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TWENTY SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Ezekiel 18:25‑28 theme: Are we willing to pay the price? 1. “Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?” says the Lord. The first reading from Ezekiel you did not throw the dirty clothes into the hamper you don’t empty the dishwater, you keep on drying your nylon in the bathroom you leave soiled cutlery on the table If we could only leave our Egos, our self interests at the door and concentrate on loving the other. Are we willing to pay the price? 2. So far in the last few Sundays - the parable of the “Landlord and the Labourers” and the “Forgiving King and his unforgiving servant” - we see a God whose mercy is boundless. We see a God who is slow to anger and rich in compassion. This love is not only to the People of Israel but to all. Now we have God’s grace leading us to conversion. It is not just a corporate body - the People of Israel, but it is Individual conversion. God is inviting us to a “one to one” intimacy, and God is looking for an answer. Are we ready to put this into action like the Second Son in the Gospel. Are we willing to pay the price? 3. The Next two Sundays, we will have the parable of “The Tenants who were unworthy” and the “Wedding guest without the Proper Garment .” At first sight it would seem that God is repudiating the Contract with the People of Israel. God is breaking the Covenantal Bond with the People of Israel. However, just the reverse is true. This Sunday is setting the foundation for that Relationship with the People of Israel and with each one of us. God is treating the People of Israel as an Equal Partner in a very lop-sided Covenant. God’s grace is always there. The Salvation is constantly being offered to us. But Are we willing to pay the price? 4. Are we willing to pay the price? The Price of Love is simply to say Yes to god’s invitation. The choice is ours. We must take responsibility for our Actions. Like the Second Son, in today’s Gospel, our lazy, sinful, self centred selves want to say No. The price is to high. We must move out of our comfort zone. God’s constant love is there. God, full of mercy and compassion, will forgive us now and forever. But ( with the absence of Hockey over the last 18 months - Poker has become pretty gripping on TV) - but God now raises the Ante. God’s grace will step in. God’s grace will effect, will cause a conversion in us - if we only empty ourselves like Christ did. 5. How often we know what the trouble we are in. We know the solution to our sinfulness especially in Major Issues like : addiction to alcohol, gambling, pornography, physical/mental abuses, food. We know our way out of racial biases, intolerance of the homeless, the gays, the poor, those with an accent, those with money we do not have, - But we just do not, we cannot take the steps. Are we willing to pay the price? This is when the God’s grace of conversion steps in. 6. The tax collectors and Prostitutes like the Second son in the Gospel at first said No. They did not walk in the Way of the Lord. They chose the way which was broad and led to destruction. But God’s “Grace of Conversion” steps in. Now these same Tax Collectors and Prostitutes will be the first to enter the Kingdom much to our dismay and chagrin. Are we willing to pay the price? If so, how? 7. St. Paul in the letter to the Philippians tells us. Christ is shown both as a model on how we can respond a resounding Yes. And as Karl Barth the theologian tells us, because we are “in Christ” - we have the power in Christ to achieve this. First we must LEAVE our Ego-s at the door. It time to deal with our “I problem” - I this and I that. We must see the world through the care of our brothers and sisters, rather than in our own interest. Second, like Christ and in Christ, we have to EMPTY ourselves. Christ though equal with God, emptied himself and took the form of a slave . Isaiah told us last Sunday: “your ways are not my ways.” We are invited to empty our value systems and standards which the world offers us: money, wealth, power, use of others. This will lead us to the Third step: Thirdly, we are invited to SERVE. If you want to be my disciples, then it will be in washing the feet of your fellow human beings. Now that is not very pleasant, and our first reaction is like the Second Son to say No. But then we think of it and we ask ourselves Are we willing to pay the price? - God’s Grace of Conversion steps in - and we say Yes to Love, Yes to the invitation of the Covenant. 8. In the 1964 musical of Mary Poppins, we find this extraordinary Nanny who comes to take care of the little children, Jane and Michael Banks. At the end of a very exciting and exhausting day. Mary Poppins is putting the children to bed. The children ask her to stay. Jane says, “You are not going to leave us are you?” and Michael backs her up, “If we promise to behave well, will you stay?” To which the wise Nanny replies, “Pie Crust Promises, easily made, easily broken.” We are invited not to taste just the Pie Crust, we are being offered the Luscious Pie -Are we willing to pay the price? -
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is rather embarrassing. God is arguing with the
people of Israel just like a married couple would - when communications break down. We tend to act immaturely, and keep a score of the things the other has done wrong.