Groucho Marx once famously said: “I would never join a club that would accept someone like me as a member.”
Exclusivity – it’s everywhere. Yet the normal readings for today (today is the Feast Day for St. Luke) invite us not to exclusivity but to inclusivity. The people of Israel consider themselves a separate people, chosen especially by God. And indeed, that was how God has designated them. But Paul (Romans 4:13, 16-28) reminds us that Abraham was blessed by God to be the father of many nations, not one, and that we are all descendants of Abraham, in the spirit if not in the flesh, and all share in the status of chosen people.
Paul reminds his readers (us) that inclusivity and exclusivity are not absolutes and opposites. They are relative terms. The people of Israel are indeed the chosen people and are loved unconditionally by God; but they also are judged and reprimanded insofar as they obey or disobey, serve or fail to serve, their God. Jesus invites everyone into the Kingdom unconditionally; but also asks that they behave in certain ways. Jesus tells a lot of stories about who is included in the Kingdom: wise maidens, foolish maidens, the poor, the rich, Jews and Samaritans, even the despised Gentiles. All are invited to the Kingdom, but whether they are ultimately included or excluded has to do with how they treat God and treat one another. We are all invited to the table, but we are asked to be good guests: caring for those around us; acknowledging the rights of all to be there; sharing what we have; making room for them.
Jesus tells us that we are to work for inclusivity—to recognize Christ in all, to invite all to Christ. It is not for us to exclude, not for us to judge, not for us to reject. Jesus reminds us that if someone should leave the table, that we should invite them back, put a ring on their finger and bring out a fatted calf. It is Jesus’ place, not ours, to ultimately judge who belongs to the kingdom.
We can take comfort that our God is a judge who looks for the missing coin, the lost sheep, the person up in the tree. Our God is a judge who rejoices with heaven when we are found and brought home.
In the Gospel (Luke 12:8-12), Jesus continues to prepare his disciples for the trials to come. He encourages them to be faithful to their Christian commitment and to their faith in Christ as Lord. It will be difficult during times of abuse and persecution, but disciples must always be ready to acknowledge their allegiance to Jesus. To deny that allegiance may win them a temporary reprieve in this life but not in the next. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25) Luke goes on to say, “… everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” Whoa!
Why should there be this one exception to the forgiveness of sin? And why is speaking against the Son acceptable, but not against the Spirit?
To speak against the Son is clearly wrong, but with repentance, there can be reconciliation. But to sin against the Spirit is to go against Truth itself. This was basically the sin of the Scribes and Pharisees. They not only criticized Jesus – that could be forgiven – they locked themselves into a position where they shut out any openness to the Truth, the Truth that others could so easily see present in Jesus. As long as they were locked in that denial, there was no possibility of reconciliation. To sin against the Spirit – the Truth – is to close the door on reconciliation.
It seems that in Luke’s context he may be applying the saying to those Christians who are under attack for their faith. If they deny the Spirit of Truth, they too lock themselves out from being reached by God. In times to come, Jesus’ disciples will be dragged before civil and religious authorities. He is telling them they are not to be afraid or worried about how to defend themselves or about what they should say. The Spirit of Truth would speak for them.
Again and again, people who have been in this position have attested that the words do indeed come and with them a certain peace and strength, provided one retains one’s integrity and wholeness. And it is the presence of that Spirit, the Spirit of God and that of Jesus, that is at work.
Most of us will not have to suffer severely for our faith. But there will likely be times when we may find our religious beliefs and practices under attack, ridiculed, and made fun of. We may be tempted, at such times, to go into hiding, to conceal our Christian identity. We may even fail to come to the support of people who are under attack, refuse to stand by them, refuse to stand up and be counted as committed followers of the Gospel.
If that has happened to us in the past, let us ask God’s forgiveness. Let us pray that in future we may have the courage and integrity, in word and deed, to let people know who we are and what we stand for.
I’m not so sure about Groucho, but I would certainly join a club that would accept anyone, even me, as a member.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!