Saturday, August 22, 2009

You're Gonna Have To Serve Somebody

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle B
August 23, 2009
Joshua 24:1-2a,15-17, 18b
Eph 5:21-32
Jn 6:60-69

This saying is hard, who can accept it?

Especially that Ephesians chapter 5, not one of our most popular readings for weddings. But all three of these readings are hard because they call into question all of our most basic relationships, and they make us choose how we will order our lives. How are we to be in relationship with our God, with each other, and with our church.

Bob Dylan says it so well:

You may be a construction worker working on a home,
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome,
You might own guns and you might even own tanks,
You might be somebody's landlord, you might even own banks

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride,
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side,
You may be workin' in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair,
You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Who you gonna serve? Doesn’t matter who you are or what you do or how much money or power or prestige you have, sooner or later you’re gonna have to serve somebody. You’re gonna have to submit to somebody. And it’s your choice. It’s the most basic choice we have to make as individuals. The same choice Joshua called the Hebrews to make after they entered Canaan. Who you gonna serve? “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” All else flows from that one decision, because in it we are stating where we fall in the great scheme of things. We are not the master, we are the servant. And that gives our lives perspective.

Relationships should be all about submission. How antiquated! Don’t you know that we’re all equal. I’m not subordinate to anyone! I’m number one. So’s my country, my family, and my baseball team. But that’s not how we were created. We weren’t created to dominate, but to serve. We get so hung up on the second line of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians that we forget the first: “Brothers and sisters, be subordinate to one another out of reverence to Christ.” Because we are disciples of the greatest servant of them all. Remember all that stuff about “The greatest among you should be the servant of all? The last shall be first” and all that?

We are all subordinate so somebody else in other areas of our lives, aren’t we? Children are subordinate to their parents, adults are subordinate to their bosses or stockholders, to law enforcement, to the constitution, etc. And ultimately we are all subordinate to God. We live it every day, but when we hear it at Mass or read it in the Bible or in Church teaching we get all bent out of shape. Be submissive?! It’s so hard to take. Who can accept it?

“Question authority” has been the bumper sticker since the 1960s, but it’s moved beyond questioning to ignoring authority, denigrating authority, and tearing down authority. It’s no wonder we live in such a contentious world. We’re all masters. No servants.

We have a couple of hummingbird feeders on the back porch, and recently we’ve been literally invaded by hummingbirds, about a dozen at the feeder at a time. It’s probably that double dose of sugar Nancy’s been putting in the nectar. And they’re really territorial. They’ll swoop in and hover over the feeder but not land, watching and waiting to see if another bird will try to take their spot. And when one even comes close they chase it away. They are so intent on keeping the others out that they don’t even feed themselves, so nobody eats. It’s a lot like when there’s a lane on the freeway that’s shut down and the cars have to merge over. Some people would rather die than let someone get in front of them, even though everyone’s only going two miles an hour. But when the attitude is one of submission, people let each other in and traffic flows very smoothly. I can’t wait to see what happens out in the parking lot after Mass today.

When we serve the Lord and one another there is order and there is peace. When we serve the devil there is chaos and division.

When we submit to each other our relationships have order and peace. Submitting to each other in big ways and in small. Usually it’s suppressing our own egos and letting go of our own selfishness for the good of the other person or for the good of the family or the community or the church. And it should always be done out of love and reverence for Christ. Never should it be forced nor demanded. Jesus never forced nor demanded anything of his followers. He simply told it like it is and then left it up to them to choose. And all but twelve left him.

The gospel today is a continuation of the great Bread of Life discourse in John. This was the first cafeteria Christianity. The people had been following Jesus not necessarily because they believed he was the messiah but because he had fed the 5000 with five loaves and two fish. They were following Jesus because he made them feel good. He satisfied their physical hunger with bread and he said that he had more. He had food that would insure they would never be hungry again, and they wanted it. They thought he meant that he would continue to give them free food. They followed him because they liked what they saw. It made them feel good. But when he started talking crazy about eating his body and drinking his blood, that was another story. That didn’t make them feel good. That made them feel uncomfortable. What would their friends say about that? What kind of wacko were they following? This was too radical, it would require them to move beyond their comfort zones and try to figure out what it all meant. It would mean they wouldn’t have it easy anymore, they’d have to work for it, and so they rejected it.

We’re no different today. Christians are church shoppers. Face it, we are too. We like to come and be fed at the table, we like to hear sermons and homilies that make us feel good about ourselves. We like to show up once a week or once a month and have a shot of Jesus. We insist on having a choice of Masses on a weekend that fits into our schedule and our taste in music. We like this priest or that one. Don’t like this one or that one. And we're sure to tell everyone about it.

We’ll follow Jesus as long as we get what we want. But when things get uncomfortable or challenging, what do we do? Do we go back to our old way of life? When the Vatican or the bishops issue statements on things and they don’t jive with our own politics, when they’re hard to take, what do we do? Where do we go? Or when we don’t like what the priest or deacon has to say in the homily, or when they cut back on the number of Masses on Sunday, and one of them is our favorite, what do we do, where do we go?

Where will you go? Will you also leave?

When I was ordained, I took a vow to be obedient to the bishop and his successors. I also came to this ministry with the awareness that it’s not about me. I cannot offer up my own personal opinion and pass it off as church teaching. I am bound to teach what the Catholic Church teaches. It’s not the church of Tom. I chose to subordinate myself to the Church, because I believe that Jesus Christ has the words of everlasting life, and those words subsist in the Catholic Church. I don’t always understand what those words mean, and sometimes I don’t totally agree with them. I am not a mind numbed robot. But I don’t just reject them out of hand and walk away either. I trust that Jesus has a plan for his church and for me, and will work things out. Peter didn’t understand what Jesus was saying either. But he trusted Jesus and submitted himself to his will. Where else could he go? Where else was the truth?

I don’t follow a God that dominates me. I follow a God that subordinates himself to me. Wow. I don’t belong to a church that dominates me. I am part of a church that is the servant of the world. Jesus was the ultimate submitter. He submitted to his father’s will by dying on the cross. For me. He could have refused. He had the power to do so. He could have shown his dominion over the entire world. Instead he submitted. For me. And he left behind a group of folks to carry on his mission. For me.

“And he handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

Master, to whom shall we go?