Fifteenth Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

The tie in between today’s readings: God is involved in every aspect of our salvation

Psalm 85:8-13, Amos 7:12-15, Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark 6:7-13

Psalm 85:10 tells a particularly important story. Truth and Righteousness are walking together down this road discussing how we, as sinners, deserve the condemnation of God in hell forever.  Coming the other way, Loving-kindness, and Peace are agonizing over how we may escape our fate.  They all meet at an intersection. They clash. One side won’t give in because the Lord’s holiness cannot abide man’s transgressions. The other side won’t give up pleading the love of God for forgiveness.  No one can find a solution until a Man bearing a cross comes to the intersection and stands between the two sides. Jesus Christ, He who knew no sin became sin for us; that we may become the Righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:12). Loving-kindness is revealed that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He who is the Truth has brought us Peace. The attributes of God are satisfied. Man is saved. All he has to do is come to Jesus by faith for forgiveness. Problem solved. Roll credits.  

In Ephesians 1, God lifts the veil a bit to show us a hidden aspect of salvation: predestination.  From this vantage point all of it is the Lord’s work, even from before the world began.  Today’s reading is riddled with God action verbs:  blessed us, chose us, predestined us, and adopted us.  His purpose, His will, His sealing, His pledge, and the whole trinity is involved.  Belief then, is not just a person’s agreement with church doctrine; there is an active God element for one to reach a saving faith.  Our “Come to Jesus” moment is more than just our recognizing a good deal when we see one.  It’s a mystery: man’s decision and God’s choice working together somehow. Let that cook your noodle. It is a paradox beyond our feeble comprehensions. But no matter, the gospel call for all to believe in Christ is real and genuine and, once we come to faith, there is a job for us to do.

We drop in on Jesus’ evangelism training program in today’s gospel (Mark 6:7-13).  Certain elements appear here that resonate throughout the rest of the New Testament.  We see total dependence on God for physical provisions: take what you need and no more. Casting out demons and healing the sick demonstrate the power and authority of God backing up their message.  Finally, they will either be believed and fellowship with those that do or they will declare a testimony against those who don’t; showing the rudiments of the binding and loosing authority of the Church. It’s a marvelous privilege when people can be used by the Almighty to save the world and He can use anyone…even us.

The prophet, Amos, in our Old Testament reading, (Amos 7:12-15), tells his detractors about his calling. He was not a seminarian, but a shepherd and a tree pruner. The Lord made him a prophet and charged him with the task to bring His people back to Himself. Amos was called from the flocks.  Peter was called from the boats.  God calls each and every one of His children to take part in the Great Commission to spread the gospel worldwide.  While he doesn’t specifically send all of us to the mission field or call us to pastor a church, we are all, first and foremost, witnesses for Christ in our areas of influence. Our secular occupations are there only to pay the expenses. Priorities! Priorities! Priorities!

From salvation, to faith, to evangelism, the Lords purposes will be accomplished on earth as they are in heaven.  Jesus died for us while we were still His enemies in sin (Romans 5:10). He loves us that much. The cross of Christ allowed for God’s holiness and justice to mesh with His mercy and forgiveness so that we may be reconciled back to Him. Through grace, He brings us to saving faith and into His family, the Church. When we answer His call, He delights in working beside and inside each and every one of us. We will never understand it all. We don’t need to. Evangelism is a privilege, a partnership, and our reasonable service to the One who sacrificed everything for us. Learn the gospel. Live it. Spread it. There is a world out there that needs us.  Let’s play our part.