HOMILY – MARCH 4
Judge Roy Moore of Alabama has been painting a big target on himself for at least 25 years. His speeches as a judge and as a candidate for public office have been laced with references to Christianity, prayer, the need for God, and the various abominations which many along with him see as destroying the fabric of family and social life in our country. When he recently ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate, it was time for the opposition to bring out its big guns. It was a no-holds-barred attack on the man, his past, and his character. Whether he was guilty of the things of which he was accused will remain unknown; and while I’m on safe ground acknowledging that Roy Moore is surely a fellow sinner, I have no idea of the specifics. I didn’t have to cast a ballot one way or the other. I have no dog in the fight.
I do know this: ANY public figure these days who acknowledges respect for the Ten Commandments or even belief in the existence of God is doomed to be hounded by the media and organizations like the A.C.L.U. until some shred of evidence, true or false, is produced to ruin his or her reputation. And yet the same media and its political companions pour out the ink and the interviews like tears when some tragedy occurs: “What’s happening to America?” “What’s wrong with our youth?” “How do we resolve the epidemic of — you name it — violence, drug abuse, pornography, corruption, suicide, domestic abuse, on and on.” Yet when a judge displays a plaque listing the Ten Commandments as a summary of the nation’s moral foundation, he can be removed for refusing to take it down. Without the Ten Commandments, or someone to teach us their meaning, we’re right back to the question, “Now, how do we resolve the epidemic of . . .” The vicious circle will continue as long as we cannot even agree on the common-sense moral values, the ‘natural law,” which the Commandments represent.
One difficulty is that the Ten Commandments are not intended to be a smorgasboard. We believers know that they are a gift from our Creator, who knows far better than we do what will destroy us and our thirst for eternal life with him in his Kingdom. We have an obligation to tell the world about that, and about the Lord Jesus Christ who died so that all of us sinners could be saved in spite of our wicked tendencies and deeds. It should be no secret that much of the world does not want to hear it. Never did, never will. But our Lord and Savior sends us out to be fishers of men, catching them one at a time — not draining the lake and scooping them up off the bottom! We have to expect many days when the fish aren’t biting, and many others when they’ll even steal our bait. But the work is HIS, not ours.
We need to be enthusiastic about our fishing. Fight the temptation to get discouraged, Satan is the one who wants you discouraged, beleaguered, bereft. How do you think the Apostles felt when Jesus ascended into heaven and sent them out into the Roman Empire and beyond, with all the adversity the kingdoms of the world could throw at them? So when you hear someone complain that they’re tired of religion being shoved down their throat, just politely ask them if that includes the commandments, “Thou shalt not kill” or “Thou shalt not steal.” You know what? They’ll probably agree that NOBODY, believer or unbeliever, has the right to take someone else’s life or property. And then you can say, “Oh, so you DO believe in the Commandments, you just want a line-item veto so things like adultery and lying aren’t included!” If you can dodge a quick uppercut to the jaw, you might be able to engage them in further and more in-depth conversation.
When Jesus walked into the Temple that day, he was no stranger to what had been going on there for years. He’d probably seen it when he was little, for sure when he was twelve. He was well aware of people’s penchant for hypocrisy. The oxen, sheep, and doves were necessary components of the animal sacrifices which God’s people correctly offered under the Mosaic Law. But Moses himself would have been appalled at what the Law’s requirements had slowly produced. You could call it “enterprise creep.” Little by little, over the years, the selling and making change and hawking and bartering had turned what should have been a holy convenience into blind lust for cash that encroached on the very Holy of Holies. Could anyone tell that this was actually a place of worship? The sights and sounds drove Jesus to a zealous anger. And when he is asked for a sign that gives him authority to do what he did, he promises his own Resurrection. THEY wanted a SIGN? They had allowed their Father’s House to become thoroughly defiled with greed and “secularized” — “business is business,” after all — and they wanted a sign from JESUS? To borrow a phrase from St. Luke’s Gospel, “They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them!” But we all know, that’s never enough, is it, when we are bent on doing our OWN will rather than God’s?
One of the things the world needs to hear from us consistently is that we know that we are sinners. A favorite objection of our opponents is that Christians preach, but fail to practice. We are often accused of being sanctimonious, giving others the impression that we are better than THEY are. Let’s remember that humility is a virtue, and most of us have plenty to be humble about when it comes to measuring up to God’s commands. As St. James says in his Letter, chapter 5, verse 20, “Anyone who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” And if they don’t turn from their error? Well, at least you’ve done your work, and have acquired a new prayer-partner, even if that person ridicules such an idea.
The Commandments are God’s foundational gifts to us to help us correctly form our consciences. We shouldn’t leave home without them. We can’t GET Home without them!