Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Scripture

At the beginning of one of my homilies three years ago, I made light of the fact that I had brought some lottery tickets. My intentions were not selfish. In fact, I do not want any of the money for myself and you must believe me when I say that. Rather, I would like to pay off the parish debt, make our school financially secure, and try to make sure that children go to bed not worrying about food the next day. However, it is what happened after my confession that is really funny. People still send me lottery tickets along with my birthday and Christmas gifts. Some parishioners bought tickets in my name at the parish raffle. Others still buy the lottery for my cause and I even get a regular report about it. The news often is sad! Here I stand before you as poverty stricken as ever. I have this suspicion that had all that money been put in the “Blessing of Ten” box, we would be that much closer to paying off the debt. How tempting it is to hope that our problems would be solved like magic. 

James and John came to Jesus in today’s gospel reading and say to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” (Mk 10:35) If only God were Santa Claus. Santa Claus is the only one we can give our “whatever we ask you” list and get most of it… almost.  That is why I believe that if there were no Santa Claus we would have had to invent one. Like James and John sometimes it is difficult to accept that God does not work like Santa Claus.

Let me put today’s readings in a context. The way the gospel of Mark is written the central question of the Gospel occurs in Mark 8: 29. Jesus asked his disciples the question, “Who do you say that I am?” Once Peter made the messianic confession, Jesus began to reveal the real nature of his messiahship. Three times after the Petrine confession, Jesus predicts his suffering, death and resurrection. James and John’s “Whatever we ask you,” question occurs after the third passion prediction. There is a pattern here: a) Jesus predicts his suffering and death (Mk 8:31, 9:31 10:33-34); b) the disciples misunderstand Jesus and discuss some irrelevant issue like ‘who is the greatest?’ or ‘can my brother and I sit at your right and left hand?’(Mk 8:32, 9:33-34 and 10:35) and c) Jesus gives the disciples and lesson in discipleship (Mk 8: 34-38, 9:35-37, and 10:42-45). Today’s lesson is, “Whoever, wishes to great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.”

Jesus teaches his disciples about the costs and demands of discipleship against the background of his own impending suffering and death. We find that background in today’s first reading from Isaiah. This reading is read on Good Friday every year. Jesus, in radical obedience to his Father, lays his life at the service of salvation. Without that radical self-surrender there would be no salvation. In other words, Jesus’ own life is a paradigm for servant discipleship. For him life was not a lottery. Salvation did not come like gifts from Santa. Rather, his life was a deliberate and well-thought out life, lived in service of God and fellow human beings.

I would like to draw three practical implications from today’s readings.

1. The first point that today’s readings present is a paradigm shift in the way we conceive religion, faith and spirituality. As we grow up as adults our faith must also mature. Growing in spiritual maturity is moving from a “Whatever we ask you” relationship with God to a “Lord, what I can do for you” spirituality. Our relationship with God on the most primary level has to be independent of any fringe benefits. Jesus points the way to Christian growth and maturity by pointing to his own suffering and death. What is Jesus saying to us through that? That Christian discipleship is not about waiting for God to do things for us but we waiting upon God to be at the service of God’s kingdom. And this change of focus of our faith often calls for a paradigm shift.

1. Second, today’s reading tell us that salvation is not a joke. Like James and John, we would like to think that winning a lottery, or saying a few prayers, or getting ‘whatever we ask’ can lead us to eternity. Paul would tell the Philippians to work out their salvation in fear and trembling (Phil 2: 12). Jesus has opened the way to salvation by his death and resurrection. But that path to salvation is hard and narrow. I met a man the other day in church and showed me a prayer to St. Gertrude. And he asked me to say that prayer because every time I said so many souls would be freed my purgatory. Sometimes what people mean when they say faith, I think they mean magic. That is how James and John conceive of it. But Jesus shows them that faith is a hard, disciple road to eternity. How about setting souls in purgatory free by continuing to believe in the midst of pain or by forgiving someone, or giving ten percent of our income to God, or giving our time to a service organization. We must work out our salvation is fear and trembling.