A homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jan. 24, 2021
Jon 3:1-5, 10, 1 Cor 7:29-31, Mk 1:14-20
In the gently beautiful movie “Field of Dreams,” Ray Kinsella, the Iowa farmer who felt compelled to plow under some of his corn to build a baseball diamond, drags a skeptical and unwilling Terence Mann, a writer who deeply inspired him, to a Boston Red Sox game.
As they are walking to their seats, they share this pivotal conversation:
Ray Kinsella: So what do you want now?
Terence Mann: I want them to stop looking to me for answers, begging me to speak again, write again, be a leader. I want them to start thinking for themselves. I want my privacy.
Ray Kinsella: No, I mean, what do you WANT? (gestures to the concession stand they’re in front of)
Terence Mann: Oh. Dog and a beer.
Misunderstandings can be like that.
Especially when people misunderstand God.
Perhaps the greatest challenge we humans face every moment of every day is tapping into the Mind of God.
Whether it’s because of human limitations and frailties or because of our need to put a human face on everything, including our Triune God — thank you, Renaissance painters — we assume that God has the same personality quirks and flaws that we do.
That’s wrong.
God is not petty. God is not selfish. God is not vindictive or jealous; God does not hold a grudge. God does not walk around with a chip on her shoulder looking for a fight.
We are those things. We do those things. Not God.
The essence of God — love, light, goodness, purity, holiness — is perfect. We humans are not. So when we ascribe human characteristics to the Divine Ultimate, we limit the limitless.
We do that. Not God.
God is good. God is good all the time.
Now, I’m no Scriptural scholar — far from it — but I do recognize a flawed translation when I see one, and I have to call out this selection from this version of the Book of Jonah as totally misunderstanding God.
Our Scripture passage today ends with
When God saw by their actions how they turned from their evil way,
he repented of the evil that he had threatened to do to them;
he did not carry it out.
and that’s just wrong. The part about God threatening to do evil, I mean.
Yes, this passage accurately shows God’s mercy and God’s joy in having his people return to the path of love.
But God does not do evil. Ever.
The anticipated destruction of Nineveh may have seemed evil to the residents there, but God’s Old Testament wrath would have been justified retribution for serious evil done by the people.
The people. Arguably, the people would have had it coming. They deserved it.
And then their repentance made them deserve mercy and forgiveness.
Which is more in line with the Mind of God.
People may not understand what God is asking or demanding. People may not tap into the Mind of God when God’s ways run counter to what’s easy or convenient or seemingly fun at the time.
But that’s a case of human shortcomings, human frailty, human limitations. We failed.
This applies in so many situations today, and not just in historical events like the almost-destruction of Nineveh.
To try to tap into the Mind of God, we should start with the simplicity of the Law of Love for God and Neighbor. God’s law needs no interpretation; it needs only practical application based on our individual gifts and talents and our unique lives.
From there, we look for the bigger picture. God always acts for the greatest good, which means that sometimes — often — we need to put aside our individual wants and desires and aim to get the 30,000-foot view. God always does.
If we want to see the Mind of God, we must, too.
This is where the Law of Love takes on more complex applications. This is where we must ask for and welcome the wisdom and grace of the Holy Spirit to lead us to what God is calling us to do. Because, as we heard in our Gospel for the second week in a row, God is always calling.
Whether we’re seeking a remedy for food insecurity and lack of housing or trying to contain the pandemic through wearing masks and staying six feet apart, we tackle the big challenges in the name of God when the solutions embrace as much of Creation as possible.
God’s Creation, from the Earth’s resources to all of its inhabitants.
God’s Creation, springing forth constantly from the Mind of God.
The Mind of God, infinitely complex and gloriously simple.
