Brief synopsis of the readings: Jeremiah brings us our first reading where he complains about his persecution, particularly from his friends. But he believes that the God of justice will prevail and Jeremiah praises the Lord “for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!” In Matthew’s Gospel we see Jesus telling his followers not to fear those who can kill the body but not kill the soul. If God cares even about the sparrows (that can be bought for a small coin), we need to recognize that God will protect us. “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”

Last week I talked about our call to seek out the lost sheep of Israel and welcome them back to the fold. Well, it’s time for a sharp turn. What do we do with the lost sheep that don’t wish to be found and instead decide that we are troublemakers?

That’s actually a difficult question and has been the cause of several conflicts over the years. Not all the lost wandered off; some left for what they believed to be a better offer. That’s often what we see with Jeremiah and the other Old Testament prophets. As I’ve said before if someone tells me they want to be a prophet that tells me that they know very little of what happened to the prophets of old. At the time of Jeremiah the kings of Israel had mostly wandered away from serving God to serving their own needs, and frankly, other gods. They had forgotten that during the time of Moses God identified as a “jealous God.” For Jeremiah nothing was seen as more serious and sinful as “stepping out on God.”

But more than that Jeremiah wasn’t just ignored, his safety was in danger. At first his enemies attempted to seduce him into sin, making him equally culpable, and then taking their revenge on him. The only thing Jeremiah had going for him was God’s promise to deliver him from the power of the wicked, at some point in the future. For Jeremiah that was enough.

Likewise, Jesus warned his disciples that there will be times when they will take on the role of prophets though they won’t go by that title. While we see several examples in the Gospels of disciples returning to Jesus with reports of great success, it’s naive to think that happened all the time. When I was a seminarian one of my classmates told me he wanted to be a missionary in the belief that people would walk up to his house and ask him about Jesus. I wish I had more success in not laughing, but, well you know. The disciples were also surrounded by those who had wandered off in search of a better life for themselves. Think of Herod, the pharisees, and other Jews who lived a good life.

And so what do we do with those who aren’t open? Well that’s a complicated question. We believe that several prophets and countless early disciples of Jesus created enough noise that they were martyred. Fortunately I don’t think any of us see this in our future. I also don’t think most of us are called to speak our truth in such a public way.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t encounter times that call us to swim against the tide sometimes. This past January Cardinal Robert McElroy, Bishop of San Diego, wrote an article where he suggested Eucharist not be denied to Catholics who marry outside the church or to members of the LGBT community. He was immediately accused of heresy by Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois. I’m tipping my hand here but I find Cardinal McElroy’s position more in line with what I believe of God’s love and generosity. Nobody chooses to be gay and good, honest, kind people sometimes find themselves in marriages that are far from lifegiving.

Or, to quote Pope Francis on the issue of homosexuality, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” The disagreement between Cardinal McElroy and Bishop Paprocki is public because of their offices but I think we face this type of thing also. As Catholics we believe that while doctrine doesn’t change our understanding does. The Jesuits who sold 272 slaves in 1838 to raise money for Georgetown University pointed to the fact that Jesus never condemned the institution of slavery. But our current universal condemnation of slavery happened in part because of abolitionists in 1838 called out the Jesuit community. The Jesuits at the time claimed they needed to do this to save the university and that’s true. But their serpentine moral reasoning also gave them a lifestyle that was much easier than it would have been otherwise.

I think we admire prophets because they spoke their truth regardless of how they are received. I imagine Jeremiah must have had moments where he just wanted to walk away but he didn’t. Likewise Jesus’ disciples probably gave serious thought to selling out and rejoining the smart and powerful people who hitched their wagon to the Romans.

And we are all, from time to time, called to “just go along.” We see Christians who believe that poverty is self inflicted and do not require out compassion. Or candidates who currently proclaim to oppose abortion and demand our vote regardless of their contempt for life in other situations. I love living in a democracy where I have a say in who leads us but there are times I completely get the prophet Amos who railed against with wealthy who care nothing for the poor and are convinced God has their back.

God does not demand that we change the minds and hearts of those who simply won’t change. To quote St. Teresa of Calcutta we are not called to be successful, but we are called to be faithful. Faithfulness sometimes means we don’t take the easy way out and we speak our truth even when we’re tempted to “go along.”

When we think of our relationship with God we need to understand that God does not reward those who “go along” for their own comfort. But we can take heart in the reality that God will reward our courage.