Knowing their audience

By REV. ROGER KARBAN- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

FROM A READING FOR JAN. 30, FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
'God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom.' -- I Cor 1:30

I'd much rather speak than write. I've no problem standing in front of large groups and talking about Scripture, but I look for any excuse to put off writing on the same topics.

I think I know the source of my aversion to writing: I can't see my audience. When I speak, I can see peoples' faces and reactions. I have no idea who's reading this commentary right now.

Years ago, I was floored when my father objected to a reference to him in that week's article. "You read my articles?" I asked in amazement. "Every one," he responded. "How else would I know if the pastor used your stuff in his homily this morning?"

One good side-effect of my being diagnosed with lymphoma two and a half years ago was the number of letters and emails I received with your prayers for my recovery. (I'm still in remission.) That correspondence helped me give a face to you who are reading these words.

Our sacred authors never had my "audience problem." They knew exactly for whom they were writing.

When Zephaniah's disciples put his words into a written format (Zep 2:3; 3:12-13), they presumed their audience would be the same as their mentor's: a small part of seventh-century-BCE Israel.

Who's listening
Though most biblical pro-phets probably began their ministries believing everyone would hear their words and quickly carry them out, eventually they realized Yahweh had drastically reduced their audience: "I will leave as a remnant in your midst, a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of Yahweh: the remnant of Israel."

Paul begins his first letter to the Corinthians (I Cor 1:26-31) by reminding his audience of its pedigree. If they think they're special, he points out who they were before the risen Jesus entered their lives: "Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful....God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise...the weak...to shame the strong...the lowly and despised...those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God."

The Apostle is convinced that whatever happens in our life of faith is worthless if we forget that God alone has achieved it for our benefit. We haven't pulled it off by ourselves.

On the other hand, we're a very unique people. Once we enter into that "kingdom of God," everything around us is different. We don't look at things, happenings and people in the way we did before.

Extraordinary us
Matthew writes for those who share this out-of-the-ordinary experience (Mt 5:1-12a). His Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount with a recognition of that reality. That's why he singles out the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted.

Matthew writes for these kinds of people. Only they will understand the wisdom contained in the next three chapters; others will judge Jesus' words to be sheer nonsense.

When we hear Scripture, we're always listening to someone else's literature. Zephaniah, Paul and Matthew didn't originally write for us - but our faith joins us to the sacred writer's original audiences. Only such people can understand the true meaning of these words.
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