12 October 2014 - Thanksgiving Weekend
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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First Reading
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Isaiah 25.6-10a
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Second Reading
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Philippians 4.12-14, 19-20
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Gospel Reading
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Matthew 22.1-14
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Sometimes
in our dedication to being good Christians, we forget that Jesus was
a Jew. We forget that much of what Jesus says in the New Testament
is an expansion of themes found in the Hebrew Scriptures, especially
the Prophets. We also forget that Paul's writing comes from a man
grounded in the Torah and the Prophets. One of the central themes
found in the Hebrew Scriptures is justice.
Jesus'
parable in today's Gospel can be viewed as a prequel of sorts to
today's passage from Isaiah, in which the Prophet tells us of the
feast God will prepare. But our God is not content just to feed our
stomachs and relieve our thirst, God is going to soothe the hurts we
have received. God “will wipe away the tears from all faces”
and take away the disgrace of all the earth and it's people. Our
God is a generous God and it is right to shout our thanks and praise.
In
the second reading Paul tells of going through good times and bad,
sustained by faith. However, the lectionary omits the middle verses
of the passage for today. In those verses Paul, praises the
Philippians for their support of his mission. Paul clarifies what he
means and says to them, “17Not
that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your
account. ...I have received from
Epaphroditus
the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and
pleasing to God.”
When Paul says, “And
my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his
riches,”
he is not advocating that you give so that you can get. Rather, he
is saying that if everybody gives or shares, everybody will have what
they need. He is saying all gifts are from God. Generosity with our
gifts imitates God's generosity with us.
The
phrase, “many are called but few are chosen” at the end of
today's Gospel has often been used as an exclusionary device. But if
we look at it in the context of the whole parable, we see it
shouldn't be. Jesus is familiar with the writing of Isaiah and, of
course, with God's will for us. “ The Lord of hosts will make for
all peoples a feast.” Put in today's terms, our Creator invites
us to participate in making the Kindom a place of plenty, a feast.
Therefore, justice is key to one's participation.
The
rich and important folks are invited but they are too busy with
agribusinesses or corporate affairs to accept the invitation. The
poor of the world are crying out, extending God's invitation to
governments and corporations to be just. We hear of Coca-Cola or
Monsanto executives that hire paramilitaries to silence those cries
and the government of Canada ignore the rights of Indigenous Peoples
and refuse deal fairly with refugee claimants. They refuse to be
part of the feast. After their refusal, the invitation is extended
to the ordinary folks. But even among these, there are those who
refuse to put on the clothes of justice and compassion.
The
distinction made in the Gospel between “those who have been
invited” and “those invited from the streets” does not mean
that God invites the important people first and then the ordinary
people last. Jesus uses this to show that acceptance to participate
in God's plan for us doesn't depend on one's station in life, but
more importantly, to show that those with more power have a greater
responsibility to use that power for the good of all but usually
don't.
God
invites us all to help “wipe away the tears from all faces” and
it can start with little things. A particularly significant example
for this weekend, is the issue of Columbus Day. In 1992, the city of
Berkeley, California, has replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous
People's Day. Since then, other cities including Sebastopol and
Santa Cruz, California; Dane County, Wisconsin; Minneapolis,
Minnesota; and Seattle, Washington, have done the same.1
This may seem trite or insignificant but as a Seattle city
councillor said, “Changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day
is about taking a stand against racism.2”
These city governments didn't decide to do this on their own. There
were those, who like in the parable, refused to change but most
peoplethe
people in the streets
took a stance of solidarity with Native Americans. Their concern and
perseverance for justice finally got their municipal governments to
act.
I
now return to “many are called but few are chosen”. The Greek,
κλητός
(klétos)
translated as “called” could also be translated as “invited”.
Likewise, ἐκλεκτός (eklektos) translated as “chosen,”
typically describes people who choose to follow God, to follow in the
footsteps of Christ. God's gifts are always dependent on our
acceptance. We show our gratitude and thanksgiving for God's
invitation and gifts by the way we act, by the way we treat our
neighbour.
Rather than a declaration of the superiority of the few or endorsing
exclusion, Jesus is saying, “many are invited but few make the
right choice.” Our God is a generous God and it is right to shout
our thanks and praise in word and
most of all
in deed.
Point
to Ponder:
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. Let's take a moment and think of
something that we take for granted, then express our thanks to God,
and/or, think of something that God may be inviting us as individuals
to do and name it.
1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day#Non-observance
2http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/10/07/Columbus-Day-now-Indigenous-Peoples-Day-in-Seattle/9581412715558/
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