Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
When Jesus speaks of a time of fulfillment, we have the sense that the focus is changing from John the Baptist to the promised one who fulfills God’s promises. Jesus begins to invite disciples to follow Him and spell out the mission that He gives to them.
We live in a time when we participate in the fulfillment of the promises of God, if we choose to. Each of us has been given the call to discipleship, as well as a mission. We are to be the bearers of good news in the world today and the instruments of fulfillment of God’s promises. If we accept this kind of discipleship, we’re going to have to pay attention to Jesus’ lead and the example that He sets. Our mission is to do what He did and to bring it to fulfillment.
We know that there is great separation still present in the world today. Each year, we concentrate on the division that still exists among all the Christian Churches. We have lived with that division so long that we believe it is a permanent fixture, rather than something that needs to be healed and whose promise needs to be fulfilled. We need to remember that it is the dream of God that we all be one.
When Jesus called His disciples, He called one brother (Andrew), who went to get his other brother (Simon), and bring him to Jesus. Jesus set a pattern for us so that we can do what He asks us to do and not be intimidated by the size of the mission or the difficulty. We could all bring Jesus and His good news to someone in our lives. We all know someone who lives in the midst of hopelessness. We all know someone who has given themselves over to cynicism. Each of us probably has relationships that are broken or bruised because of the way we have treated each other. We don’t have to heal all the divisions all at once, but we can start person by person.
Just as in the time of Jesus, this is a time of fulfillment. We’ve been working on developing the virtues that bring about healing and compassion. We can certainly listen to others to understand them better rather than win an argument. We can choose to be with another not because we want to change them but because we want to love them. We can share what we have with others not because we pity them but because the gifts that we are given or meant to be shared. That’s when they come to be the greatest of gifts.
Will our celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday and our observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity simply be dates on a calendar? Has our celebration of Dr. King’s birthday helped us to be more honest about whatever hatred are prejudices we might still have within our own minds and hearts? Has this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity been going on for so long we simply forget to celebrate it anymore?
Take some time this week to relive in the dream of God’s fulfillment that is talked about in the Scriptures this weekend. Begin to believe again that God’s wisdom is greater than our own. Begin to believe again that what God says is possible truly is possible. Believe again that God has given each of us the gifts that we need to do the work that He has given us to do. Let us turn that belief into action in our world, so that the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God might come to be.
Father Donald Wester is pastor of All Saints Parish in St. Peters.