So there’s Paul, on the streets of Lystra, the home town of Timothy. And among those listening to him preach is a crippled man…never able to walk before. We don’t hear about what the crippled man said to Paul, or who might have interceded for his healing. But we do hear that while Paul is speaking, he spots the man and yells over to him: "Stand up straight on your feet.” And the man jumps up and, for the first time in his life, begins to walk.
Now that’s a pretty good story, but it’s not the most interesting one. By yelling out, Paul gets himself into a heap of trouble. For just as he yelled out to the crippled man, “Stand up straight on your feet,” so now the townsfolk begin to yell “The gods have come down to us in human form." And they call Paul “Zeus,” and bring sacrifices of oxen and garlands of flowers to offer to him in sacrifice.
Not such a strange story, really. It happens all the time.
The little kid who thinks the Priest, up there behind the Altar near the golden tabernacle and Cross, speaking confidently from a pulpit while mommy and daddy sit in rapt attention…he must be God!
Or the lonely widow whose husband has died and the only consoling voice she hears is from that bright young priest, freshly ordained and oh so thoughtful…he even looks like Jesus.
Each of them mistake the Priest for Jesus, and, of course, they couldn’t be more wrong. For the Priest, like the Apostle to the Gentiles, is the vessel, not the treasure; the image, not the reality, the servant and not the master. And so, like Paul, you gently remind them by pointing to Jesus and, like the Baptist, seek to decrease, that Christ might increase.
The problem comes, of course, when the Priest, in a weak moment, comes to believe his own good press, and starts to act like God Almighty. But there’s enough material there for a much longer homily on another day.
For now, let it suffice to say, you will often be mistaken for God, just because you did the right thing. But we are not God. Just his unworthy servant, whose only value is in offering out lives to lead his people to him.
