UNEDITED HOMILY FOR SEPTEMBER 27
 
Although the Gospel text today is, in many ways, quite harsh and demanding, I also find a certain amount of humor in it.
 
The disciples are trying to decide who is in and who is out. They are  concerned about someone else having the right credentials.It’s all about who is qualified. And Jesus says, “Get serious, guys. That is not what this is all about. ”  
 
But there is more humor in this text as illustrated by the following story told by an Episcopalian priest by the name of David Galloway who had just finished a golf game when in walks a guy by the name of Hugh,  a drink in one hand and a cigar in the other. He came up to my table and started talking loud, the only volume level he had, so loud that the attention of the room naturally turned to him. He bellowed at me, "You Episcopalians don't believe in the Bible, do you?!" Rather than take the bait, I just looked at him and smiled weakly, hoping he would pass on by like an East Texas thunderstorm.
 He went on, "David, I want to go to a church that is Bible-believing. A place where the preacher is not trying to tippy-toe around the hard lessons of Jesus, a preacher who will lay it on the line, not try to water down the Gospel. I want a preacher who will be bold and put it out there, the full measure of the Bible, not hold back a lick. I want a preacher who will not let sinners slide and will call them out by name. I want the full Gospel.
I do not know where my response came from, but I heard it issuing forth from my lips after taking a long sip from my glass. "You want the full Gospel, Hugh? You mean the part about selling all you have and giving it to the poor?"
A pregnant silence fell over the room, after which Hugh responded, "Well, not that part!"
The room broke up in laughter. Hugh slunk out of the room as quietly as possible. Everyone was high-fiving me for having put Hugh in his place. "Way to go's" from Presbyterians, Methodists, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Jews. David had slain Goliath once again, and all was right with the world.
I went home that night particularly proud of myself and proceeded to tell the story to my wife. Mary, again a better Christian than I am, laughed at the story. But then my partner asked the evident but avoided question: "David, what part of the Gospel do you avoid?"
Don't you think she could have waited awhile? Couldn't she give me the evening to enjoy the thrill of victory? But, no, she had to bring me to an uncomfortable truth. And the truth is that there's a tendency in everyone of us to avoid the hard parts of the Gospel when they are inconvenient to our habits, our lifestyles, our ways of being in the world.
In a way what Jesus is doing today is getting the disciples out of their competitive mode, their comparison mode, their judgmental mode and challenging them to think about their own faith, their own discipleship and their own obstacles.
The command to cut off your hand and gouge your eyes out is obviously not literal. They lock such people up as self destructive. I am convinced that Jesus would not use that image today because there are already too many people who hurt themselves, cut themselves, and do other things out of self hatred.
So what’s the point?  The point is: How do you want to grow your faith and what stands in the way and how are you going to work with that? How can  you choose better ways in your own life.
One of the things I recognize in my own life is that I am not going to be a Saint Francis or a Joan of Arc and certainly not a Moses or a Jesus. …. But also I don’t want to be just a bland person or a mediocre Christian or simply be a part of the noise of the world we live in. Yes, I am not Saint Francis but I do want to be more  generous, I do want to be courageous, I do want to fall in love whether that be with my work or the Scripture or human beings.   I do want to pay attention to God in my life. I do want to be a person of faith.  How do I do that? and what stands in the way?.
As Christians in the 21st Century I think we face immense challenges that have nothing to do with cutting off our hands. Being Christian today is hard..  I want to list a few of the challenges we have to work with.  
1.     We make too much noise to hear the word of God. It’s almost impossible for us to shut the noise of our minds off. We suffer from attention deficit even when it comes to God, perhaps especially when it comes to God.
2.     We move too fast for God to ever catch up with us.
3.     We participate in a culture of distraction and being entertained. In many ways we are prisoners of distraction and no one seems to know where the key to the jail is.
4.     We have more information and facts than ever but we have less meaning.
5.     The culture wars have become divisive and, often, hateful and angry. Hateful and angry Christianity is a direct contradiction of Jesus.
6.     The line between faith and doubt runs right through the middle of each of us. We are not sure what to do with the many uncertainties and contradictions we have today about the purpose of life and the meaning of God
7.     Our society is no longer sure what it means to be a human being or what it means to be a good human being.
8.     We tell ourselves the wrong stories. Stories like: everybody gets  what they deserve, money will make me happy, I am entitled and you are here to meet my needs. Jesus told very different stories.
9.     We are too anxious too often about too many things. We lack a fundamental trust in goodness of life itself which also leads to a lack of trust in God. 
All of those are obstacles to faith and following Jesus. In some sense they have always been there because they are about ego, about self interest. Jesus asks when will you get beyond yourself?
The challenges are great. We are them. We live in the midst of them. What Christ asks today is: How will your faith grow in order to meet the challenge? I have a handout that makes some suggestions. I also put them on the website.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
GROWING YOUR FAITH
 
Jesus  is the center. We learn from him. He is the one who leads, he is the one who calls us to serve others. Growing my relationship with Jesus.
 
Vision – trying to grasp the big picture of the Kingdom of God
 
Service: Doing things not for others but with others. Knowing that Christ is along side us as we work with others.
 
Reflecting: Quiet time, observing where God may be acting in my life. Prayer. Having a meaningful conversation about my faith with someone who can give some guidance.
 
Valuing: Clarifying the values I have. Asking Christ to help shape them
 
Choosing: Reflecting on the possible courses of action and choosing what seems to be better.
We strive to do the better thing out of love for ourselves, others, and God. Choosing based on my values and the values of Christ. Living deliberately and consciously and not just pushed by habit or pushed by “that’s what everybody else is doing.”
 
Laboring: We collaborate with Christ in the work of redeeming and healing the world.
Thanking: ALL IS GIFT. Thanksgiving is our basic prayer.
Then living life for all its worth. ( Faith is not meant to take you away from normal life or away from the joy of life)
(adapted from WHAT IS IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY by Fr. David Fleming, SJ)

ADDITIONAL NOTE ON THE SECOND READING IN WHICH JAMES COMPLAINS ABOUT PEOPLE WHO CHEAT WORKERS.

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PERHAPS YOU might consider Christmas gifts and other shopping at one of these three websites. Two have stores here in Indianapolis.

www.experiencethevillage.com

http://www.crsfairtrade.org/

http://www.globalgiftsindy.com/

Last Updated (Saturday, 24 October 2009 22:41)