November 10, 2024 This homily is for publication only as I am at St Gregory Abbey in Oklahoma
1 Kings 17: 10-16 + Psalm 146 + Hebrews 9: 24-28 + Mark 12: 38-44
More often than not, we are often tempted to read or hear the Gospel as an historical text that tells us about how things were a long time ago safely distancing ourselves from issues being confronted the Gospel writer and the words and behavior of Jesus. It is a spiritually dangerous practice that runs the risk of having us receive the greater condemnation Jesus speaks of this week.
There is no way to pretend that the focus of this Gospel and its message is for someone else or some other time. The issue Jesus confronts here has gone away with time. And while on the surface we might like to think that the issue is hypocrisy, we would be confusing a symptom for the disease. What gets the attention of Jesus is not really the pompous behavior of the scribes. It is the fact that under their watch the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer. That is what was happening to the widows. They got poorer while those expected to oversee their care are getting rich off of them. It’s not a problem from the past, and Jesus still speaks clearly and forcefully about this matter finding it intolerable. An institution, a community, a church that is formed to be counter cultural must find in these verses a serious challenge and a call to action.
Most of us have no concept about the real disparity that exists all around us either because it bothers us and challenges our security and privilege or because we just don’t know what to do about it. It’s upsetting to be reminded that most people in this world struggle to keep food on the table, pay bills and taxes, keep homes from foreclosure or pay their rent much less have any health insurance. There are some who will say they don’t want to hear about this in church because they come expecting to feel good. We might wonder if their Bibles include Chapter 12 of Mark’s Gospel.
Cutbacks are always on the table for some politicians while the burden of those cutbacks are always born by the people who are hidden and voiceless. That is what Jesus is observing here. To prevent new taxes on the rich, the handicapped, the homeless, the addicts and the working poor suffer more, and who speaks for them? Jesus does, and it should be for all of us who follow him.
This old priest is becoming more and more aware of a trend that I find deeply distressing. Social Justice is something we hardly hear about anymore in the western world’s church. To fill the gap and the silence there is all kind of talk and programs about piety and holiness, holy hours, and pilgrimages. Meanwhile, nothing changes for the very people Jesus cares about the most. They suffer silently.
Most of the abuses they suffer are not done with evil intention. They are not personal. No one wants to hurt a poor widow or a hungry child. In fact, we easily get emotional about it, but rarely do we get rational about it. The scribes were not hateful. They were part of a system that was be perpetuated from generation to generation. They did not create it. It was a system that ran on its own. The only way to stop it was for there to be a desire to stop it.
We hardly notice that we are part of a similar system that takes advantage over the vast majority of people in this world. All the privileges we take for granted really come at someone else’s expense. We shop for the what is least expensive and pride ourselves on being thrifty. Meanwhile, people we never see or hear about are working in sweatshops, some are children doing that in unsafe conditions when they should be in school or just out playing. People are dying in wars that really being fought over gasoline. Exploitation is the issue, and blind greed, power, and privilege fuel it without question.
This is a hard text to read, to hear, and explore humbly and honestly. We cannot be a humble and faithful follower of Jesus Christ without embracing his concern and his passion for justice. A religion without a mission for justice is phony and a sham. The holiest people I know were never particularly pious, but they were passionate for victims of exploitation, the poor, the forgotten. Many of them, in our life time have been real martyrs murdered because the powerful in positions of leadership have seen them as a threat to their privilege and wealth. What are we to make of this? What is it Jesus asks except for us to find and work with leaders who will fire up a desire to change, and help us be willing to pay the price.