19th Sunday of Ordinary Time [A]

 


19TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [A]


Let’s travel back to the year 1977. You are in the theatre, watching the newly released Star Wars film. It’s looking bad for Princess Leia. She’s being held captive on an enemy space station called the Death-Star. Suddenly, a rescue team arrives!! What a relief for Princess Leia!! However, you’re noticing that she’s not expressing relief. If anything, she’s expressing a sense of apprehension. The next thing you know, she’s making critical, derisive comments. Clearly, she’s not impressed with the people who have been assigned to rescue her. Nevertheless, she evidently has decided to go with it. It’s not what she would have drawn up. These are not the individuals that she would have recruited. Still, if she insists on having it her way, then this captivity could well linger on indefinitely. Therefore, it’s best to cooperate. It is what it is. She’s ready to go with it. 


In the Bible, you’ll come across both types: those who are prepared to go with it; and those who absolutely refuse to go with it. Note the case of St. Paul. Initially, he is very antagonistic toward this new religious movement. He has no intention of embracing the Christian Covenant. But then something happens to him as he is traveling along the road leading to Damascus. He converts to the faith, and now he is working very hard to attract others to the cause. It especially grieves him that so many of his Jewish compatriots have chosen to hold out (see Rom. 9:1-5). They simply will not allow themselves to accept Jesus as the Messiah. The problem with Jesus is that he’s not operating within the framework of their rigidly formed expectations. They, for their part, are not willing to go with it. Don’t tell them that it is what it is. 


One wonders whether they should be revisiting the First Book of Kings, chapter nineteen? What is the prophet doing up there on Mt. Horeb? He’s waiting. He’s waiting for the Lord. What do we know about this Lord? We know this much: he is not shy about taking the dramatic approach. Recall, for example, what he does to the Red Sea in Exodus chapter fourteen! And yet, even though this approach has been adopted in the past, it doesn’t necessarily follow that he will always proceed with such flair and high drama. What’s to prevent him from communicating with a whisper? Elijah detects just such a whisper in chapter nineteen, as he keeps vigil on Mt. Horeb (1st Kings 19:12-13). He responds with a spirit of obedience: It is what it is. The Lord gets to decide. If he wants to speak by means of a whisper, I’m committed to going with it. 


The Israelites referenced in Romans nine are looking specifically for high drama. They’re in the market for a Messiah who will conquer hordes of Philistines; who will be a slayer of giants; who will function along the lines of a Judas Maccabeus—a revolutionary, a political figure, a man of action. If Jesus doesn’t conform to this pattern, then the only alternative will be to hold out, to reject him and likewise his message. As far as Paul is concerned, this is the equivalent of Princess Leia remaining on the Death-Star. That’s what we encounter in this selection from Romans chapter nine. Meanwhile, what about the disciples who are featured in Matthew chapter fourteen? What can we say about them? 


Elijah was waiting for the Lord. He was keeping vigil. As for the disciples, they have no idea that the Lord is heading in their direction. When they observe a phenomenon that seems to be drawing closer and closer, they assume it has to be a ghost (Matt. 14:26). Jesus assures them that it is he himself, and not a ghost. It’s striking: Peter does not completely rule out the possibility that it might be Jesus. He will actually join Jesus out there on the water’s surface, even if only for a brief period of time. But this is a Peter who has not yet fully blossomed. He, like the others, will prove to be a late-bloomer. 


We need to appreciate that they are at least making an attempt to go with it. They are trying. They’re trying to accept the Lord for who and what he is—not for who and what they might suppose him to be. This sets them apart from those who have so thoroughly disappointed Saint Paul. Maybe the disciples have not yet reached Elijah’s rarified level (his league). But they are on their way. We’ll call it a rescue in progress. Or we could put it like this: they are in the process of being rescued. They are in the process of going with it. 

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