Reflection on the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Prophecy in Scripture means telling the truth, not telling the future. And the kind of truth-telling none of us like comes from people we think are not as good as we are. Amos says matter-of-factly that he’s a shepherd, sent by God to tell the truth to his people, the Israelites. No wonder Amaziah, the priest, wants to get rid of him. Truth is hard enough to hear, but not from a shepherd.

But the Epistle, Ephesians, tells us we are all chosen by God, chosen before the world was made, to be holy and without blemish, to be beloved in Christ. Each of us is as special as Amos, called to be our own true selves, whether prophet or teacher or cook or community organizer or builder or even president. God knows us. 

The psalm Maria Visse sang – kindness and truth shall meet, justice and peace shall kiss – this is the world God has given us.

And so we come to the apostles sent two-by-two to preach the good news. In St. Louis our Catholic Worker had three houses. At one point, one of the houses was taken over by a volunteer who acted arbitrarily with money, with house rules, with use of donations, in his treatment of the guests. There was a lot of trouble in the house. So we followed the example of Jesus and sent two people to speak to him and tell him that he had to leave the house. We considered changing the locks, calling the police, telling all of our donors, all of us going to the house to confront him. But we sent two members of our community to tell him the truth – that his behavior was unjust and disruptive and that he would have to go. It was a hard meeting, and the resolution took a week, but he agreed and left the community.

Two-by-two is easier than one prophet standing alone. A whole community, a beloved community, seeking truth together, shines with the love of God. This is God’s call, this is God’s promise.

Kim Klein reminded me that there are other ways to take apart Scripture. Sometimes we are Amos, the shepherd called by God, and sometimes we are Amaziah, the priest, trying to bundle Amos off to another town. Sometimes we are the apostles, sent two-by-two to cast out devils. Sometimes we are the house that shuts its door to the apostles, preferring to live with the devil we know rather than risk meeting strangers.

But Paul’s words in Ephesians glow through it all. In love, God destined us for adoption through Jesus Christ in accord with the favor of God’s will for the praise of the glory of God’s grace, in accord with the riches of God’s grace that God lavishes upon us. Paul’s words flow with the exuberance of love.