A prophet’s reward
June 28, 2020
THIRTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16
Elisha returns an act of generosity
Ps 89:2-3, 16-19
I will sing the Lord’s goodness
Rom 6:3-4, 8-11
Baptized into the Lord’s death
Mt 10:37-42
A prophet’s reward
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/062820.cfm
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In the Gospel account, Matthew shows Jesus sending the Twelve out for mission, two-by-two. Matthew uses the occasion to speak to that later mission encountered by his church in the time after Jesus. It is, in a way, equivalent to Luke’s Acts of the Apostles, on a much smaller scale.
The larger lesson here concerns the total commitment of the disciple. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” This refers to more than acts of martyrdom. It is a way of life for the disciple, as fundamental commitment.
In the passage from Romans 6, Paul makes the case that the person baptized into Christ is baptized into his death. He too makes the case that this means total conversion, the old self is gone, and a new one born. But since baptism is also being born into new life, it implies a certain fearlessness in the face of opposition and persecution.
This is where Matthew’s Gospel passage begins. But soon the advice moves to hospitality, anticipating the welcome that the traveling disciple may, or may not, receive. “Whoever receives you receives me.” And then he starts to use examples. Whoever receives a prophet will have a prophet’s reward. Whoever receives a righteous person will have a righteous person’s reward.
This does not mean that the reward will be the same as that received by the prophet, as I used to think. I used to think that if I received a prophet I would be rewarded just as the prophet was.
No, the example the liturgy selects for our first reading, from 2 Kings, makes that clear. The prophet Elisha received hospitality from a “woman of influence” at Shunem, a village in the valley south of Nazareth. We are in the north country where Elijah and Elisha were active. This village must have been of some importance, given the status of the “woman of influence.”
She provided Elisha with a place to stay when he was in the neighborhood. As she told her husband, “I know that Elisha is a holy man of God. Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp, so that when he comes to us he can stay there.”
Her generosity prompts Elisha to consult his servant Gehazi about some way to reward her. Through Gehazi, Elisha learns that she is childless, and wishes not to be. The prophet predicts a son for her. In this case, the prophet’s reward is the life of a child.
The thing with generosity is that it requires a response, and that can be mishandled. On the side of the giver, if is done in order to invite a reward it isn’t generosity. And on the side of the receiver, it needs to be accepted graciously, as a gift. If your response is to pay for it, for instance, you are refusing to accept a gift.
Lewis Hyde, in his fine book, “The Gift,” tells us that a true act of generosity “turns a corner.” While blessings may return upon the giver, that is not the reason to give. It should be without expectation of recompense. In that regard, it turns a corner, moving out of sight. Only then, once it disappears, can it be properly rewarded.
Discipleship is the theme today. But at the core it means self-offering, and fully so. It accepts risks. It performs generous acts. And the self that is risked and offered will be rewarded, with a claim on God’s care.
For reflection: A culture built on individualism and self-regard may find today’s Scripture readings unpersuasive.
Father Beck is professor emeritus of religious studies at Loras College, Dubuque.
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