A Handmaid’s Homily- 29th Sunday OT
In one of the classes I have co-taught, I came across a student who was highly grades-motivated. This is not unusual, of course, as many students are driven by this measure of success. This student, however, stood out in his drive to achieve a 4.0.
At the beginning of the course, he made a show of doing everything he was supposed to do. He participated in class, got ahead in the syllabus, attended office hours, the works. The only problem was that his actions were fairly hollow. When he participated in class, he talked over his classmates or interrupted guest speakers. When he turned in papers early, they were on topics we hadn’t covered in class yet. When he received critical feedback in office hours, he began checking out during class. When he earned less than an A on an assignment, he would pull out his phone or put his head on his desk while peers were presenting.
This student was not listening and learning in the way one hopes that college students will do. Rather, he was checking items off a list, shouting out answers he thought we wanted to hear. While his desire for the end—an A in class—was strong, his motivation and methods were off-kilter.
In the same way, we encounter James and John in our gospel today. They are eager, ambitious, driven. They desire an end—the Kingdom. They wish to sit in glory on the right and left side of Christ, and they believe they are entitled to this simply by asking for it. Unfortunately, they are dreadfully misinformed as to what the Kingdom is or how to attain it.
The Kingdom is not something we sit around waiting for. It’s something we’re called to bring to Earth. It is present in the moments when two people recognize the humanity in one another, when we chose to reconcile rather than begrudge old wounds, when radical, mutual relationship with those on the margins causes the margins to fade.
The Kingdom is already here in moments of perfect, active Love; but, it is not yet fully realized.
Our motivation for the Kingdom cannot be personal glory because the Kingdom is about selflessness and humility. Jesus says to James and John, “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.” Those who enjoy an eternity in peace and justice will be those who lived peace and justice on Earth.
Our means for reaching the Kingdom cannot be asking for it in stagnant prayer. Rather, we build it brick-by-brick with the actions we take and the way we are in relationship with one another. Christ tells the disciples that in order to reach the Kingdom, they must drink of his cup. This was a cup of dreadfully bitter wine, which came to him in retaliation for the social change he demanded in his time. So must we demand and work for social change in our own times. We must hear the plight of the poor, welcome the stranger in our lands, heal a wounded Earth. Eternal glory is not about seeking glory for ourselves, but rather bringing glory to those whose dignity goes unseen in our world.
When I look back on the student, I can understand where he was coming from. It is easy to check the boxes and find satisfaction in an A grade. It is much harder to approach a class with an open mind that is ready to engage in critical questions, unlearn and deconstruct what we’ve known, and piece it all back together again. In the same way, it is more difficult to follow this week’s gospel call to build the Kingdom than it is to sit and wait for it. And yet, that is what we are asked to do. Love others for the sake of loving. Build the Kingdom here and now without expectation of future reward.
