~ Last night I watched the new Knives Out movie. If you are not familiar, Knives Out is a murder mystery movie series, featuring the detective Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, who solves murder mysteries with typical Hollywood flair. In the latest Knives Out movie, the victim is a Catholic priest, so that is fun! Who doesn’t enjoy a good mystery? Whether it’s Jessica Fletcher solving mysteries in Cabot Cove, Maine… or Hercule Poirot solving a murder on the Orient Express… or Sherlock Holmes… or Magnum, PI… or Inspector Clouseau… or even Scooby Doo, a mystery draws most of us in. Back in the 1970’s, one of the most famous detectives was Lieutenant Columbo, played on TV by the later Peter Falk. Columbo was a cigar-smoking, unpolished LA detective who always wore a wrinkled raincoat. But beneath his rough exterior was a truly creative mind. In the show, criminals always underestimate the bumbling, distracted cop. They make mistakes, let down their guard, and don’t ask for a lawyer. Yet, when they think the questions are over, when they are convinced they have fooled him, when they smile as he is headed out the door, he turns around, as if a sudden thought had just struck him, and says, “Just one more thing…” And with that one more thing, he solves the mystery! Of course, it’s an act. It didn’t suddenly occur to him – it was his goal from the start. He was waiting for the right moment. “Just one more thing…”
I think that God often operates this way. Like Columbo, he says throughout the Scriptures, throughout history, and to us today, “Just one more thing.”
In our first reading, the Lord calls the prophet Isaiah in the womb and gives him his name. The Holy Spirit anoints Isaiah, making him a prophet to the children of Israel. Isaiah’s task is clear: to call the leaders and people of Israel back to the covenant. And Isaiah spends decades at the thankless task of calling Israel to return to the Lord. Then God says to Isaiah, “One more thing. It is too little for you to be my servant, I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” God tells Isaiah that all along He has been planning something more for the prophet, that one day Isaiah’s words will be heard far beyond the borders of Israel. We are the fulfillment of that prophecy. We hear his words – we, who live in a land Isaiah never knew existed, at a time in history he could never have imagined.
Then comes John the Baptist, who appears again in our Gospel this week speaking about the Baptism of Jesus that we celebrated last Sunday. Like Isaiah, John receives a task from the Holy Spirit. Like Isaiah, John calls Israel to be faithful to the covenant, to repent her sins, act with justice, and do good works. Then God springs the surprise: “Just one more thing. You are to announce the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Notice him. Point him out. Lead others to Christ.”
Friends, this is what it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. When we think that we are doing quite well, that we have really improved, that we are doing God’s work, Jesus says, “Wonderful! Just one more thing…” It’s not that Jesus doesn’t love us as we are. He does! But Jesus also always calls us to more. Just one more thing.
To Simon Peter, who denied Jesus three times and said he loved Jesus three times, Jesus says, “Just one more thing. Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep.”
To the rich man who has always kept and followed the commandments, Jesus says, “Just one more thing. Sell what you have, give to the poor, and come follow me.”
To the woman caught in adultery, Jesus says, “your sins are forgiven” and “Just one more thing! Go and do not sin anymore!”
To the faithful spouse, Jesus says, “One more thing: Adultery happens in the heart before it happens in the body. Have nothing to do with thoughts of infidelity and lust.”
To all of us who love our friends and hate our enemies, Jesus says, “One more thing: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”
To each of us, chosen by God before the world began and set apart to be disciples through our baptism, Jesus says: “Have you visited the sick this week? Have you shown care for the poor? Have you offered forgiveness to your husband or wife? Good. Now, just one more thing.”
“Have you read the Scriptures, counseled the lost, and defended the faith? Great. Just one more thing.”
“Have you kept your bodies, hearts, and minds chaste? Have you responded to anger with patience? Have you held back a hurtful word, and given forth a word of encouragement? Have you gone to confession lately? Well done, good and faithful servant!”
“Now just one more thing…”
The work of being a disciple, the work of justice, the work of a Christian, is never finished. Here, at the Eucharist, we are strengthened through the Scriptures, through our community, and through Christ’s Body and Blood, to rise up again and do just one more thing for Jesus. What one more thing is Jesus asking of you today? Here and now, pray, listen, discern, and resolve to do that one more thing for Jesus.
