There
are
two sets of three themes, in these scripture readings. They
describe our
relationship with each other and with God. The first is composed
of fear,
shame, and evil while the second is composed of integrity, dignity, and
perseverance. The first triplet involves sin and the second
involves God
and the goodness of humanity.
The
full flavor of the
scripture passages can be gained by accepting the Christian principle
that each
person, because he or she as a creation of God, possesses an innate
dignity. This dignity, although innate, is not stagnant and
requires the
individual to develop a sense of integrity if that dignity is to be
active. Consider this gem from the famous anonymous: “The final
test of a
gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to
him.”
Consider
fear, shame and evil. Jeremiah feared to speak the truth
as God directed him because the result would mean physical pain.
Those to
whom he spoke would attack him and force him to leave the area.
All
Jeremiah had to depend on was God. The price of his integrity to
speak
against injustice was pain, but he and those he spoke for retained
their
dignity.
Shame
was once synonymous with what we call sin today. Shame is what
one
individual directs against another individual. It works in this
manner:
one person publicly demeans, degrades, or inflicts upon another person,
some
injustice that causes that person to be viewed as less human or less
desirably
human than others. It causes the targeted person to lose his
standing,
his respect, and his dignity in the community. When this happens,
evil is
present. How many of us have been in a large city or even Santa Fe or Albuquerque and
have intentionally
not seen a homeless person? We
can’t look at them because they might key in on us and ask for money or
we
might find them unsavory, or we might worry that some how by
acknowledging
their presence we could suffer their fate. When we see past them,
we
diminish our integrity and reject their dignity. To not see them
is to
de-humanize them.
If
we overcome this tendency to ignore those in need, we visibly,
actively show our belief in the mystery of God’s kingdom on
earth. A
kingdom in which there is justice, love and truth. A justice that
is
present because of the witness of Christians who are committed to a
better
society, a society as shown through the teachings of Christ.
The
difficulty of achieving anything like this society is reflected in
each of the readings today. Jeremiah doesn’t want to continue his
assignment from God. Preaching the truth and publicly recognizing
what
has to be done to change, causes him to receive death threats.
Paul says
that all humanity experiences evil and implies that evil is sometimes
seductive
and subtle. He has to remind people that they have to dig in and
stand by
what they believe. In the gospel, Matthew is much more
blunt. “Fear
no one. Speak the truth even if death is the outcome. We
are saved
in the mystery of Jesus Christ.” It doesn’t get any clearer as to
what the
price of integrity can be.
What
we should notice, in all of this, is that our person-to-person
relationships are a reflection of our relationship to God and what God
gives us. His love and presence is more than enough to strengthen us to
act
properly. There is a little story that shows why God cares about
us. It goes like this. “The Sunday school teacher had ended
her
Bible story and was asking questions of her primary tots. ‘Why,
do you
think, does God love us all so very much?" She asked. There was a
momentary silence as the children wrinkled their little brows and
“thought
hard,’ for the proper answer. "Why does God love us so very
much?" Suddenly, little Kristin’s hand shot up. And without
the slightest
doubt about the correctness of her answer she blurted: "Because he has
only one
of each of us." Only one of each of us! Dignity—a
deep personal
love
given to
us by God.
How
do we develop a game plan, a program to recognize human
dignity and develop our integrity? God already has a plan in
place.
It is a superior plan. It has been evaluated by great
theologians, by
great psychologists, by great sociologists, and by great
humanists. It is
the perfect plan to develop interpersonal relationships with people and
a very
personal relationship with God. And, of course, the plan is
wonderfully
alive with the mystery of God and the mystery of humanity. It
does,
however, have a number of parts to it. To be exact, it has ten
parts. We call the plan the Ten Commandments. They are old,
but the
truth is truth and always will be. Wisdom, both ancient and new,
springs
from the commandments.
The
first
three commandments deal with God-person relationships. The
remaining
seven deal with person-to-person relationships. Consider just two
of the
commandments, the first and the sixth. The first, to love and
serve only
God, is constantly challenged by careers, wealth, social status, and
other
personally directed self -serving goals. It takes courage,
integrity, and
perseverance to call out injustices in society and in the work
place. A
price paid could be a promotion or a raise, or public ridicule for
taking a stand
based on justice.
The
sixth
deals with faithfulness in marriage. I chose this commandment
because it
is one of the most down to earth and yet is filled with such great
mystery. It deals with intimate personal relationship developed
and
nurtured between two people. And it shortens the homily
considerably. All
I have to say is that I defy anyone here, including those married for
many
years, to deny that their marriage isn’t a mystery. It requires
open
recognition, frequently, of the dignity of your spouse, integrity on
your part
to be truthful, loving, and faithful, and it certainly takes a great
deal of
perseverance. Even after many years of marriage a couple has not
yet
enjoyed all the mystery of marriage. The two people involved
might have
become very accustomed to each other but they have not exhausted
the
mystery of each other. Dignity. Integrity.
Perseverance. The game
plan to develop these attributes is possible if we live the Ten
Commandments.
There
is a story about an old Irish priest and his rabbi friend. It
seems
that one evening they got together and enjoyed several glasses of wine
and some
good conversation. After a while, they began to discuss the
merits of
their relative religions. Something was said and the rabbi became
agitated
and said, “You wouldn’t have your religion if you hadn’t taken the Ten
Commandments from us.” The old Irish priest didn’t miss a
beat. He
immediately shot back, “Maybe we took them but we certainly haven’t
kept them.”
Let’s
not make this little story true. Let’s live the Ten
Commandments. Dignity, integrity, and justice will then overcome
fear,
shame, and evil.
May
God bless us all.