Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks

Homily – Saturday 15th Week of Ordinary Time, July 16, 2011

1^st Reading: Exodus 12:37-42 – The Exodus from Egypt; Gospel Reading: Matthew 12:14-21 – The Servant Messiah

A bruised reed he will not break a smoldering wick he will not quench.”

This verse which we heard in the Gospel today is from a passage in Isaiah 42.  Matthew is writing to a Jewish community and often uses Old Testament Scriptures to validate Jesus as the Messiah whose coming was foretold by their ancestors.  In today’s reading, he uses this particular passage as a counter to the Pharisees who had earlier in the chapter accused Jesus of violating the law by not following rules of the Sabbath.   His disciples had been accused of working on the Sabbath when they were observed pulling the heads off of wheat stalks and eating them.  This was viewed as harvesting which was considered work and not allowed on the Sabbath.   Then Jesus Himself is accused of working on the Sabbath when He heals a physically handicapped man in the synagogue.  So we begin today’s gospel with the Pharisees beginning to contemplate how they would kill him.  And Jesus rather than make a big deal about the challenges of the Pharisees instead goes off to a new place to continue healing, preaching, and teaching.   It is at this point in the Gospel passage that we are reminded of the words of Isaiah.  A bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not quench.

Why does Matthew choose this passage and why at this time?  Well the Jews were all about following the law.  The law was sacred to them and strict adherence to the law was the way by which they held up their end of the covenant between them and God.   But in today’s reading, Matthew is reminding them and us that we must keep in mind the spirit and the heart of the law and not just follow the letter of the law.   By referencing the servant Messiah passage from Isaiah, Matthew is teaching them that being a disciple of Jesus means having the mind and heart of a servant.  It is about being humble.  It is about mercy and justice.

The image of a bruised reed would have been something that Matthew’s audience could relate to.  These reeds grew up along the shore of Galilee.  When undisturbed they stood straight and tall, but fisherman and others working and walking along the shore trampled them and dragged heavy objects over them such that they became bent over and no longer stood straight up.   Jesus encountered many a bruised reed in his public ministry.  People who had once been young, healthy, stood tall, proud (not in a bad way), but now had been beaten down and bent over by the anxieties, pressures, and burdens of life, as well as the physical, emotional, and spiritual deterioration that life sometimes brings.   In these encounters, Jesus always responded with compassion, mercy, and respect.   Jesus empathized with those who suffered, and in His own passion, He would provide the ultimate image of the bruised reed.

   

Every one of us here knows of at least one bruised reed perhaps in our families, one of our neighbors, or a friend.   There are bruised reeds right here in our parish.  Think of one of our fellow parishioner’s who suffers, carries a burden, or endures physical, emotional, or spiritual pain perhaps daily.   I just did a graveside service for a family last Saturday.  The parents who are in their 80s lost a son with no warning.  They had grieved the loss of a son four years earlier, and another son is battling cancer.  Now they are grieving the loss of a 3^rd son who died unexpectedly.   The last few times I have spoken to them and asked how they are, the father says, “not so good”.    It broke my heart to see Him suffering so.  He has become a bruised reed, bent over from the pain and sadness he has had to endure.    Now the challenge becomes how to keep him from breaking.   As disciples called to be Jesus for others, we must enter in to their pain.  Not understand it, not necessarily try to fix it; rather we are simply called to be present to them, to listen to them, to assist them where possible.  This is what it means to be a servant.   

Another image presented to us today is that of a smoldering wick.   We have seen that when we blow out a candle or snuff out an oil lamp the wick continues to glow and smoke rises off of the wick until it cools and the final glow disappears.   This image provides another way of thinking of a person who perhaps was joyful at one time.  Things were going well.  The light of Christ had meaning for them because their spirits radiated that light.  But then something happened.  Something took away their joy.   Something snuffed out the flame inside of them.   I’m sure we know people who have experienced this as well.   Our call as disciples is to keep what is left of the glowing wick inside of them from going out altogether, to keep them from despair.  Our challenge is to help them find joy again, to re-ignite the flame they once had inside of them.   It is not easy.  It requires a lot of patience, compassion, and persistence.  This is what is required of a servant.   This is what is required of a disciple of Jesus.

  

Think about someone you may know who seems grumpy every time you see them or someone who is just not very pleasant to be around.  Perhaps they were not always this way, but some event, someone or something has extinguished the flame of joy they once might have had.   Maybe they need someone to listen to them, accept them, to validate their feelings. And as a result, maybe a spark begins again.  Maybe you know someone who is sad or grieving a loss.  We can’t replace their loss and we are not supposed to, but we are called to be present to them, to offer support, to offer a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, a diverting activity which provides a respite from the exhausting process of carrying one’s cross daily.  When we do this, we are mirroring Jesus to them.  When we do this, we show our respect for their dignity as person.  We show them compassion, and love.   When we do this, we begin to kindle a new flame within them.

So let’s make it our intent each and every day to be a servant in the way Jesus was a servant and may they say about us, a bruised reed he did not break,  a smoldering wick she did not quench.