Readings
for
8 September 2002
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's First Reading is from The Book of Ezekiel, beginning at the
33rd Chapter and the 7th Verse (Ez 33:7-9):
"So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel;
whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from
me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and
you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked man
shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But
if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his
way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life."
Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 95 (Ps 95:1-2,
6-7, 8-9):
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Today's Epistle is from the Letter of Paul to the Romans, beginning
at the 13th Chapter, and the 8th Verse (Rom 13:8-10):
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor
has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery,
You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other
commandment, are summed up in this sentence, "You shall love your neighbor
as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is
the fulfilling of the law.
+ A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew, beginning at the 18th Chapter,
and the 15th Verse (Mt 18:15-20):
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between
you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But
if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every
word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If
he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to
listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I
say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will
be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are
gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
Sermon
for
8 September 2002
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings tell us that God expects
us both to do good, and to bear witness to those around us about what the
good is that He requires. To be part of the Mystical Body of Christ
is not simply to sit in a corner and "know in my heart" that what one believes
and does is right, but to submit oneself to the judgement of one's fellows
and the Church as a whole. The Orthodox insist that there are no "individual"
Christians, but only members in the context of community.
The First Reading, from Ezekiel, puts
it pretty plainly that he (and, by extension, the rest of us) have a positive
duty to tell wrong-doers about their transgressions. The positive side
of "speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way" is that we should be both
willing and able to help the "wicked" to be healed of their sinfulness, and
not simply be punitive -- which often drives people farther into sin. Punishment
does not always correct -- it often creates resistance and stubbornness.
Much better, and much more effective,
is to say: "Here is what you should be doing instead -- here is the
path to both happiness and righteousness. Carrots work much better
than sticks.
In today's Gospel, Our Lord tells us
to first talk quietly and privately (and, of course, charitably) with a wrong-doer;
then more publicly -- "two or three witnesses"; then in front
of the whole congregation -- and if that does not work, to simply shun the
person.
In today's day and age, the duty of
admonition and judgement has mostly been shifted onto the shoulders of the
clergy -- preachers, priests and bishops -- even in the anti-clerical "faith
communities". Some of the reason for this is to avoid personally unpleasant
confrontations, and some, especially in the late 20th and early 21st centuries,
is a certain amount of confusion about just what is right and wrong.
"Well", we say, "the clergycritter is an expert -- has studied all that,
and knows how to handle it."
This is a cop-out, and most of us know
that, at some level. We need to know what the Lord requires, and that
takes study and reflection on our part. Yes, we are all busy with the
making a living and keeping house, but we do need to devote time to prayer
and study. As much as we can manage, really.
Today's Epistle presents the bottom
line, and the central message of the Gospel: LOVE. "Love does
no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. "
Augustine said "Love, and do as you
will". Things are not quite that simple, although the sentimental and
anti-intellectual fringes of the New Age and simplistic Protestantism would
have us just "be nice" and not have to do or believe anything.
"The commandments, 'You shall not commit
adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and
any other commandment..." are still things we have to know. We
need to know -- and firmly believe -- what is right and wrong.
We need to study what the Church has
said over the centuries -- and not just reject everything from before we
were born as "old fashioned". We need to study together with the members
of our immediate church (parish, mission, etc.), as well as with the larger
Church. As well as our own prayer and spiritual life, we need to contribute
to the life of the Chruch as the whole Mystical Body of Christ.
Let us then sing, with the Psalmist:
"If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts." -- remembering
that His voice is not always the whirlwind, nor the thunder, nor an earthquake,
but often the still small voice, or the voice of our neighbor . . . .
In the Name of the Father +
And of the Son +
And of the Holy Spirit +
Amen.
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