A test was presented to us in the readings today. Do we want to hear the Good News? Do we accept the good news that comes to us? Will we share the good news? I imagine nearly everyone accepts the passage we heard from Paul. His description of love is one of his most beloved passages. We hear it often at weddings and we are touched by his words that love is kind and patient.
But there are times when the love we claim to have isn’t kind or patient. The manner in which we might treat some people, even those close to us, is not what Paul defines as love. When our attitude toward someone is pompous, jealous, rude, self-serving, or quick-tempered, it certainly isn’t love.
In the first reading and the gospel, we find people resisting God’s words of grace and kindness. God tells Jeremiah to say to the people exactly what God tells him to speak. The line, “gird your loins,” means something like, “Get ready to do battle.” The lectionary doesn’t tell us that Jeremiah protested. “Lord, I do not know how to speak.” But God assures him that he would be fortified for the task.
After being applauded by the people in his hometown synagogue for his initial homily, Jesus said that no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Then he tells them that God’s love extends to all peoples. Once they heard this, they were filled with fury and drove Jesus out of town, intent on killing him. “Who does he think he is? He’s only a carpenter!” That once appreciative audience had become a lynch mob from whom Jesus escapes.
Rejection is what both Jeremiah and Jesus experienced. Rejection is what we experience when we share God’s challenging message to those who don’t want to hear it.
Identifying himself as the anointed one of God didn’t upset those listening to Jesus. What irked them was learning that God’s love and concern was extended to all peoples, even those whom they despised. By mentioning the widow in Sidon and Naaman the Syrian, Jesus shattered their notion of privilege and challenged them to see that all peoples are dear to God and would benefit from his ministry.
Before passing judgment on the people in the synagogue for overreacting, consider your reaction to God’s truth when you hear something that confronts your personal preferences and values. Might you also be as closed-minded to what God has said to you through the prophets of today?
Prophets are not found only in scripture. They are found in every generation. A prophet looks at the reality others refuse to see in order to tell us what will happen if we don’t change. A prophet is one who reveals the presence of God by his words, deeds and life. That task is given to all the baptized, not just a homilist. God is counting on us to proclaim the Good News, which isn’t an easy task at times.
God’s timely message cannot be proclaimed if at the same time, we condone prejudice, evil and /or violence, which unfortunately many people do, as evidenced for example by their tolerance for abortion, segregation, racism or the holocaust. They caused harm because they chose not to protest evil. Had they dared to speak prophetically, the lives of many will have been greatly impacted by love not hatred.
If we are to proclaim God’s message of goodness and love, then we have to live that message ourselves. Our message of love will only be heard if it is accompanied by deeds of mercy, love, forgiveness and joy. As Pope Francis noted, “You can’t spread the gospel if you are a sourpuss.”
Do we accept the prophets of our times? Not just the major well-known saintly prophets like Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul but our home town prophets, those ordinary people who constantly reveal the presence of God to us? How often do we notice Christ in our midst by what people say and do? How often do we notice the person whose greeting made us see what a wonderful day God has given us? How willing are we to examine our preferences and values to see if they conflict with the will of God?
God places prophets in our midst to challenge us to do our part toward building the kingdom here and now. Speaking prophetically at times, I have ruffled feathers, as the saying goes, when I speak out against the evil in our midst because what I said wasn’t what some people want to hear. When we do not get the things we hope for or the message we want to hear, we lash out. Jesus’ audience in Nazareth did and so do some of us years later.
You who listen must know that we who preach do not like the discomfort the gospel brings any better than you do.
The challenge placed before us is not to peddle a message of sweetness but to proclaim God’s righteousness. Like Jesus and Jeremiah were admonished to do, we must speak the truth, even at the risk of being rejected by those who are not willing to listen. A prophet’s mission is not to win a popularity contest but to speak the truth and make known the righteousness of God in the face of an unjust social order that thwarts the existence of God’s kingdom. As the readings point out, there will always be the certainty of human resistance but it’s a mission that those who love patiently and kindly will carry on.