Steadfast Loyalty and Obedience
Homily for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
All of the readings for this 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time force us to take a long, hard look at what it means to be a person faith. The meaning of the word translated as “faith” here (‘emunah) is steadfast loyalty, holding on in obedience to God’s law, even when it apparently pays no dividends. This word becomes very important both for the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the New Testament.
Faith is a gift that must be nourished, for it sustains us and empowers us. The prophet Habakkuk and God are engaging in a dialogue about justice. Habakkuk calls out to God, asking how long he must endure destruction, violence, strife, and discord. At first glance, the question might cause us to question Habakkuk’s faith. However, asking God how long we must wait before God intervenes in violent situations is not a denial of faith. You would not stand on a corner waiting for the bus and asking how long before it arrives if you did not believe that it was going to arrive eventually. If you did not believe that the post office would eventually deliver your mail, you would not ask, “How long before the letter carrier arrives?” The Lord responds to Habakkuk’s question: “The vision still has its time, presses onto fulfillment, and will not disappoint; if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.”
The promises that God makes will be fulfilled. Our task is to trust and have faith. We do not know how long we must endure various hardships while on earth, but we are called to persevere in faith until the end: “The just one, because of his faith, shall live.”
This is much like what Paul writes to Timothy as he encourages him to bear his share of hardship for the Gospel with the strength that comes from God. He tells him: “Stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands.” In Timothy’s case, this is the gift of ordination to the priesthood. Likewise, each of us who has been baptized has received the Holy Spirit, and when confirmed we are filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit – gifts that strengthen us to bear witness to our faith in Christ. We can call upon the Lord to stir into flame these gifts when we are faced with suffering or circumstances that challenge our faith.
We must keep in mind Jesus’ words regarding faith when things get tough because God is not bound by our limitations. As Jesus says in response to the apostles asking him to increase their faith: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.”
Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and all that God has said and revealed to us because God is truth itself. Again, let us remember that faith demands steadfast loyalty, holding on in obedience to God’s law, even when it apparently pays no dividends. This is essentially the meaning of the parable that we encounter in today’s Gospel text. The parable, which forms the second half of our Gospel reading, is connected with the saying about faith, because it warns the disciples against supposing that faith, and the obedient service of the Lord in which faith is expressed, establishes a claim for reward. “When you have done all that is commanded you, say ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” God gives the gift of faith freely, but we need to nourish that priceless gift through prayer, meditating on the Scriptures, and through our celebration of the Eucharist. In that context, we give thanks for the gift of faith and ask God to increase and to nourish it.
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