Photo by Jonny Caspari on Unsplash
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
There is a prevailing misconception in society at large that those who gather in church on Sunday are somehow better than those who don’t. Whether or not it’s true, I can’t say. But historically certain groups have been known to set themselves apart from the crowd to bolster their self-esteem, declaring shamelessly that their choices have truly brought them success and wealth and influence, and intentionally or not to remind those who are not with them exactly why they don’t enjoy the same level of success and wealth and influence. We see it on the playground, in the marketplace, and in the arena of international diplomacy. Perhaps it is just part of our human nature to form cliques so to build our self-confidence and keep our opponents at a safe distance.
But getting back to that prevailing misconception especially when it comes to religious practice, we should not cry foul too quickly. Unfortunately, there is some truth to the claim. Historically there have been groups who have adhered to certain doctrines and advocated certain lifestyles who have claimed a place of privilege and looked down their noses on everyone else. It then becomes a source of personal pride resulting in alienation and resentment and violence toward those who are excluded. They are even referred to unkindly with names like heathen and apostate and heretic, which I suggest you permanently strike from your vocabulary. So the prevailing misconception is leveled by those who consider themselves outsiders for life choices they don’t regard as morally wrong in and of themselves. There might be a relevant correlation between people who go to church and behavior unbecoming of people who go to church. Or not. But until definitively proven by research, we can consider it unfounded speculation.
The greater challenge lies with those on the inside to constantly reexamine our priorities and acknowledge our struggle and inconsistency. We may claim knowingly or not to be people we are clearly not, because we behave in ways contrary to what we believe is essential to our faith and way of life. We say God is love and that all who live in love live in God. We say God is forgiving, generous and unconditional in mercy. We say God desires we be reconciled to himself and to one another. How then do we fail to love as Jesus commanded us while claiming to be faithful disciples? How can we claim God’s mercy when we offend yet ration it when our neighbor does? How can we advocate mercy with predetermined conditions unmindful of those who need it most?
We rejoice that sacred scripture advocates for sinful humanity, sinful you and me. “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness,” St. Paul writes to the Christian community in Rome, “for we do not know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself intercedes” on our behalf “according to God’s will,” praying with us, for us, within us. He does refer to the community of believers as “the holy ones” in a broad sense, as those designated by God as heirs to the life of grace. We cannot deny that God desires of us some cooperation in the work of salvation. And as we are free to welcome God and his blessings, so we are free to reject him. But our rejection doesn’t alter God’s plan to designate us heirs to his own life. It is God’s plan after all, not ours.
The sacred author of the book of Wisdom declares God to have care for all, who does not condemn unjustly, who judges with clemency, governs with leniency, and gives his people good ground for hope that we are permitted repentance for our sins. This picture of God’s tremendous unbounded mercy predates Christianity. Perhaps when we perceive otherwise, it is our experience or understanding that falls short. It makes more sense that we have at times perceived malice or ill will in error than that the God of infinite mercy is somehow deficient in mercy.
In the parable of the weeds and the wheat, the Master instructs those who work the field to leave the weeds be until the harvest. I know my dad would not approve of this plan. That’s why my siblings and I were tasked with weeding his vegetable garden each week when we were younger. Hey, his garden, his rules. In God’s plan, all will be sorted properly in the end. First, we are assured that despite the enemy’s interference, there will be a harvest. Then we are assured further the weeds will go into a fire while the wheat will be gathered and stored. The outcome is as we all expected. How we get there we might not always see eye to eye. We just need to remember whose harvest it is.
The mustard seed grows into a large bush. The fact that birds nest and dwell in its branches is ultimately neither here nor there. So God’s church emerges mighty and strong, powerful and influential, wealthy and prosperous from the tiny seed that is our faith. People who do not profess our faith or embrace our discipleship can still benefit from dwelling in the church’s branches. They will come and go like birds in the trees. But they will sometimes leave rich fertilizer to keep us humble and nourished.
Yeast will leaven the dough to be baked into bread. I don’t bake but I know it can be extremely messy. I know the outcome makes it all worth the trouble. You see it in the faces of those who sit at table and enjoy it with a good dinner.
Although the prevailing misconception persists that those who gather in church are better than those who don’t, the task is for those who do gather to work at making who we claim to be and who we truly are one and the same. “There are too many hypocrites in church,” they say. They might have a point. A hypocrite is one who is not who they claim to be. But that is a task of a lifetime, becoming an authentic disciple, a true Christian. Just don’t waste time doing little or nothing to become who you say you are, to become more like Jesus.
There are two kinds of people, I once heard. There are saints and there are those who make us saints. The great harvest is fast approaching, and the wheat will be gathered into the barn, and the weeds will be bundled up for burning. There is still time, there is still hope. God calls us all to be holy, along with hypocrites and those who make us saints.
Rolo B Castillo © 2023