| Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Deacon Rick Lapierre |
I was watching the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou" the other day. I found it very interesting, a combination of comedy and drama based on the Greek author Homer's famous work, "The Odyssey". The three convicts come to a crossroads, where they pick up a black man with a guitar, who becomes key to many of their subsequent adventures. They then drive off on the road of their choice and as the camera pulls back you see the three roads stretching into the flat farmlands of the Deep South. When they made their choice, they really had no idea where any of the roads would lead.
This morning as I pondered this in light of today's gospel I recall four people who stand at a crossroads with choices to make. Two said "no", one said "yes" and the fourth is still on the fence.
The first is the young man in the gospel story. It should be noted that his choice is not between good and evil, or black and white. Mark tells us clearly that he is a good man, having followed the law faithfully all his life. He is also so wise as he notices that all of his wealth is not the key to happiness and eternal life, and that Jesus has the answer to this ultimate question. But Jesus' answer to the question gives him pause. Jesus tells him "Sell all you have, give it to the poor and then, come follow me". It's crunch time, fish or cut bait, what do you want to do? You're standing at the crossroad: right, left, straight ahead or turn back. The young man makes his decision. It's better to trust in my wealth and what I have in my hand than in the promise of Jesus. He says "no" and turns back. And Mark points out that this choice from the very beginning makes him sad.
A second person who also said "no" was Sir Kenneth Clark. Sir Kenneth was the host of the PBS show "Civilization". He was a learned and charming man, who in his autobiography described himself as a secular humanist, who had no use for religion and doubted the existence of God. In his autobiography, he also tells of a time when he was sitting in the Church of San Lorenzo in Italy. He wrote: "For a few minutes my whole being was irradiated with a kind of heavenly joy far more intense than anything I have ever known." Later as he reflected on this experience, he realized he stood at a crossroads. If after all of his years of writing as a secular humanist, he suddenly gave credence to this experience and he feared his family and friends would think he had gone off the deep end. So standing at the crossroads and having heard the call of God in his life, he said "no" and turned back. He would later write, "I was too deeply imbedded in the world to change course, but no doubt I had felt the finger of God and it helped me to understand the joy of the saints." His biographers note that at the end of his life, as his health failed, he fell into depression and died destitute.
The third person, the one who said yes, is Deitrich Bonhoeffer, who was a Lutheran pastor in Germany during the Second World War. Early in the reign of Adolph Hitler, Bonhoeffer wrote of the dangers of Nazism and of the Christian Church's selling out to Hitler in order to assure its own survival. Bonhoeffer's crossroads were perhaps more clearly marked than others. By writing against a powerful totalitarian government, his fate would be sealed. In his wonderful book "The Cost of Discipleship", Bonhoeffer writes, "The object of Jesus' command is always the same, to evoke wholehearted faith, to make us love God and our neighbor with all our heart and soul. This is the only unequivocal feature in his command. Every time we try to perform the command of Jesus in some other sense, we are disobeying it." Bonhoeffer's choice was clear to him. He would follow the command of Jesus, no matter what the consequences. Indeed in his book he prophesied that the cost of discipleship, the cost of following Jesus would be everything, and yet his choice at the crossroads was a resounding "yes". Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis after two years in prison as the Allies were closing in on Berlin.
This brings us to the fourth person at the crossroads. Two have already said "no", one has said "yes" and the other is still deciding. The fourth person is you and I. Every day, many times a day, we are called to choose. Some of these choices may be large, but most are small. Sometimes in my secular work I find myself asking God, "am I making any kind of a difference?" College students, for the most part, are wrapped up in a narcissistic belief that they have all of the answers and that religion and religious belief are part of an ancient mythology that they have no use for in their quest for a high paying job. Even in my role as a teacher of emergency medicine they are often more interested in learning technical skills than in the art of healing, which would involve them in having to give away a part of themselves. And when I find myself immersed in all of these "me" type thoughts, Jesus gently reminds me that I am there to be his representative, his minister. To show my students that God indeed is the author of life and healing and that love is about sacrifice and giving and not about pleasure and receiving. It is the role of the followers of Jesus to be the undercover agents of God in a world that doubts His very existence.
And sometimes our choice has to be to come out as a follower of Jesus. I find this every time the question of abortion comes up. To take the politically very unpopular pro-life decision is to risk one's reputation among co-workers and college students. It is a minor martyrdom, yet one which must be suffered if one is to believe as Bonhoeffer did, that the cost of being a disciple of Jesus is everything.
In the beginning of the 20th century in England, author Hilaire Belloc, a devout Roman Catholic, chose to run for Parliament in deeply anti-Catholic England. He knew that his being Roman Catholic would be a major obstacle so in his very first campaign speech he stood at the podium with his rosary in his hand and said "if you reject me because of my religion, than I shall thank God for sparing me the indignity of being your representative." Belloc knew that choosing to continue following Jesus meant more to him than being a Member of Parliament. Yet in spite of this he was elected to two terms in the House of Commons.
This week, as you approach the crossroads you must encounter in your lives, as you make the decisions of where your life's journey will take you, hear these words, "sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." It may not just be materials goods that have that you are being asked to sell. It may be your reputation, or your job or a relationship. The road ahead may be long and you may not be able to see where it leads. You may even see a cross on the road that you will be nailed to. But our faith means that even after crucifixion and death, there is resurrection and eternal life. And that is what gives meaning to all that we do. "Come, follow me" Jesus says to us again, and again.
