Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (A): I Corinthians 1:1-3
Imagine a typical day in your life.
You are going about your daily routine, when you get a call or a text message from a friend: “God spoke to me last night, and told me to tell you this…”
How would you react? Would you immediately accept what your friend is saying? Or would you resist and wonder what your friend drank last night, or what drugs your friend was using? Would you wonder if your friend was being hopelessly arrogant, claiming the authority of God for whatever your friend wanted to tell you? “So God speaks to you, huh?”, you might respond. “Just who do you think you are?”
On the other hand, our Catholic faith is based on the testimony of people who have made this very claim. God came to them. God spoke to them. God revealed something important to them, and chose them to announce it to others. God calls and sends people to do His will. Jesus Himself is the Word of God. We have the Bible, which is (among other things) a witness to what God has said to various people over the course of many centuries. Many people whom we now honor as saints have had moments where God somehow spoke to them and gave them a mission. Not only that, but our faith tells us that the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts, guiding us and, yes, speaking to us in a variety of ways.
Why, then, do many of us feel resistance to the idea that God could speak to someone else and give that person a message for us? Do we not trust someone who makes such a claim? Have we known people who were more than willing to put their own words in God’s mouth, so to speak, as some kind of power play? Have we known people (including ourselves) who might say that God speaks to them, or that we have a mission from God, but who live in a way that is not at all consistent with what God has taught us?
Our second reading is the beginning of Saint Paul’s first letter to the Christian community in Corinth, a community Paul himself founded. This young community shows every sign of being infected with the virus of pride. They are cliquish. They have raised their favorite apostle(s) to celebrity status and believe that their favorite apostle is the best because he is theirs. They interpret Christian freedom to mean that they are now above all the standards of ethics and morality. Those who consider themselves “cool” or “the in group” see their gifts, such as speaking in tongues, as superior to the gifts of others. Those without worldly status – the poor, the disabled, those who don’t make a good first impression – are ignored, shunned and considered worthless. If we are at all honest, we would have to admit that the Corinthians are beginning to look like Americans of today. Even Catholic Americans. Even us.
How does Saint Paul open his letter to these Corinthians? Paul tells them that he is sent by Christ as an apostle and therefore should be heeded. He tells the Corinthians that they are called to be holy, to be saints. He affirms a God-given status for himself and the Corinthians. But doesn’t that play into their game of pride? They might think so at first. Paul uses this to get their attention and to open them to what he is going to say. Then he will invert their idea of what it means. Being chosen is about God, not about them, or us.
Paul says that he is “called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”. But this is not because Paul has earned that calling in any way. Paul reminds the Corinthians that he had quite the impressive résumé when he was a Pharisee – the very kind of thing that would impress the Corinthians – but tells them that he sees all that as worthless compared to the presence of Christ. Paul reminds the Corinthians that he persecuted Christians. He, in other words, did not deserve to be called an apostle. It had nothing to do with his qualities or his supposed superiority. It was sheer grace, sheer love, on the Lord’s part. Paul invites the Corinthians to remember how he conducted himself among them, to see how he lived not for himself but for Christ. Moreover, Paul reports how the Lord had told him that it is in what looks like weakness that the Lord’s strength is perfected in him, and in everyone. If Paul is an apostle – and he is – it’s all about Christ and His will. Paul is passing on Christ’s word, not his own.
Paul then asks the Corinthians to remember who they were when he first preached to them. They were drawn from the same kinds of people whom they now look down upon. They had little value in the world’s eyes. Moreover, they were also sinners in the Lord’s eyes, and yet had experienced His great grace and love. They were forgiven, baptized, and set on the road to salvation by Christ, not by any greatness in themselves. They were made holy by Christ, not by their supposed greatness. They are all chosen by Christ and given a mission to make Christ known in the world. They are called to empty themselves of any idea that they can deserve or earn this, and come to the Lord with empty hands, ready to receive His love. They are to then share that love with one another and with others. They are to see one another not through the world’s eyes but through the eyes of Christ’s love and truth.
These Corinthian Christians are not free agents. They are accountable to Christ and must heed His teachings and example. They can do so through the grace of God that is given to them. They live that accountability by heeding those God sends them, like Paul, who live His will and speak His words. They live it by recalling that they are part of the larger Church and are thus accountable to the Church as a whole. Christ speaks to them through the Church, His Body, as well. All Christians are members of His Body. None can be ignored or despised without ignoring or despising Christ Himself.
Everything that I have said about Paul should also apply to me and to anyone who has been called by Christ to speak in His name. Everything I have said about the Corinthian community and how Christ called them should also apply to you – all of us – as His people today. It should make us feel uneasy. It should also give us hope.
I could try, like the younger Paul, to give you my spiritual résumé; to tell you about my training and gifts and IQ and achievements. I could even use my autism and any sufferings I may have endured as another reason to boast – “Look at what I have been able to achieve in spite of my handicaps!!!” Nevertheless – how could I, in my right mind, claim to deserve to be chosen to speak in God’s name? How could I do so, with any integrity, and not realize that everyone would look at me to see if my deeds and attitudes correspond to my words? How could I even begin any of this without placing myself totally in the Lord’s hands and trusting in His love?
Or, you can look at yourselves as individuals and as members of your parish(es). You can try to build up your own résumés that might score points in the world, or in the Church community. You can claim to belong to the right political party, or pray in the right way, or go to Mass in the better parish or in the best language. You can claim to have the best devotions or to follow the best Catholic gurus. But none of these things are at the core of who you are – who we are – as Catholics. We are all chosen by Christ, not because of any achievement on our part – however good or impressive it may be. Not because we belong to the best community or faction or clique. We are chosen purely by the will of God, in order to be faithful to God’s call to us. We know that, when we make such claims, others will look to us, too, to see if our deeds and attitudes correspond to our words. Being chosen is humbling. We need to admit our weaknesses and failings. But it is also empowering. Success, in the works of God, does not depend on us alone. It is God’s work in and through us. God it is who pours out His amazing love in and through everyone who comes before Him with empty hands and open hearts.
We are all called to be holy. God indeed speaks to us. He speaks to us as people who are weak and unworthy, and by His grace He refashions us that we might become good and holy in the sight of all. May God’s love and presence be our hope and our joy!