Bible
Study: 2 Kings 5, 14 to 17. 2nd Timothy 2, 8 to 13 and Luke 17, 11
to 19.
If you
still recall, last Sunday, the discples of Jesus came to him to say: “Lord,
increase our faith.” And in response, Jesus said: “If you had faith as small as
the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this sycamine tree, be rooted up and
planted in the sea and it would obey you.” Luke 17, 6. With faith, nothing is
impossible for us to do. Once we believe, the world as a whole is under our
control.
Today, we
see that faith in action in the healing episodes of Naaman the Syrian and the
ten lepers in our Gospel passage. Their healing is quite dramatic in the sense
that they were given specific instructions and it was in the course of their
obedience to the instructions that they received healing from leprosy. What we
learn from this is that Faith and Obedience go side by side. To have faith in
God is to obey his word and a refusal to obey also means a lack of faith.
Each time
we recite the creed with our lips and still go about committing sin, we are
like the lepers who were told to go and show themselves to the priest but
remained sitting in their position even after telling Jesus they would go. Or,
we are like Naaman refusing to go and bathe in the Jordan but using his mouth
to tell Elisha that he believes. Dear friends, if at all we believe in God, we
must let our faith become concretely expressed in our obedience to God’s
commands.
Just like
bathing in the river or going to show oneself to the priests, the commandments
of God (instructions), may not make sense to us and may even appear contrary to
our human desires but that is when faith comes in. We need faith even if it is
the size of a mustard seed to believe that it is in our obedience to God’s
commandments that we can find healing and the best of all that life has to
offer to us.
Note that
the ten lepers who encountered Jesus did not receive their healing while they
were still with Jesus, it was while they were in the process of obeying that
they were cleansed. Do not be deceived; it is not only when we attend a crusade
or a prayer session that we get our ‘miracle.’ It is while we are living a life
of obedience to God’s instructions as contained in the Bible that we receive
our miracles and favours. We are indeed blessed and happy when we hear God’s
word and keep it. Luke 11, 28.
Some of us
Christians today treat God as if he is a toy. We are jumping from church to
church looking for miracles, attending all kinds of programs here and there, we
even travel to distant places to see some so-called powerful man or woman of
God because we want healing, job or whatever. But our lives are filled with
sin. How can we deny God by our lifestyle and still expect Him to grant us the
favours we so desire? In our second reading, St. Paul tells Timothy: “If we
endure, we shall also reign with him, if we deny him, he also will deny us.”
How can we refuse to do what he tells us and still expect our water to turn to
wine? John 2, 5 to 10. How can we refuse to go and show ourselves to the priest
and still expect to be cleansed of our leprosy? How can we be grumbling about
God’s instructions and decide to ignore his words and still expect to receive
his favours?
The other
aspect of Faith is what happens after we have been blessed by God. As much as
we need faith to obey God in our quest for his blessings, we also need faith to
acknowledge God and thank him when we have received those blessings. In our
Gospel passage, we are told that only one out of the ten lepers returned to
give thanks for his healing. And Jesus is surprised at the behaviour of the
others. He asked: “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found
to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17, 17 to 18.
We have
faith to ask from God but we don’t have faith to thank him for blessing us.. I hear
people pray very violent prayers shouting at the top of their voices commanding
God to bless them, to destroy their enemies and give them breakthroughs but
when it comes to praising God, their voice becomes weak and dull. At times, we
use just one sentence to thank God while we spend over one hour demanding from
him.
Our
failure to give thanks properly to God stems from our failure to count our
blessings in life. Because we feel that God has not done enough, we do not
thank him as much as we should. And yet, because we do not thank God enough, we
do not also receive as much as we should. Ten lepers were cured of leprosy but
only one received wholeness. Only one was told by Jesus: “Your faith has made
you well.”
Thanksgiving
can come in different forms. When Naaman received his healing, he returned to
the prophet Elisha to offer thanks but Elisha refused to collect physical gifts
to make Naaman know that it was God himself who cured him and not man. Upon
Elisha’s refusal, Naaman decided to offer a different type of thanksgiving; he
became a convert. Naaman decided to serve only God and no longer the idols he
used to serve.
In conclusion;
To say I believe in God is to actually obey his words. Faith also means that I return
to give thanks and praise to God. I must begin today to thank God more and more
so that I can receive the full benefits of my worship. And if I cannot thank
God with the physical things I have, then I must thank him with my very life. If
I cannot thank God with money, rice, yam or plantain, I must thank God with my
repentance. Let my avoidance of sin become in itself a thanksgiving offering to
God.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, increase my faith and let it reflect in my obedience and thanksgiving.
Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. Happy
Sunday.
Fr. Abu
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