12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2016

Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1; Galatians 3:26-29; Lk 9:18-24
These People of Colours are God’s Children!

Sitting at a dining table or around a family gathering, it is frequently the case that economic woes and political disasters trump our discussions. A friend, brother or sister, who is jobless despite many years of academic investments and graduation in flying colours, weighs on people’s minds. For those who live in the northern part of Nigeria, religious violence and insecurity are obvious topics of discussion: the inability to worship God in peace and freedom, not to talk of access to education without fears of attacks by Boko Haram militants. But for the very rich and well-off, they chat about their oversea trips, either for medical treatment, vacations or to have a baby with dual citizenship. All these items point to the level of frustration and discontent with the African polity and systems; it is better to escape from the continent towards an Eldorado, especially America.

Success is measured by what some have and others do not. What some can do, and others can’t. This is captured well from the concept of “I-better-pass-my-neighbour.” This is a name given to a generator plant, a rescue mission from NEPA, a symptom of a failed electrical system. That name suggests that one’s happiness derives from the lacks suffered by one’s neighbours, the failures and woes of others are the yardsticks for measuring our successes. Bad roads are meant for those with jeeps and SUVs, others should stay at home; worse still, politicians misappropriate the funds meant for road constructions because only the rich should be on the motorways with their big cars!

We often forget that Americans too do die like the rest of us! That there are more incurable sicknesses there than there are in Africa. That gun violence and racism claim more lives in America than the whole continent of Africa. That the streets of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles equally have beggars like ours. Their rich people not only oppress their poor, but also their individualism robs family of its fabrics. The levels and rates of suicide are phenomenal. Perhaps all that glitters may not be gold! This is a human reality, which cuts across boundaries and races! Only God builds a viable Eldorado! But what have all these to do with us?

The first connection is the first reading – the creation of a people of colours! The prophet Zechariah, whose name means “God remembers” or “the remembrance of God,” wrote after the return from Babylon. The returnees from exile wondered about their fate and future! After all, the Jewish hubris and exceptionalism was conquered by the Babylonians. Israel now returns home, from Babylon, a mixed race, a people of colours. The Jewish God accepts to be a God of all peoples, despite the derogation of the term – people of colours. In fact, Israel left Egypt a mixed race (Exodus 12:38), so it was long time coming. The long and short of it, God remembers everybody, this includes the people of colours, they too are God’s children! God will proof this by giving everyone a spirit of praise and worship!

Zechariah prophesies about what God will do to and for his people. God remembers every human being, because we will all look at the “pieced one.” This is already making reference to Christ, whose side will be pieced on the cross, from where will flow blood and water. This is to say, someone will suffer for the redemption of the good, the bad and the ugly – people of colours! Salvation is based on suffering; suffering is efficacious; suffering comes in different shapes and forms, and authentic Christians are not exempted or shielded from it. Jesus is one example of the good suffering!

The second connection is our second reading. Paul shows us the power of baptism, a sacrament of unity. Baptism makes every human being a child of God, whether Jew or non-Jew, whether rich or poor, whether male or female. In fact, every colour is welcomed as a child of God! The water from the pieced side of Christ does not discriminate, but binds together in unity. The suffering and death of Christ is to create one family of God from the human race, with all sorts of human temperaments and behaviour.

Our gospel presents a unique perspective to the question and meaning of human suffering! Jesus Christ presents an alternative logic to ours today, the divide between the haves and have nots. In fact, he talks about death, instead of life. He invites us to sufferings instead of affluence. His question is pertinent today: “who do you say that I am?” Where is Christ found, is the fundamental question? Is he uniquely in the so-called earthly Eldorado?

It will be a great mistake to think that Christ wants us to identify him with a particular group of people and point out his identity to others. On the contrary, Christ invites you and me to ask ourselves who we are, whether rich or poor: am I a Christian or not, through my life and relationship with other human beings? What do I do with the cries, like a day of battle, according to our first reading, be it the voices of the rich or poor? Yes, there is a battle going on – the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Not only that, we have grown deaf to the cries and pleas of the poor. Instead, the cry for help and desire for economic mobility have become spectacles for Nigerian comedians to exploit for their own pockets, for the rich to watch with impunity. While struggling to climb out of poverty, many want others to remain below the poverty line! Is this behaviour Christian?

There is a second side to the “cries” our first reading speaks about, and this is very important. At the coming and presence of the Spirit of the Lord, the cries of Christians, whether rich or poor, are the groans and inconveniences Christians put up with, in order to install justice and peace in society. It is the agony of those children of God who take seriously the prayer – “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” These individuals rejoice in the truth and promote it, even though it is tough and difficult to do so. A true Christian suffers in order to make the world a better place for all and sundry!

The scandal of today, however, is the irony of jam packed churches but no Christians; intelligent preachers of the gospel, but no doers of the word of God; baptized human beings, but a band of pagans and hypocrites calling Jesus their model and brother, but their lifestyles show who they really are. What is the way forward in this quandary?

Paul provides an alternative to our craving for earthly citizenships, whether they be Jewish, American or British. Paul talks about a citizenship which comes from God, and which creates communion and unity. Those with this citizenship do not claim to be better than others; rather, they affirm oneness with others, irrespective of gender, social status, and economic power. Interestingly, after baptism, we are all God’s children. The measurement for this citizenship is Faith. The price to be paid is grace, free gift of God. But it comes to us at a price, the blood and death of Jesus!

Oh yes, no sweat, no crown. The Eldorado which America is was build on the sweat and blood of many hard working men and women, including blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Even for the salvation of the world, Simon of Cyrene, an African from Libya, was there to help Jesus to carry his cross. You know what? Wherever there is salvation, there is African blood. Wherever there is an Eldorado, African contribution is there. Suffering is African because African hospitality gives the best to one’s guests. But can Africans transform that to the expression of self-worth, the display of authentic Christianity in Africa? Can the faith and faithfulness of Saints Cyprian of Carthage, Augustine of Hippo, Clement of Alexandria, Ugandan martyrs, etc. be replicated today.

The two examples in our gospel reading today are instructive. The Christian identity is revealed through suffering – “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Not suffering for its own sake, but suffering that builds both earthly and heavenly Eldorado – “thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Suffering goes hand in hand with humility; Jesus humbles himself to accepting death on the cross (Phil 2:8). Christians accept suffering because it is salvific. An African is hospitable because every human being is a symbol of goodness, created and loved by God. In fact, the other is me!

“Who do you say that I’m” is the realization that goodness comes through suffering; this is the second kind of suffering our gospel talks about. Like the French idiom, you cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs; a child has no future with the support and protection of parents. At the foundation of African hospitality is the recognition of the humanness of the other; “I am because we are.” At the roots of American progress is the belief in the human capacity for good and ingenuity, provided there is freedom, hard work and discipline. The foundation of Christianity is the blood of Jesus Christ, the story of suffering and a divine example for us all to imitate!

Africans, Europeans, Americans, and Asians, these people of colours are all God’s children. Only the sacrifices and sufferings of each one of us can create a true Christianity, and bring about peace, love and co-existence. Indeed, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”! Yes, let your suffering contribute to building a better society, rather than destroy the good legacies of our ancestors in the faith!

Assignment for the Week:
Think of an inconvenience you will put up with this week, in order that God’s will might be done one earth as it is in heaven?