Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jer 20: 7-9; Rom 12: 1-2; Matt 16: 21-27

Dc. Larry Brockman

Are you one of those people trying to save your life that Jesus is talking about?  It would seem you are- because we all are trying to keep alive no matter how old and feeble we may get, right.  And yet, Jesus says: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  What can that mean?   

Well, the key of course is the “for my sake” part of Jesus words.  We are encouraged to give up our lives for Jesus’ sake.  He is not talking so much about our physical life as he is our spiritual life.  But the spiritual life and the physical life are so intertwined that we have a problem understanding what that means.   

First of all, self-preservation is such a strong instinct, isn’t it?  And we wouldn’t be normal if we didn’t act that way.  No matter what is wrong with us physically, we have a basic instinct to do whatever it takes to keep alive.  There is nothing wrong with that to a point.  But there are times when our spiritual life is more important.  For example, notice that Peter called Jesus to the side and rebuked him for saying that he was going to die a terrible death on a cross.  Peter was thinking as all of us do about self-preservation.  And of course, why wouldn’t Jesus do whatever it took to stay alive, to avoid such a fate.   

But there is more to life than our physical lives.  We have a spiritual life; we have a destiny to live forever.  And to do that, we have got to believe in God and seek God’s will for us.  That’s what Paul is telling the Romans.  “Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect”.   

We are given a great example of what that means in today’s first reading.  Jeremiah was gifted with prophecy but it was a prophecy of gloom and doom.  When he spoke out for the Lord, and told the truth, he was thrown into a cistern and left for dead.  Certainly it would be easier, and better for his health, to just keep it to himself, to button up when he felt inspired by the Lord, because he knew that what the Lord wanted him to say was controversial.  And yet, as out reading shows, Jeremiah was compelled to speak out-  he was in tune with dying to self for the sake of doing God’s will. 

I suspect that all of us are tested in some way during our lives like Jeremiah was tested.  Some of these tests are clear and unmistakable- like the Sudanese Christian lady who was severely treated and almost executed just because she was Christian and wouldn’t convert to Islam.  The same with all those Iraqi Christians stranded on that Mountain top. But for most of us, the test is probably more subtle. 

We all have been taught our faith, but do we follow it when it is challenged?  Do we join the crowd and engage in gossip about someone, even though we know it is wrong?  Or do we walk away from someone in need because we don’t want to get involved, even when we feel that inner urge?  When the going gets tough and it isn’t convenient, does a young mother opt for life for her child or for an abortion?   Life is full of choices like these where we either show our faith by responding to God’s call to do His will, not our own; or we don’t respond to God’s call.   

Jesus tells us we must die to ourselves and pick up our crosses and follow him.  We don’t have to suffer and die on a cross.  But we do have to suffer the consequences of being a believer.