I am so blessed to have become an uncle twice over in April and May. You may remember me talking a bit about my nephew, Inti, who was born to my sister Amy and her husband, Rommy, in April. My sister Julie gave birth to little Maggie Jane in May. I got to hold her for the first time not too long ago and it was super special. Maggie is now the number one priority for Julie and her husband Charles. I can’t get over the preciousness of these two little children and how profoundly they have affected their parents’ lives.
I had a front row seat to this as we gathered together in Columbus for Red White and Boom recently. Both Amy and Julie brought their babies along with them and those little ones were the stars of the show. Both Inti and Maggie are so teenie and require so much care and attention, and my sisters and their husbands were so careful in giving them all that they needed. I watched as my sisters cared for and comforted them when they got fussy. I saw their gentleness in rocking them as they held them. Both of them are breastfeeding their babies and it was beautiful to see the peace that my niece and nephew had as they were fed by their mommas. I loved seeing the way both Charles and Rommy tenderly cared for them–burping them, holding them, making funny faces at them and just doting on them.
Having just seen this firsthand with my sisters and their husbands, it brought our first reading to life in a whole new way. The prophet Isaiah exhorts Israel to rejoice with Jerusalem and compares being comforted by Jerusalem to nursing at abundant breasts. This imagery is meant to bring to the forefront the tender and loving care of God for His people, Israel, even in the midst of difficulty. Listen once again to the words of the prophet:
As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms,
and fondled in her lap;
as a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.
The prophet Isaiah highlights for us the level of care that God has for us as His people. We are not just members of the “God club” as part of the Church, but are truly His dear children, cared for and comforted by Him like a child on its parent’s lap.
As a parent, everything revolves around your child. Both of my sisters and their husbands were constantly attentive to their babies. They were always looking for ways to care for their needs, whether by wiping their mouths after feeding, changing their dirty diapers, or putting little baby headphones on them so they wouldn’t be disturbed by loud music playing nearby. They both even left before the fireworks that evening. Would they have liked to see those fireworks? Sure! Fireworks are awesome. But as parents, they made the choice to leave early because that was best for their children. I see the same thing with my brother and sister in law, who are parents to two precious little girls. Even though their kids are no longer babies, everything they do is for their children.
Brothers and sisters, I pray that we can get it into our hearts and heads that this is exactly how our Heavenly Father is with us. Everything He does is for us. He brought all of creation into being from nothing for us–so that we could have a place to live, thrive and love. Not a single part of our lives is unimportant to our Father! Like my siblings and their spouses, He attends to our every need. He cares so much for us that He sent His only son to give Himself totally for us. The death of Jesus is the ultimate image of God’s total love for us. He is willing even to become one of us so that His death – the greatest act of self-sacrificial love that the world will ever know – might give us new, abundant life!
This new life offered to us as God’s children through Baptism and all of the Sacraments is the background to what Jesus is teaching His disciples and all of us in the Gospel today. He’s sending them out to prepare the way for Him. Luke tells us that the seventy-two were sent out to towns where Jesus planned to visit. So the disciples weren’t going on their own behalf, but on behalf of Jesus, the one who had started to work in them and now wanted to work through them. Jesus instructed them to go and begin forming relationships with the members of households. He says to them: “Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.” He is explaining how to look for people who are open, who respond well to their offer of ‘shalom,’ a traditional Jewish greeting meaning ‘peace’ which indicates that you see this person as a friend. Jesus tells them to stay in the same household and allow Him to work through them, bringing healing and making them aware of the Kingdom Jesus is establishing. The human relationships Jesus encourages them to foster are the opportunity for Him to draw more and more people into the divine relationship of being children of God!
Jesus is outlining for all of us the way we are called to be laborers for Him in the vineyard of all those people we know. The Lord has a heart for people who are not God’s children or who aren’t living fully as Children of God. Jesus has a heart for them to become God’s children and to know His care and love through the abundant grace He offers, but He is not going to force this new relationship on them. He tells His disciples to publicly rebuke the towns that do not receive them. This may seem harsh, but even that public rebuke is meant to give the people of those towns pause to consider Whom it is they are rejecting by their refusal to listen to the disciples. Sometimes, God is going to call us to be a bit blunt with those who resist the love of the Father in their lives.
What Jesus says to the disciples when they return from their journeys is important for us to hear, too. They are all jazzed because even the demons are being thrown out by their prayers in Jesus’ name. But how does Jesus respond? He says, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to ‘tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless,”–pay attention here–“do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” Jesus is warning them not to get caught up in the power that His name brings, but in the great gift of being God’s children! Our building of the kingdom isn’t about gaining power over other people, but about inviting them into the fullness of life that we know as children of God! We want to expand God’s family.
When sharing our faith, it is easy to turn the process into a prideful act of self-assertion: “I just want this person to see things the way I do.” But in reality, we are called to humbly serve others so that they might come to know the love of the Father that we have known.
Think back to my sisters and their husbands. If they wanted to, they could have stayed around for the fireworks, but they didn’t. They could have just said, “OK, baby, you just deal with these incredibly loud noises that you don’t understand.” But they didn’t. They acted out of love for their children. And as their children grow, I know that in their best moments, their parents will continue to act in the best interest of their kids. I’ve seen it in the way my brother and sister-in-law and many other parents take care of their children. A good parent cares for and tries to serve the best interests of his or her child, even when that involves sacrifice on their end, or even a bit of tough love.
So this is the way God calls us to be with the people He puts in our path. Jesus wants to form us as missionary disciples–ones who go out and share with others the same love and care and even tough love that we have received from the Father. Hopefully, this will draw them back to His love, or draw them into His love for the very first time! Sometimes this will mean being tough, but often it will mean being patient and gentle, as God is with us. I pray that we all experience the Father’s love more deeply today so that we might share it more deeply with those whom Jesus sends into our lives.
+ Father, thank you for your care for us. Thank you for all you do to help us become the best versions of ourselves. Help us stay close to you and sense your care, right now and always. Jesus, thank you for revealing the Father’s love to us, especially through your overwhelming love on the Cross. Holy Spirit, enflame our hearts with deep love for those who are far from the Father’s love. Help us to show them the Father in ways that will draw them to His embrace. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. +