The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Here Am I, Lord. I Come to Do Your Will

Isaiah 49:3, 5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1: 29-34 

Let me ask you a question: Are you a person of your word? In other words, when you say something, do you mean it? Some people don’t. Or in some situations, some people don’t. Sometimes some people say things only because they feel they are advantageous to themselves: to get the job, to clinch the deal, to endear themselves to someone for their own benefit. Sometimes some feel a sense of obligation to say what they think people want to hear. Or sometimes people feel put on the spot. They say the safe thing . . . the politically correct thing . . . the thing that is popular opinion, the thing everyone else is saying, the thing everyone else is believing. And sometimes some people say something and they really don’t understand what they are saying. What about you? Do you mean what you say?

The reason I ask is that just a few minutes ago we all said something and I wonder if we meant it. Or did we really understand the implications of what we were saying? As a matter of fact, what we said, we didn’t just say once; we repeated it four times. And sadly, as I look around, I can tell some of you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about!

Just a few minutes ago four times in our responsorial psalm we said, “Here am I, Lord. I come to do your will.” Ah! Remember now? “Here am I, Lord. I come to do your will.” Were you paying attention? Did you mean it? Did you understand the implications of what you were saying?

“Here am I, Lord.” Are you here? Or are you really somewhere else? Sure, you’re physically here, but is your mind somewhere else? Or are you here, but here isn’t really where you want to be?

“Lord, I come to do your will.” Have you really? Have you come here this evening to find out what God’s will is – for the world . . . for the Church . . . for you, yourself? Have you come here this evening because you truly desire to do His will and you realize that to do it, you need strength, strength that comes from the Bread of Life and the Cup of Eternal Salvation, the Eucharist, or are you here merely out of obligation?

“Here am I, Lord. I come to do your will.” Did we understand that those words that we said (or sang) four times was our affirmation, our consent to what immediately preceded it? Did we understand that through those words, we were entering into a sacred covenant with God?

Well what exactly did we get ourselves into? In the first verse of Psalm 40, through our response, we committed ourselves to be people of faith. “I have waited, waited for the LORD, and he stooped toward me and heard my cry. And he put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God.” Through these words we pledged to listen, to discern, to wait. Sometimes it’s hard to “wait for the Lord.” But through faith we know that God is never blind to our tears, never deaf to our prayers, never silent to our pain. He sees. He hears. And he will deliver. Faith tells us that God has perfect timing . . . never early, never late. But when we finally see His plan, we realize it’s been worth the wait. Here am I, Lord. I come to do your will!

The second and third verse are interrelated, and through our response to both of them, we’ve committed ourselves to be people devoted to God’s Word – hearing it, obeying it, acting upon it. “Sacrifice or offering you wished not, but ears open to obedience you gave me. Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not . . . In the written scroll it is prescribed for me, to do your will, O my God, that is my delight, and your law is within my heart.” Sometimes we get caught up with externals. God doesn’t. Sometimes we think that our prayers have to be eloquent, our liturgy solemn, and our sacrifices extravagant. But God simply wants our obedience – an obedience that’s that comes as a natural and necessary extension of our love for Him. As I told my students thousands of times, and as I’ve also said here before, Christianity isn’t just something we do on Sunday mornings (or Saturday evenings). Christianity is a way of life. It’s a lived experience. What good is it if we hear the Word of God every Sunday and then not seek to live it every other day of the week? And we shouldn’t just depend on the Sunday readings to be our nourishment. We need to get into the Word of God ourselves. Read it, meditate on it, memorize it, recite it, repeat it, devour it, obey it, and believe it. No Sunday homily can ever substitute for that. Here’s the ultimate question we need to ask ourselves: Are the biblical phrases lines that we merely recite or the script that we live? Here am I, Lord. I come to do your will.

And then our last verse. Did we understand that the refrain we said for the fourth time was a commitment to service? “I announced your justice in the vast assembly; I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know.” God is a just God. And for a just God, there are no favorites. He loves all and desires that all be treated rightly and fairly, and their needs taken care of. God commissions you as an agent of divinity. It wouldn’t make sense for an orchestra to play silently, or for an artist to paint invisibly. Neither does it make sense to be a disciple of Christ secretly. Every member of the church is called to ministry, gifted for ministry, authorized for ministry, commanded to minister, saved for ministry, accountable for ministry, needed for ministry, and rewarded for ministry. But the problem is most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity. As Christians, we’re called to be counter-cultural . . . to shift our focus from what’s in it for me - to - how may I serve? We have to stop being go-getters and learn to become go-givers. If you can’t do great things for God then do small things in a great way. God’s greatest works take place without our doing anything spectacular. They are the side effects of doing the ordinary things that we’re supposed to be doing. We are on this planet for one purpose only; to give our gift away. Here am I, Lord. I come to do your will.

I’d like, if I may, to address the teenagers who are here tonight. Some of you might not think that any of this applies to you. A lot of you may feel, “Leave me alone! I’m young! I don’t want responsibility . . . I don’t want commitment . . . All I want is to have a good time.” Others may feel, “Yeah this religion thing is important, but not now. Maybe when I’m 30 or 40 or 50 it will be. After all, how much can God expect of me now anyway? I’m just a teenager?” But you couldn’t be more wrong.

Did you realize that the Blessed Mother was probably no older than fourteen when God asked her to be the mother of his Son? Mary was a teenager – just like you. Yet he asked her to do something that had eternal consequences. And despite her age, this teenager said “yes” to God.

We celebrated Christmas less than a month ago. And probably in pictures on Christmas cards or the figures in your manger at home, the shepherds were depicted as being old men. Well, I’ve just recently read that actually, the shepherds that kept the night watch were teenagers, probably no older than fifteen or sixteen. Just think – the very first people that God chose to announce the birth of his Son to were teenagers, just like you.

And did you realize that most of the Apostles were teenagers? The first people that Jesus extended the invitation to come follow him, the very people he entrusted with perpetuating his ministry after he died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven were teenagers, just like you. If he could call and entrust teenagers then, don’t you think he still does that today?

If you don’t get what I’ve been saying, let me put it another way:

To be a Survivor in this Amazing Race
with a Need for Speed, you need God's grace.
And if you're Desperate like Housewives
watching Days of our Lives,
you can't cope without hope
and that's not on a soap.

If you're looking to Oprah or Dr. Phil,
you can shop non-stop or pop a pill
but the pain won't heal and the void won't fill
'til you love the One that hung on a hill.

Kickin’ back in your La-Z-Boy easy chair
watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
Nah! You ain’t find it there.
No American Idol or Council Tribal
has the final answer that will satisfy you.
CSI aint got a clue.
SVU don't know what to do.

Not the ER, the OC,
nothing on a CD, TV, DVD, or MP3
can save you and me.
CNN's got no Good News.
Here's the headline, "YOU GOTTA CHOOSE."

You can be a Heavy Hitter or Wheel of Fortune winner,
a Fox News spinner or flat out sinner,
but you better check this life that you're livin'
and make sure your sins are forgiven.

I bet you 50 Cents: Elvis done, came and went.
And eventually every Black-Eyed Pea, Gwen Stefani,
P-Diddy and Britney,
every wanna-be on MTV
with their Icy Bling,
every Dixie Chick that sings,
they all gonna see the King of Kings.

I don't care if you're J Lo, Leno, or Bono.
One thing you gotta know,
Someday you're gonna die bro.
Then where are you gonna go?
So the next time you’re impressed with GaGa, Cyrus, or that Bieber kid,
look to the cross and see what Jesus did.

Hey, I'm not talking some punk junk that is irrelevant
like your Grandma's church from way back when.
It's not some preacher feature on TBN
that you need to be liking or listenin’.
The real Superstar is Jesus Christ.
He's the Way, He's the Truth, He’s the Life.
One day he's going to split the sky.
He’s the Brightest Light. He’s the Highest High.

What I came to say and what I'm telling you
is don't buy that stupid stuff they be selling you.
It's all designed to fill your head
and waste your space until you're dead.
Here's the bottom line in my rhyme:
Give your life to God while there’s still time.

So here you are in church today, you only come to chill?
You stand before the King of Kings; you’ve come to do His will.