Ghirlandaio, Last Supper (detail)
Friends of Jesus
24
September 2017
Proper
21A
Homily
Preached at Trinity Parish Church, Ashland Oregon
8
a.m. Said, 10:00 a.m. Sung Mass
The
Rev. Fr. Tony Hutchinson, SCP, Ph.D.
Exodus
17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32
God, take away our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh. Amen.
A few years ago in Wuhan, Hubei
province China, I had an interesting experience. At dinner, I noticed
that one of my table companions, a senior official of the Hubei provincial
government, was wearing a beautiful carved wood Buddhist prayer chaplet around
his wrist. Knowing that this man must be a member of the Chinese
Communist Party, and that one must affirm absolute atheism in order to become a
member of the party, I innocently asked, “Oh, those are nice beads. Are
you a Buddhist?” The word in Chinese literally means “Buddha
adherent.” His body stiffened and I
could see that he was quickly working through in his mind how he should answer in
front of his party colleagues. He relaxed, smiles, and said, “I’m not
sure I count as an adherent of the Buddha (佛徒, Fótú).
I am more a friend of Buddha (佛友, Fóyǒu).”
His reply, as clever as it was, got me
thinking. We say we are Christians, or disciples or followers of
Christ. But are we Christ’s friends?
Jesus, just before his death, told his
disciples that they were his friends, not his servants (John 20). He was
giving his life for them: not the action of a master for his followers, but of
a friend for his friends.
Today’s Gospel reading describes an
argument Jesus had with his detractors about authority, and the parable he gave
on the matter: of two sons, one says he will not obey but ends up doing so; the
other says he will, but doesn’t. Jesus clearly condemns the second and praises
the first.
Many people say they are
Christians. They say they study and follow his teachings and his
commands. They condemn those who they think are not as diligent as they,
who are not true disciples. But Jesus said many times that we must not
judge others.
He said many times that a sinner who
recognizes his or her fault is far closer to God’s Reign than the person who
follows all the rules and is satisfied with this.
Jesus told many jokes which had as
their butt the pious and the self-important.
This contempt of Jesus for the
righteous religion of the rule keeper is what got him in such hot water with
the local religious authorities. “He hangs out with drunks, whores, and
traitors.” They said. He said, “the sick need a doctor, not the
healthy.”
The religious authorities arranged to
have Jesus killed by the Imperial Power when they just couldn’t deal with him
any more.
People who say they are Christian and
who do not actually internalize and practice what Jesus taught and did, are
like that second son.
People who might not consciously have
faith, and are not so righteous, but love Jesus and wish they could be closer
to his heart of love are like the first son.
Elsewhere in Matthew, Jesus says, “Not everyone
who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the
one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many
will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out
demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then
I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’”
(Matt 7:21-23).
Bluntly put, there are lots of people
who claim to be Christians, followers of Jesus, but who do not share Jesus’
heart, his concern for the downtrodden, his humor, or his commitment to see the
arrival of the Reign of God: God in charge, right here right now. They are, to
my mind, Christians in name only. On the
other hand, there are many who, despite their avowed disbelief or rejection of
Christianity or of God, actually share in Jesus’s values and commitments. In Karl Rahner’s theology, these are called “anonymous
Christians.”
In the traditional Roman Catechism,
faith is described as “an act of the will assenting to that which is revealed
by God, because of the authority of the revealing God.” Faith is
accepting God’s words precisely because it is from God that they
come.
The point is well taken—accepting what
God tells us simply because it pleases us, or because we already agree, this is
not faith. It is a simulacrum of faith. It is not religion, but
boutique religion. It is not seeking God’s will. It actually is
simply seeking our own desires and tarting them up as if they were God’s. It
will not lead us beyond ourselves, or ultimately anywhere good.
Those who take this definition of
faith--assent because of authority--literally and all by itself generally end
up painting a gloomy picture indeed of faith. It becomes an act of
submission in what appears to be an abusive relationship: "I am God and
you are not, submit to me or burn in hell." Such an act of “faith”
robs us of any autonomy, of any free will, of any human dignity, and
necessarily makes us part of an army of robot victim souls.
Is accepting God’s word on the
authority of the revealing God bound to make us such victim
automatons? No.
For, you see, there are two kinds of
authority that one can base acceptance on: authority because of position,
rank, and recognized reliability, or authority that comes from who one is, and
what one’s relationship to us is. The first is the authority of a
corporal commanding a military unit that he has just been assigned to.
The soldiers obey him because of the position he holds, not because of who he
is. But there is another kind of authority, the authority of the
physically brave private who charges the enemy lines, and whom everyone else
follows because they are inspired by the example. They follow him because
of who he is, not because of what position he holds.
Our faith, our trust in God must be
based on the latter kind of authority.
It is why Jesus calls us to be his
friends, not his slaves.
It is why Jesus describes God's reign
as a treasure buried in a field that we joyfully sacrifice all else to
possess.
Jesus in today's parable is suggesting here that ultimately, those who loudly insist they are God’s followers will fail in following God’s will, while those who are God’s friends will, despite all their doubts and questions (or perhaps because of them), succeed.
Jesus in today's parable is suggesting here that ultimately, those who loudly insist they are God’s followers will fail in following God’s will, while those who are God’s friends will, despite all their doubts and questions (or perhaps because of them), succeed.
The principle here is found throughout
scripture: the first shall be last and the last first. The tax
collector praying for forgiveness from God is closer to God that Pharisee with
a cold proud heart who prays to thank God he is not like "that sinner over
there." In today’s Hebrew Scripture lesson, it is only in the desert
dryness that God can make the rock split and bring forth water. In the epistle,
the “mind of Christ” that Paul wants us to emulate is described as an emptying
of self-seeking and full trust in (friendship with) God. In the Gospel,
Jesus says to his opponents, “Traitors and whores will go into the
Kingdom before you,” precisely because his opponents want to base their faith
on the authority of position and rules rather than the trust of friendship.
So just as that man in Wuhan was a
“friend,” not a “disciple” of Buddha, I think that Jesus in this parable and
others is calling us to be his friend, not his simply his follower.
Because declared followers tend to focus on instrumentalities and rules, and
thus tend to disappoint their masters. But friends, despite problems and
failings, tend to come through in the end and make their masters—no, make that
their friends--happy with them.
So let’s pay attention to our friend,
Jesus. Let's pay attention to his tastes, what he likes, and what he
doesn’t like. Let’s pay attention to the kind of company he keeps and do likewise.
Let’s let him be our friend, and take us from where we are to where we ought to
be, regardless of our or other people’s opinions of where that may be.
And let’s stop condemning others when we have so much about ourselves that could be condemned. Let's forgive others since we have so much ourselves that God has forgiven.
In the name of Christ, Amen
And let’s stop condemning others when we have so much about ourselves that could be condemned. Let's forgive others since we have so much ourselves that God has forgiven.
In the name of Christ, Amen
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