Jesus was right! The church is like a huge dragnet that scoops up a little of everything from the depths of the sea. Jesus was right! The church is like a field of weeds and wheat growing together. Jesus was right! The church is like a wedding banquet attended by the good and bad alike! Today’s "Pharisees," like the self-righteous Pharisees of old, are scandalized by this reality, the reality that the church is, and always has been, a hodge-podge of sinners and saints! These self-righteous types try to distance themselves from today's “undesirables,” imagining themselves as "better than" while despising so-called "degenerates," "sinners," and various people on the margins.
In another gospel text, we are presented with the scene of Jesus joining tax collectors, sinners and his disciples at a dinner at Matthew's house. Jesus obviously attended such dinners quit often because the Scriptures tell us that Jesus earned the nicknames of “glutton” and “drunkard” within the religious establishment. Coming upon this dinner scene at Matthew's house, with "tax collectors and sinners sitting down with Jesus and his disciples to eat," the Pharisees objected vehemently, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Overhearing their criticism, Jesus responds without apology, saying this to them: “Those who are well do not need a doctor! Sick people do! I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners!”
If the church is like a dragnet that scoops up a little of everything from the depths of the sea, then Jesus must have scraped the bottom of the pond to come up with this motley crew that we have come to call “apostles” and "saints." As St. Paul said of Jesus, "He chooses the weak and makes them strong!" A few years ago, I came across a funny memo addressed to Jesus about the apostles he was about to choose. It is sent from a fictional consulting firm in Jerusalem! It may be funny, but it makes a profound point that I have used a couple of ties before in other parishes. Let me read a section to you.
Jesus, Son of JosephWoodcrafter Carpenter Shop
Nazareth 25922
Dear
Jesus:
Thank
you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for management
positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of
tests; we have not only run the results though our computer, but we have also
arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and
vocational aptitude consultant.
It
is the staff's opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background,
education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are
undertaking.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale.
One
of the candidates, however, shows great
potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a
keen business mind, and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated,
ambitious and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and
right-hand man.
We
wish you every success in your new adventure.
Sincerely yours,
Jerusalem Management
Consultants
“God’s
ways are not our ways.” How many times have we heard that remark? Well, it is
absolutely true and the Scriptures are full of examples where God seems to
relish in picking losers, crooks, idiots and incompetents to do his most
important work. In the Old Testament, we read about the call of Abraham and Sara. They were
99 and 90 respectfully when they were called to begin the most important family
in history! A little old, don’t you think? When he needed a mother for Jesus,
who did he pick but an engaged teenager from nowhere! A little risky, don’t you think? Are we
surprised that Jesus would pick such a shaky foundation on which to build his
church: a liar, a couple of mama’s babies, two Middle Eastern terrorists, an
agnostic and a tax collector? The only reason I can figure out for these kinds
of decisions is to let us know loudly and clearly that it is God’s work, not our
effort or expertise, that counts! It’s not about our goodness. It’s about God’s
goodness!
Most of my life I have struggled with feelings of not being good enough, no doubt results of some serious emotional abuse when I was a child. “You will never amount to anything!” “You can’t do anything right!” “You’re a hopeless case!” My feelings of not being good enough are not as severe as they used to be, by a long shot, but traces of them are still there and those old feelings can be triggered almost without warning. Many of you know what I am talking about. They are irrational feelings, for the most part, but they are still there. One incident in particular triggered them “big time!” Pope Benedict told a group of newly ordained priests in Rome a few years ago that they must be “perfect.” Since I have never felt like I could adequately measure up to the expectations that people place on priests, those words really rattled me. It has taken me years to quit beating myself up for not being perfect and be consoled that my best was good enough for God. I don’t want to go back there! I won’t go back!
It
is the gospel message that has helped me understand God's love more than any psychologist! The word
“gospel” means “good news.” The “good news” is this: our best may not be good
enough for this world, but it is good enough for God! God loves us without
condition! As our second reading today puts it, “God proves his love for us, in that
while we were still sinners Christ died for us!” God’s love is freely given
without any need on our part to earn it. God loves us flaws and all! One Scripture says this: “People see externals. God sees into the
heart.” Another Scripture says this: “God chooses the weak and made them strong in bearing witness to him.”
Jesus filled these weak, flawed and sinful bunch of men with the fire of his
love and gradually made saints of them! In his ministry Jesus specialized, not
in ritual temple service, but in helping society's rejected and marginalized people feel worthy in God's eyes: the poor, women, children, the diseased, the ostracized and the
marginalized - people who did not feel good enough!
My friends, in the end, it is not about what you do for God, it is about what God has done for you! No matter what happens, remember this: you are valued and loved in God eyes, no matter what you’ve done or failed to do! As scripture says in our second reading today: “He died for us while we were sinners.” Notice that it does not say: “He died for us because we shaped up!” God loves us, not because we deserve it, but in spite of the fact that we do not deserve it!
If
Jesus can choose Peter, Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, James,
Thaddeus, Thomas, Matthew and Simon and use them for his work, he can choose
people like you and me, flaws and all, to carry on that work! God did not love
us because we are lovable. We are loveable because God loves us. God’s love is purely a gift. So, before we go
around judging others’ worthiness before God, let us own our own sins and
failings. If God can have compassion on us, after knowing all our sins and
failures, then we surely can have compassion on each other. As we say in the Mass, right before
communion, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I
shall be healed!”
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