THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
26 JUNE 2016
When
Saint Paul brought the Gospel to the people of Galatia, he proclaimed a radical
freedom resulting from faith in Jesus Christ.
However, his enemies accused him of giving baptized people the freedom
to do whatever they want. Paul responds
to that accusation in today’s second reading.
He admits that the Law of Moses has much to offer. But, that Law cannot save. Only Jesus Christ can save. Disciples of Jesus Christ are freed from the
demands of the Law to live a much higher and more demanding law: to love your neighbor as yourself. Christ gave his entire gift of self for each
individual person. Loving others means
that we give our neighbors that same gift.
Saint Paul
knows that living this freedom is challenging and counter cultural. To make his point, he makes a distinction
between flesh and spirit. When he uses
the term “flesh,” he refers to whatever we can perceive with our senses. The flesh can draw us away from God. If we work at freeing ourselves from the
flesh, freed from whatever can enslave us, we can be truly free to be guided by
the Spirit to follow Christ.
Jesus
offers us this freedom in today’s Gospel.
Leaving both his native Galilee and the false expectations of what a
Messiah should do, Jesus sets his face resolutely to journey to Jerusalem. It will be in Jerusalem that he will suffer,
die, and be raised from the dead. On his
way, the people of a Samaritan village reject him, because Jews and Samaritans
hate each. James and John want to call
down fire from heaven, as Elijah had called down fire from heaven centuries
before to win the victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. But Jesus is very different from Elijah. In rejecting their demand, he teaches them
the same lesson he teaches us. Do not
bring hatred and vindication on those who disagree with you. Do not despise others when they are different
from us. Use the freedom of being a
disciple and move on.
Jesus is
honest with the next three people who want to follow him. He cannot promise any sort of comfort or
security to the first person. The same
is true of us when we choose to follow Christ.
He rejects the excuse of the second potential follower. Jesus is not opposed to doing the corporal
work of mercy of burying the dead. But
he will not tolerate delays in making a decision to follow him. This potential disciple wants to wait until
his father has died before making the decision to follow Christ. He tells the third person to abandon the
security of his family, much as Elisha had done, and keep his hand to the plow.
These
qualities, Jesus tells us, will make us fit for the Kingdom of God. If we are fit for the Kingdom of God, we will
be fit for the New and Eternal Jerusalem awaiting us at the end of time. But that Kingdom is here and now, because it
was established by Christ outside the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem. We are fit for the Kingdom when we know the
freedom of being authentic followers of Jesus Christ. Authentic followers are freed from the need
to get revenge on those who disagree, because we trust in God’s judgment. Authentic followers do not depend on comfort
or security. Authentic followers do not
make excuses or delays in embracing the crosses that come from
discipleship. Authentic disciples do not
look back and pine for the safety of the “good old days.” We keep our eyes fixed firmly in hope to the
future, trusting that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light.
We often
define freedom as the ability to do whatever we want. Jesus (and with him Saint Paul) defines
freedom very differently. When we yoke
ourselves to the Gospel and the demands of discipleship, we will be truly and
completely free: free to love others as
God has loved us, free to be fit for the Kingdom of God.
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