A Reflection for Saturday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time
As for me, I am in your hands; do with me what you think good and right.
Today’s readings are a kind of tutorial in telling people things they don’t want to hear. This subject is well worth pondering right now, when nearly all of us have a few choice words we’d like to say to at least some of our fellow citizens. In turbulent moments, it can be hard to find the line between defending the truth and succumbing to passion. When does righteousness become self-righteousness? Scripture may help us to get perspective on this.
Both the Prophet Jeremiah and St. John the Baptist were “commissioned” to speak truth to power, preaching an unwelcome message to people who were in an excellent position to retaliate. Jeremiah told the cities of Judah that they needed to repent or face the consequences. St. John told the king that he wasn’t allowed to take his brother’s wife. At that point it was touch-and-go for the messengers of the Lord, and their story arcs move in a strange kind of symmetry.
Jeremiah’s warning is initially met with strong resistance, trending into murderous rage. He appears to be in mortal peril. However, one man, Ahikam, speaks on his behalf, persuading the people to set aside their anger and open their hearts. Jeremiah survives. By contrast, St. John the Baptist initially appears to be reasonably safe. King Herod arrests him but is afraid to harm a man with such an intimidating reputation. Unfortunately, the wife is more set on revenge, and she plays the political angles and forces Herod’s hand. St. John is executed.
You can never be quite sure how things will go when you accept a commission from Almighty God. Even when things look desperate, there is always a chance of an eleventh-hour rescue. On the other hand, you may end up with your head on a platter. God moves in mysterious ways.
This is a point to consider anytime we find ourselves delivering an unwelcome message, relishing the heady sense of being on the side of the angels. Even if you are on the side of the truth, there is no guarantee that things will go well for you personally, at least in the here and now. Are you prepared to accept that, for the sake of higher things? Jeremiah was.
If we are honest, we should acknowledge that it is very difficult for us to endure hostility or persecution without falling prey to certain temptations. We might judge others unjustly and yearn for revenge. Or, we might indulge in vainglorious meditations on our own righteousness, anticipating the vindication that we hope will come. Jesus did preach that those who “are persecuted for the sake of righteousness” will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, and it’s not wrong to draw hope from that promise. But that vindication happens in God’s preferred time and manner, not ours. In the meanwhile, his messengers often have to sit tight.
God has a great willingness to shower grace on the persecuted and afflicted. The Psalms are full of beautiful prayers on this subject. However, the psalmist also gives us a sense of the posture we should adopt towards God in times of trouble. “Let your saving help, O God, protect me,” he prays. “I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.”
God’s plans are far above ours, and it is truly an honor to be permitted to suffer for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of the truth. But it’s hard for us to accept that honor in the appropriate spirit, so we must pray for the grace to speak the truth with integrity, humility and love. Only that kind of messenger can get through to the people until they say, “it is in the name of the Lord, our God, that he speaks to us.”
