OCTOBER 25th 2020: THERTIETH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR Exodus 22:20-26
I Thessalonians 1:5c-10
Matthew 22:34-40 Rarely does a liturgical reading more apply to the “sitz im leben” we’re experiencing right here and now than today’s Exodus pericope. “Thus says Yahweh, ‘You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.’” The authors of our Hebrew Scriptures constantly single out three groups of people for special care: orphans, widows and resident aliens. Each has no one “significant” to plead their cause. The first two have no father or husband; the last are “strangers in the land.” That’s why, as we hear in II Samuel 14, any of the three can knock on the palace door 24/7 and demand an audience with the king. Though frequently overlooked, one of the main reasons 11th century BCE Israelites created the monarchy was to make certain the helpless in the land had a protector: the king. Those with no clout could always depend on him to supply that clout. The biblical prophets and lawmakers presumed the king’s obligations also were the people’s obligations. Reminding them of their past helplessness, Yahweh expects all Israelites to care for the needs of those who find themselves in a similar predicament. Not only were orphans, widows and resident aliens to receive special care, the poor were also to get singular treatment: no interest on any loan they were forced to take out, nor could a lender keep a cloak overnight that had been taken as collateral. The goal of these laws was to maintain the dignity of those, who through no fault of their own, were in danger of losing that dignity. The gospel Jesus, as a good Jew, certainly agrees with such generous behavior, quoting the well-known Leviticus command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Yet as a reformer of Judaism, he places such giving of oneself on the same level as loving Yahweh. Writing specifically for a Jewish/Christian audience, Matthew makes certain his readers get the point. His Jesus alone states, “The whole law and the prophets (the biblical term for the Hebrew Scriptures) depend on these two commandments.” In other words, if you’re not actively loving God and your neighbor, forget about reading the Bible. It always bothers me, a priest, to hear Paul write about being a “model” for others to imitate, as he does at the beginning of I Thessalonians. Growing up hearing the term “other Christ” applied solely to priests, it really bothered me when I saw some of those special people physically discipline some of the boys in my grade school class. I couldn’t picture the historical Jesus engaging in such violent behavior. (At least I never saw a holy card depicting him “beating the tar out” of some hapless kid.) Only later, when I learned the title other Christ (Christian) was originally given to all followers of Jesus, I began to understand that all of us should be careful of how we treat others, especially those over whom we have power. Someone’s always watching – for good or bad. And someone’s always affected – for good or bad. We have no idea how “far” our example reaches. One of the highest compliments we can be payed is to hear that people are speaking well of us not just to us, but to “others.” Paul pays that compliment to his Thessalonians. Like almost everyone, we often boast about our influential friends. Telling others that we know them seems to give us a higher stature in their eyes. Rarely do we boast about our friendship with the individuals in our midst who have no clout. Wouldn’t it be great if, at the pearly gates, the risen Jesus will one day greet us with, “Welcome! I’ve already heard all about the good things you’ve done for the helpless?” |
