For the last several weeks I’ve been asking questions about childhood. I asked about whether a circus is a place or an event and how the reign of God might be how we act right now rather than being a kingdom we hope to see someday. I asked about whether there are monsters under the bed and how to confront them with our own friendly tiger. Now I have another question which goes back to our childhood.
The question is this: When you were a child, did you play the “What if – game?”
● What if I step on a crack, will I break my mother’s back?
● What if I’m really extra good, will I get a bike for my birthday?
And as we got older, the what if’s changed and became somewhat open-ended.
● What if I drink a beer …
● What if I make out in the back seat of the car …
And adults are not immune to the what if game.
● What if I run this red light …
● What if I cheat on my income tax …
And, yes, some of the what if’s could have been positive.
● What if I study extra hard for this test …
● What if I put aside a few bucks every week for an emergency …
What if’s are like that. Positive or negative. Sometimes both.
● What will happen if …
● What will not happen if …
We can play the what if game on even a larger scale.
● What if the US had not dropped two atom bombs on Japan 60 years ago?
● What if the US had not invaded Iraq two years ago?
The what if game is not a new one. It existed over two thousand years ago, back in the time of Jeremiah, who wondered what if he had not allowed himself to be, as he said, “duped” by God. What if he had not allowed himself to be fooled into speaking for God and, as a result, being flogged and imprisoned because of his unwelcome prophesies? Or what if Jesus had heeded the tempting words of Peter and not gone to Jerusalem?
In today’s gospel, Jesus told Peter and his companions that the one Peter had just called the Messiah, the anointed one of God, must go to Jerusalem “… to suffer greatly … to be killed, and on the third day to be raised.” What if Jesus had not died on a cross and be raised again? What if there had been no “Last Supper?” What if the Eucharist had not been left to us? What if Jesus still has a physical body and resides in Jerusalem in the temple there? Or perhaps in Buckingham Palace, or in the still-standing World Trade Center in New York City?
Oh yes, the “what if game” can become rather fascinating. And totally unreal. We know what really happened. We know Jesus did sacrifice his own life so we could have life. We know he did leave us his Body and Blood so we, too, could become his body and blood. We know that through our actions, he has lived on in the world into the third millennium after his death and resurrection. We know he is not confined to a single building anywhere on this planet but lives in the hearts of each one who inhabits this world.
And there are those of us who know what he meant when he said, “For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct.” And what is this conduct which will be rewarded? It is the conduct of doing what we know should be done, what must be done. Some call it the “carrying of one’s cross.” But what is this cross? Is it something under which we shudder? Something we fear? Or is it something we embrace?
A few weeks ago, Fr John spoke about the sign of the cross we make on our mind, on our lips and on our heart. As little children, we were taught to make the Sign of the Cross … “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We do not shudder under this sign of the cross. We acknowledge it, not for the death of hope, but for the birth of hope. It is a sign of Passion, a sign of Love. It signifies the action of our Savior and the action to which he calls us.
He calls us to new questions of “what if?” What if I become my brother’s keeper? What if I love my neighbor as myself? He calls us to positive responses to this new game, this adult game of “what if?”
After today’s celebration of his own sacrifice and resurrection, after this liturgy, we are once again provided with opportunities to play the adult what if game. What if, upon leaving this building today, I jump in the car and merely return home? Or what if I go to the large hall across the plaza and see how I might join with others in living out the reign of God?
● What if I check off a couple boxes on this Ministry Form?
● What if I become a greeter, a lector? What if I distribute his consecrated body and blood to others?
● What if I take an active part in faith formation?
● What if I join with others in prayer?
● What if I become his hands for delivering care to others? Social justice to others? Peace to others?
●What if I become a steward for Christ?
What if …?
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time; August 28, 2005 (Ministry or Stewardship Sunday)
Jer 20:7-9; Rom 12:1-2; Mt 16:21-27