Following Christ - A Reason to Rejoice?

Scripture Reflection for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 7, 2013)

Scripture Readings:
Isaiah 66:10-14
Psalm 66
Galatians 6:14-18
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

These readings start out in a celebratory manner. The first word spoken by the Lord in Isaiah is “Rejoice!” The Lord promises every good thing to his people. The chorus of the Psalm focuses on joy – the praise of the Lord. Even the reading from Galatians has a certain elation to it: “Let me boast… in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then the Gospel hits us: laborers are few; you are like sheep among wolves; shake the dust from your feet; remember Sodom and Gomorrah. Jesus realizes what he is asking his disciples to do. Take nothing with you: no contingency plans, no back-up supplies.

This isn’t a glory trip – it is hard work, harvesting for Christ. It is hard work, declaring the gospel. It should be something of a comfort that from the first evangelizers, Jesus knew it would be hard. You are going somewhere dangerous. You have a job to do; it will be hard, and you will be rejected. You aren’t going to have a lot of room to satisfy your whims. You don’t get a choice where you stay, and your wages are whatever people choose to give you. Your job is to be their servant. The only comfort the disciples receive is a vague promise that sounds like revenge.

Yet, when the disciples return, they do not talk about how difficult the task was, or how restricting they found the guidelines. They return “rejoicing.” Because no matter how hard God asks us to work, when we follow him faithfully, we have reason to rejoice. As Christ tells the seventy-two: “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” All the exciting signs – they are exciting, but they are not the real reason to rejoice.

It’s the same thing that Paul saw, and that Isaiah saw: Our joy comes from God’s goodness and the participation in that goodness which he gives to us. Yet this joy is not won at no cost. Jerusalem has to go through exile and mourning before she can experience the joy Isaiah heralds. Paul boasts in the cross, finding joy in his suffering. And the seventy-two rejoice at having done the work of God. The joy springs from the suffering and sacrifice that God asks from each of us.

Image: Cactus In Bloom by Michael Miloserdoff