12th Sunday in Ordinary Time 21.6.2020
Lectionary Readings:
Jeremiah 20 v7-13 Jeremiah complains to God.
Romans 6 v1b-11 Dead to sin but alive because of Christ.
Matthew 10 v24-39 The one to fear.
When the going gets tough……..
In the Old Testament passage, Jeremiah is being honest with God about how he is feeling.
Jeremiah is blaming God for his social isolation, his unpopularity with the people of Israel.
The message God had asked Jeremiah to pass on was about the people’s death and
destruction (v8); a consequence of the people turning their back on God. This was a
message the people did not want to hear; they turned on him, as the messenger; Jeremiah
feared for his life.
Although God is not credited with an immediate response, we read a few verses later that
the prophet’s mindset has changed as he reflects on God’s faithfulness towards those who
do right.(v12,13)
This appears to happen quite often in the Psalms, writers ranting and raving one moment
and turning to praise the next. Are these glimpses of the Holy Spirit at work, soothing a
troubled mind?
Jeremiah acknowledges that God knows every heart and mind and will test those who do
right.
This theme of God testing the faithful is reflected in the gospel reading.
Matthew quotes Jesus as arguing that God will test the resolve of those who follow him by
bringing to mind the ‘crosses’ they have to bear. (v34-39) These ‘crosses’ could be
connected to your past life, old habits, or relationships that draw you away from God, such
as demanding or difficult relatives that test your notion of priorities. Can you still put God
first, by picking up your ‘cross’ and following Christ?
This question of priorities is picked up in the passage from Romans.
Paul is urging his readers to recognise that their baptism has changed their life. The ‘old
life’ is no longer fit for purpose, it is now dead he says.
‘When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so that
we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father’. (v4)
‘When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only
for God. In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But
Christ Jesus has given life to you. and you live for God’ (v11). (To live for God is now our
priority in life.)
Paul is well aware that living this ‘new’ life will not be easy. The temptation to slip back into
the ‘old’ life will be ever present and he implores his readers by saying:
‘Don’t let sin keep ruling your lives. You are ruled by God’s kindness and not by the Law’.
(v14)
Paul is counselling us to keep close to God. Living as a Christian may be tough, but God is
equal to the challenge of supporting us through it.
Bible quotations taken from the Contemporary English Version
Thanks to Mike Peck for submitting these reflections