Ordinary 23

The Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ezekiel 33:7-9; Psalm 95; Romans `13:8-10; Matthew 18:15-20

The lifeguard at the swimming pool. The crossing guard at the intersection where children board and leave the school bus. The police officer on foot patrol in the neighborhood. These people cannot fulfill their tasks without concern for and attention to the welfare of others.

In a sense, this is true of all of us. Are we not all at some basic human level responsible for the welfare of other people in our social sphere? …and beyond to the stranger?

I was disheartened by all the people who stood around taking videos as George Floyd was in great distress. No one did anything to stop his eventual death. The anonymous and poisonous emails, texts, tweets, and Facebook commentary that saturate cyberspace with all manner of people’s cowardly hate, anger and judgements that disparage and slander people discarding basic human respect. After a suicide, how many people respond that they did not know, did not see the signs, were afraid of interfering or getting involved?

Has not the extreme to which we value independence, autonomy and privacy placed an axe at the root of love of neighbor?

Is it not deeply sad and disheartening that countries, including ours, have had to enact what are called Good Samaritan Laws. These are laws, which offer legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are, or whom they believe to be injured, ill, or in peril. The protection is intended to reduce bystanders’ hesitation to assist, for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death.

The title of such laws is an insult to the teaching of Jesus. The Samaritan in the parable had no legal or religious protection when he cared for the Jewish person who was beaten and robbed. Rather he had a mandate, “love one another…” The care the Samaritan afforded the Jew was simply the right and just act to do.

In our concern for being sued, where is integrity? Where is fidelity to the Gospel? Where is accountability to each other and thus to God?

Do you know what the first recorded question in the scriptures is asked by a human? “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  And what a self-revealing question it is! Yes, Cain you are responsible! And so are we. We need a law to protect us so as to do the good? It is not a Good Samaritan Law but a Self-Protection Law that has been enacted.

The police officer, the lifeguard, the EMT, the teacher, the crossing guard, the parent, do not act out of self-preservation but rather selflessness, do they not? Is not that what Jesus did throughout his whole life to the cross? Paul writes “Jesus emptied himself…” _{[Philippians 2:6-11]} The cross being the ultimate sentinel warning.

What does it mean then to be a sentinel, a lookout, a guard?

To be God’s sentinel means to be aware of what is occurring and to speak of it out of care for people. Ezekiel’s message, like Jeremiah, was one of warning. For his fidelity to God, the people mocked him unaware of his care for them.

Do we care about a person if we say or do nothing when we suspect something or clearly see what might be wrong? And what if we are wrong? Is it not better to be wrong and risk losing a relationship than to do nothing that result in a continued harmful life choice? Moreover, when it comes to the spiritual life, how much more important is this encounter when we are dealing with eternal realities?

Love of neighbor is difficult, emotional and time consuming, work.

How did Jesus love neighbor? After the resurrection, he took Peter aside, “Do you love me more than these?” After everyone has left, the woman caught in adultery is addressed, “Has no one condemned you?” The meeting at the well when no one was around at noon, Jesus speaks to the woman of Samaria, “Give me a drink”. Saddling up to two disciples returning to Emmaus, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” Love of neighbor is shown by having respect for the person. Privately. One on one. A quiet kitchen table talk.

The scriptures encourage those of us who hesitate to offer life-affirming words in troubled situations and counsels us to refrain from any self-righteous stand over the person we encounter.

Remember, God’s longing is for the dead to return to the land of the living. God delights in the return of the prodigal, in the prayers of the traitor and in the recovery of a sheep.

How are you and I God’s sentinel?