Exodus 19: 2–8a / Psalm 116: 1, 10–17 /
Romans 5: 1–8 / Matthew 9: 35 – 10: 23
This
is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker
on Sunday, June 14, 2020.
“A PASSION FOR PEOPLE”
(Homily text: Matthew 9: 35
– 10: 23)
Many, if
not most, people have one or more passions. Passions are things they love,
things that motivate them to do certain things (or to avoid doing others).
Our Lord
Jesus Christ had passions. One of His passions was a deep and abiding love for
people, all people. We see evidence in this morning’s Gospel text, where His
concern for God’s people in the time of His earthly ministry was expressed this
way: “When he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they
were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)
Our Lord
doesn’t just lament the conditions under which people were living. He sets
about doing something to remedy the situation, saying, “The harvest is
plentiful, but the laborers are few, therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of
the harvests to send out laborers into his harvest.” (9:37 – 38)
Following
up on this comment, He sends out the original twelve to spread the Good News
(Gospel) of what God was doing. He makes clear that their task will not be an
easy one. They will be persecuted, hounded, and driven out of the towns to
which they are going to go.
But, He
adds, they are to be aware of the ways of the world and the ways of evil,
though they are to remain removed from those ways. That, I think, is the basic
meaning of His comment that the twelve are to be “wise as serpents and innocent
as doves”.
Our Lord’s
way of dealing with people stands in sharp contrast to the leadership of God’s
people in that day and time. They, the chief priests, the Pharisees and the
scribes, had a passion for the rules. That is to say, the rules as they existed
in the Law of Moses (Torah), to which were added many additional
requirements. Added to their concern for the rules was their concern for their
own place in the scheme of things. They valued being greeted in the
marketplaces, and they loved appearing in long robes, making a pretense of
their prayers in order to be seen by others. What an indictment!
What is your
passion and mine?
Do we have
a passion for people, and a passion to connect them to God? After all, if we do
this, we’re taking part in the missionary work of the Church in our day, time
and place. We’re doing what those original twelve did as they went out, armed
with the Good News.
As we go,
we should hold in mind the reality that sharing the Good News won’t always be
easy….some of those we encounter won’t respond to our gift. Others will rebut
our efforts. But some will respond favorably.
We should
be “wise as serpents”, knowing that some to whom we are sent will have had
checkered pasts and difficult lives. In the time of the early Church, many of
its converts had checkered pasts, and many had lived difficult and wayward
lives. But God called them to a new life in Christ.
As God has
called us into a new life in Christ, and has given us a meaning for life that
is to be found nowhere else, so too are we called to bear witness to God’s
power to make all things new.
AMEN.
