The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, August 31st: Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 16:21-27)

FOLLOWING CHRIST CAN BE TOUGH THESE DAYS

C’mon, admit it. It’s kind of tough being a Christian these days. Every time you turn around another “Atheism is great! Christianity is dumb!” book is making the best-seller list. Either that or yet another popular media source is mocking those of us who really believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be and that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

Sometimes the message is that anyone who actually believes basic Christian doctrines—the phrase “fairy tales” is often used—must be about as smart as a head of cabbage. Other times, when it’s plain that the Christian in question is reasonably intelligent, the message is that he’s frustrated and uptight, and wants to make sure no one else has any fun. (Unfortunately, there are just enough people who do fit that profile, the media has no trouble presenting a five-second sound bite to back up their prejudiced claims.)

One local political cartoonist always portrays the so-called Religious Right as elephants wearing Puritan clothing. The elephants signify a fanatical devotion to the Republican party, although, come to think of it, you never see feminists, labor unions, trial lawyers, Hollywood celebrities, the NAACP, college professors, or the ACLU being portrayed as fanatically devoted to the Democratic party—which, of course, they all plainly are.

The Puritan garb obviously represents the notion that religious believers hate sex. For all those who weren’t paying attention the last time we covered this topic, let’s review: Christians—surprise, surprise—do NOT hate sex. Sex was invented by God, who moments later commanded, “Be fruitful and multiply.” (And He wasn't talking about peaches and calculators.)

God created sex and purposely made it quite pleasurable. And then He insisted that we do it often. As a certain British secret agent might say, “Yeaaaahh, baby!” But where Christians differ with today’s popular culture is in the details. You see, God insists on specific guidelines regarding sex: it should only be practiced between a man and a woman who are married. Anything which deviates from that is bound to cause problems. God’s plan is not to take away our fun; it is to protect us from ourselves.

We have to remember that our sex drive is incredibly powerful and volatile. In fact, it’s the third most powerful urge in the universe, right behind the urge to eat and the urge to cut in front of me on the highway without signaling.

When we allow this powerful urge to rage out of control, we’re not maximizing our pleasure, we’re maximizing our misery. I realize that in today’s world it is not polite to argue a point by using evidence rather than emotions, facts rather than feelings, but the statistics are undeniable. When the human sex drive is allowed to proceed unchecked, a multitude of victims are certain to be strewn in its wake: molested children, raped coeds, broken marriages, murdered prostitutes, incurable diseases, ravaged immune systems, and countless women scarred both physically and emotionally by the trauma of abortion.

Despite all the evidence and statistics, if you proclaim the Christian position on this topic, you will surely be labeled a kill-joy and your hopes of winning any popularity contests will be dashed.

So, as I said at the top, it’s tough being a Christian these days, isn’t it?

Ha, gotcha! I saw you nodding in agreement. You’re wrong! It’s not tough being a Christian today. It’s great!

Who cares if some elitist snobs make fun of us just because we stand up for the truth? At least they’re not slitting our throats like in the Sudan or locking us up for decades in rancid prisons like in communist China. You want to see tough? Listen to the Scripture readings at church this Sunday.

In the first reading the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed God’s word to the people. This is how he described what happened as a result: “All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me….the word of the Lord has brought me derision and reproach all the day.”

In this week’s gospel reading Jesus tells us, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.”

Jesus said that in order to be one of His true followers, a person must lose his life. Yeow, that goes way beyond being unpopular or getting ridiculed by the media. But Jesus went on to explain what He meant: “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”

Jesus was talking from a heavenly, eternal perspective, not the worldly, short-term perspective with which we’re so obsessed these days. He was telling us that if we look for fulfillment by following the urges of our sinful human nature, we will be terribly disappointed. But if we seek fulfillment by denying worldly enticements and focusing instead on the Lord, we will find eternal life and peace.

In this week’s second reading, St. Paul discussed how we must do this. “Do not conform yourselves to this age,” he wrote, “but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

It seems pretty plain. We’re called to reject the sinful aspects of our popular culture regardless of how popular they may be (remember what Mom said: “If everyone jumped off a bridge would you do it, too?!”). Instead we are to be transformed by following Christ. 

It may be tough, and it may make us a target for mocking and ridicule, but who are we trying to please, anyway? Some smart-aleck political cartoonist and a sneering AP reporter—or the Almighty Creator of the Universe?

©2008