Homily for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C

HOMILY FOR THE 13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

One of the themes of the readings today, at least the first reading and the Gospel are about the call of God.  God calls us to do things, to embrace a particular life, and it may not be in quite the way we expect it to be or even want it to be.

Our first reading today begins with God’s selection of a young man named Elisha to be the successor of the very famous prophet Elijah. God speaks to Elijah and tells him to go find a young farmer named Elisha and anoint him as a prophet and successor. Elisha acts somewhat strangely by our standards and simply finds the boy in a field and throws a cloak over him and walks away. For whatever reason Elisha seems to know what Elijah and God are asking him, so he asks if he can say goodbye to his parents, and as a symbol of leaving everything behind, he kills all his oxen and gives them as food.  He has nothing left of his own, so he goes and follows Elijah as his servant.  And he stays his servant and  lives in Elijah’s shadow for eight years. Eventually he does become a successor and a prophet of Israel, but he always remains in the shadow of Elijah who was one of the most famous of Israel’s prophets.

Elisha is noted for hearing the call of God and following it without question. He had been a farmer, but lowered himself to a servant in the process. He left his parents and his life to do God’s will.

This theme is picked up in the Gospel today as well. We see two types of followers of Jesus, those who have been called and those who ask to be called, but may not be. An unnamed person says to Jesus that he will follow Jesus wherever he goes. Jesus doesn’t say ‘Thank you’ or ‘Oh, how nice of you!’ but simply indicates that he has no home base and he travels constantly.  We don’t really know whether Jesus accepts this offer or not, or whether the young man is willing to leave everything and just travel.

Another man, again unnamed, is called by Jesus, however. Jesus asks him to follow him. Apparently his father has just died, and he tells Jesus that he will follow him but, he needs to go and bury his father.  This is a law and obligation of a son. But Jesus says no, and in a very famous statement says: let the dead bury the dead. As cold a statement as this seems to be, we need to remember that in Jewish custom and law a dead person had to be buried within 24 hours and mourned for seven days. The man seems to be lying or making an excuse and Jesus has picked up on it. Another theory might be that the man wants to go back because he wants to claim his inheritance so he can then live securely.  Jesus may know this and be telling him that he must leave all those ‘dead things’ of this life behind him in order to follow him to a new life. A third interpretation might be that Jesus wants the man to realize that he should be spending his time on those people who are living rather than on the dead. Christian life is a life of service to others who are living.

Now a third man is asked by Jesus to follow him. This again unnamed third man agrees to it, but wants, like Elisha, to go back and say goodbye to his parents. Unlike Elijah, who agreed to let Elisha do this, Jesus does not want his followers to look behind, but only ahead. “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Again, a hard, cold saying. But what it means is that the true follower of Christ is one who trusts in Jesus completely and relies on him. Few of us can appreciate the farming imagery used here, but we have planted gardens. If you plant seeds and keep looking behind to see if they have taken, if they are in straight rows, if you have missed a spot, then you are spending too much time in the past and not living in the present. Jesus wants us to be with him in the moment and live in full awareness of the life we have been given.

How do we follow Jesus? Do we use Love as the yardstick which measures all our actions? Do we live in the present with Jesus and appreciate the moment?

The second theme of the readings is Jesus’ reaction to the Apostles who certainly don’t act out of love in this section.  In fact, there is no love for the Samaritans at all. In the second reading Paul has stated: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  The Apostles sure haven’t picked up that message yet.

Some background here is necessary.  The Samaritans had been treated as enemies of the Judeans for centuries, even though they both believed in the same God.  I am reminded about the way we used to think of Protestants when I was a child, or the way some Protestant sects are taught to think about Catholics. I remember we were told we shouldn’t even walk by the Protestant school but should take another route!  By the first century B.C., however, this hatred of Samaritans and Judeans reached a peak because the Samaritans enjoyed more royal favor with the Romans. Some Samaritans even murdered a group of Judean pilgrims going to Jerusalem.

So, when the Apostles spoke so emotionally about what should happen to Samaritans, it was a general feeling of the time amongst Judeans. Luke’s Gospel goes out of its way many times to change the image of a Samaritan, however, and that begins here.  Jesus rebukes the Apostles for their ‘eye for an eye’ type logic.  Later, Luke will have Jesus tell the story of the Good Samaritan, and the one Samaritan leper who comes back to thank Jesus. Luke takes Jesus’ rebuke seriously in his Gospel and tries to change minds about Samaritans.

For us today, there is also a lesson here.  How should we treat people of other faiths or cultures, or people who have hurt us, or people we are afraid of. Should we allow division because of tradition or should we try to find ways to understand and empathize with these people.  We are people who are called, but are there people who are called to a different way? Is there only one way to follow Christ? We are called today to consider this in our own lives and battle against our own prejudices and our own fears, and to put into practice Jesus’ law of love that Paul tells us of today, and this is the Good News we need to find this week!

Fr. Ron Stephens, St. Andrew’s Church, Warrenton VA