TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
13 SEPTEMBER 2015
We
accept pollsters these days as part of the fabric of our ordinary American life. Those running for public office rely on their
standings in polls to make decisions about their campaigns. But polls are not new. In today’s Gospel, Jesus conducts a poll to seek
public opinion about him. Professional
pollsters call this “an informal survey.”
His disciples come up with three results: John the Baptist come back to
life, Elijah back from heaven, or one of the prophets. Then Jesus turns the polls on them and asks who
they think he is. Peter, always one to
blurt things out, gets the correct answer:
“You are the Christ (Messiah).”
Jesus knows
that his disciples accept the common understanding of the messiah as a hero who
would free them from oppression. Their
ancestors had been slaves in Egypt, and then again in Babylon. As servants of Roman rule, they want the
messiah to ransom them from their slavery.
They are keenly fearful of the way the Romans use the cruel and
humiliating tool of crucifying those who oppose them as warnings to others not
to attempt a revolt.
Jesus knows
that his Father has not called him to be this popular kind of messiah. Versed in the suffering servant songs of the
prophet Isaiah and reinforced by his 40 days in the desert, Jesus has developed
an unflinching trust that he can speak the truth about the Kingdom of God, even
when the religious authorities oppose him.
God will not fail him. He has
been revealing this mission by his miracles and healings. Even though the demons understand his true
mission, his disciples do not. So, now
he openly tells them that he is the Messiah who will become a slave himself,
humbling serving others. He will endure
the humiliation of the cross and pay the ransom for sin and free them from sin
and death.
Peter
speaks for the rest of the disciples in telling Jesus that this is crazy! But Jesus rebukes him in the strongest terms,
calling Peter a demon and telling him not to tempt him to abandon his
mission. Peter and the other disciples
would eventually learn the truth. After
the resurrection, they would eventually put their faith in Jesus the Christ
before their own security. They would
deny themselves and embrace the cross with the same unflinching trust in God.
Many
Christians are living this message in a very literal way. In the Middle East and in parts of Africa,
those who profess their faith in Jesus Christ are losing their lives for the
sake of the Gospel. In areas controlled
by the Islamic State, some are taxed heavily, others driven out of their homes,
and many put to death. They face these
horrors with the unflinching trust that Jesus keeps his promise. Those who share in his dying will share in
his rising.
This same
message applies to us, who are disciples of the Lord. Every time we keep our baptismal promises, we
die to ourselves and trust that we will share in the Lord’s rising. Saint James understands this dynamic. He knows that our salvation is a gratuitous
gift from Jesus Christ, who died to pay the ransom for our sins. He knows that we cannot purchase our way to
heaven with good works. But he also
knows that we must do more than talk about our faith. We must become humble servants, die to
ourselves, and respond to those in need.
When I am
done talking, we will profess our faith and recite together the Nicene
Creed. In praying the Creed, we express what
we believe in words. But we must
translate those words into action. We
reaffirm our conviction that being humble servants will not destroy us. Dying to ourselves may be painful and
sometimes discouraging. Carrying the
cross of pain, rejection, or suffering may frighten us. Watching others without faith get ahead may
anger us. But we express our unflinching
trust that God will not fail us. This
knowledge is not the result of a pollster seeking our opinion. It is the result of the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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