“God chose those whom the world considers absurd to shame the wise; God singled out the weak of this world to shame the strong. God chose those whom the world looks down on, despises and regards as nothing, in order to destroy what the world regards as important.” 1 Corinthians 1: 26-31
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: the reign of God is theirs…” Matthew 5: 1-12
In his book, Who Needs God? Rabbi Harold Kushner, reflecting on religion, wrote: “Religion is not primarily a set of beliefs, a collection of prayers or a series of rituals. Religion is first and foremost a way of seeing. It can’t change the facts about the world we live in, but it can change the way we see those facts, and that, in itself, can often make a difference.” (Harold Kushner, Who Needs God? p.19, Simon & Schuster, N.Y. 2002) This makes me ask myself just how has my being a card-carrying Catholic influenced the way I look at the world, and has what I have seen prompted me to act in ways that Jesus would approve.
As I looked at today’s first reading from Zephaniah the word “remnant” caught my attention and reminded me of the reality that most of the people to whom the First/Old Testament prophets proclaimed God’s word did not embrace it and act on it. It didn’t change their lives. In fact, many of Israel’s prophets were threatened with violence. As a result, most of them came to the conclusion that only a minority of the people of Israel would take any notice of them. The people to whom Jesus proclaimed the coming of the reign of God were no different. In today’s gospel-reading from Matthew, known to us as the Beatitudes, Jesus presented his agenda for the mission he had discerned had been given to him by God. Those Beatitudes resonate loudly with the words he read from the scroll of Isaiah in his home-town synagogue of Nazareth: “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.” (Isaiah 61: 1-2) He then added: “This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen” (Luke 4: 21). Luke recorded how the people in the synagogue gave him a vote of approval, having been “astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips” (Luke 4: 22) However, in next to no time, they were enraged and set out to throw him off a nearby cliff. Sounds like the treatment meted out to prophets before him!
In this context, let’s not forget that Jesus had plenty of competition. At the time, there were at least four Jewish sects trying to attract new members: mainline Jews, Sadducees, Essenes and Pharisees. While crowds came to hear Jesus, out of curiosity and hoping to witness miracles, he had only a small group of close followers.
Today’s gospel-reading is the opening of three chapters in Matthew which we know as “the Sermon on the Mount”, which is a full elaboration of Jesus’ agenda for those who would give him their allegiance and give themselves to establishing his dream for the world. Clearly, this did not appeal to everyone. Only a minority would have been able to accept that a peaceful world could be created by those who made a practice of forgiving, befriending and loving their enemies. Showing mercy, welcoming persecution, basking in insults and invariably putting the good of others first are practices which few would rush to embrace. Matthew, too, realised that only a remnant could adopt such practices and follow them day in and day out.
Today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to his Corinthian community makes it clear that Paul, too, had realised that this little group chosen by God was no more than a remnant made up of those regarded as lowly, weak and foolish could be charged with a mission to confound and put to shame the worldly wise and those who considered themselves powerful. This has been a story that has been repeated across centuries.
Moreover, there has been a succession of Biblical scholars in our own times (many of them Jesuits) who have noted the role played by insignificant “remnants” in bringing the dream of Jesus to reality and the failure of the large majority of Christians to let themselves be captivated by Jesus’ agenda.
Biblical scholar and archaeologist, Robert North SJ noted: “The reason Christianity isn’t working is because we have too many Christians! Just look at our Scriptures. It’s clear from the Gospel Jesus didn’t intend his followers to be more than a very small group.”
The theologian and scholar, Karl Rahner SJ had this to say: “When Christians reach more than 20% of the population, they no longer have any effect in changing the culture around them. At that point, people become Christians just because it’s the acceptable thing to do, not because they’re really committed to carrying on the ministry of Jesus. Often, they’re an obstacle to real Christians.”
G.K. Chesterton, convert to Catholicism and writer of the “Father Brown” stories observed: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”
Finally, Daniel Berrigan SJ, peace activist and university professor, stated that he deducted marks from students who, in their theology papers used the term “radical Christian”. “If you’re a Christian”, he asserted, “you’re automatically radical!”
To become part of the remnant, we have to translate the values embedded in the Beatitudes, God’s values, and integrate them into our living each day. That requires of us a flexibility and a willingness. Both Jesus and John the Baptist called that “conversion”, “metanoia” or “change of mind and heart”. We know that God is ever-present to each of us. We have to invite God to be active in the living of our daily lives, reaching out in compassion, encouraging, showing mercy, inviting others into reconciliation and reaching out in forgiveness. Those actions have to become part of our habitual behaviour.
We can give notional and verbal assent to the belief that, created in God’s image, we are made for love. However, it requires of us a conscious decision to reach out in love to everyone we encounter. It is only through that path that we will become one with our sisters and brothers. Through that process we will be changed, provided we are sufficiently flexible. In his letters, John said that God is love. We cannot say we love God if we cannot bring ourselves to love our sisters and brothers, day after day after day.