12th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Cycle A 22-23

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Grant, oh Lord, that we may always revere and love your holy name, never deprive of your guidance those set firm on the foundation of your love.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

A couple of weeks ago, I was with a friend, and we were talking about life, the way the world is, what we’re afraid of, and somehow the question came up, and it was from him to me.  He said, “Do you believe in evil?”  And I said, “Yes.”  And he said, “Well, I never have believed in evil.”  And I said, “What do you mean?”  And he said, “Well, there’s evil in the world, but that’s because human beings are weak, and they don’t really do what they’re called to do.  And so evil is just a sign that human beings are weak.”  I wish that were true, because I really know, as I listen to scripture and watch Jesus in the world, that evil is a power, a strong, negative power that wants us to be destroyed, not harmed, destroyed.  And what’s fascinating about that is that we look at the story, as mentioned in Romans today, that when the world was created and God first encountered human beings and spoke to them, it was not God and Adam and Eve, but it was God, Adam and Eve and a representation of evil.  It’s not really called the devil, not really called evil, because it’s really not, in its core, evil.  It is the part of human nature that is at the core that we are the center of our universe, and the sin of Adam and Eve was not just disobeying a commandment, but I think that’s how most in the Old Testament thought about it, because you look.  They had 613 rules and laws to follow.  So being a good follower of God was to do what you’re told.  No, the truth is there is something in us that evil knows is there and uses to its own ends of destruction, and that is the temptation that the animal that was most cunning said, “You really need to know that you can be gods.  What God wants you to be is equal to him.  He wants you to be in charge, you to be the one that makes all the decisions.”  And that seed of independence, autonomy from God and trying to be who only God can be in our life is the heart of evil, and it always leads to some kind of destruction.

So before the law, sin was in the world.  It’s very interesting.  It says, “Sin was in the world and reigned as the way that people treated each other, in a sinful way, a way that is to destroy and to abuse and to take from.”  It was the way human beings were from Adam to Moses, and the Moses event was when God decided, “I will tell human beings who they are, their nature.  I’ll explain to them that they are made differently than they seem to feel they are, and the difference is they are not made to be the ones in charge or in control.”  But there’s a beautiful plan that God has for human beings that we together unite in a kind of ecology of oneness where each person is there for the needs of another person, and the joy that they have in giving life to other people is what makes the world worthwhile and what makes it important to do.  We are here not for ourselves but for those around us, but when we take care of those around us, we have done the most beautiful thing for ourselves.  So sin is in the world.  Evil is in the world, and it has a face.  The face is power over people.  The Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God has been given to the world through prophets, teachers, God speaking to other people, and they tell them what God said.  But then there came a moment when he did something extraordinary.  He became one of us, entered into the world and said, “The fullness of the plan of God is that you do not need to be in conflict with a power greater than yourself.”  

Evil is greater than human nature.  It has power over people, and so what Jesus is saying, “There’s a Spirit that can be given to you.  It’s God’s presence in you.  I’m going to show you what it looks like.  I’ll come down.”  God himself comes down, becomes a human being and then manifests, through the humanity that he created, what divinity looks like in somebody, not telling them what to do but awakening them, awakening their hearts to a wisdom that Eve wanted and thought maybe she could get by saying, “I’d like to be like God.”  But she had no idea it meant not being like him but being in him and he in you.  What a difference.  The power that we have is never going to be residing in our ego, in our will.  It’s always in our heart.  

So what you see so clearly in Jeremiah is, when anyone is asked to proclaim this truth, they’re going to be in trouble.  And Jeremiah was very young when he was called to be a prophet, and he was enthusiastic about it.  He loved ⎯ God said, “I will teach you how to tear down and build up.”  He knows, “I am given a power to conquer someone.”  Now, that’s going to feed his ego big time, and it did feed most of the egos of the prophets.  The prophets didn’t always agree with what God wanted them to do, but in this case, you see him realizing that this power that he has to speak a word that is different gets him in deep trouble.  And this story is about his first major conflict.  It’s the first time he’s revealed as a prophet, and whatever he was teaching, whatever he was saying, the word got to the temple priests, and one of the head priests there went after him and said, “I’m going to kill this guy.  I’m going to get him.”  And he's saying, “People are believing the temple, and they’re watching me differently, and they’re starting to check me out and report on me.”  So this is wonderful to think about.  When Jeremiah thinks this way, he’s saying, “I know you’ve given me power, and I’m going to win this thing.  So I can’t wait to see you take vengeance on this blank-blank person.  Kill him.  Destroy him.  Please God, I want to watch it.  I know you’re going to do it.”  And it’s so interesting.  Jeremiah is actually saying, “I don’t like this guy wanting to kill me, so we will kill him.”  So what Jeremiah doesn’t realize, he’s fallen into the same trap that evil creates in people, that when someone is different than you are, somebody isn’t the way you think they should be, you’re going to do something to demean them or even to destroy them in some sense of ruining their self-worth or whatever you can do.  But it’s power over people is the goal of evil, and when evil talks a human being into using its own tactics to destroy evil, it’s laughing its head off, because it’s saying, “See, I’ve created in another person a desire for destruction, and that’s what I’m about.”  That’s what evil is about, to destroy that which is here.  And what is here?  It’s called the kingdom of God.  And what’s it for?  For everyone to realize that there’s something going on here where we are together being informed and then reformed into a people that understand that the fundamental reason we’re here is not for our own profit but for how we contribute to this enterprise called life.  Jesus came to teach us how to find life.  Isn’t it interesting?  Evil, when you spell it backwards is live.  Evil is bent on the opposite of life.  

So we look at the gospel.  So what do we need?  Well, if you’re going to be a voice that’s contradicted by another voice, you might be afraid that that voice has more power than you have and it might overcome you.  And when you think about today, when we’re asked to speak a truth, there is not an easy reception on the other end that says, “Oh, how interesting.  Maybe let me see what you see that I don’t see so we can see something together better.”  No, there’s a kind of revenge and anger out there about people that think differently than they do, and they want to destroy them, demean them, give them ⎯ create in the minds of others that they cannot be trusted.  So what we’re looking at is the most important, I think, teaching to start this ordinary time, that we are in a battle.  The battle is really important, and if we think that there’s something wrong with the world, when we’re in conflict with good and evil or light and darkness, we’re not even really doing the work.  There’s nothing more important than chaos in order to change, and that’s where we are.  We’re looking at a world that frightens us, because we don’t know who to believe or where to turn for whatever it is we need to do to make the world better.  Well, we don’t necessarily need to work to make the world better.  Politicians, the church, maybe we think they should do it, but then we’ve lost trust in them.  But no, it’s our individual work, and it’s finding a way to reconcile ourselves with those around us.  But here's the key: I believe the most devasting thing that evil, as a negative spirit, most harm they create is when they go into you and into me and they start talking and they start criticizing and demeaning and laughing at and telling us we’re worthless.  That’s where it has all the power.  Love is the antithesis of this work of evil.  So our challenge is to name it for what it is, not to want to destroy the people who have it, to want to destroy its power over them.  And what is that?  Cut them out?  Punish them?  Exclude them?  No, love them, forgive them, seek to awaken them.  That’s what we’re here for.  That’s the work, but not to face the evil is naïve and to be careful that we don’t use the same tactics to get rid of it and then to bask in the wonderful theme of this gospel.  We have nothing to be afraid of.  “You will win.  You will conquer this.  It has no real power over you anymore now that I am in you and with you.”  And fear dissolves.  Amen.

Father, you’ve revealed to us that evil is so powerful when it’s hidden, when people don’t recognize it and blame just human nature for not being what it should be, but the truth is it’s a power so strong that, without you, we are vulnerable.  So open our hearts to a conviction that you are in us, guiding us, empowering us, not only to speak truth but to endure the rejection that comes with speaking truth.  It’s your way.  It’s your plan.  Let us submit, and we ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.