4th Sunday of Advent (Part 2)
13 December 2015
• Zephaniah
3:14-18a • Psalm (Isaiah 12) • Philippians 4:4-7 • Luke
3:10-18 •
20 December 2015 Gospel: • Luke
1:39-45 •
[__01__] PART 1
---- On this third Sunday of Advent, we read about the recommendation – the
instruction – of John the Baptist to the tax collectors, these officials of the
Roman Empire.
John the Baptist speaks to
these tax collectors about their practices, their methods, their reputations.
What was the reputation of
these tax collectors in the area around Jerusalem and in Judea and Galilee?
What was their reputation?
The tax collectors of the
time of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the apostles were the TICKET SCALPERS, the LOAN
SHARKS, the CORRUPT BANKERS of their day.
However, if the tax
collectors had owned computers and spreadsheets, they would have bet against
the stock market for their own portfolio. It would have been The Big Short of the ancient world.
What was the reputation of
the tax collectors? Their reputation was
that they took in a personal profit, a personal fee and share, in addition to
the money collected legitimately by the government.
The taxpayer had no
loopholes. There were no deductions to offset the tax burden.
[__02__] John the Baptist, however, says that they
have a responsibility, a calling to repent and to examine their own lives and
practices.
There was neither an
S.E.C., Securities and Exchange Commission, nor an FBI to stop them.
However rather than an
overthrow of the government or a coup
d’etat, John the Baptist simply says, “Stop collecting more than what is
prescribed.” (Luke 3:___)
In Ephesians, Paul
expresses this in terms of the unity of Body of Christ and community and how we
can help each other by our honesty and
integrity:
“Therefore,
putting away falsehood, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are
members one of another.”
(Ephesians 4:25)
[__03__]
“Stop
collecting more than what is prescribed.” (Luke
3:13)
This applies to all of us,
not simply in terms of what we receive in our pay envelope or paycheck or P
& L.
[__04__]
I have, at times, fallen victim – perhaps we all have – fallen victim to a
desire for recognition for recompense, for gratitude.
It’s nice to be thanked,
isn’t it?
Several years ago, when my
grandfather was in the final years of his life, many of us in the family tried
to assist him.
And, as happens in many
such cases, each of us had a perception of our “investment contribution” to the
effort. I also had a perception of what my contribution was.
A good friend pointed out
to me …”Don’t expect that this act of love – charity – on your part should lead
you to be thanked or exalted for some reward.”
After all, I was just
helping a family member right here at home, on planet earth. This was something
ordinary, not interplanetary Star Wars
drama where a Jedi Knight arrives on the Death Star to rescue people he doesn’t
really know.
Or, as John the Baptist
said, “Stop collecting [or expecting] more than what is prescribed.”
[__05__]
John the Baptist speaks this instruction to all of us, in all of our callings,
whether this is the calling to be ..
è A
son or daughter at home and going to school, to do our homework, to help at
home. Do we imitate the tax collectors by expecting a an additional reward for
our labor?
è A
spouse or parent trying to help our children or our spouse. When we join
ourselves to our family, we also rejoice not in what we personally collect but in what the
family receives
collectively.
è a
professional, a worker of any kind – whether a laborer or a teacher or a doctor
or nurse or attorney or accountant or analyst. Whatever our craft is – whatever
our POSITION IN THE HIERARCHY IS – we are called to be servants.
[__06__]
The problem for the tax collectors was their avarice, their greed, first of
all.
PART 2 ----
But, then, this greed led
to a second problem. That is, they had a
reputation for corruption and dishonesty.
They seemed indifferent to
the problem of their reputation and just continued their ways.
[__07__]
INDIFFERENCE …
Would we not, at times, be
better off if were able to avoid being carried away by every wind of doctrine
and opinion,
if were able to avoid
being carried away by every wind of popularity or unpopularity?
This indifference is a
form of humility.
But, sometimes,
indifference is also a form of PRIDE, SINFULNESS.
Is not true, as St.
Francis De Sales points out that it is a form of humility to care for and edify
a good name, a good reputation?[1]
For preserving our good
name, we also care for God’s good name within us.
For, whether you or I were
the construction worker or the civil engineer, whether you or I were the person
with the mop or the doctor with the knife in the operating room, who would hire
us without a good reputation?
Love of God, love of self,
love of neighbor, requires us to maintain a good reputation with care.
Francis de Sales compares
a good reputation to a healthy tree or plant in the following ways:
“the root of a good name
is to be found in virtue or honesty, which will always cause it to spring up
afresh, however it may be assaulted.”[2]
He also writes that the
leaves of a tree do not exist simply for beauty.
And, in this regard, a
reputation does not exist simply for our own adornment or superficial appeal to
others …or as the home page of a website.
Our reputation protects us
when we are fragile.
Was this not, in a sense,
the prayer of Solomon when he could have had anything material he wanted …but
rather asked for wisdom?
And, wisdom became his
reputation.
In the Book of Proverbs we
read,
“A good name
is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or
gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)
And, our desire for a good
name or reputation also reminds us that protection of this reputation also
helps us to reflect the image of God within us.
[__fin__]
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