Homily for July 15, 2018.
“He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey.” Mark 6:7-8.
The greatest scandal of the Christian Faith is the apparent contradiction between the simple clarity of the Gospel and the complicated lives of those who profess the Christian Faith guided by that same Gospel. No wonder Mahatma Gandhi is often quoted as saying: “I love your Christ but I hate your Christians.”
Jesus calls out the twelve to instruct them on the mission. He sends them out two by two to indicate the importance of COLLABORATION in ministry and tells them to take nothing for the journey to indicate the importance of DETACHMENT. Today, we shall do a little bit of examination of conscience.
*Question One: Why is it so difficult for ministers to work together?*
Why is there so much competition and castigating of one another? When are we going to have parish priests and assistants working together in total harmony and peace? Why must it be the dream of every young minister to own or run his own ministry, apostolate or parish? Why would a bishop be appointed to a particular church and be rejected due to tribal differences?
Obviously, there is an apparent lack of collaboration in the ministry and this is the reason why a Street of just 1km could have at least ten established churches and each church sees itself as the only true church while all others are “fake.” Catholics are quick to say they are first church established by Jesus himself which is a subtle way of discrediting other churches. Whereas for Non-Catholics, Catholics as idolaters, worshippers of Mary, ignorant of the Bible and so on. In Antioch, where people were for the first time addressed as Christians, we are told that “the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul.” Acts 4:32. Can we say this about the body of Christ today? Are we still Christians? No wonder Fr. Emmanuel Ojiefo recently wrote an article titled: “I am a Catholic Priest, but I wish ‘Nigerian Christianity’ dead and buried.”
This lack of collaboration is what plays out in today’s first reading. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel is at loggerheads with Amos, the prophet. The priest says to the prophet: “Go, flee away from here, go to Judah, earn your bread there (as if prophesying is all about earning bread), leave this town for me for this is the King’s sanctuary.” Do you notice the politics involved in this quarrel between Fr. Amaziah and Prophet Amos? Can we say something different about the Christian body today?
Honestly, the issue of lack of collaboration is a clear case of one trying to remove a speck from another’s eye when he has a log in his own eye. I am guilty. We are all guilty.
*Question Two: How detached are we today?*
The second aspect of Jesus’ instruction has to do with materialism in ministry. Jesus said: “take nothing except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money, wear sandals, don’t put on two tunics.” Mark 6:8-9. Why was Jesus condemning his disciples to poverty? From his experience during his temptations, Jesus knew very well that the material riches of this world would remain an ever-present temptation to deviate from the goal of ministry. Recall that in the temptations of Jesus, satan offered Jesus the riches of this world in exchange for a bow. Matthew 4:8.
In Matthew 6:24, Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Too often, the minister never sets out to serve mammon but soon finds himself stuck in an uncontrollable quest for the world’s riches which he interprets as “blessing from God.” In today’s second reading, St. Paul clearly describes what should constitute true riches and blessings in the mind of anyone who calls himself the child of God. And these are holiness, blamelessness, redemption, forgiveness of sin, unity with God, knowledge of the Gospel of salvation, and the seal of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul made no mention of stacks of money, exotic means of transportation or properties.
The truth is that we all like to think of ourselves as poor simply because we are really satisfied with what we have. Dear friends, it is not about what you own but what you worship. If we try to survey social media today, the greatest criticism against the Christian Faith today and in fact, Christianity’s greatest stumbling for non-believers is its materialistic orientation. The church has become notorious not for preaching Christ but for its love for riches resulting in the projection of a Christ-less Christianity.
*Question Three: Any link between Collaboration and Detachment?*
In truth, the lust for material possessions (worldly riches) is, without doubt, the major reason behind the inability of ministers to collaborate with one another. Everyone wants to open his own church just so that he or she can control the money! There is mutual suspicion among ministers and fights often break out from time to time because each has got a money bag, too many sandals and too many tunics. Having identified the problem, it means we also have the solution.
If we children of God were to be truly detached, maybe we wouldn’t have issues working two by two in winning souls for Christ. If we were to seek first God’s Kingdom rather than earthly gains, maybe we would all speak with one voice and recover our true Christian identity like the early Christians.
If we are detached, maybe we would be more focused on building faith, justice and morality rather than building personal mansions and investments. If we are detached, maybe we would be free to speak the truth and call people to repentance like these twelve apostles did rather than serve the sugar-coated gospel of prosperity.
If we are detached, maybe we can be better positioned to cast out the demons troubling our society such as the demons of corruption, injustice, immorality, falsehood, tribalism etc. If money and riches no longer play its current role in the affairs of the church, only then can the church heal our country of the many sicknesses it faces today. As Fr. Emmanuel Ojiefo concludes: “If Nigeria is to get better today, Christianity, as it is practised today, must be brought down!”
In conclusion, the church must lead the world by example. We cannot really speak against corruption until we cease to be beneficiaries of corruption. We cannot win the fight against stealing and looting of public funds until we return to the words of Jesus and practice true poverty of spirit. We cannot preach a united Nigeria on our pulpits if we as men and women of God cannot see eye to eye. We cannot accuse our President of supporting the Fulani if we who claim to belong to Christ cannot accommodate or collaborate with people from a different tribe.
We must kill our pride lest it tears us apart. Jesus said it that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. We must stop fighting each other and begin to realise that as ministers of God, we can never be superior to one another. We nothing but mere instruments before God, the creator and we cannot function unless we are detached.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, impart in me the spirit of collaboration and teach me to trust you rather than in earthly riches. Amen.
*Happy Sunday. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Amos 7:12-15, Psalm 85:9-14, Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark 6:7-13).
No comments:
Post a Comment