Some of you are probably too young to remember the days of televangelism, which hit their peak in the late 1970s and 1980s. Various “preachers” held sway on lesser-known TV channels, and preached to audiences far and wide, promising salvation and worldly riches to those who would support the TV ministry. And by the thousands, folks sent in their hard-earned cash, in one case, even helped to build a crystal cathedral, and supported whatever lifestyle their hero evangelist chose to lead.
The hope of those giving their support was that they would reap blessings, which they believed meant comfortable lives, worldly rewards for their “faithfulness”, and easy entry into heaven when their time came. That was certainly what they were being promised – and wasn’t that what the Gospel was all about?
The crash came in the late 1980s, as one by one the televangelists were exposed for their excesses. The scandals rocked the “faithful” – and some of their heroes ended up in prison, as fraud and corruption were uncovered. This certainly wasn’t what the viewers had expected or bargained for. Certainly, a lot of people’s plans and expectations were dashed when the televangelism business fell apart. What we think we know, sometimes turns out to be just the opposite of the truth.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh . . .”
We have all heard of Jonah – the prophet who was swallowed by a whale – but do we remember why that occurred? It happened because Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. He did not want to obey God, and he made a valiant attempt to not do as God commanded him. Thus, he ended up in the whale.
Why did he not want to do what God told him to do? Jonah hated the Ninevites. Nineveh is a city in Assyria, and the Assyrians were a people who had warred with the Israelites, destroying them, laying siege to Jerusalem. Jonah feared that if he prophesied to these Ninevites and they did what God asked, then they would not suffer God’s wrath. Jonah didn’t want any part in reconciling any Assyrians to God. This is why he tried to run away.
And, yes, in ancient times, a person thought they could escape God by hopping ship to another country, preferably one where their God wasn’t worshipped. Jonah, though he knew better, hoped he could outrun God’s power and dominion, but we all know how such folly turns out. Jonah found out the hard way.
So – after the unpleasant incident with the whale, when God again commands Jonah to go prophecy to the Ninevites, he reluctantly obeys. His hope is that, like prophets before him, he will be ignored, and having done as God has bidden him, he can then watch God destroy these hated people. After all, God is already prepared to destroy them as soon as Jonah has done his job, so why not do it and get it over with.
Alas for Jonah, his fears are realized. The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed His mind about the calamity that He had said He would bring upon them; and He did not do it.
What Jonah had hoped would happen when he finished prophesying to the Assyrians, turned out to be the opposite of what occurred.
After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the Good News.”
In today’s Gospel, we hear the story of the call of Simon, later to be renamed by Jesus as Peter, and his bother Andrew, and the call of the sons of Zebedee, James and John. They do not hesitate when called, but immediately leave their nets and follow Jesus.
What might their expectations have been? Surely, they had great hope, for the Messiah was to be the one to restore Israel to her former glory, to lift the yoke of oppression from her people, to be the bearer of power and salvation. And as we eventually hear their stories, as they follow Jesus, we know that often they didn’t understand what He was doing, and that their expectations conflicted with the reality of their calling. But they were faithful, and they persisted, and they continued to follow Him.
There is a hymn about their lives, it’s called, “They Cast Their Nets”. And the lyrics begin:
They cast their nets in Galilee just off the hills of brown;such happy, simple fisher-folk,before the Lord came down.
A pastoral image of men working at their daily task, fishermen who knew the sea and did their job well. The lyrics also refers to them as “contented, peaceful fishermen”, and we can picture that image in our minds. And we can picture the Lord calling to them and offering something strange, something unusual. Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Modern translations say, “fish for people”. How intriguing and compelling on that day so long ago. Without hesitation, immediately, they drop what they were doing and followed Him. And what happened to them?
Young John who trimmed the flapping sail,homeless, in Patmos died.Peter, who hauled the teeming net,head-down was crucified.
Certainly, this is not what they thought or hoped would be their fate. Indeed, it is likely to be the opposite of what they first anticipated. They must have originally expected good lives as disciples of Jesus.
But as the hymn continues, it tells us: “The peace of God, it is no peace.” What can that mean?
There comes a moment in the Catholic tradition when, at the communion service, the Celebrant says to the people, “The peace of the Lord be with you”, and the congregation responds, “And with your Spirit”. Then everyone exchanges a wave, or a hug, sharing the peace with their family, friends and neighbors. And we can picture that, a warm and friendly exchange between happy worshippers. The expectation is that all will be well, that their lives with be contented and – well – peaceful. Isn’t that what the Gospel is all about?
The peace of God, it is no peace.
Wait! This isn’t what we’re expecting, or what we think we agreed to, or even what we want. It isn’t what the televangelists promised, which was so popular, it isn’t, or so the world would tell us, anything anyone in their right mind would agree to. Because what it means is that a life lived for God, following Jesus, will not necessarily be happy, calm, comfortable, and secure. It is quite likely to be just the opposite, because the Peace of God is not peace as we define it.
Thus, many good people are shocked when “bad things” happen to them, because they do not realize that the cross is Jesus’ gift to the faithful, and that what the Peace of God involves is a restructuring of all things, especially of human nature, to conform to the will of God. This is not accomplished easily, and because of the struggle involved, it is often the opposite of what we humans hope for.
How are we to persevere? What is there to daily keep us on the path to which we committed ourselves in baptism? Around us, there is much pain, violence, suffering, war, and injustice, but this is how the world always is.
Where do we turn – what do we do? If you are looking for your reward, for your answers on earth – you are looking in the wrong place. For those whose hearts are set on God, whose desire is to remain faithful, and who daily recommit themselves to Jesus, the answers and the reward lie elsewhere.
In a poem by James Russell Lowell, “The Present Crises”, written in the 19th century, and often quoted by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
"Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne, —
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own."
Let us pray:
Lead us, Heavenly Father, lead us o'er the world's tempestuous sea; guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us, for we have no help but Thee; yet possessing every blessing, if our God our Father be. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.