My question for today is about questions and about the Bible. My question is this: In the Old Testament who was the first being to ask a question? Ok, the giveaway is the word “being,” because the answer is “the snake, Satan,” who asked Eve: “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” As a result of that question, the Lord God asked several others of Adam and Eve. Such as: “Where are you?” (when Adam and Eve were hiding from him.) And … “who told you that you were naked?” And, of course, the main question: “Why did you do such a thing?”
But now I have a follow-up question. It’s this: What was the first question asked by a human being? It was a question asked by Cain when the Lord God asked him where Able, his brother, was. In response to the Lord God’s question, Cain replied with his own question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
And that is a question which mankind has been asking ever since: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” What responsibility do I have for the welfare of others around me? Must I watch out for the interests of those who are not related to me by blood? This weekend we celebrate one national response to these questions. Monday is the public holiday established a century ago, in 1894, to honor the solidarity of laborers and of labor unions. It began back in the days of a German philosopher by the name of Karl Marx who wrote about capitalism and, more important for us, back in the time of Pope Leo XIII, who wrote about the rights of laborers and the dignity of work.
Yes, the responses to this question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” come from many sources. They can be heard, in part, in all of today’s readings. In the first reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard about the demands made by the Lord God on a prophet who must serve in the role of an appointed watchman.
Back then, the watchman, high on the city tower, stood guard during the night to call out a warning if he spied an internal danger, such as a fire, or the external danger of the approach of an enemy. If the citizens failed to heed his warning, the watchman was absolved of any harm which might befall them. But if he, himself, failed to warn the people, their death would be upon him. The Lord God said his prophet, the one who spoke for him, must be judged in the same way.
The prophet who saw wickedness and did not try to dissuade the wicked from continuing along a wayward path, well, such a prophet would be held accountable for the death of the wicked one. But if the prophet did warn the person and the wicked one continued to sin, then the prophet, himself, was absolved from any blame.
It would appear the Lord God told Ezekiel, and the Israelites, that yes, you are, indeed, your brother’s keeper, you are responsible for his welfare, but, if your advice is not heeded, then the fault is not yours but that of the one who continues to depart from God. The Lord God, it seems, is interested more in how you try to help rather than in how well you succeed.
In our Second Reading we heard more about just how we are responsible for the welfare of others. In this reading, St Paul reminds us the commandments: “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet” and how all of them can be summed up in the positive statement: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
He then goes on to remind us: “Love does no evil to the neighbor.” In Paul’s view, we are also our brother’s keeper by loving others and not doing evil to others. However, warning others about what might bring them to ruin and not doing evil to others are not the end of our responsibility for being our brother’s keeper. We still have the Gospel Reading to follow.
You may remember the Sunday before last, I spoke about the ekklesia, the church, the gathered people of God. At that time we heard the words Jesus addressed to Peter: “ … you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church … whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
In today’s gospel we heard a continuation of this interaction of Jesus and his disciples and how they are to treat those who are in need of moral and spiritual guidance, those who are not following the path. Jesus begins by telling his disciples they have individual responsibilities. If a friend needs to be informed of a fault, Jesus urges, first of all, a one-on-one conversation, a personal interaction. And if this fails to lead the friend back to the path, Jesus suggests a small group should meet with the straying brother.
But what happens if the person fails to heed the advice of the small group? Well, then, Jesus urges the matter be taken up by the large group, the whole gathering, the ekklesia, the church. And then he repeats what he said to Peter, however, this time with a slight, but significant difference. A difference that is apparent if the words are spoken as a Texan would speak them: “…. whatever y’all bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever y’all loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
In regular English we don’t have the distinctions found in other languages. However, every Texan knows there is a world of difference between “you” and “y’all.” And in today’s reading Jesus spoke not to “you, Peter” but rather to “y’all, disciples.” In today’s passage he spoke to the community. He reminded them – “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”
Jesus reminded his followers, and he reminds us, we have a shared responsibility. The gathering, the church, is not a collection of individuals but a gathering in which he is in their midst. He, himself, is an integral part of the gathering, of the church, of the community. When we act as community, we act as the Body of Christ, we are joined together as members of one body with Christ as our head.
What Jesus did while he was here on earth, we are now called to do as members of his one body. These are not mere words but reality. Jesus has said in many ways: whatever you do to the least of my people you do to me.
The first question addressed by a human being to the Lord God is perhaps the most important question anyone can ask: “Am I my brother’s keeper? Am I responsible for the life, welfare, and death of all others?” And God, our Father, speaks the answer silently in the heart of each member of this gathering, this church, this community, this one body of Christ. He speaks the answer to you, right now.
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary; September 5, 1999
Ezek 33:7-9; Rom 13:8-10; Mt 18:15-20