June 30, 2020
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year A) on June 28, 2020 at St. Austin Catholic Parish in Austin, TX. The homily is based on the day’s readings: 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; Psalm 89; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; and Matthew 10:37-42.
This year, we’re working our way through the Gospel of Matthew. It’s OK if we’ve forgotten that, since we haven’t heard much from Matthew in the past three months. But starting last week and now through Thanksgiving, it’s Matthew every Sunday. Today we wrap up the second of Jesus’ five great teaching discourses. This discourse features the instructions that Jesus gave to the twelve apostles before sending them out two by two to proclaim the gospel.
In this so-called “Missionary Discourse,” Matthew is not just recording the words of Jesus. He is presenting them in a way that makes them relevant to his immediate audience – a group of Jewish Christians who have been rejected by other Christians for being Jewish and rejected by other Jews for being Christian. But Matthew also presents the discourse in a way that we should also find relevant to our lives today. As TCU scripture professor M. Eugene Boring once wrote, “To the extent that [this discourse] seems alien, it is a call to reexamine our own version of Christianity and ask whether we have remade the Christian faith to our own tastes.” 1 May we continually conform ourselves more closely to the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Earlier in this second teaching discourse of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus invited the apostles to go out two by two, he spoke in harsh terms. He said: “I send you out like sheep in the midst of wolves.” (Matthew 10:16). It brings to mind the idiom “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” which implies that even one wolf among a flock of sheep means all the sheep are in danger. How much danger must there be for two sheep to be among a pack of wolves? Even at the beginning of today’s passage, Jesus speaks about how we must love him more than our own family. The message is clear: Christian discipleship can be filled with danger and sacrifice.
But then, Jesus ends the discourse on a note of gentleness and consolation. He equates the way we treat prophets, righteous people, and “little ones” with how we treat him. There’s some ambiguity in what Matthew means by these three groups of people. There are places in Matthew’s gospel that use the words “prophets” and “righteous” together to mean the church as a whole. The “little ones” refers probably not to children, but to ordinary Christian disciples.2
This is a very strange thing for Jesus to be telling the apostles as he sends them out to preach the gospel to unknown towns for the first time. I guess Jesus is talking about how the apostles should treat the strangers they meet on the journey. That is, he’s probably saying, whenever you recognize someone as a prophet, as a righteous person, or as someone worthy of receiving a cup of cold water, that proves that you are living out the Sermon on the Mount. But could it actually be the opposite, that Jesus is speaking about how strangers will receive the apostles as they go on their missionary journey? That is, is he saying, whoever recognizes you as a prophet, as a righteous person, or gives you even a cup of cold water – that stranger is someone who lives out the Sermon on the Mount?
Either way, this discourse features some real dichotomies. If I could advise a pair of sheep entering a pack of wolves, I’d tell them to be on their guard and to trust no one. Instead, Jesus suggests radical hospitality. Jesus says that we must love him more than mother or father, daughter or son, but then he says that people of faith will show their love for him by treating others with respect and compassion.
I think most of us here at St. Austin understand the idea of hospitality. This weekend, we’re going to offer a blessing to the countless volunteers at St. Austin who do so much to help one another and to help our most vulnerable neighbors. We say that all are welcome here, and while we can always do better, we do a pretty good job. But how hospitable are we in other spheres of our life? How hospitable are we to the people who are on the other side of the political spectrum? to those who disagree with us about preventing the coronavirus? to those who think we are misguided in our religious beliefs? What are lonely sheep to do among a pack of wolves?
Let’s remember who Matthew is writing to: a bunch of Jewish Christians who feel that they are surrounded by wolves – by Jews who are not Christians, and by Christians who are not Jews. But couldn’t it also be argued that Jewish Christians have more in common with both non-Jewish Christians and non-Christian Jews than either of those groups have with one other? Could the Jewish Christians be the perfect bridge builders to unite the kingdom of God?
As we hear from Paul today (and in this same passage back at the Easter Vigil), because we have died with Christ, we shall live with him. We will effectively invite others to join us in this new life not by pointing out how we are different from them, but by celebrating our common bonds. Christians are supposed to be people who try to do good, to be good, and to love… but almost everyone else in the world is trying to do the same.
In our gospel passage today, Jesus uses the verb “receives” over and over again: “whoever receives me…” “whoever receives you…” “whoever receives a prophet…” “whoever receives a righteous person….” That’s the same verb we use for Eucharist: to receive communion. As we used to pray, “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed.” To be like Jesus, we must be receptive to those who are different from us in beliefs, in politics, in skin color. Otherwise, we are rejecting Jesus himself.
A friend of mine has the most interesting tattoo to illustrate his Christian discipleship. It depicts a sheep – representing either Jesus or one of us disciples – dressed in wolf’s clothing. It’s a radical concept. Whenever I’ve described this tattoo to people, they’re sure I’ve misspoken, that I meant to sat “a walf in sheep’s clothing.” No, this is a sheep in wolf’s clothing.
And I think that’s an image to cling to these days. When we interact with people who are different from us, we may feel as if we are vulnerable sheep sent among “wolves” living out of anger, fear, and criticism. But we must use love as our protection, rather than responding to them with similar fears. After all, Jesus considers these “wolves” not to be vicious animals, but his beloved children. Let us receive those who are different from us in the same way we receive Jesus into our hands, into our bodies, and into our hearts. And may they, in turn, receive us in the same way.
Jesus says: “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” May we find our life’s purpose in placing other people’s concerns on par with our own.
Notes:
- M. Eugene Boring, “The Gospel of Matthew: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections” in The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. VIII, Leander E. Keck, general editor (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), p. 264. ↩
- Ibid., 263. ↩