Bible
Study: Wisdom 2, 12 - 20, James 3, 16 – 4, 3 and Mark
9, 30 - 37.
Being a Christian
means living in the world and not of the world at the same time. There isn’t such
a thing as balance between the both, you are either a worldly person or a
Christ-like person. Last Sunday, Jesus Christ rebuked Peter for trying to
dissuade him from taking the path of suffering. He said to Peter, “Get behind
me Satan.” Today, virtually the same thing is happening again, but this time,
the disciples decided not to voice out their thoughts, they didn’t like the way
Jesus spoke to Peter so they felt if only they could just keep quiet, they
would not called names.
But Jesus
knew what they were thinking, he knew what was going on in their minds and he
could see they were very much worldly minded. A classic mark of being of the
world is the quest for authority, and the exercise of power over others. In this
part of the world, children fight over their father’s property and sometimes,
the fight begins even before their father even dies. Each is trying to grab as
much as he can from the inheritance and no one want to be cheated. This was
exactly what was happening with the disciples; without waiting for Jesus to
die, they already started debating among themselves who would take over the
ministry, they were asking themselves, who was next in command to Jesus, and as
the Bible says, they were discussing who was the greatest among them.
By bringing
a child before them, Jesus did the unthinkable. His action was truly a game
changer, he needed to illustrate a point – the fact that the ways of the world
are the direct opposite of the ways of God. Being worldly minded is the
greatest obstacle to advancing in spiritual life. If you really want to serve
God, then your manner of thinking, your preferences and priorities has to
change and very often it has to be the very opposite of what you are seeking
for or thinking about right now.
You want
to be the greatest, God is saying, “Aspire to be the smallest.” You want to
wear the latest clothes, God is saying, “Go for the most decent instead.” You
want to make big money, God is saying, “money is the root of all evil” You want
to eat well and be fat, God is saying “Feed your soul, not your flesh.” You
want to be popular and you want people to respect you and admire you but God is
saying “Prepare to be persecuted”. In our first reading today, we get a clue to
what we should expect when we set out to be true Christians. Hear how the devil
and his numerous agents speak about you, “Let us lie in wait for him… let us
test him with insult and torture,… let us condemn him to a shameful death….”
Do not
expect or assume that the day you decided to be a Christian, all your headaches
and fatigues, difficulties and trials would be over. If the world loves you, it
means you still belong to it and you are not yet a Christian. If you have never
experienced persecution in this world, it means you are yet to start living out
the demands of your faith to the letter, it means you are compromising a lot
and selective of the commandments you are keeping. Take telling of lies for
instance. If you have never suffered anything in this life because you refused
to tell a lie when it was more convenient than saying the truth, then it means
you have not started.
To really
be a Christian, is to be an obstacle to many. To really be a Christian is to be
threat to many. Yes, a lot of persons would instantly become your enemies if
you start living out the values your Christian faith professes. If you tell
yourself, you will never steal, then get ready to be cheated, insulted or even
lose your job just because you want to do the right thing. Dear friends, we must
be rugged in our faith commitment, prepared to give everything away for the
sake of truth, righteousness and Godliness.
If you
based your faith on the Gospel of prosperity, a gospel that rejects suffering
as part of the Christian life, then be sure then when trials, insults and
temptation come (just as we have read in the first reading), you will fall out
of the faith. Do not get carried away by sweet talk. Build your faith on rock,
that is, be ready to stand firm no matter what. The Gospel of prosperity is
worldliness at its peak appearing on the lips of God’s ministers with a new
baptismal name. This is why despite the millions of churches today, Christians are
not really making any impact in our society.
It is as a
result of the worldliness in the mind of Christians that we have envy, jealousy
and selfish ambitions, quarrelling and fighting among ourselves. When you see
two fellow Christians quarrel and fight, you hear what comes out of their
mouths, their inability to exercise self-control or power over anger for instance,
it suddenly dawns on you that we Christians are only so by name. While deep
down within us, we are worldly.
From the
book of James (where our second reading is taken from), a sure sign of one who
really allows Christ to dwell in him or her is the ability to emanate peace. You
never hear such persons quarrel or raise their voice. This is because such
persons do not think like ordinary people, they operates with a special wisdom
from above, full of mercy, always telling the truth, not ruled by ambition and
never envies a neighbour. Wherever they go, and whatever they do, they keep
inspiring goodness in people. Only very few people are like this. Are you one
of them?
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, help me to accept suffering as a necessary cross. Build my faith on rock
that I may never turn away from you. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.
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