All Are Called to be Saved: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Twenty-First Sunday In Ordinary Time – Year C
Sermon and Christian Act in The Word
Theme: Shattering Harmful Assumptions in our Life! Be careful of religious universality! We are all called to be saved!
Point of Reflection: What kind of assumptions do I have about my family, friends, and the society I live in?
First Reading: Isaiah 66:18–21
Psalm: Psalm 117:1, 2
Second Reading: Hebrews 12:5–7, 11–13
Gospel: Luke 13:22–30
Sermon (Reflection): The message of today’s liturgy is challenging and difficult. We are used to thinking about Christianity as a religion of peace. This is certainly true. However, it must be acknowledged that, in its two-thousand-year-long history, this faith has brought numerous divisions into the world.
Today’s Scriptural readings warn of the danger of false assumptions in the life of faith. Isaiah in the first reading, challenged the assumption of exclusivity, proclaiming God as the universal Lord of peoples. The author of Hebrews, in our second reading today, challenged the assumptions of his Christians regarding suffering and its role, which held them back from making progress in faith. As a Christian, what assumptions do I have about my family, friends and the community I live in?
In the Gospel of today, Jesus challenged the common assumption that salvation is linked with ethnicity or based on a formal membership in a particular group or community. He disclosed that salvation depends solely on “striving” to hold on to God’s grace by responding to him, Jesus, with faith and obedience. The false assumptions are dangerous but can be avoided because God reaches to his faithful through his messengers, which confirms the words of the Psalmist, “great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.”
Recounting from the Gospel of today, the common assumption held by most of his fellow Jews at the time was that, since all Israelites are descendants of Abraham and thus God’s people, they would all be saved. This prompted them to ask Jesus. And Jesus’ teaching challenged this common assumption, leading a passer-by concerned about his salvation to pose this question about the number of those who will be saved. Answering, Jesus confirmed that belonging to a particular ethnic group does not guarantee salvation. He explained this using yet another athletic metaphor of “striving” for salvation by “entering through the narrow door”. Salvation requires effort and decisive actions.
The image of the house owner “shutting the door” is an image for Jesus as the judge who either opens or shuts the door leading to eternal life and salvation. Those who were not allowed to enter, surprised and dismayed, argued with Jesus. After all, they knew him, he ate and drank with them and taught in their streets. How could he exclude his kindred from the glory of heaven? Jesus’ answer reveals the reason.
His people, those who heard him teach and associated with him on a daily basis, did not respond to him with faith and obedience. They assumed that salvation is theirs just because they shared Jesus’ nationality. Jesus divests them of this assumption. The true descendants of Abraham and the prophets, that is, the true children of God who enter the kingdom, are defined not by their ethnicity but by their response to Jesus. Most of his contemporaries heard him but remained indifferent. These are the ones who thought of themselves as “first” but became “last”. In contrast, many sinners and foreigners who were thought to be “last” became “first” as they embraced Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
In the second reading of today, the author of Hebrews challenges false assumptions held by some members of the community regarding the suffering and afflictions they were experiencing. Some might have assumed that becoming Christians will lead to an untroubled existence free from misfortune and adversity. Others might have thought that the difficulties they experienced came as punishment for transgressions they might have committed. Still, others might have thought that God was simply indifferent to their fate.
In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah speaks to the Israelites shortly after their return from the Babylonian exile. He addresses a small community, facing the enormous task of rebuilding their desolate country. They saw the task of rebuilding the Temple as their duty as the descendants of Abraham and God’s chosen people. Because of their origin and history, these Israelites thought of themselves as an exclusive group, different from the rest of humankind. They assumed that rebuilding the destroyed Temple was a way to return to, and maintain, their unique and exclusive status before God.
The prophet challenges this assumption. He describes a glorious gathering of all the nations, whom God will draw to himself in order to make himself known. God desires to reveal his glory to those strangers as he did in the past to the Israelites gathered at Sinai. Moreover, God will choose some from this multitude as his messengers. These will be sent out to proclaim God’s glory to the foreign nations and return, bringing their kin to the one who sent them. Those foreigners will come from all lands and all social groups to worship God on his holy mountain, Zion. They will be joined by the Israelites bringing their offerings to worship the Lord in his Temple. Isaiah paints here a picture of a new, universal and inclusive community of God’s people. The most striking and amazing element of this vision is the fact that from among these foreigners God will choose some to serve as his priests and as the Levites. These were exclusive functions strictly reserved for the Israelite males from the tribe of Levi. Now, this unique service to God is open to non-Levites and foreigners. As Christians, too, we are invited to this unique service of God.
It is essential to note that the community to which Hebrews was written was becoming increasingly indifferent and lax in the practice of their faith. In this context, the author states that their sufferings are neither a punishment nor a sign of the absence of God’s grace and care. On the contrary, God pays special attention to them as his children and permits the challenges to reignite their faith and make it grow.
As Christians, we must always pray that we do not become lax in our faith.
Christian Act in Word of God: “Finding God in our Life”
The warning about making false assumptions, which today’s liturgy presents, sounds very relevant in our times. We all like to imagine things about ourselves and about how the world should be. These ideas are fed by the media industry, which creates fantasy worlds which we gladly enter whenever we watch a movie or any other show. Based on these fictional worlds, we frequently make assumptions that suit our desires and purposes and take them as the truth. We also often imagine the future, and these fantasy scenarios run like movies before our eyes. Today’s readings call for a check on those fantasies and assumptions upon which they are based.
Many, if not most, people think of themselves as special and privileged. In truth, we all are such. Each of us is a unique creation of God with no duplicate in the entire world. This makes for a wonderful diversity which makes this world like a colourful mosaic and our interactions with it like an ever-new play. We can only marvel at God’s creativity in making each one of us unique. The hidden danger here is to take our uniqueness for exclusivity. The fact that we are unique does not mean that we have exclusive rights to the world or any of its parts. We might own property and possess material goods, but the world does not belong to us. Our only exclusive possession is ourselves; the rest of the world is everybody’s playground. We must be able to enjoy and use what is available to us but leave the space and resources to others. Too often, excessive possessiveness stifles creativity and makes life difficult or unbearable for others. This is true in the area of family and community, country and the Church.
Unlike the Israelites rebuilding their Temple but thinking about themselves, we must see our lives, efforts and careers not exclusively in terms of accomplishing things for ourselves, but in the greater framework of all humankind. We are here for others. Accepting this truth will make us broad-minded and generous, true members of a global community.
All of us face suffering and misfortune. Sometimes these come as a result of our mistakes and sins, which come back to haunt us. Sometimes they are caused by the weakness of our bodies, and sometimes by the wickedness of others. Regardless of the cause, we must always make an effort, and, whenever possible, turn adversity to our advantage.
Action: I will shatter harmful assumptions in my life.
Prayer: Lord, God of all humankind, make us today to recognise the false assumptions we make about you, about ourselves and life. God, please enable us to distinguish between reality and illusion so that we may serve you faithfully and truthfully. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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