22nd
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle
A
Jer 20:7-9
Rom 12:1-2
Mt 16:21-27
Do
you remember in last week’s gospel Jesus asked his disciples who people were
saying the Son of Man was? Some thought Jesus might be the prophet Jeremiah,
and this week we hear why. Jesus was a lot like Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a
fearless prophet, who suffered many persecutions and attacks upon him by kings
and false prophets who did not like his message of repentance in the face of
destruction. Jesus also prophesized about the destruction to come, and preached
repentance and conversion. Jesus was also persecuted and killed for his message
and his claim. Without calling it such, Jeremiah was preaching the gospel and
foreshadowing the coming Messiah. And so, we can understand why people might
have thought of Jeremiah when they heard Jesus.
Jeremiah is not one of the most
uplifting prophets. The weeping prophet, he is called. Jeremiah was called to
prophetic ministry in 626 BC. He was young, probably just a teenager or in
his early twenties, and he was a reluctant prophet. He really didn’t want to be
God’s mouthpiece, and he came up with all sorts of excuses not to do it. He
came from a well-off priestly family, and probably was not what most people thought
of when they thought of a prophet.
The times in Judah were tough. The
last few kings had not been faithful to God, choosing to worship the god Baal,
one of the local pagan gods. They went so far as to adopt the practice of child
sacrifice. There were rumors that the Babylonians were planning to sweep down
and invade the country, as they had so many others, so the people were looking
to the king to make the right alliances to protect them.
And so Jeremiah shows up and starts
telling them that they don’t need to rely on human alliances, they really just
need to repent and put their trust in God. Jeremiah’s job was to reveal the
sins of the people and explain the reason for the impending destruction and
captivity by the Babylonian army. “And when your people say, 'Why has the Lord our God done all these things to
us?' you shall say to them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in
your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.'"
Not exactly a popular message. And Jeremiah was attacked and ultimately
killed for it.
You can see why Jeremiah was tempted
to give it all up. He saw the futility of it all, the danger. He says that God
duped him, that reality wasn’t what he thought he had been offered when he
accepted the role of prophet. He was understandably angry and discouraged.
Jesus
slams Peter pretty hard today. Last week we heard Jesus proclaim Peter to be
the rock upon which he would build his church and he gives him the keys to the
kingdom of heaven. In the next passage he seems to call him Satan. But it was
not Peter Jesus was rebuking, it was the opportunity to take the easy way out
and not fulfill his mission as his Father wanted him to.
Peter
wasn’t doing anything wrong when Jesus rebuked him. In fact, he was acting out
of love for Jesus. But Peter didn’t see the big picture, he didn’t understand
the plan like Jesus did. Peter was thinking as any friend would when someone
they loved was placing themselves in danger. But Peter wasn’t thinking as God
thinks. Peter didn’t yet fully understand that Jesus must suffer and die, and
that the good news of the gospel was the outcome of that death.
I
am often frustrated and bewildered at hatred for the gospel today. The world still
does not see things as God sees them. When given the choice, we choose
ourselves over God. And it’s sad and ironic that by doing so we are going
against our own self-interest. The world has distorted its understanding and
view of the gospel to be exactly the opposite of what it really is. They see it
as a set of oppressive rules, stifling the human spirit, when in fact it is the
most freeing and human thing we could embrace. Jesus Christ didn’t become man
to enslave us but to redeem us. And that path had to lead to the cross. The
good news of Jesus Christ is that God became human so that we could become
divine.
The
world has left out half of that equation, believing that we are already
dieties, that humanity is all there is, everything begins and ends with us, we
are in control, and God is a myth. Our plan is focused tightly on ourselves; we
see only what is before our eyes, and we have no understanding of the greater
plan, because we think we are the plan.
Jesus
understood the true plan and knew where it would lead him. Through Peter Satan was
tempting Jesus to take the easy way out. If anyone could do that, Jesus could.
It was the same temptation Satan had given Jesus earlier in the desert. If you
are the Son of God, make it easy on yourself and eat. Declare and exercise your
power over heaven and earth and take dominion of all the nations. You can
choose not to do this, so don’t. It’s too hard. It’s futile. They won’t love
you for it. They will reject you. They will kill you. So, don’t do it. Leave
them to themselves and their own destruction. They don’t deserve so great a
redeemer.
But
like Jeremiah, Jesus couldn’t resist the Spirit. Like Jeremiah, Jesus had the
Spirit burning in his heart, and he was compelled to follow the will of God.
All prophets know the consequences of their message. They are often afraid. But
the Spirit of God uplifts them and strengthens their resolve. Get behind me,
Satan. I will not go the easy way. I will sacrifice myself for the ones I love.
Do
you have a burning in your heart to speak the truth? Is there anything in your
life that you would have the courage to stand up for and profess, even at the
risk of losing your friends, your livelihood, even your life? We live in fear;
fear of viruses, fear of violence, fear of being destroyed if we say or do the
wrong thing or speak the truth. We distrust all our institutions, our church,
our government, our neighbors. As Jeremiah laments, “violence and outrage is my
message”. And, just as Jeremiah tried to remove himself from his prophetic
mission, we often shy away from ours as well.
It
takes great courage to be a prophet, but we are all called to prophesy. When we
were baptized we were anointed with the Sacred Chrism as priest, prophet and
king, just as Jesus was. On that day we were sent on our mission. We have the
same choice Jeremiah and Jesus had. We can resist our mission and take the easy
way out, or we can surrender ourselves, allow ourselves to be duped by God and
embrace it. We are called to speak truth to power, we are called to admonish
one another, instruct the ignorant, and correct our own behavior that goes
contrary to the truth. We are called to live lives of persistence, fortitude,
and courage.
We
must continue to be the light of the world and proclaim the good news that the
Kingdom of God is at hand. Now. Not just 2000 years ago. We must declare our
allegiance to Jesus Christ and not to the world. It may cost us dearly. We may
lose friends, position, and power. But we must do these things because we must
love as God loves.
Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect.
