Fourteenth Sunday Cycle C 2016
Paradigms can be both good and bad. They’re good in that they help us sort out the world around us. But they can be bad if they lock us into ways of looking at things, or doing things, that are not helpful. Helpful paradigms are great; unhelpful paradigms need to change. When you change a paradigm that is to say when you change the basic way you look at something, that’s called a paradigm shift. Let me give you a couple of examples of paradigm shifts.
The captain of an aircraft carrier saw a light on the horizon. He had a message radioed asking the other ship to change course. The answer came back, “No, you change course.” The captain repeated the order: “This is an aircraft carrier; you change course.” The other “light” answered the second time: “This is a lighthouse.”
A man got on a bus with three noisy and rambunctious children. The children proceeded to wreak havoc on the bus while the man sat there staring into space and doing nothing. A women sitting next to the man had finally had enough and said to him “Sir, you really should do something about your children.” The man came out of his daydream and said “Pardon me?” You really should do something about your children the woman said a little louder. Whereupon the man answered in a far off way, “I suppose I should, but we just came from the hospital where my wife just died, and I really don’t know what to do with them now.”
The captain of the aircraft carrier needed to look at the facts in a different way. The passengers on the bus now had another way of viewing the chaotic behavior of the children and the emotional sate of their father. Both of these are examples of a paradigm shift: looking at the same thing from another point of view.
Today Jesus calls for seventy disciples to make a paradigm shift. Prior to this, they’d seen Jesus as their master. Their relationships with him were probably settled into a nice comfortable groove. He was the teacher, they were the pupils. He was the leader, they were the followers. He was the active one, they were the passive spectators.But on the day recorded in this gospel, Jesus called for them to look at discipleship from another point of view. He transformed them from receivers/spectators/followers/learners into givers/participants/doers and tellers.
One day Jesus said, “Okay, pair up.” And when they got themselves into pairs, he said, “I’ve got an idea about how you can spend the next couple of weeks.”
No doubt they were nervous and concerned at first. But I’d be willing to bet that after they got into it, they wouldn’t have given it up. In fact, we know they didn’t. After a few fits and starts, each continued to carry the word about the kingdom of God to the world around him. As difficult as it was to make that paradigm shift, they got the power to do it from Jesus.
Look at Jesus: There’s God’s paradigm shift in the flesh. Jesus came because God changed the way he looked at his people. Instead of looking at his people with an eye toward justice, God in Christ now looks at his people with an eye toward mercy. Instead of remaining far off in heaven, God in Christ came close to his people on earth. Instead of waiting for people to seek him, God in Christ came to seek and save the lost. Instead of seeing his people die every day for their sins, God in Christ dies for them on the cross. Instead of helplessly watching his people cut themselves off from him, God in Christ reconciles us to the Father. The whole life and ministry of Jesus came about because God changed the fundamental way he deals with his people. And of course this was because we would respond no other way.
The gospel today helps us change the way we look at the ministry of Jesus. We usually think of Jesus as having a three-year ministry to the people, then dying on the cross and rising from the dead for all humanity. I have often wondered why, assuming Jesus came to teach, why he didn’t stick around and teach some more. Why didn’t he clear up some of the tough questions people have? Why, with the ability to heal, didn’t he stick around and heal more people. Why didn’t he clear up all the sickness in the world?
The answer to that is simple and practical; Jesus didn’t come to teach the crowds so much as he came to teach the disciples how to teach the crowds. Jesus didn’t come to heal people so much as he came to show the disciples how to heal people in his name. Jesus didn’t have a three year ministry to the crowds so much as he had a three year seminar for the disciples whom he trained to carry on his work. The three-year ministry of Jesus, while it did touch a lot of people, and did result in the four gospels, was mostly a seminary for the apostles and the seventy, during which time they were trained for continuing the ministry of Jesus and for getting out the good news about God’s paradigm shift in Christ. That’s a different way of looking at the life and ministry of Jesus.
That paradigm shift in God and the paradigm shift in the disciples challenge us to make a similar shift. Jesus called forth a shift in his disciples—from receivers/spectators/followers/learners to givers/participants/go-ers and tellers. So also Jesus calls forth a paradigm shift in us as well---from receivers/spectators/followers/learners to givers/participants/go-ers and tellers. He’s not asking for each one of you to trade places with me at the altar although he might be calling on a few, he’s not asking for each one of you to travel from town to town knocking on doors, although some might be so called.
But in a way, he is asking each of you to get on some stage somewhere. He is asking you to find someplace to work in his vineyard, to take that risky shift from spectator to participant. He is asking this church to transform its children by being transformed themselves. Already the largest denomination in America is former Catholics and that reality shows no sign of slowing down. Almost without exception when I preside over the funeral of one of our older parishioners, their children and grandchildren are no longer practicing the Catholic faith.That is the fruit of a paradigm for sharing faith with our children that is not working.
Since it is a matter of the mind, outsourcing basic academic and technological training is one thing, but as it is a matter of the heart we can no longer count on outsourcing religious and spiritual trainingas being the effective was of evangelizing our future.
Sharing the light of faith with our children must be the focus of the family. Embracinga paradigm shift in how we transmit the faith to our children so that they have faith to give to their own children is the way forward. Jesus call to the seventy two is also a call to each of us toin the job of furthering his kingdom.It begins in the way we share the good news out about God’s love for us with our own children. This involves a paradigm shift. As we move into our future as a parish we will be exploring how we can empower our community to be workers for an abundant harvest. With that in mind I welcome to our staff Nina Koziuk and Beverly Riviello who will be our ministers to our youth and children and their families. With the guidance of Marie Cehovin as our director of evangelization with the mission of empowering our families to be the first and best teachers of their children in the ways of faith we look forward with hope.
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