Thursday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
Rom 8: 31b-39; Lk 13: 31-35
Dc. Larry Brockman
As if it is all about comfort in this life! But that’s the way the Pharisees spoke to Jesus. They as much as said:“Git while the gitin’s good”; such was their counsel.
But they were a brood of double dealing vipers. They wanted Jesus out because he was being heard; he was having an impact. And that bothered them, so much so that they would lobby the Roman Leaders to go after Jesus. Hence their half true, but deceitful advice- “Get out”.
But Jesus was just doing the will of the Father. He did it because that was his mission; it was not his mission in life to be comfortable, to be safe, and it was not his mission in life to “negotiate” with his opponents. There was no compromise; no negotiated back-off; no arrangement that would “live and let live”. It was his mission to spread the Gospel, the good news, that those who repent and believe will go to the Kingdom of God and everlasting life.
And it is the same with you and I. We are not here to compromise or to negotiate an accommodation so we will be comfortable. We are here to do God’s will for us; to perform our mission in life. Jesus wants us to avoid the conventional wisdom to “git while the gittin is good”.
Like what, you say?
Like standing firm when your kids want to watch things on TV or at the movies that you know are morally objectionable. And I’m not just talking about the sixth commandment either. How morally objectionable, for example is “Grand Theft Auto”; or movies that fantasize war and domination; or activities that suck all of our kids waking moments in front of an electronic device. Yet we constantly hear “but everybody does it”. Well, not everybody should do it. And it is so easy to give in; but it is not comfort that we should seek but rather harmony with the voice of God.
And of course, the same is true with adults in our dealings with other adults. We get ourselves in compromising situations with bosses, teachers, customers, and others. Yet we are called upon to not compromise our morals but rather, to show the faith that we really have.
Now many of us are derailed by the apparent success of those who do compromise, who do negotiate, who do seem to get away with just opting for the easy way out, and for comfort and peace in the short term. But that’s because we are thinking as the World does, not as God does. Their reward lasts for a relatively short time.
That’s what Paul’s message to the Roman’s was all about. He uses this argument. Jesus is our ideal; and yet Jesus did not opt for comfort, for safety. Rather Jesus held firm with God’s mission for him. It meant suffering and discomfort by all human standards- even a horrible painful death. But in the end, yes in the end, God rewarded Him with resurrection and everlasting life.
The same can be true for us. Paul says “Who will condemn us?” Indeed, no secular authority or cultural force can condemn us to death- they can make it painful and uncomfortable for us, yes. They can even kill our bodies. But they cannot condemn us to real death and everlasting suffering. Only we can do that by not obeying God.
You see, it is God’s system of reward that we should seek. In this world, that may mean pain and suffering. But as long as we have peace of mind, and our consciences rest easy that is OK. Because, as St. Paul says, “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen.
