Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz - 03/24/19 Behind Enemy Lines: Trust God...and Fight

Episode Date: March 25, 2019

Homily from the Third Sunday of Lent. Trained in trust...strengthened through struggle. God has freely given so much to us…and we are grateful. But why do we still experience the consequences of slavery? God gives us the chance to grow in trust of Him and His love…and He allows us to grow stronger in our ability to walk as His children. Mass Readings from March 24, 2019: Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15 Psalms 103: 1-4, 6-8, 111 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12 Luke 13:1-9 Download the Homily Study

So there's something I think about those people, sorry, whenever you say those people, it's always like, oh, it's going to be bad. But, you know, there's something about those people who just have things handed to them, you know? Like it's those people like, whoever it was, whatever the kind of situation is, there's people that maybe you know them, maybe you are them, that kind of person is just like, it seems like their life has just been charmed. They have everything handed to them. The kind of person who is like, no, their family's rich.

They don't have to worry about college. You don't have to worry about paying anything. They just have things handed to them. Or those people, like, who are so smart that. like maybe it's maybe this is actually you but those kind of people are so smart that like you found out like you might have studied the whole weekend for this test you show up on Monday and the person walks in and they're like oh there's a test today and they finish in 15 minutes and like ruin the curve for everyone

else like they just have this handed to them or those people who are athletes you know there's natural athletes I remember when I was in when I was in high school I was all about running like everything I did was I ran like I worked out like five times a day I was a little compulsive I don't know I kind of get into things and just don't get let go but I was really really running all of the time. And there's this kid, his name is Kevin, and Kevin was in my grade, and Kevin did not run. Kevin just stood outside the school, behind the school, and he would smoke. And as often as I ran, Kevin smoked. And then we had a one-mile time trial one day,

and Kevin also smoked. He smoked me. I mean, it was just, it was ridiculous. I'm like, how is this kid going so far? I'm the runner. You're the smoker. What's going? Just handed to him. Like that kind of thing of like, I worked so hard and got nothing. He didn't work at all. and got this thing. You know, there's something about when things are handed to people that, maybe we can resent it because we're like, that's not fair. Like, they didn't deserve it. Maybe that might be the case.

You know, we resent the fact that maybe they didn't work for it. Maybe they didn't earn it. Maybe they didn't deserve it. But I think a lot of times, I know for myself, what bothers me is not just they didn't deserve it. That's not that. But when something gets handed to you, oftentimes you don't know the value of it. And you don't know what to do with it.

like a lot of times when somebody just gets handed to you you don't know what it's worth and you don't know how to use it because it's just all because it was just given you know we're in the middle of Lent now and we're in the middle of this series we've been talking about behind enemy lines because we realize that like the Christian life is often described in scripture and often described by the saints as being a spiritual battle

like it's combat like there's an enemy there are many enemies and we have to actually fight if you want to follow Jesus it has to be a fight which is problematic for a lot of us and kind of be distressing me because like wait a second I thought Jesus did it I thought he like won

so if he won and set me free he just handed to me he handed us grace he hands us freedom he hands us a new life how come I still like stink at life like how come if Jesus

handed this gift to me how come I still have to fight because remember we talked about last week yep there's enemies out there and whatnot but actually the biggest enemy is in here and I mentioned this again last Sunday that I know for my own life, all the worst things that have ever happened to me

have been my own fault. Like every terrible thing has ever happened to me, almost all of them have been because I made bad decisions, that I so often am my own worst enemy. And then I look at this and go like, what the heck, Jesus, like, you gave me this gift. Why do I still have to fight? Why are we still behind enemy lines? Why do we still experience the consequences of having been slaves. And I just think about this. It's so interesting. This is the pattern that God gives us in the Bible. The whole thing is that, okay, I set you free, but now you have to fight. I set you free, but now you have to fight. Because why? Because if you don't, you won't know the worth of this freedom, and you don't want to know how to use this freedom. So let's go to the first reading. It's

the book of Exodus. And what happens is, God says, I see my people of Israel. They're enslaved in Egypt. And what I'm going to do, I heard their cries. I love them. I care about them. They matter to me, so I'm going to set them free. And it says, I'm going to set them free, and then I'm going to bring them into a spacious land flowing with milk and honey. I don't know if you ever thought about this. But God's plan A, when he set his people of Israel free,

it was that. It was, I'm going to set you free from slavery. I'm going to bring you through the Red Sea. I'm going to take you to Mount Sinai, where we established the covenant, and that's what happened there. And right from there, we're going to go into the promised land. Like, God's plan A did not involve 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

That was not plan A. Can I need to establish this. God's plan A was, I'm going to set you free. We're going to go through the Red Sea. Take you to Mount Sinai. Establish a covenant. And from there, we're going to Canaan. From there, we're going into Jerusalem, or the promised land.

But what happened when they got to the promised land? It's actually in the book of Numbers. It's chapter 13. What happens is Moses says, we're going to scout out the land because there's people who are living there already, and you've got to go up and fight them. God says you have to go up and fight them. And so Moses sends up 12 scouts into the land of the promised land

for 40 days they scouted out and they come back, these 12 people come back, 10 of them come back and they say this. They said to Moses, we went into the land you sent to it, to which you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey. So God was telling the truth. I'm going to bring you to a land flowing with milk and honey. And they're like, nailed it.

It does. And here's its fruit. They even stole something. It's not spies. It does indeed flow with milk and honey. Here's its fruit. However, the people who are living in this, land are fierce and their towns are fortified and very strong. Besides, we saw the

descendants of the Anakim there. The Anakim or the Anakim, they're this like basically a race of people who are just large, like basically going to Iceland and seeing all the strongmen competition kind of people. It's like, so they go there, it's like they're super strong, their gates are fortified, their cities are walled off and they go on to say, we would have no chance. Now Caleb stands up, Caleb is one of the scouts and he says, you know what, we ought to go up and seize the land, for we certainly can do so. But the others who had gone up with him said, we cannot attack these people. They are too strong for us. So they spread discouraging reports

throughout the whole people, and that this the whole community broke out with loud cries, and even at night the people wailed. We can't do it. Now think about this. They're saying that this land has strong people and walled cities. But what had God just done for them? these super power in the world, Egypt, had them enslaved, and God had the ten plagues. They all saw it. They got to the Red Sea. Oh, we're going to die now. No, then God, they walked through the Red Sea with the water, like a wall to the right and to their left.

And then they got to Mount Sinai. And on top of Mount Sinai, they saw God's glory, like coming down and thunder and lightning on top of this thing. They've seen all of the signs of God's power, his love for them, his care for them, and they get to the promised land and like, we can't fight. We couldn't possibly win. They've been given this freedom. And God's like, okay, now here's what you have to do. Go and take it.

Go and fight. And they weren't willing to fight. God was saying, just don't, I'll bring you. I'll be there. I will be with you. Go and take it. Just go and fight. Trust me and fight.

Here's God saying, trust me and fight. But they didn't trust and they wouldn't fight. And so God says, okay, if that's what you're going to do, one year of wandering in the wilderness for every day you're up in the promised land. So 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Now, that's not just punishment. It's not just punishment because God's basically saying,

okay, listen, I gave you this gift, but you don't know what's value, you don't know what's worth, and you don't know what to do with it, you don't know how to use it. You don't trust and you won't fight, and so I'm going to lead you into the wilderness, and for 40 years,

here's what's going to do. You're going to be trained in trust and you're going to be strengthened through struggle. This is the key. Why did they have to wander in the wilderness? It was not God's plan A. It was because they said, we don't trust and we won't fight. And so God says, okay, and for 40 years, you're going to be trained in trust, you're

going to be strengthened through struggle. They didn't know the value. They didn't know how to use it. You know, when it comes to a little curveball, when it comes to lottery winners, I don't ever notice this, but 70% of all those people who win the lottery, whether it's hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions, multiple, millions of dollars, 70% of all lottery winners end up bankrupt in the first couple years. Which blows my mind, right? Imagine winning millions about millions of dollars and you have

a 70, that's 7.0 percent chance of losing it all within, I think, the first three to five years. And there's a bunch of reasons for this. I read a bunch about it. Some is because there are people who are vultures and they go after the lottery winners and try to swindle them out of their money and they're pretty good at their job. And so they rob them. Other times people have a lot of need and they approach these people. have won the lottery and these people who won the lottery have big hearts. And it's like, listen, I need $5,000 to fix my car or so I lose my job and I can't feed my family. And you've got five millions. So just give me a piece. And who would say no to that kind of a thing?

Whether it be swindlers or big hearts, there's one reason ultimately why people who win the lottery go bankrupt. One reason why almost everyone who wins the lottery goes bankrupt. And that reason is they don't know the value of money and they don't know how to use their money. And you can know this is absolutely true because people who win the lottery are the people who play the lottery. And if you're willing to play the lottery,

you're proving to the world you do not know the value of money or how to use your money. Because that was funnier than you were acting. That was... But it's also true. And it's a little deservingly true if you've bought a little scratchy game.

Because that's the thing is like you're willing to flush down $5 because I'm might win. In fact, the advertisements for lottery isn't the best. You can't win if you don't play. You're right. Someone's got to win. They do. Why wouldn't that someone be me for the next $15? But because here's what happens to happen. Because we don't know the value of a thing, therefore we don't know how to use it. We have to be trained. Like, what does it mean to be trained in trust? Like when I say that God brought his people of Israel into the 40 years of slavery or 40 years in the wilderness because they needed to be trained in trust, what do I mean?

they need to be trained to know that actually God sees them, that God knows them and that he actually cares about them, that they matter to him. So think of like the two things, two of the things that God did for them in the wilderness. One is the manna, right? Remember the manna that would come down every morning like dewfall and land upon the ground and it would feed them every day? You know the rule God had for the manna?

He said, just just gather enough mana for today. And then I'll feed you tomorrow. But just gather enough for today. And I'll feed you tomorrow. And initially they were tempted to be like, no, no, no. I'll gather enough for today and for tomorrow and the next day because who knows if God's going to show up tomorrow. And whenever they gathered more than enough, more than they needed for that one day,

what would happen is what was left over would spoil, unless it was on the Sabbath, in which case it would be kept fresh. Why? Because God's training them and trust. Like, listen, I feed you today. Don't worry. I'm going to feed you tomorrow. Think about how this is us right now. You know how many of us are so concerned with this question of, will I have enough? Like, will that be me?

Well, I might be okay right now, but I'm not sure if I'll be okay tomorrow. I might have enough right now, but I don't know if I'll be okay next month. And so we just end up grasping rather than being trained in this trust. Rather than allowing God to say, no, listen, I have you. I'm taking care of you. Just enough for today. You know, the other thing that God did is, if you remember this, the manna was really memorable. There's also this, what they call it, the glory cloud or the Sheckina cloud?

The Sheckina cloud was during the day, this cloud would be this pillar of cloud over the tabernacle, over where God dwelt. And at night, it would become a pillar of fire. So this is like a kind of a really clear sign that God is with you. During the day, here's the pillar of cloud. And that night it would turn into fire. I'd be like, I'm convinced. But what happened is God says, listen, whenever that pillar,

of cloud moves, you go with it. And whenever the pillar of cloud, pillar of fire stops, you stop and you stay there and wait. Like this is where you live now. And basically here's God saying, listen, you don't have to know where you're going. So when you see me move, then you move. When you see me stay, don't worry about how long it's going to be. When you take it off next, just stay there until you see me move. I'm not going to leave without you. But you can trust me. I know for a lot of us, it's The big question is, what's the future going to be? Like, I know what happens in the next couple weeks, but what happens in six weeks from now?

I know what I'm doing right now, but what about the summer? I know what's happening right now, but what about grad school? I know what happens right now, but what about work? Like, I just want to know what's next. Here's God saying, he's training the Israelites and trust saying, listen, I'm not going to leave without you. I'm with you right now. When it's time to go, I'll let you know. When it's time to stop, I'll let you know.

What if we live like that and just said, okay, God, I know you're going to, you're not going to leave without me. I don't have to know what the next step is because, why? Because I've been trained in trust. But I think so often that uncertainty is like just wrecks us. Doesn't that like that? No, God, I don't need anything. I just need to know the answer.

I don't need to know everything. I just need to be secure. I don't need to know everything. I just, I can't live with this uncertainty. So I think some of us we get to the point where we're willing to try. trade uncertainty for back for slavery again. We can actually be tempted to trade uncertainty back for slavery. In fact, that's what happens in Numbers chapter 11, is what happens is God set them free to all the things I just described, right?

And he's even feeding them this bread from heaven. They're eating miraculous bread every single day and here's what they say. They begin to complain. The miracle is boring now. And they say, would that we had meat for food? Enough of this miraculous bread that we don't even have to do anything to get. Okay. What did we had meat for food? We remember the fish that we used to eat without cost in Egypt. Okay, pause.

The fish we used to eat without cost in Egypt. Oh, you mean when you were slaves? And you didn't have to pay for it because you were slaves? And you didn't buy your fish because you didn't have any money because you were slaves? Like, yeah, but also we said, we used to have cucumbers and melons and leeks and onions and and onions and garlic. You guys, I know Egypt was slavery, but we had leaks. And it says, we are disgusted.

We are now famished. We see nothing before us but this manna. And they're willing to trade this gift of God. They don't even understand the value and know what to do with it because I'd rather go back to be a slave. How many times could that possibly be us where we're just like, man. God, I get it. I get you sent me for your calling me to a bigger life,

but it was easier before I started to follow. following you. You're calling me to greatness, but I remember like when I used to be, it used to be, I was able to be mediocre and stuff. We could trade security and choose slavery. This actually isn't even just the children of Israel. This is, there's this former Soviet nation of Kyrgyzstan. It was liberated from Soviet oppression and Soviet rule during Parasroika. It's so fascinating. they lived under an authoritarian dictatorship that ruthlessly murdered and killed thousands, if not, hundreds of thousands of the people in Kyrgyzstan. In 2010, they did a survey of the people in Kyrgyzstan, which had been maybe like 15 or maybe more years

after Parastroika, after they've been given their freedom. And in their freedom, they have so much responsibility that they've been having revolts and they had some, you know, wars and some infighting and damage. and so the majority of the population in Kyrgyzstan have said that they would rather have an authoritarian dictator than their freedom. One of them even went off to say, he said, all we need is another Stalin for just five years, and then we'd be okay again.

Because they'd be willing to trade in what, their insecurity for slavery. And yet, what's the call? The call is to be trained in trust, and strengthened through struggle. We train and trust and be strengthened through struggle. I don't know if you've ever experienced the frustration over having a battle to fight. Like the fact that I have a struggle,

I don't have you ever experienced that frustration. I'm like, man, if you ever find yourself saying these words, like, you know, why do I have to be the one who fill in the blank? Like, why do I have to be the one who's struggling to make ends meet? Why do I have to be the one to pay for my college? Why do I have to be the one who has this broken family? Why do I have to be the one who deals with this sickness? Whenever we say that, what we're saying is I'm frustrated with this battle I have to fight.

Maybe it's even more interior. When you're looking at your own heart and see your weakness or your temptation is your likelihood of falling in sin, and you're like, man, why do I have to be the one with this stinking sin? Like, why can I have a easier sin? Why do I have to be the one who has to deal with this weakness? Why can I have a more fun weakness? I don't know. Have you ever had to, you've been frustrated over having to go to confession for the same thing?

You don't have to like nod or anything or raise your hand. Just give me a little wink. Don't give me wink. That's weird. I imagine many of us experienced frustration over having to go to confession to the same thing over and over again. We're like, man, why do I have to be the one to do with these stinking one to two, three sins over and over again? The priest must be bored of me. Absolutely not, A.

And B, consider yourself really, really blessed if you have the same sin to confess over and over again. Imagine having to go to confession for different things every single time. Like that would be chaotic. Like at least this way you know what your wounds are. At least this way you know what your weaknesses are. It's like, imagine if you're a baseball player and your coach is like, okay, listen, every time you're up to bat, you just don't drop the elbow. That's your one thing.

You keep dropping your elbow, but that's the one thing you get to work on versus every time you go up to bat, it's another thing. Well, the first time it's don't drop your elbow, then it's like move your hips, then it's plant your feet, then it's all these, like, that's chaotic versus Oh, I know myself. And I know that this is the struggle that I'm called to strive through. This is the battle God's calling me into.

Like, that's actually good news because we recognize, okay, I'm being called into the wilderness, and I know that this wilderness is a place of battle. This wilderness is actually where battles are supposed to be fought. And if you find yourself in the wilderness, you find yourself fighting a battle, fighting in the midst of a struggle, that's great. Why? Because it's there to make you strong. I'm in the middle of this struggle. I'm in the middle of this battle.

That's not bad. it's there to make you strong. And yes, God could have just handed it all to you. Could have taken it all away and just made you like a saint like that. But he wants more for you. He wants more from you. He doesn't just want to make you not a slave. He wants to make you into a soldier.

He doesn't just want to make you not a slave. He wants to make you his son or his daughter. and that more, it always involves being trained in trust and strengthened through struggle because the stakes are so high. We can lose it. We have so many stuff handed to us.

We could totally crash and burn. That's what St. Paul is writing about. It's 1st Corinthians chapter 10. It's the second reading today. And he says, he says, you guys, our ancestors, the children of Israel, children of Israel, they all were set free from slavery in Egypt.

They were all brought through the Red Sea. brought through the water. He says, they all ate the same spiritual food. They all drank the same spiritual drink. He can say the same thing to us. Say, you guys, you're all, you've all been baptized, you've all passed through the water. You've all been made new. You've all been set free. You've all drank the same spiritual drink, the blood of Christ in the mass. You all eat the same spiritual food, the body of Christ, the mass. You've been given all the, it's been handed to you. But here's like he says, about the people of Israel. It was handed to them, and yet, God was not pleased with many of them, and they perished.

It was all handed to them. They had every grace, every opportunity. And what happened is God also gave them the freedom to choose to waste their life. God also gave them the freedom to choose to waste his gifts. One of the huge tragedies of our lives is that I can be fed with the Eucharist every single day, and I can still be free to choose to waste it. Or I can choose to let that train me and trust. He's going to feed me every day.

And he's going to forgive me every time I come to him and ask for his mercy. But I'm going to have to struggle. You're going to be strengthened through that struggle. That's why Jesus, in the gospel, he says, repent. Now, it's interesting, the repent that he talks about, sometimes we think of the person on the street corner, right? And repent, the end is near. We have this, like, weird vision of what repent.

repentance is, and repentance is very simple. The catechism describes it so clearly. It says repentance involves two things. It involves a resolve to change and it involves trust in God's mercy and grace. What does that sound like? It involves a resolve to change. Sounds like someone who's being strengthened through struggle. And trust in God's mercy and grace. Sounds like being trained in trust. That's what it is. I want to make a decision. resolve to change. He strengthened through struggle, and I'm going to trust his mercy. This is the last thing.

We have to. I mean, this is the reality, of course. You might not want to, but we have to. Like, you might not want to be trained in trust. You might not want to be strengthened through the struggle, but there is no option. We're in the wilderness. And we can either fight or we can just waste it.

So what do I do? I would say that I don't know how your lent is going so far. My guess is it's been pretty crappy. Well, I mean that because, like, you know, we started Lent and then we went on spring break and it was like, well, I just tanked that for the first 10 days. That was the worst start to Lent ever. I got all these great plans. Like, I'm going to, like, get in there, Lord.

I'm going to, like, we're going to do battle for you. It's going to be great. I'm going to grow. And I was like, oh, look a butterfly. Like, get so distracted, so easy to get distracted by that spring break thing. Just took me out of the knees. I don't know what you guys. Maybe I'm the only loser here.

Oh, there you are. But what's your Lenton thing? Like, what did you decide? what's your Lenton thing? You know, it's interesting. I think it's true that sometimes we can pass off our Lent thing because we're like, well, I mean, really, what does it matter? Like, okay, I said I was going to do this thing, but ultimately, does God see, does he know?

Does it even care? Like, that's a big question that comes up to us. Like, I said I'd pray like this, or I said I'd, you know, do whatever giving or generosity or fasting. But ultimately, really does God see? does he know? Does he even care? Does it even matter to him? Realize every time you do that thing you decided to do, what you're making is an act of trust. Every time he choose to do the thing, what you're saying is, God, I trust that you actually do see. God, I trust that you do know this. And God,

I trust that you do care. I trust that this matters to you. Every time you choose that length thing again and again and again, what you're saying is, okay, Lord, I trust you. And you're being trained in trust that God sees that he knows and that this matters to him. And when you choose that Lent thing for the next three plus weeks, realize every time you choose it, you're exercising something. What are you doing? You're being strengthened through struggle. It's my invitation here on this third Sunday of Lent is this, like it's not over and you're not done. That we're in the midst of this. And every time you pick up that Lent thing again and again, you're being trained in trust. You're being strengthened through struggle.

because this hasn't just been handed to you. It's been something more. It's been entrusted to you. This gift hasn't just been handed to you. This gift has been entrusted to you. And now we have to know its value and we have to know how to use it. So we can let the rest of this Lent,

this time in the wilderness, be a time to be trained in trust and a season to be strengthened through struggle.