Deacon Mike Meyer / Sunday, February 17, 2019 / Categories: Homilies Choices A Homily for the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C Most parents, I think, share the experience of letting their children choose one piece of candy in the grocery store checkout line as a small reward for good behavior during a shopping trip. The Meyer girls faced this opportunity in polar opposite ways. Annie knew what she liked, chose quickly, and never looked back as she gobbled down her reward. Caitlin agonized over her choice, pacing back and forth, analyzing the bountiful display of chocolates, lollipops and Gummi Bears, and only made a final choice when threatened with losing the opportunity for a sweet treat. Caitlin struggled with making a choice because she knew that our choices have consequences, and that’s the message of today’s readings. Our readings are all about choices. Our first reading and our psalm, “lay out two divergent ways of life: one leads to happiness, the other to misfortune. The choice is up to the individual.”[1] In our second reading, Saint Paul puts the cornerstone of our faith in stark terms: either we believe in Christ’s resurrection from the dead, or our faith is in vain. Again, the choice is ours. Finally, in our Gospel, Jesus warns the disciples that if they choose to follow him, people will hate them, exclude and insult them, and denounce their names as evil. Yet, “Jesus had no doubt which way in the end brought happiness . . . , [that] the joy of heaven will amply compensate for the trouble of earth.”[2] Now, when I talk about “following Jesus,” I mean modeling our lives after his. It’s a mission of self-giving love in service of God and neighbor. As our readings make clear, choosing to follow Jesus has both temporal and eternal consequences. As Christians, we believe that eternity is the nunc stans, the ever-present now. So when we choose to follow Jesus, or not to follow Jesus, the consequences of that choice have an impact right now in this life and in the next. When we choose to follow Jesus, we’re blessed. Even if that choice results in persecution in this life, and it often does, it still gives us every reason to rejoice, because the beatitude of our choice helps us through those hardships as we look forward to the eternal happiness of the Kingdom of God that awaits us. When we choose to reject Jesus, woe be to us. Even if that choice brings us wealth, consolation, fulfillment, or fame in this life, those earthly rewards won’t make us happy, and they certainly won’t lead us to heaven. The choices we face as Christians are nothing less than the choices between right and wrong, between good and evil, between life and death. Unfortunately, our world is out of sync with God as a result of sin, so we tend to create distorted notions of right and wrong. We rationalize injustices for the sake of our convenience or comfort. That’s exactly why those who follow Jesus, those who stand for truth and challenge error, are often hated, excluded, insulted, and denounced, just as Jesus said we would be. Jesus’ message isn’t always convenient or comfortable, and people don’t like to be inconvenienced or made uncomfortable. So “the present state of the world not only resists the invitation [to follow Jesus], but it goes on the offensive to actively persecute and discredit [those who do].”[3] It’s our choice: Will we tolerate the persecution and continue to follow Jesus, or will we walk away? The choice is stark. There’s nothing half-hearted about following Jesus. We’re either all in, or we’re out. We either follow Jesus completely, or our faith is in vain. The events of the past several weeks have placed this choice squarely before us. With the passage of the so-called Reproductive Health Act in New York, the introduction of a similar bill in Virginia, and the advancement of an assisted suicide bill in New Jersey, our true mettle as followers of Jesus is being put to the test. Let me make the choice clear: + Following Jesus means choosing life. + Following Jesus means championing the God-given dignity of the human person from conception to natural death. + Following Jesus means serving our most vulnerable brothers and sisters, not by hating, insulting, denouncing, or persecuting them when they consider these terrible choices, but by dedicating our time, talent, and treasure to get them the help they need to overcome the circumstances that led them to these horrible options in the first place. Yes, sometimes following Jesus involves tremendous personal sacrifice, but Jesus promises us that the benefits far outweigh the cost. There’s no middle ground here. We can’t logically or faithfully denounce these practices as wrongs for ourselves, while supporting them as rights for others. We will either follow Jesus, or we will walk away. It’s our choice. Trust me, I know that the choices we face as Christians certainly aren’t as simple as picking out a piece of candy in the grocery store checkout line. At every moment of our lives we stand face-to-face with an eternal choice: Will we follow Jesus, or will we walk away? The choices we face in our Christian mission aren’t always easy, but the rewards are sweet. Blessings or woes – the choice is ours. May we all be blessed. Readings: Jeremiah 17: 5-8; Psalm 1: 1-6; 1 Corinthians 15: 12, 16-20; Luke 6: 17-26 [1] Diane Bergant, “The Book of Psalms,” New Collegeville Bible Commentary: Old Testament, Daniel Durken, ed. (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2015), 902. [2] William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001), 92. [3] John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers: The Relentless Widow, Luke Year C (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2006), 45. A Little News Print 417 Please login or register to post comments.