“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”
21st SUNDAY -B- August 25,
2024
Joshua 24:
1-2a, 15-17, 18b; Psalm 34;
Ephesians 5:21-32; John 6: 60-69
by Jude Siciliano, OP
Dear Preachers:
I find the reading from Ephesians an
embarrassment and difficult to read to a modern congregation. How would they
hear, “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. for the
husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church”? The second
readings these Sundays have been a sequential reading from Ephesians. So, today
we arrive at this difficult part of the letter. Some people are frustrated by it
because they think it reflects some sexism that appears in other parts of the
Lectionary.
At the time the letter was written women were thought inferior to men, the
property of their husbands and were to be submissive to the male members of
their families. We can say that times have changed and we recognize over the
centuries the struggle all women, especially poor and women of color, have
endured to achieve justice and equal standing with men. There is more to be done
in society, our church, and in our own thinking. Still, today’s Scripture is not
helpful, especially when used in preaching and Bible classes.
Paul’s letter can also be a strong distraction from Jesus’ word about believing
in him and eating his flesh and drinking his blood. These words also cause
difficulties for some hearers today.
A dominant biblical theme is that of Covenant. The Joshua reading centers on the
covenant between the people and God. Joshua reminds them of what God has done
for them and warns about the opposition they will face trying to stay faithful
to God. Bottom line: Joshua asks them to decide for themselves if they will
serve God. He summarizes what he and his family will do, with a statement
parents in the pews today might be trying to affirm in their own families, “As
for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” These days, with so many
dropping away from our church community, many parents feel they have failed
setting an example of teaching their children the importance of faith and
belonging to a believing community.
Some of us grew up in churches with a majority of people of the same ethnic
background. Today many parishes are flourishing because of the influx of diverse
people from Latin and Asian countries. The people Joshua was addressing were
from victorious groups that had conquered large areas of Palestine from
Canaanite kingdoms. Joshua had led the people into the land God had promised
them. He was not only a military conqueror, but facilitated renewal of the
covenant between the people and God.
Previously they may have had strong bonds among themselves, as we may have
experienced in our parishes, but Joshua wants the community to draw together,
not because of common ancestry, social, or political ties, but by their
agreement to live in covenant with one another and with God. Thus, what unites
those of us at worship today, whatever our background, or social affiliation, is
that we are being drawn together by God to hear the Word of God and eat the
Bread of Life. We are a renewed people and former separations among us are
displaced through Jesus’ offering of himself today.
Back to Paul and his times. He took the marriage relationship of his time and
used it as a metaphor for the relationship between God and the people. Much was
renewed at God’s initiative by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Paul could not
change the marriage situation of his day, but he asks Christians living in that
world to live in a radically different way. Did you notice that he said, “Be
subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ”? Literally it would be:
“Be subordinate to one another; obey one another; regard another as higher than
oneself.”
So, it is not just a requirement applied to the wife, the child, or those
without power. The husband, the master, is called to be subordinate, to obey and
regard the “insignificant ones” as higher than himself. Jesus is posited as the
model for this behavior since he freely humbled himself out of love for us.
Joshua is suggesting it would be foolish to choose any other god. He reminds the
people what God had done for them, first initiating the relationship with them
and then confirming it by great saving acts. Jesus’ disciples are also given a
choice: to believe in him and his words, which Peter says, offer eternal life.
Jesus’ words were not easy to accept and “many of his disciples returned to
their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.”
The covenant God has made with us in Jesus is not to be taken lightly. Christ
has given us a complete offering of himself. His self-surrendering love for his
church eliminates any previous structures of male-domination and opens us to a
way of mutual respect and self giving love. His disciples struggled to accept
the gift of his flesh and blood. They must have realized if they accepted his
self-offering then they too would have too follow the pattern of living he was
revealing: which for many required leaving behind ways of former believing and
choosing the new life he was offering them.
Jesus did not give an easy remedy for the doubts his disciples had in reaction
to his words, nor did he water-down impact those words had on them. What he was
asking them, as he asks us today, is to be open to the gift of faith God was
offering them, “… No one can come to me unless it is granted them by my Father.”
Only in faith can we receive “words of spirit and life.” With such faith we can
enter into and live the mystery of the incarnation and begin to possess and
experience eternal life now.
Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/082524.cfm