13th Sunday OT, C, Our Divine Inheritance

Posted on by

Luke 9, 51-62 (13th Sunday OT, C, Our Divine Inheritance)

Focus: Our Divine Inheritance of the Message and Mission of the

Gospel.

Function: To reminder hearers of our divine inheritance of the message

and mission of the Gospel.

  1. Introduction
    1. You got the call or heard the news, didn’t you? You know, the phone call or the registered letter, telling you about your inheritance. A rich relative left you a fortune. Perhaps, now you might be imagining how you would spend this bequest on gated mansions, fawning servants and extended tropical vacations. Wait, before you sail-off to fantasy land, let us stand on the rock—the rock of our inheritance.
    2. The psalmist reminds us that “[y]ou are my inheritance, O Lord.” The psalmist’s words point to Jesus Christ, our brother, who left us a divine inheritance—an astounding fortune to be received and to be spent in a life of sacrifice and service.
  2. Our Divine Inheritance
    1. We inherited the message and the mission of the Gospel. Through this divine bequest, as mentioned before, we relive, retell, and reinterpret Christian History. We relieve our Christian inheritance when we gather at this Eucharistic table; we retell our sacred inheritance when we proclaim the Gospel’s message; we reinterpret our holy inheritance when we live the Gospel’s mission. As Christians, our responsibility is to receive and to spend this inheritance in sacrifice and service.
    1. Our divine inheritance offers us full participation in salvation history—God’s action in the lives of humans. Throughout salvation history, God reached out again and again to offer humans the wealth of divine life—a life to be lived with and for God. The definitive salvific moment in history was the Incarnation—the fullness of divine riches poured-out in the life, labor and legacy of Jesus Christ—our divine inheritance in flesh.
    2. Do we receive freely our divine inheritance by listening to God’s call (in our conscience) and by reading from God’s letters (in Christian tradition and scripture)? Do we spend our divine inheritance—as children of God and partakers of the divine nature—in sacrifice and service? Or are we like our “pals”, “buddies”, “chums” in today’s Gospel?
  1. Obstacles of Receiving and Spending our Inheritance
    1. Creature comforts: The first would-be follower of Jesus was tied down by a love of comfort. Jesus’ reply, “[f]oxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head,” reminds us of the cost of discipleship. Before following Jesus, do we first consider our physical and spiritual comfort? Do we shy away from sacrifice and service?
    2. Cultural dictates: The second of the would-be followers of Jesus was concerned about familial commitments. These social obligations are good, but Jesus asks for the best from His disciples. He asks them to be counter-cultural—not to be slaves to cultural dictates… for His sake. To “go against the grain” is difficult, especially since social obligations are so numerous. These commitments often can crowd out the essential—a life of Christian sacrifice and service. So do we hear Jesus’ call and read His letter inviting us to claim our divine inheritance? Our divine inheritance is following His message and mission.
    3. Good intentions: The third of the would-be followers of Jesus had the good intention of following Jesus—but wanted to say farewell to his family. Even Elisha hesitated when Elijah called him; he wanted to say goodbye to his relatives. Perhaps he too, like the person in the Gospel, was secretly hoping that at the time of his saying goodbye, his family would convince him not to go. However, notice Jesus’ reply in Luke’s Gospel: “No one who sets a hand to the plow, and looks to what was left behind, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Do we have mountains of good intentions but a mole-hill of execution, because we are constantly (looking back) reconsidering whether to really make the sacrifice by doing the service?
    4. Perhaps, we claim our divine inheritance of the message and mission of the Gospel by embracing St. Paul’s words to the Galatians. Because “Christ set us free—[we can] stand firm and …not submit again to the yoke of slavery” … to the slavery of creature comforts, cultural dictates, and good intentions. Jesus Christ’s inheritance includes freedom.We “were called for freedom, [so let us] …use this freedom as an opportunity… [to] sacrifice and serve as we follow Jesus’ message and mission.
  2. Conclusion
    1. Jesus Christ, our rich relative who died for us, left us a fortune—a divine inheritance of His life, death and resurrection—a life of service and sacrifice for the sake of others.
    2. Perhaps, after visualizing the reception of the fabulous sacred wealth, we can imagine spending it lavishly for the sake of the message and the mission.

Intercessions, Thirteen Sunday OT, C, 2007.

For each of us—members of the Universal Church—may we embrace the message and the mission of the Gospel in a spirit of sacrifice and service, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For those with political or ethical power, may they seek to promote and protect human dignity from conception to natural death, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For the millions who have been injured, displaced or killed because of war and violence, and for those who care for them, who provide for them, or who bury and grieve for them, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For each of us, inhabitants of this world and citizens of this nation, may we live our Christian ideals so that Jesus’ message of peace and His mission of justice might be realized, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For those who do not feel welcomed at, or have distanced themselves from, this Eucharistic celebration, may we find ways to invite and welcome them, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

For the citizens of the United States, as they celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, may the ideals of liberty, justice and freedom be lived and promoted for all people, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

At this time of national celebration, may we rejoice in the freedom that we have to make a difference as the children of God, [pause] let us pray to the Lord.

And for your prayers…