Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
January 29th, 2006


What does the Ophrah Winfrey show of this week and today’s gospel have in common?

As you may know, the author of a book on Ophrah Winfrey’s book list, A Million Little Pieces, was in hot water this week. James Frey, who wrote the book had been exposed on a website, the Smoking Gun, for making up many of the details in his book. From exaggerating his stay in jail, to his involvement in an accident which he was never a part of, as well as many other factually inaccurate statements, the author embellished the story of his life in print. Oprah herself was caught for having initially defended him. And now, it is the buzz of the Hollywood world, - how Oprah was deluded, how the publishers have egg on their face, and how once more, it is hard to trust that there are many people out there with any sense of integrity. James Frey seemingly had written a powerful book, full of an internal authority and witness. But now we know differently.

In the gospel today we heard that interesting line: “The people were astonished because he spoke with authority… What they sensed in Jesus was a coherence between what he said and who he was, an integrity between his spoken word and his enacted deeds. Jesus spoke with authority. What he said was true. But who he was gave weight, credibility, and authority to his teaching. There in that synagogue, preaching about the love of God made real, he makes that same love real by healing the man possessed by a demon. Without hesitation over the interruption of his teaching, he heals the man possessed by the demon. What he said is backed up by who he is.

I have to tell you, I had a tough time writing the rest of this homily. It is not easy for me to write about this kind of authority – the authority based on integrity of life when I know I have failed the test. I am called to be a servant leader, yet sometimes I look for others to serve me. I am called to be the compassionate face of Christ, yet sometimes I have wounded people by an unkind word or a lack of presence. I am called to be a man of deep prayer, and sometimes the best I can manage is my morning offering and my evening bed time prayers. I heard so clearly as I prayed into this gospel during the first part of the week, the call to be a man like Jesus, to let my words match my actions. I heard the call to integrity of life. And I had to face the hard truth. I am not always who I hope to be and claim to be.

But, as I sat with that truth and the gospel, I became aware of a different voice in the passage. It was not the voice of Jesus, but the voice of the man in the synagogue, the one crying out in his need. But now the cry was “What have you to do with ME, [Bill Kempf] Jesus of Nazareth?” And like the man possessed, I prayed that the one who knows who I am, might destroy all that is not integrated, all that is not honest and true and holy and good. I prayed for deliverance from my ‘demons’ – all the ways where who I want to be and what I actually am are different. And like water washing over me, I knew that the one whose words always matched his deeds wanted to bring healing and life to my spirit. And to yours. And to anyone who is here this evening in need of God’s healing love. And if that is not the good news of today’s gospel, I don’t know what is…

I went to Amazon.com yesterday and checked. The book, A Million Little Pieces originally retailed for $23.95. It is now available for $7.95. The marketplace knows about integrity, about doing matching being and being matching doing. The people in the synagogue knew it as well as they heard Jesus speak. As we receive our Lord at this table, may our lives become more like his, dedicated to that internal authority where who we are and whose we are become one…