Bound in Love

What is the job of a prophet? Is he or she a fortune teller? Do we hear from a prophet what the economy is going to do next year? No. A prophet is not someone with supernatural forecasting talents. A prophet is one who speaks the word that God wants spoken at the time God wants that word spoken to the people to whom God wants to speak. The Bible is full of reluctant prophets, from Amos who was a trimmer of sycamore trees to Jonah who ran in the opposite direction when called to prophetic ministry. When God calls a prophet, he usually has a hard teaching that needs to be spoken. This is why so many prophets are persecuted or even killed.

A prophet is a teacher, a teacher of uncomfortable realities. The scriptures today remind us that God alone calls prophets, and that we do not like what they want to teach us. The theme of prophetic teaching we hear today is, “What must one do to be considered a good person?” This is also asking, “What must one do to be good enough to go to heaven?”

We know that the answer to these questions starts with accepting the gift of redemption offered to us through Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. We also know that the acceptance of that gift of redemption is a lifelong activity. So the answer to our questions has two parts: first, believe in Jesus; second, now what?

In the readings we hear this morning, we see some more detail on that second part of the answer. The letter of St. James is considered to be part of what in the Old Testament is called wisdom literature. Books like the Psalms, Job, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Sirach, are all meditations on how to live an exemplary life. Of course there are many details in those meditations, but we can draw a simple and clear dividing line between what characterizes a good life versus a bad or wasted life. The good life is the one lived in harmony with God’s plan, and the wasted or empty life is the one lived in harmony with the desires of the world. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; but there is another way, which is the way of the world. That is the choice put before us in these readings. It is the choice put before us each and every day of our lives.

Sometimes it is easier to describe the correct way by first describing the wrong way. “Don’t be like those guys” can be an effective way to teach your children the proper way to behave. And we see that in the reading from James today. He lists the things that the wicked people have prioritized and shows how they ultimately are empty and without value. Wealth has rotted away, fancy clothes have been eaten by moths, precious metals have corroded. James says that all these signs are testimonies against those who have placed their confidence in the riches of the world.

The Psalm today that we read — and the Psalms are part of the same wisdom literature tradition as the letter of St. James — offers a more positive view of the way to a life lived in harmony with God’s plan. The psalmist says that the precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart. Our hearts will be filled if we will learn and meditate upon the teachings of God. The law of God, which we now in the new covenant have written on our hearts, will perfect us. It will make us who we are supposed to be if only we will study it and let it change us. Reverent fear for the majesty and power of our creator is a purifying force in our lives. The psalmist goes on to say that God can see the defects in ourselves that we cannot see, and we can confidently ask him to cleanse them, too. The Psalm concludes that if we can restrain ourselves from sin, or be restrained by God’s love and power, then we will be blameless. And if we are blameless, then we will experience eternal joy in heaven after our death.

In the gospel, Jesus offers an either-or scenario to the disciples. The loss of God’s presence — which is what we call hell — is so bad that it would be better to violently remove whatever it is in our lives that is leading us away from God. We might be shocked by the imagery of cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye, but Jesus uses these severe examples to make sure that we understand the risk of choosing badly. That last description of Gehenna, “where worm does not die and the fire is not quenched,” is striking. Jesus is explaining that either we spend eternity with Him or we experience eternal pain.

Sometimes we need this kind of language in order to wake up to the danger we face. So many times we are lulled into bad places or bad behaviors because it seemed okay when we started and the pace of acceleration was so gentle we didn’t notice how things had changed until it was almost too late. Things that seemed not too bad or even good can be revealed over time to be very dangerous. We pursue the good things of this life such as health and safety, and that is good. But those good things are not as good as the goodness of God. Those good things will go away as James described in his letter this morning. God will not go away. We, too, will not go away. We are made in God’s image, and part of that is having eternal souls. So even at the end of the earth, we will remain.

The wisdom literature, and Jesus’ sermon this morning, are focused on making choices in this life so that when our lives end, and when the world ends, we get to remain with him rather than to remain completely separated from him. Our daily lives really need to be focused on preparation for our eternal day. The riches of this world, the fame of this world, and the pleasures of this world are distractions from that preparation. The readings today remind us that we have to somehow see through those distractions and keep ourselves focused on what is truly good and what is truly important.

Nobody can live this good life without stumbling. Only Jesus and Mary never sinned. Our baptism restored us to right relationship with God, but we are still wounded by the Original Sin. In his great mercy, God has given the Church the sacramental life, by which we can confidently pick ourselves up after a stumble. We receive God’s sanctifying grace in the sacraments; he gives us himself so that we can grow in holiness and become more like Him. He does that dramatically in the Sacrament of Confession and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Our serious sins are wiped away in the confessional, and our smaller sins are cleansed in the Eucharist.

We asked what must one do to live a good life in the eyes of God. And now we have an answer: to live a good life is to dwell on God’s word, to ask for his help, and to receive his grace through the sacraments.