FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CREATION DAY
8 September 2013
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
Gen. 2:19: “… God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them.”
Matt. 13:17: “For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them.”
Reflection
Matthew offers us a slightly tamer version of Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. In the Gospel of Mark, probably written a decade or so earlier, Jesus clearly states:
“[T]o those who are outside [of God’s Kingdom], all things are done in parables, that ‘seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest perhaps they should turn again, and their sins should be forgiven them.’” (Mark 4:11b-12, WEB)
Here, Jesus, citing Isaiah 6, intentionally hides the kingdom of God in order to keep out those who are already out, and to prevent them from making a turn-around. Matthew, apparently uncomfortable with this notion, has Jesus clarify by using Isaiah differently:
“Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand. In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled…” (Matt. 13:13-14a, WEB)
Mark’s Jesus encodes God’s kingdom into parables so that those who are out will not understand, and uses Isaiah to defend his actions. Matthew’s Jesus does the same because those who are out already do not understand, and Isaiah already knew this would happen. The difference is subtle, but significant.
What are we to make of this, especially with the reading from Genesis, where God approaches the man he’s just created, and views him as a kind of co-worker? God may have formed the animals out of nothing, but he seeks the man’s input as to what to name them. There are no parables or secrets or codes here, just mutual interaction and transparent understanding.
We’re still discovering and naming the animals and other organisms of creation. But naming something doesn’t give us mastery over it, and we have a tendency to want to rule our discoveries. Maybe that’s the key to understanding these two contrasting stories. Jesus won’t name God’s kingdom for us or else we’d want to usurp and rule it ourselves. Even the Church has been guilty of this throughout history, defining who’s in and who’s out. And it’s precisely that type of mentality that keeps us from understanding and entering the kingdom of God.
Today’s readings teach us that God decides who’s in and who’s out of his kingdom. And Jesus’ life teaches us that the list of who’s out is much, much shorter than we’d have it. How many people before us desired to see this truth lived out in their day, and others would not see it? How many people right now need to hear this truth, but have no one to hear it from? May we once again be co-workers with God to bring this truth to all who need it.
Prayer of the Day
Lord, help me today to realize
that you will be speaking to me through the events of the day,
through people, through things, and through all creation.
Give me ears, eyes, and a heart to perceive you,
however veiled your presence may be.
Give me insight to see through the exterior of things
to the interior truth.
Give me the Spirit of discernment.
Lord, you know how busy I must be this day:
If I forget you, do not forget me;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
—Sir Jacob Astley before the Battle of Edgehill, 1642;
quoted in “Daily Prayer”, edited by Frank Topping, 2003, p. 230)
Hymn: “For the beauty of the earth”
(Words: Folliot Sandford Pierpoint, 1835-1917; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013
Tune: ‘Dix’, Conrad Kocher, 1838)
For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love, which from our birth
Over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to you we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light,
Lord of all, to you we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
Pleasures pure and undefiled,
Lord of all, to you we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.
For each perfect gift of grace,
Freely given us by you,
Which make bright and fresh our days,
Flowers of earth and morning dew,
Lord of all, to you we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.
For the Church, which evermore
Lifts her holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love,
Lord of all, to you we raise
This our grateful hymn of praise.
Amen.
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