Isaiah 66:10-14; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12,17-20
For many years I traveled to the Canadian Rockies of Western Alberta, Canada. Unlike the disciples in today’s gospel I did not travel so lightly. I brought with me my camping gear, a tent, sleeping bag, food, clothing, maps, prayer books, and my copy of the Woodall’s Camping Guide describing the best places in which to camp. And of course I brought my credit card to take care of all my financial needs. Everything I needed for the journey I took with me in the trunk of my car.
The reason for this is that I was not going as a missionary to foreign lands like those seventy-two disciples. I was going as a tourist on a vacation. I can almost imagine what a difference my journey would have been if I had traveled like those disciples with no purse, no bag, no sandals. I would have been somewhat like the many hitch-hikers on the Canadian Highways who were trusting the hospitality of a stranger. I would have been like those men sitting on the sidewalks of Calgary and Edmonton, begging for handouts. I would have been like those homeless people sleeping in the parks and streets. My journeys to Canada would have been very different.
Even though I did not travel to Canada on a missionary journey I did return home changed. I would talk about faith and politics with our neighbors to the north. I was able to observe many different people from many different lands, Canada, Europe, the Orient and the Middle East. I was even blessed to be able to speak with people from Norway, France and Egypt. On Sunday’s I found myself worshipping with Catholics whom I did not know, but with whom I felt a bond because of our Catholic faith.
In all of these discussions, in all of these experiences, one common thought would often come to mind. That is, how blessed I am to have born in America. On this weekend in which we celebrate our independence I believe it is important that we remember to thank and praise God for the blessings given to us in this nation. America in some ways is very much like the city of Jerusalem that Isaiah envisioned in our first reading. In fact I might suggest that we listen to a portion of the reading again with one slight editorial difference.
“Rejoice with (America) and be glad because of her,
all you who love her;
Exult, exult with her, all you mourning over her! . . .
For thus says the Lord:
Lo, I will spread prosperity over her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.
As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms,
and fondled in her lap;
As a mother comforts her son,
so will I comfort you;
in (America) you shall find your comfort” (Isaiah 66:10ff.)
In this nation we have been blessed with the material and human resources necessary to live comfortable lives. We have been blessed with the freedoms to travel thousands of miles and come and go wherever we please. We have been blessed with the abundance of talents of our people who can use these talents in any way they choose. We have been blessed with a home in which we can worship our God freely and without fear of persecution.
Even so, for all the blessings we have received from God in this great nation, we are far from the perfection of the heavenly kingdom which Isaiah foretold. In America we continue to struggle with racial prejudice and inequality. In America we have poverty and homelessness. In America we have people who distort the notion of freedom and using it for their own personal gain regardless of the consequences to other people. In America we have not been satisfied to merely live comfortably with our own resources, but instead we are consuming a vast majority of the entire world’s resources. In America we have become very mean spirited fostering attitudes of vengeance instead of reconciliation. In America we are losing the basic sanctity of human life and so we see human lives as something disposable.
We participate ourselves in these problems by the jokes we tell, by the attitudes we have towards others, by the ways in which we buy into the consumer mentality, by our own inability to forgive those who have hurt us. Even if we don’t actively do these things, we are a part of the problem if we simply sit back and choose to do nothing about these issues.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. My brothers and sisters in Christ, each one of us is called, like those seventy-two disciples in the gospel, to proclaim the truth of God’s kingdom. We do this by our words, our attitudes, our example of faith. Just as he sent those disciples, Christ sends us each and every day like lambs into the midst of wolves. In other words Christ is sending us to be peace-makers wherever we find ourselves. That my friends, is the true message of the kingdom of God. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of peace. As Isaiah the prophet foretold of God’s kingdom (11:6ff):
“The wolf shall be the guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them. . .
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord, . . .”
In this Eucharist let us give God thanks and praise for blessing us with this great nation. Let us repent of the ways in which we participate in the problems facing our community, our nation, and our world. Then let us then ask God to strengthen us and give us courage that we too might be messengers of God’s peace.
