose. If God will use shepherds, fishermen, a
doctor, and a virgin girl to complete His work, why wouldn't He use
you, use any one of us?
If
called upon to serve a divine purpose most of us would probably react
the same way most of the Biblical figures reacted: Who me? Why me?
I'm just a bank teller, a cashier, a stay-at-mom, a fast food cook!
I'm just a high school graduate; I barely passed my religion classes;
I don't like to speak in public; I'm a Big Sinner, probably the
Biggest! Given enough time, we could find a thousand and one reasons
to avoid being called, a thousand and one excuses not to do whatever
ridiculous and potentially embarrassing job God wants us to do. And
if we couldn't find the one thousand and second excuse, we'd make one
up! Alright, maybe I'm projecting here, maybe I'm telling you more
about how I reacted to the call than predicting how you might react.
But my point should be clear: when pressed into divine service, quite
a few of us truly believe that we are unworthy of the honor, unfit
for the job. And we're right to believe it. We are unworthy, unfit to
do God's will. . .that is, until He makes us both worthy and fit,
until He gifts us with all that we need to accomplish the work He's
given us to do. To the shepherd Amos, He gives a prophet's voice. To
the Pharisee, Paul, He gives a motivating vision. To Peter, John,
James, Andrew, all the apostles, He gives knowledge, wisdom, and
authority. And to Mary, He gives a sinless start. What gifts has He
given you so that you might complete His work?
Paul
writes to the Church in Ephesus, assuring them that he is absolutely
confident that they have received their gifts from God and that they
have the will and fervor necessary to use those gifts in God's
service. When he writes his letter to the Ephesians, Paul is a
prisoner of the Roman Empire and from his prison cell he preaches the
gospel of freedom in Christ. He shouts out God's Word across the
known world. Amos, a sheep-herder and dresser of sycamores, is sent
by God to prophesy to Israel. Angrily confronted by the priest,
Amaziah, and ordered to leave the temple, Amos says, “I was sent by
God to speak His word.” And Jesus, calling the Twelve together,
sends his friends into the world, giving them authority to command
unclean spirits, to preach and to teach. A prisoner, a sheep-herder,
a tax-collector, a handful of fishermen, a doctor, and a few
ambitious corporate climbers—all chosen, all taught, all sent to do
one thing: speak the Living Word of God in spirit and in truth so
that the heirs of the Father might know that their inheritance is at
hand. Not one of these apostles or prophets goes willingly. Not one
goes without apprehension. Not one of them leaves to do God's will
without believing that he is unprepared, unworthy. But they go b/c
they trust that God prepares them and makes them worthy to bring His
will to completion.
As
baptized men and women, we have already accepted the call from God to
be His apostles, to be those who go out and preach His gospel in word
and deed. As the Body of Christ together in this building, we are
here to say “Amen, so be it” to God's charge that we become
Christs where we are. And though we may believe ourselves unprepared
and unworthy, we are nonetheless vowed to do exactly that. In his
letter to the Ephesians, Paul takes the time to describe to his
brothers and sisters the origin and flowering of their work as heirs
to the kingdom. His detailed account of their creation in love and
their recreation in Christ's sacrifice is not just pretty theological
rhetoric. His goal is to open their eyes and ears to the truth of
their identity as ones who have been picked out, selected to do the
job God has given them to do. Do you feel unprepared? Who doesn't?
Nonetheless, you are a daughter of the Father, an heir. Are you
unworthy? Who isn't? Nonetheless, you are a son of the Father, an
heir. Are you a prisoner? A shepherd? A fisherman? Probably not. Are
we without tools? Training? Experience? Maybe. Nonetheless, we are
sent. The only important question now is: will we go? Or will we
wrack our brains to invent that one thousand and second excuse to
leave God's gifts untouched and go on with the tedious business of
just another day? Or maybe, we are willing to pick up His gifts and
do His will there's something or someone stopping us. Amos is
threatened by a priest who invokes both divine and worldly power.
Paul is threatened by imperial Rome. The apostles are threatened by
temple, empire, and the rulers of this world—priests, soldiers, and
demons. Though threatened from every direction by every force
available, Amos, Paul, and the apostles go out anyway and do what
their Father has commanded them to do.
Who
or what is stopping you? The government? Your spouse? The kids? Your
job? If so, listen again to Paul, the prisoner of Rome: “In
[Christ] we were. . .chosen, destined. . .so that we might exist
for the praise of his glory...In [Christ] you also, who have
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have
believed in him, [you also] were sealed with the promised holy
Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance. . .”
What worldly power can un-choose you? What relationship do you enjoy
that trumps your inheritance as a child of the Father? What
deficiency in training, moral purity, motivation, or intelligence can
defeat the promise of your baptism? “In accord with the riches of
his grace that he lavished upon us,” we are free from every
deficiency that limits us, holds us back, or fights to defeat us. His
grace, His gifts are lavished upon us and in harmony with these gifts
we are forgiven our transgressions and sent out as apostles to give
testimony to the freedom we enjoy as God's possessions. So, if we are
timid or lax or afraid of doing what we have already promised to do,
then it is more than past time to ask for strength, determination,
and courage. There's work to be done, God's work. And when we do this
work with the Holy Spirit, we are more than merely capable; we are
made worthy, fit, and thoroughly prepared. In His truth, we are truly
blessed.
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