Doing the Good

Gospel: John 10: 31-42

It is undeniable that Jesus performs many good deeds for people throughout Judea and Galilee.  People are healed, liberated from their sins, and fed in their hunger.  And yet the religious authorities want to put him to death.  Jesus appeals to the good deeds in defending himself against his detractors.  What they find more important than good deeds is their theology - they claim he blasphemes in calling himself God's son, even though Jesus rightly notes that the tradition states we are all children of God.

How often is it the case that we place theology over the practice of good deeds in the life of religion! We denigrate the good work of others because they do not belong to our tribe, attend the liturgy we attend, or subscribe to our theological school.  No matter that they are caring for the sick and poor better than we are! All of that is somehow negated by theology in our petty worlds.  We would rather see people suffer than for our theology to be crossed.  

And therein lies the rub.  It isn't really about theology either.  It is about our power, status, influence, and ego.  Jesus is a threat to the religious authorities of his day because he threatens these things, even though he is not seeking power at all and he does these good things to genuinely help others.  Following Jesus will always be a threat to religious leaders for the same reasons.  The world cannot understand people who do not want power and who only wish to do good for others.

Avoiding the Issue

Gospel: John 8: 51-59

Throughout the Gospels we find portions that begin with a certain question or issue, only to be entirely neglected in the remaining portion.  Today we have such a scenario where Jesus talks about keeping the word of God.  The religious leaders with whom he speaks changes the topic to Jesus' identity and origins.  How adept we human beings are at avoiding a topic we would rather not address and create an entirely new topic and issue that has no relevance to our lives!

We too avoid this topic of Jesus.  We would rather retreat into abstract theology rather than address the issue of keeping God's word.  When we do attempt to address this issue, we invent a host of things completely foreign to the Gospel: the recitation of some credal formula, membership in a particular group, allegiance to some liturgical form or political agenda.  These become our pat answers, none of which correspond with anything Jesus himself actually did or taught.  

We avoid the issue and create vicarious false answers because keeping God's word is to accept the invitation to follow him.  We would rather not.  Jesus puts us in uncomfortable situations encountering people in dire needs of illness, possession, and hunger.  He bids us to do as he did - to heal, liberate, and feed others - to be agents of mercy and love in the world in very uncomfortable places and situations.  Today let us not avoid the issue, let us not create false answers to it.  Let us follow the Lord Jesus in his example and mission. 

The Announcement

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

So much art and homiletic on this feast runs afoul of the reality of the actual event itself.  Mary was a resident of a small, poor village, engaged to a poor laborer.  Yet, the art surrounding this scene has her in royal regalia in a palatial home.  Our homiletics often misses the real existential angst of a young woman being asked to bear a child not belonging to her betrothed.  Joseph accepting the child as his own spares Mary severe consequences.  Mary accepts real hardship in accepting this mission from God.

And yet this feast is not really about an event of many centuries ago.  It is about our own acceptance of the bearing of Christ within us.  God comes to each one of us, asking if we will bear the Christ within us and bring him forth into the world through deeds of mercy and loving kindness.  That announcement to us brings with it the same hardships and the same angst as it did for Mary in her own life.  For to bear Christ is to bear his cross as well.

It is for this reason that this feast often falls within the season of Lent, so near to the events of Holy Week.  If we accept the announcement of the angel in our lives, then we must accept the path of the cross this upcoming week.  Let us bear Christ within us, bringing him forth into the world through deeds of healing, liberation, and nourishing of others.  Let us bear the cross that accompanies him with patience and joy, forgiving our betrayers and persecutors and deniers as Jesus himself did.