Fourteenth Sunday July 8, 2007

Isaiah 66:10‑-14 Psalm 66 Galatians 6:14‑-18 Luke 10:1‑-20 or 10:1‑-9

Introduction: Our Scriptures for the next three Sundays are reflective of the holiday season we are enjoying. We go on a journey to a cottage or a beach. Sometimes there is a mishap: a flat tire, a leaky radiator, a fender bender. Then we relax or chill out, while some among us fret and worry. Today we have Jesus sending his Disciples on a journey. Next Sunday, we have a traveller being mugged in the story of the Good Samaritan. The following Sunday, we find Mary “chilling out” in the presence of Jesus, while Martha frets and fumes since she has to “do everything.” With this background in mind, we ask ourselves on Sunday:

What are we celebrating? And where to we find our joy?

The first reading from Isaiah tells us the story of the exiled Jews coming back from Babylon. The temple is in ruins, their streets are a mess, their homes and shops have been destroyed. One would expect that they would be desolate and miserable. But they are full of joy. They are consoled to be back in Jerusalem. Now they can rebuild their temple, rebuild their houses, get back to their own traditions, customs and rituals. Jerusalem is a source of consolation and joy.

It hardly seems the picture we get in 2007 (07-07-07) from our newspapers and television screens. The Hamas and Fatah groups are killing one another in a civil war, and when that abates a little, the two join together and there is a fight between Israelis and Palestinians. But for the people of Isaiah’s day there was hope.

The responsorial psalm is one that was used by the people of Israel when Pharaoh finally let the People of Israel go. They would make a joyful noise to the Lord. They would praise his awesome deeds. However, that very psalm is very appropriate many centuries later, now that the People in Isaiah’s time have returned from a similar exile.

This is their celebration. This is their joy.

In our second reading: Paul asks his listeners the same question: What are they celebrating and where is their joy. For some of the Judaisers, those who wanted the Gentile Christians to be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses , their joy and celebration was precisely in the Law and Ritual. There they found their security and there they thought they could have ‘God under their control’: “If I keep the law, if I am circumcised - then I have a right to salvation.”

Paul does not denigrate the Law. But, Paul puts his foot down. To the Judaisers he says, You have something good, something to celebrate. But if you celebrate the Law and circumcision then you have to keep these to the very last details. And in the end you will not be saved. Because Salvation is not a right, but a gift given by God. As for Paul, he says that it is not in circumcision, but in the Cross that he finds his hope and salvation.

But that is not just a pious sentiment. In fact it requires more sacrifice and more generosity. But it is simple and straightforward. It does not need one to be learned as a Pharisee to know all the intricacies. It does not need one to be a Scribe to know the law by heart. And so to the question : What do we celebrate and where do we find our joy: It is in the Cross and the one who died on it.

In our Gospel: we find Jesus sending SEVENTY disciples out. In Matthew, Mark and Luke we have Jesus sending out TWELVE apostles. They represent the twelve tribes of Israel. But now the Kingdom must be preached to all nations: this is represented by a passage that is found only in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus sends out the Seventy.

What do we celebrate and where do we find our joy:

The Disciples come back full of joy. They declare the wonderful things that they have accomplished. They boast that even the demons submitted to them. Jesus however, tells them, they should celebrate and find their joy in the fact that their names are in the Book of Life, rather than in the miracles they have accomplished. This makes us realise two things:

first: This Mission is started by Jesus, not the disciples, not by the Church. And what Jesus has begun - the Word will go out and not return without accomplishing the purpose for which It was sent.

Secondly this mission is not one that was inserted by the Church after the Resurrection into the sayings and teachings of Jesus. The Mission is the one that Jesus was preaching here and now: the Kingdom of God is here. The Kingdom of God is in your midst. And as such there is a sense of Urgency and there is no time for much preparations.

As we prepare to go to the cottages: we make sure we have our Computers, cell phones, I-pods, video games. There must be the cooler with beer, and water and soft drinks. There is the mosquito repellent and for everything else there is MasterCard. For this mission, there is no time for wash and dry a set of extra clothes. Go as you are, the Kingdom is here.