Third Sunday of the Year -- B
January 21, 2001
Rev. P. Del Staigers
Are all apostles? Prophets? Teachers?
Do all work miracles? Possess gifts of healing?
Speak in tongues? Act as interpreters?
The body is one and has many members!
It has been said that the good homily is the one
which goes over your head
and hits your neighbor between the eyes!
More heat than light,
we might say.
Not today!
Every part of the body is confronted
by God's word.
The body is one and has many members.
Then why do we get so upset when we see diversity?
Why are we so threatened by difference,
rather than seeing variety as a rich source for unity?
It is interesting that in a church
where we oppose the genetic cloning of species
that there is a minority view that insists on having
a church full of religious and spiritual clones.
Are all apostles? Prophets? Teachers?
Do all work miracles? Possess gifts of healing?
Speak in tongues? Act as interpreters?
As Christian we need not be threatened by difference
and rich, life-giving diversity --
as long as we drink of the one Spirit.
It was Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit
who proclaimed the text of Isaiah
that he learned from his youth.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."
Knowing that preaching is never simply a retelling of the text,
Jesus did not stop his preaching with by quoting Scripture.
He was a good preacher:
he applied the text to the situation.
"Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
What a conclusion!
It was a text proclaimed by Jesus,
the One who was the fulfillment of the text
that brought all differences and diversity
into God's care.
All people are loved.
In this Kingdom
all people have a place --
regardless of ailment or sin.
This was good news for the poor,
the captives, the blind.
A year of favor for the oppressed to find freedom.
(At this point some local examples of people deemed unworthy can be given
to more clearly make the point that everyone has a place in
God's Kingdom. Some of these examples might be related to the respect for all
life -- abortion, capital punishment, doctor assisted suicide. This may also
be an important place to talk about the importance of praying for Christian
unity in a time when there are over 400 Christian denominations).
Captivity is alive and well.
What holds us captive?
Maybe captivity is the fear of who we will become if we are really loved.
Maybe captivity is the sinfulness that is easier to live with because we
know it, rather than move to a more insecure, unknown life of virtue.
Maybe captivity is the uncertainty of losing control if we allowed
all parts of the body to function in ways that compliment eachother,
rather than mimic eachother.
If we are really catholic, as we claim to be,
we will not attack difference,
regardless of how threatening it may be to us.
We will see variety as the spice of a life of grace.
Are all apostles? Prophets? Teachers?
Do all work miracles? Possess gifts of healing?
Speak in tongues? Act as interpreters?
It has been said that the good homily is the one
which goes over your head
and hits your neighbor between the eyes!
Not today!
If our temple audiences are exposed to more heat than light,
something is wrong.
Captivity is alive and well,
but we can make another choice.
