Bible
Study: 2ND Thessalonians 2, 1 to 17 and Matthew 23, 23 to 26.
How would
you feel walking through the streets of the best neighbourhood in your city
admiring the beautiful houses you see wishing you live there? Then one day, a
friend invites you over to one of those houses you had been admiring so much
from the outside only to get inside and be greeted with a repulsive smell, the
whole place untidy, the walls not even painted, pictures scattered all over the
place and not even a place to sit down. You are admiring the building from the
outside but you cannot breathe inside. You cannot even drink a cup of water
because you see maggots, flies and huge chunky rats dragging for territory
inside. How would you feel?
I recall
while growing up in this city. We didn’t have a car back then so we trekked to
and from school every day. Actually, cars were scarce those days. To own a car was
to earn the title of “big man.” I recall how we used to play on the streets
because we were almost sure there would be no car coming at least within a ten
minute interval. Most of the cars we knew of were the 504 and 505 Peugeot. But
we had a neighbour who had a Toyota Jeep. Whenever we see this jeep, we would
stop whatever we were doing to wave to it as if the jeep itself were some
personality. We also did that when we saw an airplane passing. Having admired
this jeep so much, the best day of my early life came one day when on my way
from school I was soaked in the rain and the owner recognised me and pulled
over to take me home. To cut the long story short, that day I lost my
admiration for Jeeps. I wished I never saw the inside. It was so bad that I started
avoiding been seen by our neighbour on the street so as not to enter his jeep.
Again,
there is another experience I had. While in the seminary, I had pimples in my
face and there was a particular type of soap recommended for me. Based on my
pocket money then, this soap was very expensive for me but I had no choice to
stick to it since it was helping me clear my oily face. But instead of buying
the quantity I would need for a semester, I would rather buy just one at a time
promising myself that I would minimise my usage so it can carry me for long.
One day, I ran out and I went to the market to look for it. To my greatest
surprise I couldn’t find it in the regular shops so I kept walking across the
entire market from shop to shop praying I would find it. All I could hear is
that the company had stopped producing the soap, suggestions were made for
alternatives. After walking and walking I finally saw a shop that still had the
old stock. The shop keeper took some time to dig out the soap for me and I felt
a deep relief when he shouted from inside, “Wow, thank God oh, I still get am
oh.” But upon bringing it, I felt disgusted at the carton. It was looking like
he picked up the soap from a seven story pack of debris. I couldn’t even hold
it. but when I complained about the look of the carton, the shopkeeper said
something that got me thinking: “Oga, na wetin dey inside you dey buy oh.”
Dear
friends, it is what is inside that matters. God is not interested in our
external display of holiness if in fact our minds are full of impurity,
immorality and all sorts of evil machinations, hatred and bitterness. Let us
not be like the hypocrites Jesus strongly condemns in our Gospel passage. Clean
the inside of the cup first before proceeding to clean the outside.
Never the
less, when we say holiness begins on the inside, we mean to say it should not
be restricted to the inside only. It should spread from the inside like a tree
whose roots are firmly set deep within the ground and then come out. Don’t dress
half naked and begin to walk on the street saying after all, holiness is a
matter of the heart. Of course, holiness is a matter of the heart but the mere
fact that you are comfortable walking around in that dress shows your heart is
really very dirty. Normal people will find it difficult to step an inch out of
their rooms in that same dress.
Even
though Jesus is emphasising purity of heart, he is not saying that we should neglect
the external. Take a look at his words: “First cleanse the inside of the cup
and of the plate, THAT the outside may also be clean.” If the inside is actually
clean, there is no way the outside can be dirty. It is possible to clean the
outside without cleaning the inside but it is not possible to clean the inside
without affecting the outside.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, make me clean, inside first, and then out. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
Fr. Abu
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