Homily for 23 Jun 2015

23 Jun 2015

You get what you ask for.  In a nutshell, that’s what justice is: you get what you ask for.  And God’s brand of justice is pretty similar: Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.  If you want to be shown mercy, then first be merciful.  If you want others to love you, then love others first.  If you want to stay out of trouble, then don’t get into it.

Now, when Lot was given the choice, he decided to move right into the land of Sodom.  It wasn’t that he liked Sodom but, after all, the land there was good for his herd.  But I suppose that’s like trying to harvest honey from a live beehive, hoping you won’t get stung.  And all we can say to Lot is: Well, good luck with that.  As we know, Lot gave himself a big headache for being so close to Sodom.  But, then again, it was his choice to be there.

But, as we also know, Lot eventually prayed for Sodom to be spared.  He was merciful to them, and so, he was shown mercy.  God was simply responding to the choices Lot had made.  And, of course, he was doing the same for Abram.  Abram chose to be generous to Lot by saying: “You pick whatever land you want and I’ll take what’s left.”  And for that, Abram ended up with the Promised Land.  He was generous to Lot, and so, God was generous to him.

We get what we ask for; the choices we make in life will come back to us . . . either as a blessing or a curse or somewhere in between.  And so, we try to make the best choices we can.  But the most basic choice we have is to say to God: “I am yours.  I choose to let you be my light along the way.”  That’s the “narrow gate” which Jesus speaks about—the narrow gate of deliberating choosing to trust God in all areas of life.

Maybe you’re thinking of changing jobs.  You’re trying to fix something in your marriage.  One of the kids or grandkids is making a questionable choice in life.  Maybe you’re going into the hospital or you’re dealing with a chronic illness.  Maybe life just seems to be going nowhere.  While there are a lot of choices to be made in all that, the most basic (and forgotten) choice is to let God show you the way.

We can go it alone, without God, I suppose.  But we’ll get what we ask for.  Or we can invite God into our lives and let the light of faith lead us.  And we’ll get what we ask for.  God will respond to our choices.  And so, above all, choose God.