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Using human agents to carry out His will

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Isaiah 22:19-23. (Lectionary 121, Aug. 21, 2005)

This Sunday’s first reading relates to the Gospel reading via the image of a key. Eliakim is promised the key of the House of David to carry on his shoulder. (Keys were bigger then than they are now and may have been carried around visibly by an office holder as a sign of his authority.) In the Gospel reading, we see Jesus promising the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter. But there is a deeper parallel between these two readings than the use of a symbol, as we will see.

First of all, it’s important to say a bit about the characters in our reading. Shebna is presented here as the master of the palace, that is as prime minister to the king. In the verses that precede this reading we learn that Shebna is a self-seeking and ambitious person. He takes pleasure in elegant chariots and has carved out a tomb for himself of royal proportions. This is not what God expects of a royal servant.

As our reading begins, we hear that God will take away Shebna’s lofty position and give it to Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. Eliakim would wear the robe and sash of office and exercise the authority that Shebna now wields. In this capacity, he would be a father to God’s people. Eliakim would carry the key that opened and closed all the doors of the palace and that symbolized his control over the affairs of state. Eliakim would be a source of security for the kingdom and would bring honor to his family.

(We see Shebna and Eliakim again in chapter 36 of Isaiah negotiating in the king’s name with the Assyrian invaders that were threatening Jerusalem in 701 B.C. Here Eliakim is referred to as master of the palace and Shebna as "the scribe." It seems that the cabinet shakeup that Isaiah had threatened had now taken place and that, in accord with what the prophet had foretold, Eliakim and been promoted and Shebna demoted.)

The lectionary does not give us this reading just to instruct us on a minute point in the history of the Near East in the late eighth century B.C. nor to make us aware that the image of the keys that Jesus uses in speaking with Peter has Old Testament antecedents. The reading also says something about how God deals with His people: He uses human agents to carry out His will.

Because we are used to dealing with human church ministers, with priests and bishops, because the Pope is an important element in our faith life, we tend to take for granted God’s use of human beings as His agents. But it doesn’t really have to be that way. God could deal with each of us and with His community directly if He so chose. He could put His teachings into our hearts through immediate inspiration and give us directions about how to live and serve by means of ideas that came directly from Him, without intermediary. But God generally doesn’t work that way. Generally God chooses to provide teaching and direction through other human beings: through authorized teachers in the church, through human beings (ordained and lay) in the celebration of the sacraments, through specified office holders in providing for the good order of the community. God lets certain of His creatures wield the keys of the kingdom. Eliakim wielded the keys of the Kingdom of Juda in the time of Hezekiah, and Peter (and his successors) wields the keys of the kingdom of the faith.

But our reading teaches us something more than God’s use of human creatures to carry out His will. These human agents of the Lord are expected to maintain a certain level of good character. These leaders are supposed to be indicators of what God wants from all His people. Of course God can use bad people as well as good for His purposes, but good leaders bring a dimension of credibility that bad leaders do not.

This is not to say that all leaders of God’s people, whether in the Old Testament or in the kingdom of Christ, were and are to be the same. We have all experienced differences of personality in the persons who have exercised leadership in the Church community. Different kinds of people bring different gifts to their responsibilities. But, if they are to be effective representatives of God’s love for His people, they have to be in touch the with Lord. God’s representatives are most convincing when it is clear that they are familiar with the God that they represent.

For Reflection and Discussion.

How do I relate to authority in the Church?

What kinds of people have I experienced in positions of responsibility in the Church?



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	*Overtures* Reflection on the first readings of the Sunday liturgy By Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk Using human agents to carry out His will Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time (A), Isaiah 22:19-23. (Lectionary 121, Aug. 21, 2005) This Sunday’s first reading relates to the Gospel reading via the image of a key. Eliakim is promised the key of the House of David to carry on his shoulder. (Keys were bigger then than they are now and may have been carried around visibly by an office holder as a sign of his authority.) In the Gospel reading, we see Jesus promising the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter. But there is a deeper parallel between these two readings than the use of a symbol, as we will see. First of all, it’s important to say a bit about the characters in our reading. Shebna is presented here as the master of the palace, that is as prime minister to the king. In the verses that precede this reading we learn that Shebna is a self-seeking and ambitious person. He takes pleasure in elegant chariots and has carved out a tomb for himself of royal proportions. This is not what God expects of a royal servant. As our reading begins, we hear that God will take away Shebna’s lofty position and give it to Eliakim, son of Hilkiah. Eliakim would wear the robe and sash of office and exercise the authority that Shebna now wields. In this capacity, he would be a father to God’s people. Eliakim would carry the key that opened and closed all the doors of the palace and that symbolized his control over the affairs of state. Eliakim would be a source of security for the kingdom and would bring honor to his family. (We see Shebna and Eliakim again in chapter 36 of Isaiah negotiating in the king’s name with the Assyrian invaders that were threatening Jerusalem in 701 B.C. Here Eliakim is referred to as master of the palace and Shebna as "the scribe." It seems that the cabinet shakeup that Isaiah had threatened had now taken place and that, in accord with what the prophet had foretold, Eliakim and been promoted and Shebna demoted.) The lectionary does not give us this reading just to instruct us on a minute point in the history of the Near East in the late eighth century B.C. nor to make us aware that the image of the keys that Jesus uses in speaking with Peter has Old Testament antecedents. The reading also says something about how God deals with His people: He uses human agents to carry out His will. Because we are used to dealing with human church ministers, with priests and bishops, because the Pope is an important element in our faith life, we tend to take for granted God’s use of human beings as His agents. But it doesn’t really have to be that way. God could deal with each of us and with His community directly if He so chose. He could put His teachings into our hearts through immediate inspiration and give us directions about how to live and serve by means of ideas that came directly from Him, without intermediary. But God generally doesn’t work that way. Generally God chooses to provide teaching and direction through other human beings: through authorized teachers in the church, through human beings (ordained and lay) in the celebration of the sacraments, through specified office holders in providing for the good order of the community. God lets certain of His creatures wield the keys of the kingdom. Eliakim wielded the keys of the Kingdom of Juda in the time of Hezekiah, and Peter (and his successors) wields the keys of the kingdom of the faith. But our reading teaches us something more than God’s use of human creatures to carry out His will. These human agents of the Lord are expected to maintain a certain level of good character. These leaders are supposed to be indicators of what God wants from all His people. Of course God can use bad people as well as good for His purposes, but good leaders bring a dimension of credibility that bad leaders do not. This is not to say that all leaders of God’s people, whether in the Old Testament or in the kingdom of Christ, were and are to be the same. We have all experienced differences of personality in the persons who have exercised leadership in the Church community. Different kinds of people bring different gifts to their responsibilities. But, if they are to be effective representatives of God’s love for His people, they have to be in touch the with Lord. God’s representatives are most convincing when it is clear that they are familiar with the God that they represent. For Reflection and Discussion.** How do I relate to authority in the Church? What kinds of people have I experienced in positions of responsibility in the Church?

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