“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”

23^rd SUNDAY (B) September 8, 2024

Isaiah 35:4-7a; Psalm 146; James 2: 1-5; Mark 7: 31-37

by Jude Siciliano, OP

Dear Preachers:

In his letter today James has seen something happening is his Christian community and he is distressed by it. It occurred when they gathered for prayer? He criticizes the worshiping community for its showing favoritism towards members in the assembly who are rich. They have the visible signs of wealth, “gold rings and fine clothes.” Christians responded to these visible signs by offering those arrivals special seating. While a person in shabby clothes isn’t offered a seat at all, but instructed, “Stand there,”... “Sit at my feet.”

While the favorable actions towards the rich and neglect of the poor may seem discourteous, the reading suggests more – it is a sin. Certainly people in society show favor to those with influence and disregard those on the streets. This social partiality is not what James is addressing. He’s concerned about how Christians make class distinctions among themselves in the faith community, where all the baptized are equal and there is no place for categories separating rich and poor Christians.

James reminds the Christians how they were poor, but God chose them and made them rich in faith. Though they were mistreated, they were still the property of God and had been gifted with faith. When they restrict the poor they are copying the way the world treats the poor. By favoring the rich, those James is criticizing, are acting contrary to the basic belief of their faith. “Did not God choose those who were poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him?”

The clue for us Christians is not merely to celebrate the reception of new members at our Easter Vigil baptisms. Newcomers, whatever their social ranking, have to be fully welcome, not only in our pews, but also into our fuller church life. If you want to spend a long time searching through the Bible look for the number of times the poor and those suffering social injustice are mentioned. Make sure you have a lot of time and plenty of food when you begin the undertaking. A challenge to the preacher: how many times have you preached about the poor? And, to those sitting in the pews today, by what criteria do you judge others? Someone said, if you cut out references to the poor in the Bible much of the Psalms and Prophets would disappear and we would be left with holes – and that’s just counting two of the biblical books!

The reading from Isaiah today is like a tender love letter a mother, or father, might write to a beloved child going through hard times. Certainly there are parents in the congregation today who have had to send such words of concern to a child in a letter, email, phone, or face-to-face. When everyone else goes their own way, a parent is still there loving and worrying over a distressed child. In such cases everything else, household, job, friends and recreation are put on hold, so that full attention can be focused on the needy child; no matter what their age, no matter what the cost.

Does that hint at how much God loves the lost and distressed children of God? It is there in our Isaiah reading. The passage shows God’s coming with promised vindication for the exiled Israelites. There is reason to have hope because of the promises God is making to the people. The language depicts a new Exodus: “streams will burst forth in the desert….The burning sands will become pools and the thirsty ground, springs of water.” God will produce great changes among the people. The hardened, especially, will be converted: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared… then the tongue of the mute will sing.” When will this promised relief happen and who will bring this hoped-for relief about? We find the fulfillment of Isaiah’s promises in Jesus. So, let’s turn to the gospel.

Jesus is in Gentile territory; not exactly a sacred place for devout Jews. There he heals someone not of his clan, or faith. As James did in our second reading, Jesus challenges us to reach out to others, despite their social, racial, economic, or ethnic standing and share with them the gift of grace and peace we have received.

The deaf man Jesus healed did not come forth on his own to declare faith in Jesus and request a healing. He was brought by others. It’s the faith of others who have compassion that brings about the healing for the man. And isn’t that a challenge for us? Is our faith visible enough to others to draw them to Christ for healing they may need in their lives? As the old saying goes, “If it were a crime to be a Christian would they have enough evidence to arrest us?”

There is a disturbing fact in the story. Why did Jesus tell the healed man and his friends to keep silent about what happened? Perhaps they would have shared the story of the cure, but not gotten the full truth of what had happened. They would not have told what Jesus had been telling his disciples, about his upcoming suffering, death and resurrection.

We tend to be shy about sharing our faith with others so we keep quiet. We probably claim: “I do not want them to think I am a fundamentalist Christian.” “They might think me a ‘ Jesus freak’.” Or, “I don’t know enough about my faith, I am just a regular Christian.” Even though they were told not to, they “proclaimed it.” We use the verb “to proclaim” when we refer to announcing God’s word – that is, “proclaiming the gospel.”

They did not have any sophisticated theological training, but they did have the experience of God’s mercy and power for the man. It was their personal experience that fired their faith: the experience of God’s compassion, mercy and love to the outsider.

The God Isaiah proclaimed today reaches out to open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf. Have we ever had an experience of a new insight in our lives, or heard a truth that turned us around? Why not speak out of our personal experience and tell someone about it?

Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/090824.cfm