20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, C        August 19, 2007

[INTRODUCTION TO THE GOSPEL]

In this Gospel Jesus calls his death a baptism.  Ancient Jews used “baptism” as a synonym for death since in baptism a person was immersed or buried in water.  In this text Jesus also speaks of peace.  In stark contrast to his words, "peace I leave with you," Jesus here says he has not come for peace, but for division.  He means that since some people will accept the Gospel and others will not, disagreement and conflict over faith and religious values will inevitably result, even within families.

[HOMILY]

Remember the first reading about Jeremiah?  What made the ruling class in Jerusalem so angry that they tried to kill Jeremiah by letting him starve to death trapped in a muddy pit?  Well, it was something he said.

Jeremiah told the ruling class that God was not on their side.  What did he mean?  The year was 588 BC.  The Babylonian army under king Nebuchadnezzar was threatening Jerusalem, and Jeremiah boldly told the rulers, “God is not on your side.  You will be conquered, captured, and some of you will die.”  Well, Jeremiah had to be dealt with for this kind of talk.  It not only demoralized the defending soldiers, it undermined a most cherished popular religious notion. You see, people thought that the real battle was being fought in heaven.

Marduk, the god of the Babylonians was fighting Yahweh, the God of Israel.  The armies on the ground were merely playing out the real battle in heaven.  And the outcome was already decided in favor of the army of Jerusalem.  The God of Israel was stronger, would defeat Marduk, and, so, therefore, Jerusalem would defeat Babylon. 

But Jeremiah undermined this popular myth.  He said it was not this way.  Jeremiah was a heretic, a traitor to God and nation, so, Jeremiah had to die!   But Jeremiah was right.  Jerusalem fell.  The Babylonians destroyed the temple that Solomon had built 400 years earlier.  The king, the ruling class, the priests, the rich and influential were carried off into exile, and enslaved, imprisoned, tortured, or killed. 

Did all this happen because Yahweh lost the battle with Marduk?  Of course not.  There was no Marduk and no battle in heaven.  But Jeremiah knew that the God of Israel was strong and had, indeed, determined who should win the war between Jerusalem and Babylon.  Jeremiah knew that God had determined the winner by the results of another conflict, the conflict between the rich and the poor.  The ruling class in Jerusalem lived in the lap of luxury by oppressing and exploiting the peasants through ruthless taxation.  In order to maintain their lifestyle they needed to outfit, feed, and pay an army of soldiers.  The soldiers protected the rich, collected the taxes, kept the peasants down on the farm, and went out to conquer more peasants and more land in order to raise more taxes.  Exploiting the poor was necessary in order to stay in power and to stay rich.  And the rich seemed to be winning this war with the poor. 

But in this conflict, said Jeremiah, God was not on the side of the rich, for God always takes the side of the poor.  The poor would win in the end.  And so, God took their side.  He used the Babylonians as his instrument to punish the powerful for their sins of injustice.  God allowed Babylon to conquer Jerusalem, force the upper class into exile, and thus end their exploitation of the poor.  At the same time the Babylonians had spared the common folk.  They left the peasant farmers behind to enjoy the fruits of the land.  And enjoy they did!  They now could keep their harvests without having to hand over half of them in taxes to oppressive rulers in Jerusalem.  And so, God gave the land back to the poor to enjoy for themselves.  They actually prospered from Babylon conquering Jerusalem. 

Now, what does this have to do with you and me?   Well, we all want God to be on our side, but God has not changed sides since the days of Jeremiah.  God is still not on the side of those who exploit the poor in order to live in the lap of luxury.   God is still on the side of the poor. 

Where are we in the scheme of things?  We are very rich compared to most people alive today.  We have homes and cars.  We are in the 1% of the world's people who are educated.  The poor are the 5 billion people who go to bed hungry every night, who sleep on a dirt floor, who have no shoes, no electricity, only contaminated water to drink, and who often stare war in the face.  Compared to these really poor, we live in the lap of luxury. 

Is God, then, not on our side?  We don’t deliberately exploit the poor.  But!  Our lifestyle is often maintained at the expense of the poor.  Privileged and affluent nations exploit the poor just as much today as in the time of Jeremiah.  How can we avoid participating in this exploitation?

Step one:  Knowledge is power.  Learn how affluent nations exploit the rest of the world.  Learn how the poor are affected by your choices.  Step two:  Remember every day that the poor exist, for, being distant from your daily routines they are easy to ignore.  This remembering comes most easily in your prayer.  Step three:  Make informed choices about your lifestyle, and adjust your consumer habits.  In taking these steps you participate in the solution and avoid being part of the problem.  In taking these steps you ensure that God remains on your side.