13th
Sunday of Ordinary Time -- C2004
1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21; Luke 9:51-62
Deacon Lee Hunt (St. Monica)
God Continuously Calls Us
God has been unrelenting in his search for humankind from the beginning
of our existence. Some people have been very aware of this and have
committed God’s search for us to print. Francis Thompson wrote the poem
The Hound of Heaven, which
begins:
I fled Him, down the nights and down
the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the
years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
More recently the renowned Jewish Rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel, wrote
a book titled God in Search of Man,
which was described by the Boston Globe as “One of the most compelling
books about being human that has been written in this [20th] century.”
God always invites us to more closely follow him, to which we can
either say “yes” or “no.” The difficulty of answering, “yes,” is that
it requires us to change our life in which we have grown very
comfortable.
When we examine our past experiences, we discover how God has worked in
our lives. I can recognize times that I responded to God’s invitations
during my past 65 years. As a teenager and college student, I somehow
developed good morals and ethics. I said “yes” to God more times than I
said “no” when presented with various traps of the secular world.
I then somehow raised four children to have my same kind of morals and
ethics. When my children were teenagers, I had to say “yes” to God so
that I would give them unconditional love during the times that I
wanted to give them away.
About ten years ago, I heard God’s invitation for me to be ordained a
deacon. After much consideration and initially responding with “no,” I
finally said, “yes.” Once I did, I never looked back, but went full
speed ahead. However, God is never done with us. He continually hounds
us to be more than we are.
Very recently, God wanted to show me more about himself through the
very poor people living in Piura, Peru, 4,000 miles away. I resisted
his invitation for a few years, but finally relented and said, “yes,”
one more time. This positive response to follow Jesus has resulted in
me making more changes in my life, and in doing so my heart has been
enlarged so that I can love more.
In the Bible, the prophets also initially said “no” to God’s invitation
to follow him. Moses argued
with God saying, that because he was not eloquent and was slow of
speech, that God should send someone else. The prophet Jeremiah told God that “I know not
how to speak; I am too young.” In the first Book of Kings, Elisha wanted to first say goodbye
to his parents, but quickly followed Elijah. He dramatically changed
his way of life by getting rid of his oxen and plow.
Reluctance to make a change in life is also demonstrated in the Gospel.
The Samaritans would not follow Jesus because he was different from
them; they were prejudiced. Others in the Gospel delayed saying, “yes,”
to following Jesus until sometime in the future because of more
important things they had to do, such as burying the dead and saying
farewell to their family.
In examining the excuses of the prophets and the people of Jesus’ time,
each of us is challenged to consider the alibis that we make when
invited to follow Jesus more closely. What excuses do we have to not
committing more to following Jesus? To help prioritize our lives, it
helps to remember this model: God comes first, next our family, then
our job, and last the other things we do.
God continues to call all of us to follow him, even if we are raising a
family. God is not asking us to leave our children or spouse behind,
but he is asking us to work out the practicalities of a changed life
that results from us following him more closely.
Each time during our life that we say “yes” to God, we see more clearly
how we can use the gifts, talents, and resources of our former life as
a springboard to our newly committed life.
The Hound of Heaven continues to invite each one of us to follow him.
Whenever we say “yes,” the Hound will invite us anew to change our
lives. Don’t be surprised when you hear God’s voice, for he makes
invitations to ordinary people, like you and me, while we are doing
ordinary things in our lives.