|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Genesis 12:1–9 |
Psalm 50:7–15 |
Romans 4:13–25
|
Matthew 9:9–13,18–26 |
Most of the people in the ancient stories of the Bible had noticeable flaws, but many were also people of great faith. Adam and Eve, symbolic of all humanity, were kicked out of paradise and knew that never again could they return to a carefree womb of security where all decisions would be made for them. They did not lie down in despair, but had two children. They made a new start and showed extraordinary confidence in the future. Later after one son murdered the other, they again showed courage in having a third child. Adam and Eve undauntingly chose life and bet on humanity's future, setting the example for the long tradition to follow.
Last week we read about Noah who built the ark totally on the basis of trust in God. Despite certain ridicule and against all the commonly accepted signs he became a symbol of those people of vision who are later seen as saviors of humanity. This week, we have the story of Abraham and Sarah, the founders of Israel. Abraham and Sarah voluntarily left most of their tribe and their ancestral home, and sent out to a new land, trusting God had something much better in mind for them. They didn't run away or wander aimlessly, but they trusted in a God who led them into an unknown, and yet to be defined future. Once they left their original homeland, they realized that there was no turning back. They put their whole future in God's hands.
In this morning's Epistle, Paul is writing to the small Christian community at Rome, knowing that they were pioneers too. Living far from Jerusalem, they had heard of the Temple's and then the city's destruction and realized that Christianity could never return to the womb of Judaism. As a Christian community they were entering uncharted territory. Moreover, there were ominous signs that the Roman Empire itself was declining. Paul would have been well aware of all the turns in Israel's history. Paul reminds these pioneers in Rome that they are inheritors of a promise, and have trust in a God who calls into existence things are not yet seen.
Today's Gospel is also about new futures opening up in unanticipated ways. Matthew is a tax collector, hardly a person who would be attracted discipleship of a Jewish rabbi. What a great leap to even approach Jesus. Moreover as tax collectors were notorious for abusing their office and taking advantage of the poor, Matthew would hardly be the ideal candidate for a close disciple. What a leap Jesus took. Nonetheless, something inside Matthew was awakened by Jesus' presence, and Jesus saw the great potential in Matthew. The change from Matthew the tax collector for the Roman government to disciple of Jesus was a story of one being called from the dead back to life, if there ever was one.
The healing of the synagogue leader's daughter and of the woman with a hemorrhage provide a story within a story of inclusive faith. For the leader of the synagogue to ask a traveling rabbi to come to his house and save his daughter meant risking his entire reputation, but for the sake of his daughter he was willing to chance it all. At the same time, the woman who suffered hemorrhages for twelve years had spent all she had on doctors with no relief. She was disillusioned, exhausted in every respect and her suffering was practically invisible to the rest of the community. Yet from within her she mustered trust enough to touch Jesus, to reach out for God's healing power. Like her Biblical ancestors before her, she did not give up, she persisted, she refused to be a nonperson and she discovered God's gift of a completely transformed life.
When Jesus arrived at the synagogue leader's house, the mourners had already assembled. To them, the cause was hopeless. Not so with God. Jesus went in and a twelve-year-old girl came to life again.
Why are these words written for our benefit also? Not because we are called to physically move to a distant or foreign land or build an ark. There is a much more critical task at hand for us. People of faith in our age do need to reinvent hope, and to witness with the confidence that the future of the human enterprise is worth working for. We are called to be inventors of tools of the spirit. Society doesn't need more power, as much as more fresh reason to begin again, like those in Biblical tradition. People of faith are those who begin to rearrange life into a coherent pattern of hope.
Abraham and Sarah did not become ancestors of a new type of society simply by reliving their past history. The Christians at Rome did not witness to the Gospel by playing it safe. The woman with a hemorrhage and the leader of the synagogue were not paralyzed by precedent and protocol, but boldly took leaps into God's arms. People of faith are the discovers of breakthroughs and new passageways of the Spirit. We keep looking because we choose on the side of life, on the side of hope in humanity's future, for God always brings into existence things that are not.
And
I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
