DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Isaiah 66,18-21; Hebrews 12, 5-7. 11-13; Luke 13,22-30: Year C, 2019)
(Isaiah 66,18-21; Hebrews 12, 5-7. 11-13; Luke 13,22-30: Year C, 2019)
The scene in the first reading, Isaiah 66,18-21, for this Sunday depicts a great ingathering. It is an unusual scene, for people from every nation were brought together. The prophet next announces that these foreign people are called together by God and will become a sign to other foreigners of the glory they themselves have seen. They are also sent out to announce God's fame abroad and to bring their new converts to worship the God of Israel in the Temple in Jerusalem. Both the universal nature and the cultic character of the vision become clear. Those who come from foreign lands are joined with the Israelites at the Temple in Jerusalem. There, both groups offer sacrifice to the Lord. The kind of sacrifice mentioned is the minha (v. 20), a generic name for cereal offerings. While the Israelites seem to bring an actual cereal offering, the others bring new recruits as a symbolic offering. The prophet paints an extraordinary picture. People stream to Jerusalem from all four directions. They all come to worship on God's holy mountain. What may be the most amazing feature of this vision is found in the final verse. It is from these foreign people that God will call forth priests and Levites. Formerly only men from priestly or Levitical families were accorded this honour. Those who were chosen for this service were then responsible for the observance of all of the cultic regulations pertaining to purity. Here it appears that both ethnic privilege and cultic regulations are set aside, and this all happens through the action of God.
The author of the letter to the Hebrews in tackling the issue of suffering and problems found within the community (cf the second reading of today: Hebrews 12, 5-7.11-13) first rebukes the community for not having remembered the teaching found within its own religious tradition. He then appeals to a well-known proverb that provides the explanation he is suggesting (cf. Prov 3, 11-12). Both the original proverb and the author of Hebrews attempt to soften the view that suffering is discipline from God by appealing to the relationship of parent to child. One can say it is out of love and concern that parents discipline their children. Furthermore, it is important to remember that the Greek word for discipline (paideia) does not mean punishment but instruction, or training for life. This is what the community seems to have forgotten, and this is what the author is exhorting them to remember. Suffering is the rigorous training God puts us through so we might be strengthened for life itself. The author next develops the Wisdom theme in a very creative way. Having argued that suffering is not always the consequence of foolish or sinful living, he now maintains that the endurance of suffering, which is surely an act of virtue, will earn a reward for those who suffer. There may be pain now, but there will be joy later for those who are trained (gyrnnazo) in it. This verb introduces the theme of physical exercise. According to the Wisdom tradition an individual must choose one of two paths, the way of the wise or the way of the foolish. The path referred to here is the way of the athlete, and the advice given admonishes the runner to make sure the path is straight so there will be no mishap. Suffering, then, can be compared to the training a concerned parent provides for a beloved child or to the discipline an athlete undergoes in order to be prepared to run the race.
The gospel account, Luke 13,22-30, contains both soteriological and christological teaching. The gospel scene is introduced by the question some one posed to Jesus: Sir will it be only a few to be saved? Jesus gives no direct answer to the question but turns the focus from curiosity about the salvation of others to concern about one's own future, just like the shift he made when the lawyer asked him to identify his neighbour (cf. Luke 10,25-37) Jesus introduces his story with an exhortation: Strive (agonizomai), a word used when describing the energy put forward during athletic competitions. With this exhortation he is telling his hearers to struggle for the prize, to commit themselves wholeheartedly, for the task before them is not an easy one. He then tells a story to illustrate how difficult it will be for some to be saved. This does not suggest that salvation is open to only a few. Rather, it shows that some do not make the necessary effort to get into the banquet hall. They either do not respond to the invitation in a timely fashion and then come too late to be admitted, or they presume that casual association with rather than genuine commitment to the master of the house (presumably Jesus) is adequate. In both cases those outside who expect to be admitted are turned away. To add to their dismay, they are told that some whom they look down on as outsiders will be brought in to the festivities while they will remain outside, weeping in disappointment and gnashing their teeth in envy. The people who will come from the four corners are probably the righteous Gentiles who will be invited to dine with the heroes of Israelite history. This gospel shows some of the surprising reversals the reign of God will bring forth. Salvation is not promised exclusively to one group and not to another; the contrasts drawn are not all-inclusive. Still, the surprise will be in seeing who is saved and who is not. Insiders will be kept outside, and outsiders will be brought in; Jews will be barred from the messianic banquet, while Gentiles will feast at it; outcasts will be welcome, but religious elites will not. While this is true only of some members of each group, the reversals themselves will startle many.
The readings of today offer us an opportunity to reflect on salvation and the role discipleship plays in it. We see the universal scope of God's salvific grace sketched again and again. It is a grace that draws people into the community and sends disciples out from that community to proclaim the good news of salvation. The vision of a disciple must be the vision of God. It cannot be myopic or parochial, it has to be universal. Disciples must see with wide-angle lenses, which enable them to recognise that God offers the grace of salvation to all. The passages from both Isaiah and Luke are astounding in their inclusivity. They show that God's saving grace is unbounded. It reaches out to those whom the People of God may not only distrust but sometimes even despise. From their, or our, point of view only those who have been faithful deserve salvation. Only those who belong to the right religious groups, who believe the correct religious doctrines, and who follow an approved way of life should be gathered into the company of the saved. There is something dangerous about being smugly convinced of one's own
(GRPHICS BY CHARLES)
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