A Peg in a Sure Spot

The 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Readings: [Click here]

One of my favorite cooking tools is a large, round, heavy wooden cutting board from China. It’s perfect for all the slicing I do… plus, you can even pound food on it with a cleaver without worrying about marring the surface. The problem is, the board is so heavy and so big that it’s not easy to store. So I decided to screw a very sturdy hook into the wall near the sink, and my favorite cutting board has a solid place of honor in my kitchen.

Believe it or not, that was the image that popped into my mind as I first read the last line of today’s Old Testament reading from Isaiah about Eliakim, son of Hilkiah: I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family. Just the way that nothing is going to knock my cutting board off the kitchen wall, it’s amazing to hear that God has so much love and support for Eliakim, that he can count on being totally secure, solid, respected and honored among his people. Wouldn’t we all love to know that God wants to set us on a “peg in a sure spot,” too?

I’m sure you can see that this beautiful imagery is echoed in Matthew’s gospel. Like Eliakim before him, now Peter is assured: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. A rock is just as solid as a heavy peg, and an edifice rising up from a rock is a place of honor, as well.

We have talked many times about how bible texts can be interpreted in different senses. We know from today’s gospel, of course, that from a historical perspective, Jesus is establishing Peter as his vicar on earth to start the line of popes. And, from the perspective of the structure and sacred operation of the church, we can interpret this passage as vesting plenary authority and power over spiritual matters in Peter and his successors.

In addition to these senses, we are also invited to consider our readings today from a spiritual viewpoint as they might apply to our own lives. In other words, can you and I be favored enough by God that he will fix us like a peg in a sure spot to be a place of honor for our family? That we will be the rock upon which Christ builds his church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against us? And if so, how do we get to that place?

Let’s begin by remembering that God’s grace and blessing are a free gift. It’s not based on any merit on our part. Eliakim and Peter were ordinary human beings with all the failings and shortcomings that we all have. Great prophets and popes aren’t great prophets and popes because they’re better than any other person… but God has chosen them, and they have responded to this choosing, in a very special way.

Likewise, God has created all of us in incredible variety. You might say we make up a kaleidoscope of humanity. St. Paul describes it today as a “depth of riches” which is “inscrutable” and “unsearchable.” We have bodies of all shapes, colors, sizes, genders and sexualities, with just as much diversity in intellect, personality, emotion, experience, cultural background and much more. Each and every one of us is absolutely unique.

In a mysteriously joyful way, God wants to help us discern how to use all the gifts he has given us to the best advantage, so we can be fixed like a peg in a sure spot or be that rock to bring honor and esteem to God and his beautiful world. We are his beloved children, each with bodies meant to cooperate with God’s work of grace within us… meant to be joined to each other to make up Christ’s body, the Church.

In our first reading today, Isaiah has the unpleasant duty to tell Shebna, the master of the palace, that God is displeased with him: I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. His former job is going to Eliakim. In case you’re wondering, Shebna’s crime was pride and arrogance. God doesn’t like those qualities in his kids.

So we’ve got to be sincere, humble and honest about who we are. We’ve got to praise God for our abilities and talents, and we must confess our weaknesses and shortcomings. When we make this kind of brutally honest self-assessment, we’ll wind up with a grateful attitude toward God because of everything he’s given us… and a more peaceful, gentle and loving attitude toward other people no matter who they are because we realize that we’re not perfect either. In other words, this is how we signal a rock-like, sturdy faith, and our desire to build up the mission of Christ by participating in the life of the Church. It’s exactly that mindset that makes us worthy to be fixed like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for the living body of Christ.

We pray today that God will bless us with the humble faith of Eliakim and Peter. We ask that the Lord help us to realize our full potential as people called out into the world through the Church, sharing our hope in Christ through words and deeds. Amen.