Third Sunday in Ordinary Time - January 22, 2012
As you well know, every so often there are serious floods in parts of this country. Depending on where one lives, this might be a fairly regular occurrence (every 5-10 years or so) or possibly something that only happens once in a lifetime. Many of us are fortunate enough to never have to face such a tragedy. These floods almost always get reported in the news, and are usually accompanied by interviews with people who are forced to leave their homes due to the rising waters. And their stories are often the same. At first, they do all they can to save the entirety of what they have —- usually by building sandbag walls around their homes and setting up every kind of pump possible. However, often this is not enough, and the people are forced to surrender to the water and evacuate the premises. This means that they often have only a very short time to gather a few things and get out. And this can be quite heartbreaking. You see, in these situations, the people are faced with the realization that some things that are precious to them will have to be left behind.
Leaving something of value behind can be difficult or relatively easy, depending on what it is that we are leaving. If we forget to pack a toothbrush or shampoo before going on a trip, it’s no big deal. But what if we had to leave our newborn baby with his or her new adoptive family? Or what if we had to leave our fallen comrades on the battlefield? What if we were forced to relocate for work, leaving all of our family and friends half a country away? Or what if we had to end a high school relationship because our parents weren’t ok with it? You see, sometimes, leaving something behind can be one of the most difficult things we will ever do.
The spiritual life is no different. Today we heard in Sacred Scripture two passages in which God called people to serve him. And this “calling” involved following God’s voice —- wherever it led. In the First Reading from the prophet Jonah, we heard how God’s invitation led Jonah to prophesy to the people of Nineveh. This saying “yes” to God yielded good fruit —- repentance on the part of the Ninevites, and mercy from God. What we shouldn’t forget, however, is the first time that God called Jonah. Jonah fled from this invitation, and as we know from the story about the storm and the great fish, things didn’t go so well for him. Why did Jonah flee from God’s initial request? We don’t know for sure. Maybe he simply liked things the way they were.
In the Gospel reading, we heard of how Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John. And the story doesn’t give us any of the details —- what they were thinking or feeling or worried about. It simply says that,
“… they abandoned their nets and followed him.”
Like Jonah’s “yes”, this willingness on the part of those first apostles to follow wherever Jesus led also bore good fruit. Two thousand years later we’re still striving to follow their example, still striving to place our trust and hope —- our very lives —- in him. I wish I knew if they wrestled with Jesus’ request. My guess is that they too probably liked things the way they were —- and maybe were a little fearful about what the future would hold for them. One thing is for sure, their fears and concerns didn’t get the best of them. God invited —- and they said “yes”.
In both cases, accepting God’s invitation required a stepping out in faith on their part. “Being faithful” did not mean simply believing certain things. It meant going on a journey —- a journey of faith —- one in which they couldn’t “take” everything with them. Some things had to be left behind.
And while many of the things they had to leave behind were of a practical nature (since they physically had to be on the move), the things we have to leave behind aren’t so concrete or necessarily so obvious.
“For the world in its present form is passing away.”
My friends, the life we are invited to embrace is a “new” life, in many ways unlike our old lives —- old ways of thinking, seeing, and acting. And the degree to which we are able to live as new creations is directly related to how much we are willing to leave behind. Unfortunately, most of us try to do exactly what flood victims do. We try to build walls to protect ourselves. We try to stave off that which is trying to get to us —- fearing that it will ruin our life as we know it. And these walls we build aren’t made of sand, they’re made of excuses and rationalizations. If only God would speak to me as clearly as he did Jonah and the Apostles … . Then I’d do what God is asking of me.
If we think about it honestly though, God does speak to us clearly. Oh, maybe not in exactly the way his voice is depicted in the stories we just heard —- “Do this, don’t do that, come here, go there …” However, one thing is very clear. God calls each and every one of us to be certain kinds of people —- loving, kind, generous, merciful —- to be precisely how he created us to be. Unfortunately, God’s invitation often falls on deaf ears. And we keep putting off embracing the new life he offers. We keep on finding reasons to keep on living as we had before, rather than in service of him.
Maybe it’s because we, too, like things the way things are. We’re comfortable with our current lives. They’re familiar. We don’t want to have to leave behind our old selves. But make no mistake about it —- this is where the analogy of the flood victims fails. You see, the things that those people fleeing the rising waters want to save often have a real kind of value —- certain possessions, mementos, important documents, photos, and the like. Having to leave them behind is painful, but they do it for one reason. They know that their lives are what are most important.
The difference in the spiritual life is that most of what we strive to cling to, most of what we consider precious, most of what we don’t want to give up has no real or lasting value. It just seems that way at times, as a kind of illusion. In many cases these things can actually do damage to us and become obstacles to living happy, healthy, holy lives. These are the grudges we hold, the me-first attitudes that pervade many of our decisions, the skepticism and cynicism that creeps into our thoughts and opinions, the need to always “get even” with people who have wronged us, and even the simple laziness that keeps driving us to put off important things —- keeping us from ever really following the Lord with our whole hearts, minds, souls, and strength.
God is calling us to follow him. And this call cannot be answered by doing nothing —— by being the same, acting the same, or thinking the same. It can only be answered by responding in faith, generosity, and in love. And this means that we must be willing to let our old lives pass away, that we must be willing to leave behind anything that prevents us from saving what is most important —- our lives in God, for God, and with God. And actually, when we are able to do this, we’re not the ones doing the saving —- God is the one —- the one reaching out his hand and leading us to where we need to be.
My friends, the time to answer God’s call is now. The waters are rising, so-to-speak, and we’re going to have to leave some things behind. And doing so will be difficult for many of us. But unlike flood victims, this is no tragedy. This is a triumph —- our God willing and able to transform our lives into things of deeper and more lasting beauty, meaning, and purpose. And while those facing rising waters are forced to leave their homes, the decision before us —- to follow or not follow the Lord —- is purely ours. God isn’t forcing us, he’s inviting us. And whether we step out in faith is completely up to us. No one can make the decision for us. So, let’s have the courage and trust to ask God each day (and to mean it),
God, where do you want me to go,
God, what do you want me to do, and (most importantly),
God, who do you want me to be?