Jesus, Go Away!

The Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, C                                                       February 3, 2019
Fr. Albert                                                                                            St. Peter’s, New Iberia

Because you are so wicked and sinful, God won’t do amazing things in your life… I bet that’s not what you want to hear. Well, you’re not alone. The people of Nazareth didn’t like it either, but that’s kind of what Jesus does here and it’s the reason they almost kill him. It didn’t start like that, though. At first, they were amazed and pleased with his preaching. But Jesus didn’t come to offer pretty words. He came to call to conversion. He came to inspire faith. And when that conversion does not happen, that faith does not respond, he will still tell the truth, even though it eventually does get him killed.

The truth in this case is these people are wicked and sinful and that God really won’t do amazing things in their lives because of it. That’s what Jesus is saying with these references to the Old Testament and to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. The widow in Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian both received miraculous help from God’s prophets, but they were both pagan foreigners – not members God’s chosen people.

But Jesus’ audience is Jewish. They do belong to God’s people. The implication is obvious to everyone in the room; It’s why they go from being proud of their fellow Nazorean to wanting to throw him off a cliff. He’s just said he won’t do miracles for them because they are like the wicked generation of Israelites that lived at the time of Elijah and Elisha, widely regarded as the worst: idolatrous, murderous, greedy – known for the infamous queen Jezebel. It’s an insulting comparison.

Yet, here Jesus says it to the people he grew up with, his own neighbors and family. It’s uncomfortable to admit, but the love of Jesus is sometimes very hard to deal with. His love always rests on the truth and the truth is we are wicked and sinful. The truth is there really are things God won’t do in our lives because of our sinfulness.

And the prophets remind us of that. Remember, you are a prophet too because of your baptism. Listen to what God says to Jeremiah in our first reading: “Gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you… They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.”

We should expect opposition, not only from the world, but sometimes from fellow members of God’s people. Our faith is meant to influence every aspect of our lives. That also means that Catholic teaching covers a lot of different areas. Like the ancient Jews of Nazareth, however, we tend to cling to a few teachings that we like and neglect the others. Prophets tend to challenge our comforts and convict us to lean into those truths that we find most difficult.

I wish I could say everyone in Louisiana, or even in our parish believes what we teach about abortion or marriage or contraception. Even so, many of those who fight hard for these and other difficult moral teachings fall into the same trap as those who deny them. They cling to the truth they like and use it as a shield from the teachings they don’t. Conservatives will bash liberals for caring about immigrants and refugees and the environment while not defending the unborn. But does that mean it’s okay to dismiss their concerns altogether? Is there really nothing worth considering in their political views?

We all wish the world was black and white. We all wish we could simply say “that side is the enemy and they are wrong about everything.” But that’s simply not true. Liberal or conservative, if all you do is complain about what the “other side” believes and does, then Jesus is speaking to you. The Jews got so caught up on what the Samarians and Syrians and Gentiles got wrong that they missed what they got right. In a divine irony, some of Jesus’ greatest miracles and lessons were given to pagans and prostitutes and criminals.

Ghandi wasn’t Christian, but he changed the world with his love. Some liberals have performed acts of love and sacrifice I wish I could imitate. It doesn’t make me doubt the truth of the Catholic faith or what I know about abortion and marriage, but it does challenge me. What is it that heretics and criminals have that we seem to be missing? That answer varies, but I think a common denominator is zeal. So many of these so-called “opponents” are willing to fight for the beliefs, to suffer, be mocked, and even killed for them.

Would you die for you beliefs? Would you die for the belief that your opponents are wrong? Are you absolutely certain that we aren’t harming the environment? Are you absolutely certain there’s nothing wrong with contraception? How much prayer went into that? How much time and prayer and study went into your stance on your most hated political idea or your opposition to a doctrine?

Do you really put Jesus Christ before your political party and socially-acceptable opinions? And if so, are you willing to speak of him when your allies don’t agree? Are you willing to be like Jeremiah, who died at the hands of his own people? Like Jesus Christ, rejected by his hometown? Thanks be to God we have so many who love us and support us in the faith, but our Church is dying. Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple if the Jews did not repent. They didn’t believe him and where is the Temple now?

I really do love the Church of St. Peter’s, the Church in Louisiana, the Catholic Church in America. That is precisely why I say this: The Church in America is dying; our Temple is being destroyed. It’s growing in Africa and Asia and even in parts of Europe, but it’s dying here. Why? Because we are like the Nazoreans: we are complacent about what we know is true and complacent about recognizing truths we don’t already know. Every Catholic always needs more conversion. The more of us who stop acting like it, the faster our Church will shrink.

It’s a two-edged sword. You must challenge the world around you to accept Christ, but the way to do that is not to rail against democrats or republicans, against liberal catholics or conservative ones. We do not win by hating the enemy, but loving the truth enough to be changed by it. Your conversion will cause conversion. Your conviction, conviction.

So, how about it? Will you be passionate about your own conversion? Or will you be like Nazareth whose only passion is trying to kill Jesus when he calls them to conversion? God often makes us uncomfortable, so we want him to leave us alone. If we keep that up, eventually, he will. He’ll pass through our midst and go away. If you think it’s painful keeping Jesus in your life, just wait till you see what it’s like when he’s not.