Twenty-second Sunday August 28, 2011

Jeremiah 20:7-9 Ps 63 Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27

Theme: “Who will preach God’s message. Here I am Lord.”

1. Jeremiah comes closest to what an authentic prophet should be. He speaks the word of God because he is called to do so. He is reluctant to be a prophet because personally, he considers himself to be

• too young
• too inexperienced
• unqualified
• fearful of human opinion. I shall become a laughingstock.
• Unwilling to suffer for being a prophet.

But he is authentic, because in spite of all these fears and insecurity, he says there is a fire burning within me that compels me to speak. This fire is precisely the Word of God, which Isaiah would describe – as the Word of the Lord that goes forth to the earth and will not return without bearing fruit.

2. It can be quite heady and lucrative to preach the Word of God. People are drawn to the divine and the “unknown”. They are not people who are uneducated and easily manipulated. They are drawn from all walks of life. Since they listen and follow the one who speaks in God’s name, the preacher soon experiences power, adulation and certain amount of fame. It is also lucrative. People think that there is nothing good enough in the worship of God. Even the very poor will give money, gold and silver from the little they have. They give generously. Paul would therefore speak out against fraudulent preachers and con artists.

 These were not very different from the Scribes and Pharisees in Ch 23 of Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus would have a whole set of condemnations against them.

• they would strain the gnat, while swallowing the camel
• they would travel the world for a convert and then make him a prime candidate for hell
• they would lay burdens on the people, and not lift a finger to help them
• they would insist on the minutiae of the law, forgetting justice and mercy.

3. In the Gospel, Peter very naturally and normally falls into the same mode of thinking as the Scribes and Pharisees. He wants all the gain without pain. He has basked so far in the glory of Jesus

• as Jesus heals,
• as Jesus preaches unlike the teachers of Israel,
• as Jesus does miracles and wonders.

But the moment Jesus speaks of the Cross, Peter wants to back out. “You are there on your own, Jesus – when you speak about suffering and death. I want no part of it.” This is precisely the litmus test.  There are some who is “called” to speak the Word of God, and there are some who “want” to speak the Word of God because of the benefits that accrue from this ministry or apostolate.

Jesus knows the difference and puts a distance between His message and such an attitude. Jesus will say to Peter “Get behind me, Satan”. Jesus will set this same standard on other occasions. He will say

• he who sets his hands to the plough and looks back, is not worthy of being a disciple
• unless you hate mother and father for my sake, you are not worthy of being a disciple
• let the dead bury the dead, you come and follow me.
• If you want to be my disciple, pick up your Cross daily.

4. Being a disciple of Jesus is a worthy and wholesome cause. We are called to be messengers of the Good News by the very sacrament of baptism, by this first of all the sacraments. But it is a call of Jesus and hence Jesus will set the terms and conditions.

It is a realisation that

• Jesus has called us, “you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you”
• Jesus will be with us till the end of time, as we preach the good news
• Jesus sets the bounds of our ministry, “Go out to the whole world, beginning in Jerusalem
• Jesus did not make success the end of preaching the Good News. He died on the Cross

However, evangelization or making known the good News is not a thankless task without rewards. Jesus, the Son of God, will repay us when he comes with the angels. He would tell Peter on another occasion , “you who have left father and mother, brothers and sisters, fields for my sake, will receive a hundred fold in this world and in the world to come.”

5. The Gospel passage is connected by both Mark and Matthew to the final Judgment. For Mark, the final judgment will be a vindication of the Church and the action of the Church members. They have done well.

For Matthew, there is a twist. The Church needs to be vigilant. The church needs to be more generous. The Church members will not be vindicated so much as evaluated as to whether they did pick up the cross daily and follow Jesus. Will the final judgment be:

“Get behind me Satan”? - or

“Well done good and faithful servant?”