Entrusted with the Gospel

A line from today’s first reading caught my attention as it  appeared in the antiphon to the Canticle of Zechariah in this morning’s prayer:

We were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel.

Granted, Paul used these words of himself and his associates, as a condition of sorts:  "But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, that is how we speak, not as trying to please men, but rather God, who judges our hearts. "( I Thess. 2:4.)

However, these words from the antiphon struck me personally: entrusted with the Gospel.

Entrusted with the Gospel.

Jesus entrusted us with the Gospel, the Good News he had preached and lived and then left with us. He left it with us as a living source, springing up from the wells of the Holy Spirit, to bring the world to life.

This is one of those lines we read in Scripture and pass over without further thought. It’ s as if being entrusted with the Gospel were a given. We do God a favor by allowing ourselves to be “entrusted” with the Gospel. Really? If the president entrusted me with an important message, would I think I was doing him a favor? Would I not feel particularly honored to be chosen for this duty? Would I not even take this as an urgent priority?

But this is the way my thoughts went this morning: Jesus entrusted us with the Gospel. So, what was the alternative? Well, he could have stayed around to do it himself, knowing his apostles as he did. He must have known that if these 12, who had spent three intensive years learning from him, were still a bit hazy on the message, how would followers over the centuries do any better.

Entrust them with the Gospel?

One alternative, considering that God could have devised other possibilities, might have been an avatar system. He might have provided for a new incarnation in every generation, as did the Tibetans with the Dalai Lama. As each Dalai Lama dies, his followers search for the next incarnation, so that the spirit of this chosen spokesperson for God will remain with the people without end.

Instead, we believe God sent his Spirit to provide the apostles and disciples a continuing presence of Jesus in the world. This presence was not limited to one incarnation, but rather available to all who would choose to live in Christ. All who would be baptized in Christ. All who would continue to receive him in the Eucharist.

God entrusted us with that gift and its inherent responsibility: we are judged worthy to be bearers of the message: the Good News of Jesus Christ.

The privilege, of course, is not one we would normally aspire to. Paul says, “…after we had suffered and been insolently treated, as you know, in Philippi, we drew courage through our God to speak to you the Gospel of God with much struggle.” Ordinarily, bad treatment would not move us to continue, but Paul, holding the message with such reverence, takes courage from God to to ahead no matter what.

The point here is that Paul held the Gospel to be so precious that he was willing to undergo even the ultimate suffering to make it known. So, in the Gospel reading, was John the Baptist, who gave his life to making known God’s message of repentance, pointing the way, ultimately to the Messiah.

As we listen to the words of the Gospel, we too are entrusted with the message. What are we going to do with it?  Will we take this precious news to the world? Will we, in the words of my colleague Elena Sapphire, announce the Resurrection?