“Fireworks” by Brian Flanagan, Fiat Ventures
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
I love fireworks. With the 4th of July coming up, one thing I always make sure to plan is where we’ll go to see fireworks. I can remember lots of different places I’ve gone to see fireworks over the years. When I was little, my family used to go to a park down the street from our house, and friends used to fill our driveway with their cars so they didn’t have to pay for parking. One year my wife and I were in Grand Rapids Michigan visiting family and we all sat on the rocks next to the river that runs through the middle of the city and watched the fireworks (and their awesome reflections on the water and the tall buildings on either side). I remember one year we just couldn’t work it out schedule-wise since we were travelling home from vacation, but we were able to see fireworks from a few different towns from the highway on the way home.
Fireworks are big, loud, and draw our attention. But they don’t last very long. A big flash, then the accompanying boom (which I know is just the difference between the speed of light and the speed of sound, but reminds me a little too much of when my Netflix audio gets out of sync with the video). It’s really all about the show.
Sometimes we think about our Christian Life like that. I want to do big things for God! I want to give him some fireworks. I want him to notice me (and I don’t mind if everybody else does too!) But in the Gospel this week, Jesus gives us another take on that.
He says, Oh, you want to impress me? Give “a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple – amen, I say to you, [you] will surely not lose your reward.” That’s it? A cup of cold water? I feel like a cup of cold water was just splashed in my face. Doesn’t he want me to have a monumental impact on the world? Doesn’t he want me to evangelize my family, my friends, the staff at Dunkin’ Donuts? The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker? Isn’t his plan for me to be the Savior of the Church…oh. That’s right. The Church already has one.
Certainly Jesus wants us to do whatever we can to live out our faith as fully as possible. But often the biggest impacts that we’ll have on the world aren’t the flashy things we do at all. We make the biggest impact sometimes with the smallest gestures, like being a listening ear for someone. Or making eye contact with the person behind the counter when we tell them to have a great day. Or following through on making plans when your friend says, “we should grab coffee some time.”
And when you think about it, it’s really the little things that make 4th of July fireworks so great anyway. I have all these great memories about fireworks not because I remember what shade of red the lopsided hearts were last year. It was the times like when my brother packed the cooler with ice cream sandwiches and forgot to put in the ice. The ants had a great time that night too.