Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 'A'

Sunday January 23, 2005

It’s Not Just the Words

Minutes after President Bush’s inauguration address, commentators took to the airwaves and TV screens to tell us what the President said. Although I did not take notes of the president’s speech as did reporters and news analysts, I viewed a sufficient number of news clips to recall the substance of his message. The diversity of interpretation to which I have been exposed as late as this morning is astounding. Democrats for the most part heard the President calling for the encroachment of the borders surrounding Iraq and other sovereign states around the world in order to protect liberty and to promote democracy.

On the other hand, Republicans praised the President for his strident defense of freedom and democracy, interpreting his words not as a call to arms but as a motivational alert to governments who protect terrorists that the resolve of the United States to defend its democratic government is firm.

I suppose both of these views are not contradictory one to the other. The accent is on a different syllable. The President was clear and unambiguous about one thing, the survival of our democracy depends on the promotion of democracies throughout the world. I think most now agree that this was an overstatement if taken literally. Not every democracy is a friend of the United States and the United States has been known to support dictorships and autocratic or authoritarian governments as long as they supported our diplomacy. Our history of nation building in Latin America has not been impressive for its employment of espionage and even torture.

The most satisfying interpretation that I heard was the observation of a preacher who commented, “It was basically a religious speech.” I don’t think the preacher was suggesting that Mr. Bush is a great homilist or that we assign great theological insight to his message. I believe he meant that pundits on both sides of the aisle might do well to lower the case on their commentaries and wait to see what course of action the President pursues in the days ahead. Inauguration speeches are intended to capture the attention of the masses not to predict the inevitable outcome of political platforms. Overstatement and ambiguity are part and parcel of the inaugural rhetoric.

This reminds me of the many times parishioners have complimented me for having stated things I never said in a homily. On the other hand, there have also been other occasions on which congregants have chastised me for comments I have never made.

I suppose we should ask the President to call a news conference so that he can tell us in person what he said, what he meant to say and what he didn’t say at all.

On a less serious note, one can cite weather reports as the best example of the how easily facts can be dramatized and even distorted. Meteorologists compete for the most accurate forecasts presenting them in a manner that will make them eligible for an Emmy award.

I hope it does not sound rash or brash for me to suggest that the Bible is subject to the same panorama of interpretation. This is not to state that there is no objectivity to the science of Biblical hermeneutics, i.e., authentic interpretation of the Bible. Nevertheless, Jewish, Catholic and Protestants scholars differ widely among themselves with regard to the interpretation of specific texts. Despite their objectivity, each tends to place the accent on the meaning that most closely adheres to the doctrinal position of his or her religious tradition.

The words of Isaiah ‘spoken’ over 600 hundred years before Christ were addressed to the northerners who were under siege by the Assyrians. In a hymn composed for the birth of Hezekiah, King of Judah, Isaiah holds them accountable for their sins particularly their abandonment of their ‘alliance’ with Yahweh in favor of alliances with secular powers and for their oppression of the poor. But Isaiah promises relief with the appointment of a successor to Ahaz, a king who would be a light among the nations and who would bring justice to the Israelites.

This prophetic poem repeated by Matthew was understood by Christians to be fulfilled in Christ. Matthew was also addressing his words to Jews but alerting them to the fact the “kingdom of heaven” would be for all people, gentiles as well as Jews. He was announcing the beginning of a new era dramatized by the death of John the Baptist. Jesus’ mission and ministry was not to announce a kingdom that is to come but one that has already begun. He is the light that has shown in the darkness, the darkness that the people could not comprehend. Moreover, his mission begins in Galilee, which was considered suspect by observant Jews because of the large number of nonbelievers that had been integrated into the Jewish populace resulting in the contamination of their rituals.

Paul writing forty years later to the ‘gathering’ at Corinth chastised them for the divisions that had been fermented by the presence of Gnostics, the ‘know-it-alls’ of their day who thought they had the inside scoop on the message of salvation turning it into philosophical or intellectual gymnastics. Ultimately, factions developed around certain personages including Paul himself. He was adamant in his response that all were baptized into Christ, the crucified one and to him only they must commit themselves as one community. Later in the same letter he pleaded with them, “As for myself, brothers and sisters, when I came to you I did not come proclaiming God’s testimony with any particular eloquence or ‘wisdom.’ … There is, to be sure, a certain wisdom, which we express among the spiritually mature. It is not a wisdom of this age, however, nor of the rulers of this age, who are mean headed for destruction. No, what we utter is God’s wisdom.” [I Cor 2:1, 6-7]

Politicians, commentators and sidewalk “preachers” have observed that we are a divided nation. Indeed, we are – about the war in Iraq, about the economy at home, about the role of religion in the courts and in congress. Despite claims of no bias, every opinion has a spin whether on FOX News or CNN.

The Bible is a dangerous book in the hands of the wrong person or preacher. So is the President’s speech. So are the weather reports and so are the comments and commentaries of all of us who do not do our homework in the political arena.

There are however, some basic truths that must be explored by all factions in our search for common ground but truth has a thousand faces. How do we discern what God is asking of us as a Church, as a nation and as individuals in a very complex world? This is not a cop out on our commitment to face the truth whether it be political truth, economic truth or social truth. All truth has a moral dimension and consequences that exceed arbitrary interpretation. If there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the consequences of going to war under false pretences are grave and we will be held accountable as a nation for the death and destruction. Political rhetoric cannot camouflage truth.

I dare say that in every parish there are ”blue states” and “red states.” As a people baptized into Christ the crucified one, we come each week to the one table that celebrates our communion in this same Christ. Is it possible that we might be able to shed out political biases and unpack the meaning of the prophetic truths of our times? War is a compromise with the truth of God’s universal love and will that all people be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth – not your truth, not my truth but God’s truth. Yet who would not risk his or her life to save the life of a loved one?

It is clear that Jesus died because he proclaimed a kingdom not of this world, a kingdom of justice, love and peace. He died not because God wanted him dead but because God demanded that he be faithful to life no matter what the cost.

Our coming together each week at this table is both a sign of our willingness to accept one another despite our differences and of our commitment to continue to search for the truth in an atmosphere of civility and charity. We hold to the fervent hope that God’s wisdom will prevail and nations will come to a knowledge of the truth that neither terror nor war can lead to peace, “that peace which the world cannot give.”

Our hope and our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

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