Contemporary Prophets
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle C
On March 24, 1980, Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, was saying Mass at a cancer hospital operated by a group of religious sisters. Midway through the service, gunmen entered the rear of the chapel, a hail of bullets rang out, and in another moment the archbishop lay dying in a pool of his own blood. Oscar Romero was a man who spoke for his people. He spoke for human rights; he spoke out against those in the government who made decisions that favored the rich and elite at the expense of the poor. He spoke for land reform; he spoke out against injustice. Oscar Romero spoke with authority; he spoke the truth; he spoke with love. Oscar Romero was a prophet.
It seemed from his earliest days that Romero was destined to be a priest. He was born in 1917 in an eastern mountain village of El Salvador and at age thirteen entered the minor seminary. A brilliant student, he was assigned to Rome for his theological training and was ordained there in 1947. He returned to his native land and was an instant success in ministry, first in parochial work and later in higher education. In fact, he was so successful that he was raised to the position of auxiliary bishop after completing work in education and parishes.
The 1960s was a difficult time for many and so too for Oscar Romero. His rather traditional and conservative theological perspective was tested when many changes came to the Catholic Church in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. But he negotiated the changes well so that by the early 1970s he was a strong advocate for many groups who found themselves on the fringes of the Church and society. In 1977 he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador, the primatial see of the country. Romero was a man who truly heard the cry of the poor and acted upon his conviction that the Church must serve all people. He promoted land reform for peasants, spoke against government death squads, and in general advocated Christian principles of social justice. He was severely critical of decisions that failed to meet the needs of the masses, but benefited the wealthy. Romero was fearless in his proclamation despite threats against his life, shortened through the hate of others. His courageous actions and words demonstrate how God's word continues to be voiced in contemporary society.
Elijah, like Oscar Romero, was a prophet, one of the first great prophets who preached God's message to the Northern Kingdom of Israel after the split between North and South that occurred shortly following the death of King Solomon. Elijah spoke boldly against Ahab, King of Israel, who compromised his faith through his marriage to Jezebel, a worshiper of Baal, the god of the local pagan peoples. Elijah, like Oscar Romero, was not a popular person with the hierarchy in his land, but he knew that he was right and he understood the responsibility he incurred from God's call to be a prophet. The task would not be easy, but Elijah was ready for his encounter with the prophets of Baal and was totally confident that he would prevail.
The prophet uses this confrontation with the priests of Baal to demonstrate without a shred of doubt the emptiness of their message and the foolishness of their worship. Elijah knows Baal is a false god and, thus, he uses tactics that ridicule those who find any merit in such misguided worship. He taunts the priests of Baal, causing them to slash themselves and to dance about the altar they constructed. He asks if their god is asleep or on a journey, chiding the priests to call out louder. Elijah knows the emptiness of the priests' efforts and, thus, he intentionally ridicules the actions of these false prophets. Elijah took a great chance, however. Yes, he fully believed that the priests of Baal were in error and he knew in his mind and heart for certain that Yahweh was the one and only God. Nonetheless, Elijah took the chance that God would not allow him to be embarrassed before his adversaries, that the Lord would answer as the prophet asked and send fire to consume the holocaust. The confidence he held in God was fully rewarded.
Elijah was a prophet who was not afraid to confront adversity, to speak out with full confidence that God was with him every step of the way. Similarly, Oscar Romero many centuries later was uninhibited in speaking against those, even in his own faith community, who refused to listen to the cry of the poor. Both men were prophets who spoke God's word and courageously acted without counting the cost of their discipleship. Countless others over the Christian era have continued this tradition of boldly proclaiming God's message to peoples who many times are not receptive to the challenge that is presented. We in a similar way are called to be contemporary prophets, to go forward as God's messengers into an often hostile environment and speak against the great fascinations of our world, today's false gods -- power, wealth, and prestige -- the three great sins of the human condition. We have been commissioned through our baptism to demonstrate to our world, by word and deed, that there is something much more important than the fascinations of this world which tend to dominate the thoughts and actions of people today.
We must recall that this fascination with the world and its allurements is nothing new, but rather, has been the situation faced by humanity almost from the outset. In order to demonstrate the proper way to negotiate through the mine field of the three great temptations of life, Jesus, before he began his public ministry, allowed himself to be tempted by Satan in the desert, as reported by all three Synoptic evangelists. First, Satan tempts Jesus with the false god of power. He tells Jesus to command these stones to turn to bread. After forty days in the desert Jesus was obviously hungry, but the Lord does not need such demonstrations of power. He realizes that humans do not live on bread alone, but are nourished more importantly through God's word. Next Satan entices Jesus with the sin of great wealth. He displays all the kingdoms of the earth before him, saying it could all be his if he would simply bow down and worship Satan. But Jesus is above all this and says only God will be so worshiped. Lastly, Satan baits Jesus to demonstrate the great prestige that is his by taking him to the parapet of the Temple and challenging him to throw himself down, realizing that angels will come, because of his stature, to rescue him. But Jesus again resists the empty promises and false gods of Satan with the rejoinder that God is not to be put to such a test. Jesus does not need the false promises of Satan. He is confident that the power, wealth, and prestige granted him by the Father is to be used not for his exaltation only, but rather for the good of those to whom Jesus was sent.
We live in a world which, unfortunately, is more and more dominated by false gods who are promoted by equally fraudulent prophets. As with Jesus, Elijah, and Oscar Romero, we must make a stand against this raging tide and the emptiness of the message that is presented. We simply cannot allow ourselves to de drawn in, let alone dominated by the things of this world, especially when materialism is used to oppress others.
Power is a gift that is given in some measure to everyone of God's children. If we use the gift judiciously to assist others, to organize our affairs and those of society so that decisions, laws, and policies can support the common good, then we have used the gift of power wisely. Unfortunately, people who possess significant amounts of power often use it as a club to beat people into submission. In such cases those with power lord it over others and will not let up until they have attained precisely the goal they seek, the outcome they expect, or the rise or fall of the person whom they seek to dominate. Jesus warned against this problem when he instructed his apostles that they were not to seek the places of power, but rather to be servants of all (Luke 14:7-14).
Wealth is a second false god that challenges our contemporary society. A television commercial that was popular a few years back aptly described this false worship, "Who says you can't have it all?" We are almost brainwashed from our earliest days into the belief that the more we obtain of the goods of this life, the more acceptable we will be in society. We are told that wealth is the ticket to high society and success, but we all know the adage, "Money doesn't buy happiness." Many very generous people give freely of their resources to charitable causes, educational institutions, and churches, making possible numerous wonderful and significant projects. Yet, too many people today gather wealth simply to be gathering it. Money and the material world become false gods to which many bow. Jesus warned us against this problem as well when he told the parable of the wealthy man and the grain bins, asking his disciples where all his great wealth was to go when God calls (Luke 12:16-21). Those who promote the necessity of wealth as a ticket to acceptance in society are as misguided in their advocacy as the priests of Baal whom Elijah encountered so long ago, and the rich and powerful whom Oscar Romero confronted in recent memory.
Prestige is a third false god of today's world. All people rightly enjoy the opportunity to be recognized for a job well done, for a task successfully completed, or a significant accomplishment in life. There is certainly nothing wrong in being so praised. However, there are people who live simply to have others recognize who they are and the things that they do. For these people, status and being well-known are the things for which they live. People who worship the false god of prestige must associate only with the "correct" people -- those who are intelligent enough, attractive enough, athletic enough, and influential enough so others stop and take notice. These are the ones with whom people of status will associate; others who don't "measure up" are of no consequence. Some people, as tragic as it is, consider it a waste of time to spend their time, talent, and treasure with an individual or group who cannot advance their cause with others or promote their person in society.
False gods and their prophets abound in our world, but, fortunately, there are many counter examples of people, who when tempted to go the way of the world choose to be contemporary prophets, like Elijah, and speak God's truth by denouncing false prophets and the gods they worship. Oscar Romeo stood against the tide of a ruling military dictatorship and the opinion of many of his fellow bishops to preach the message which he knew to be true, namely God's care, love, and peace to the poor and ill-educated who stood on the fringes of society. He stood proudly with those to whom God sent him as their servant. He was never cowed by threats and he became a martyr through his courage to speak the truth, knowing as scripture states, "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32). Let us in a similar way be prophetic in what we do and say and by such means be evangelists, bringing others closer to God and thereby to eternal life.
It seemed from his earliest days that Romero was destined to be a priest. He was born in 1917 in an eastern mountain village of El Salvador and at age thirteen entered the minor seminary. A brilliant student, he was assigned to Rome for his theological training and was ordained there in 1947. He returned to his native land and was an instant success in ministry, first in parochial work and later in higher education. In fact, he was so successful that he was raised to the position of auxiliary bishop after completing work in education and parishes.
The 1960s was a difficult time for many and so too for Oscar Romero. His rather traditional and conservative theological perspective was tested when many changes came to the Catholic Church in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. But he negotiated the changes well so that by the early 1970s he was a strong advocate for many groups who found themselves on the fringes of the Church and society. In 1977 he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador, the primatial see of the country. Romero was a man who truly heard the cry of the poor and acted upon his conviction that the Church must serve all people. He promoted land reform for peasants, spoke against government death squads, and in general advocated Christian principles of social justice. He was severely critical of decisions that failed to meet the needs of the masses, but benefited the wealthy. Romero was fearless in his proclamation despite threats against his life, shortened through the hate of others. His courageous actions and words demonstrate how God's word continues to be voiced in contemporary society.
Elijah, like Oscar Romero, was a prophet, one of the first great prophets who preached God's message to the Northern Kingdom of Israel after the split between North and South that occurred shortly following the death of King Solomon. Elijah spoke boldly against Ahab, King of Israel, who compromised his faith through his marriage to Jezebel, a worshiper of Baal, the god of the local pagan peoples. Elijah, like Oscar Romero, was not a popular person with the hierarchy in his land, but he knew that he was right and he understood the responsibility he incurred from God's call to be a prophet. The task would not be easy, but Elijah was ready for his encounter with the prophets of Baal and was totally confident that he would prevail.
The prophet uses this confrontation with the priests of Baal to demonstrate without a shred of doubt the emptiness of their message and the foolishness of their worship. Elijah knows Baal is a false god and, thus, he uses tactics that ridicule those who find any merit in such misguided worship. He taunts the priests of Baal, causing them to slash themselves and to dance about the altar they constructed. He asks if their god is asleep or on a journey, chiding the priests to call out louder. Elijah knows the emptiness of the priests' efforts and, thus, he intentionally ridicules the actions of these false prophets. Elijah took a great chance, however. Yes, he fully believed that the priests of Baal were in error and he knew in his mind and heart for certain that Yahweh was the one and only God. Nonetheless, Elijah took the chance that God would not allow him to be embarrassed before his adversaries, that the Lord would answer as the prophet asked and send fire to consume the holocaust. The confidence he held in God was fully rewarded.
Elijah was a prophet who was not afraid to confront adversity, to speak out with full confidence that God was with him every step of the way. Similarly, Oscar Romero many centuries later was uninhibited in speaking against those, even in his own faith community, who refused to listen to the cry of the poor. Both men were prophets who spoke God's word and courageously acted without counting the cost of their discipleship. Countless others over the Christian era have continued this tradition of boldly proclaiming God's message to peoples who many times are not receptive to the challenge that is presented. We in a similar way are called to be contemporary prophets, to go forward as God's messengers into an often hostile environment and speak against the great fascinations of our world, today's false gods -- power, wealth, and prestige -- the three great sins of the human condition. We have been commissioned through our baptism to demonstrate to our world, by word and deed, that there is something much more important than the fascinations of this world which tend to dominate the thoughts and actions of people today.
We must recall that this fascination with the world and its allurements is nothing new, but rather, has been the situation faced by humanity almost from the outset. In order to demonstrate the proper way to negotiate through the mine field of the three great temptations of life, Jesus, before he began his public ministry, allowed himself to be tempted by Satan in the desert, as reported by all three Synoptic evangelists. First, Satan tempts Jesus with the false god of power. He tells Jesus to command these stones to turn to bread. After forty days in the desert Jesus was obviously hungry, but the Lord does not need such demonstrations of power. He realizes that humans do not live on bread alone, but are nourished more importantly through God's word. Next Satan entices Jesus with the sin of great wealth. He displays all the kingdoms of the earth before him, saying it could all be his if he would simply bow down and worship Satan. But Jesus is above all this and says only God will be so worshiped. Lastly, Satan baits Jesus to demonstrate the great prestige that is his by taking him to the parapet of the Temple and challenging him to throw himself down, realizing that angels will come, because of his stature, to rescue him. But Jesus again resists the empty promises and false gods of Satan with the rejoinder that God is not to be put to such a test. Jesus does not need the false promises of Satan. He is confident that the power, wealth, and prestige granted him by the Father is to be used not for his exaltation only, but rather for the good of those to whom Jesus was sent.
We live in a world which, unfortunately, is more and more dominated by false gods who are promoted by equally fraudulent prophets. As with Jesus, Elijah, and Oscar Romero, we must make a stand against this raging tide and the emptiness of the message that is presented. We simply cannot allow ourselves to de drawn in, let alone dominated by the things of this world, especially when materialism is used to oppress others.
Power is a gift that is given in some measure to everyone of God's children. If we use the gift judiciously to assist others, to organize our affairs and those of society so that decisions, laws, and policies can support the common good, then we have used the gift of power wisely. Unfortunately, people who possess significant amounts of power often use it as a club to beat people into submission. In such cases those with power lord it over others and will not let up until they have attained precisely the goal they seek, the outcome they expect, or the rise or fall of the person whom they seek to dominate. Jesus warned against this problem when he instructed his apostles that they were not to seek the places of power, but rather to be servants of all (Luke 14:7-14).
Wealth is a second false god that challenges our contemporary society. A television commercial that was popular a few years back aptly described this false worship, "Who says you can't have it all?" We are almost brainwashed from our earliest days into the belief that the more we obtain of the goods of this life, the more acceptable we will be in society. We are told that wealth is the ticket to high society and success, but we all know the adage, "Money doesn't buy happiness." Many very generous people give freely of their resources to charitable causes, educational institutions, and churches, making possible numerous wonderful and significant projects. Yet, too many people today gather wealth simply to be gathering it. Money and the material world become false gods to which many bow. Jesus warned us against this problem as well when he told the parable of the wealthy man and the grain bins, asking his disciples where all his great wealth was to go when God calls (Luke 12:16-21). Those who promote the necessity of wealth as a ticket to acceptance in society are as misguided in their advocacy as the priests of Baal whom Elijah encountered so long ago, and the rich and powerful whom Oscar Romero confronted in recent memory.
Prestige is a third false god of today's world. All people rightly enjoy the opportunity to be recognized for a job well done, for a task successfully completed, or a significant accomplishment in life. There is certainly nothing wrong in being so praised. However, there are people who live simply to have others recognize who they are and the things that they do. For these people, status and being well-known are the things for which they live. People who worship the false god of prestige must associate only with the "correct" people -- those who are intelligent enough, attractive enough, athletic enough, and influential enough so others stop and take notice. These are the ones with whom people of status will associate; others who don't "measure up" are of no consequence. Some people, as tragic as it is, consider it a waste of time to spend their time, talent, and treasure with an individual or group who cannot advance their cause with others or promote their person in society.
False gods and their prophets abound in our world, but, fortunately, there are many counter examples of people, who when tempted to go the way of the world choose to be contemporary prophets, like Elijah, and speak God's truth by denouncing false prophets and the gods they worship. Oscar Romeo stood against the tide of a ruling military dictatorship and the opinion of many of his fellow bishops to preach the message which he knew to be true, namely God's care, love, and peace to the poor and ill-educated who stood on the fringes of society. He stood proudly with those to whom God sent him as their servant. He was never cowed by threats and he became a martyr through his courage to speak the truth, knowing as scripture states, "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32). Let us in a similar way be prophetic in what we do and say and by such means be evangelists, bringing others closer to God and thereby to eternal life.
