A Spiritual Sentinel
Since this is the Labor Day weekend I will talk about job descriptions beginning with Ezekiel, the author of today’s First Reading.
The Bible says that Ezekiel was a prophet and a prophet is a person who speaks for God. He said, “I am like a sentinel for the People of God.
You know how the sentinel sits in the watchtower and tells the public the latest news on the hour, every hour.
Well I’m like a spiritual sentinel. My job is to report to the people what God is doing these days.”
One day, 587 years before Jesus was born, Ezekiel filed this report:
“My dear friends, God is preparing to destroy your Temple because you have not repented from your sinful ways. Now God does not want to destroy your Temple. In fact, God says, “I take no delight in destroying the Temple. I prefer that you turn from your evil ways.”
The prophet Ezekiel found it difficult to deliver this message,
but he faithfully performed his duty. After the Temple was destroyed, the People of God were transported to the land of Babylon and Ezekiel went with them and he continued to serve as their spiritual sentinel.
One day, forty years later, his friends turned to him and asked, “What is God saying now?” And Ezekiel said, “God is planning to live within our faith community.
In times past God was living in the Temple on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem, but now God wants our community to become a living Temple. God is looking at all the dry bones in the valley and God is saying, ‘Those bones are going to rise again.’ It won’t be long before the Babylonians will set us free and as we head back to the holy land God will take up residence in the heart of our faith community. God will be our leader and we will be God’s holy people.”
Thus, the ministry of Ezekiel had two chapters to it. In the first chapter he had to deliver bad news and in the second chapter he was called upon to deliver Good News. And that is the job description for a prophet.
The prophet delivers messages from God. Sometimes those messages are comforting and sometimes those messages are very challenging.
Jesus had a job description which had many parts to it. He was redeemer,
Messiah, teacher, Lamb of God, Prince of Peace, Good Shepherd and Lord
and Savior and 40 more titles. I will focus on his role as teacher since today’s Gospel comes from the teaching section of Matthew’s Gospel.
In this section we see Jesus teaching his followers how to become faithful disciples. In other words, he is giving them their job description. Jesus said that discipleship carries with it three major tasks: Prayer; carrying the cross; and serving others without seeking reward. That is the Christian job description for you and me and every disciple of Jesus: Pray. Carry the cross. and Serve others without seeking reward.
Prayer has two parts to it: private prayer and community prayer. Jesus said, “When you pray, go to your room and pray to your Heavenly Father in secret.” Jesus also calls upon us to pray with others. In today’s gospel he says, “Where two or three come together for prayer, I am with them.”
Moving on to Part Two of our job description: Disciples carry the cross of Jesus. That does not mean that we carry a wooden cross. No. In fact, Jesus carried the cross many times before he carried the wooden cross to the top of Calvary. Jesus carried the cross of ridicule and scorn when he visited sinners and tax collectors. The Pharisees ridiculed him for eating with those outcasts. We will carry the same cross if we extend the hand of friendship to people who are not popular. That is one concrete way to carry the cross today.
If we make friends with people who are not popular, we will suffer the consequences of getting sarcastic comments from people who do not understand that every person is a child of God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you because you are loyal to me.” Another way to carry the cross is to offer fraternal correction to those who have behaviors which are not consistent with Christian ethics. That is what Jesus did when he challenged the Pharisees to change their ways. They had a habit of looking down on those who were sinners and tax collectors. They called them “Unclean.” The Pharisees said loudly and publicly, “Thank heavens we are better than those people.” Then Jesus said, “Don’t look down on anyone. God is calling you to help those who are struggling. God is calling you to help people who have made mistakes.” The Pharisees responded by picking up stones to throw at Jesus.
Sometimes we have to carry a similar cross; especially when we invite new people into our circle of friendship. Our current friends might give us the cold shoulder. We might not win any points in a popularity contest.
But we carry the cross gladly so that we can remain loyal to the Gospel.
Part Three of our job description: Serving others without seeking reward.
Recently Pope Leo has called everyone to become a disciple to those who are sick or homebound. He was very deliberate and careful to say EVERYONE. Those who are sick and those who are homebound spend a lot of time alone. They have bouts of loneliness because they are cut off from many normal human activities. There are so many activities that they just can’t get to. So we have to go to them. And when we do that we must be good listeners. Don’t dominate the conversation. Listen carefully as they speak about their experiences. And when we can’t see them physically we can send cards and letters and email messages and text messages. The main thing is this form of discipleship is to stay in relationship with those who are sick or homebound.
Now it’s time for a quick summary. During this Labor Day Weekend, let’s think about the job description for discipleship: The job description which Jesus has spelled out in the four gospels. Jesus is calling us to do three things: to pray alone and with others, to carry the cross and to serve others without seeking reward. Let’s take a moment now to ask God to walk with us and strengthen us for the ministry of discipleship.
O Lord, help us to pray, to carry the cross and to serve others without seeking reward.