A sermon by Fr. Davenport ©
Church of the Ascension and S. Agnes, Washington, D.C.
9 June 2002
Hosea, 5:15-6:6
Romans, 4:13-18
Matthew, 9:9-13
+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
A couple of years ago, David Brooks wrote a book called Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There. Brooks thinks that he has identified a new social type, just as the fifties produced the man in the gray flannel suit and as the eighties produced the yuppy. He calls them 'Bobos,' who are a contradictory "mixture of sturdy bourgeois standards and nonjudgmental bohemian ease; they are certain not only of their economic well-being but also of their fine feelings and social good intentions." (1) Brooks notices that bedroom communities have embraced coffee houses and independent book stores and some forms of social activism, reflecting that the bourgeois has adopted elements of the bohemian; while 'Latte Towns' like Berkeley, Ann Arbor, Cambridge, and Burlington have evolved "in the other direction, grafting a new respect for consumer capitalism onto their raffish, sometimes radical past. In Burlington,. . . the Ann Taylor franchise is right next to the Peace and Justice thrift shop." (2)
I am not entirely convinced by Brooks' argument, but his consideration of the Bobos' spiritual life is of interest because it probably does reflect the reality of our culture. He observes that Bobos have
soft, ecumenical pieties, which he calls 'spirituality without obligation' and 'Orthodoxy without obedience.' Living in their 'moral temperate zone,' Bobos find a measure of good in all religions, choosing to emphasize each creed's bland possibilities for social improvement and fellowship rather than any stringent sacrifice that may once have been required for salvation. (3)
One way that Brooks illustrates his point is by drawing attention to how we decorate our homes.
Sometimes it will be the religious objects of an oppressed culture that will be displayed in an educated home: Amazonian figures, Native American totems, Egyptian deities, animistic shells, or Shinto statuettes. It is acceptable to display sacred items in an educated person's home so long as they are from a religion neither the host nor any of his or her guests is likely to profess.
For a Bobo, all religions are equal and equally true, and what that means is that Bobs are nonjudgmental as long as you do not judge or express strong belief; in effect, Bobos are nonjudgmental except about judgment and deep conviction. This Bobo behaviour, which perhaps may be our behaviour, is somewhat understandable given that usually the media presents Christians as fundamentalists, or as extremists, or as anti-intellectual bumpkins, or as socially maladjusted relics.
Most of us, Christians and non-Christians, have become at least a little bit of a Bobo, and we ought to be aware that the Bobo inclination is not to take God or religion seriously. Bobos, reflecting our culture in general, appear to have little concern about the ultimate issues: what happens when I die? How do I have life, and have it eternally? Are there eternal, absolute truths to which I must sacrifice? For Bobos faith is more about oneself, more about the here and now, rather than about God and the eternal. Therefore, it does not really matter whether you go to mass; it does not really matter whether you have anything to do with the 'institutional Church;' it is about whether you are a decent person, and this is really just self-assertion. It is pride, instead of humble following, instead of grateful obedience to God. For a Bobo, it is more important to send $50 to save the rainforests, to feed the starving in the Sudan, or to assist the sick in Calcutta than it is to be regular about church attendance. While those are all noble causes, worthy of support, issues the Church has great concern for, our support of them does not justify us, even if our checks are for $100 or $100,000. The Church encourages bake sales, car washes, even marathons for good causes; the Church encourages public service; the Church encourages charitable work; but our participation in them does not put us right with God. Good social intentions will not give us eternal life.
If our Lord had been born in our world today, most likely he would not be hanging out with Bobos. We think that we have pretty much got it made, that we are in charge, that we are alright. We tend to be more interested in following our own agenda than in following our Lord. We should ask ourselves: if Jesus came strolling by my office, would I respond to him as S. Matthew did, and hop up, leave everything, and follow him? Most people appear to be pretty confident about their devotion and moral rectitude. That is unfortunate. We need to be humble, to be certain of our failings and weaknesses, if we are going to hear our Lord and to respond positively to him.
Matthew, a publican, a tax collector, was an outsider, neither bourgeois nor bohemian.
In the Roman empire contracts for collecting taxes and tolls were often put out to bid. The highest bidder in turn hired local people to collect the fees. In this system the bidder and his employees were responsible for paying taxes to the government. But they could also try to get extra taxes from the people in order to increase their personal profit. Even if they were not skimming off the top, they were suspected of doing so. Thus by the nature of the tax system tax collectors were suspected of dishonesty. In Judea in Jesus' time they may also have been looked upon as collaborators with the Roman officials and therefore as disloyal. Moreover, the nature of their work and its contacts with non-Jews may have rendered tax collectors religiously suspect in the eyes of the pious. (4)
In other words, Matthew was virtually beyond the pale, and his alienation made him aware of his need. "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Matthew wanted mercy, and he sensed Jesus' authority. He was open to Jesus. So he followed him. He sensed that our Lord's authority is exercised not in judgment, but in compassion and mercy, and in mission and proclaiming good news. The purpose of our Lord's authority is to forgive sins and to build the Church. It is not to condemn or to isolate people from one another.
Our Lord has authority to judge, but he exercises this authority to judge in a unusual way: he judges us by letting us judge ourselves. He works mercy and he calls us to him, he does works of charity and proclaims the gospel, and how we respond to him proclaims the judgment. If we reject his call, or if we ignore his call, or if we do not take it seriously, we condemn ourselves. Our decision is the judgment upon ourselves. That is what the Pharisees did not get; that is what the Bobos do not get. If we think that we are righteous, that we have got it made with God, then we will not hear our Lord.
Our Lord calls us to follow him as Matthew followed him, and if we are going to follow him, we have at least two obligations. First, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." "I desire steadfast love, not sacrifice." Our Lord is not rejecting the sacrifices of the Temple. He is not rejecting formal worship. Rather, he is setting priorities. He is saying, "'God is gracious before he is demanding;' to demand reform before extending forgiveness, as the Pharisees do, is to invert the true priorities." (5) This means that worship and sacrifice naturally accompanies mercy and compassion and obedience and sincerity. Our standard is always to forgive and to act charitably.
Second, Matthew was an evangelist. A follower of our Lord must seek other followers. Jesus conferred upon Matthew authority to represent him, and Matthew proclaimed the gospel and built up the Church. Each of us has this authority, and no doubt we are embarrassed by the way many of our fellow Christians exercise this authority. If we are properly humble, however, we will also be embarrassed by the way we exercise this authority, and by the way we have not exercised this authority, by the way we have neglected this authority. There is something we should do. A recent study interviewed 300,000 worshippers in 2,200 congregations. It found that "in an entire year, most people did not invite even one person [to join them for mass or for Sunday services]." (6) I hope that is not the case with us, but if it is, that must change, and each of us should resolve to invite people to mass. For the Church, the body of Christ, depends upon growth for her vitality. This study also found that one-third of all worshippers have been members for less than five years. These new members bring energy, life, and zeal. Our spiritual health depends upon new converts among us. Without the presence of people new to the faith, and people who are re-discovering the faith, without these people, our hearts shrivel. We become stale and petty and small-minded, more interested in ourselves than God. The new members of the Church remind us that we are not righteous, that repentance gives us great joy, that the Church gives life. The new members of the Church remind us why we follow Jesus and help us to be like Matthew.
+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Thomas Mallon, "A New Social Type is Born," The Atlantic Monthly, June 2000.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., The Gospel of Matthew, Sacra Pagina Series, Liturgical Press (1991), pp. 127-28.
5. H. Benedict Green, The Gospel According to Matthew, OUP (1975), p. 104.
6. Larry Witham, 'The State of Grace: Small Churches Face Challenges,' The Washington Times, 8 May 2002.
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