When Trust in God Mortgages our Fears!
1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21; Gal 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62
Growing up in rural Nigeria, I never failed to puzzle on the statement of Isaiah 55:1, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price”. I couldn’t understand how one could spend the money one hasn’t got. It was the first time I possessed a Visa credit card that that verse of Isaiah shaped up in my mind, at least, in some realistic way. Yes, with my Visa credit card, I could spend money I didn’t materially possess, even if it were borrowing because it is enough trouble to be considered credit worthy and having to spend money because one possesses a Visa card.
The first and second readings of today take my mind back to Isaiah 55:1, this time, from a moral perspective. Humanly speaking, I consider it impossible for any human being to qualify as instrument for God’s use! As human beings, we are so weak that we are given to doubting our moral strength and rectitude before God. Indeed, human beings may praise us for our “holiness” of life, which fades when one looks deep down into oneself because a different narrative is boldly written down there. Yet, one gets called by God to represent him before other human beings: how is that possible?
I am tempted to think of every vocation as a mortgaged venture: God gives us an advance credit/payment to qualify us for his services. Although we are sinners, God offers us the credit to be expended to prop up our moral deficiency and he goes back to the same credit he gives us to debit our failings. Otherwise, how does one qualify for the services of God? Our gospel today tells this reality and nudges us forward to accepting God’s offer to be his servants through the mystery of vocation. Yes, “vocation” is the call of God to each one of us for his purposes. The good news is that God qualifies us for whatever job he calls us to discharge.
The first and last parts of our gospel tell the two possible hinderances to God’s offer of mortgage which qualifies human beings to serve him in their respective vocations. The first is the hubris of the Samaritans or the problem of self righteousness. The Samaritans blocked the passage of Jesus on his way to wrought human salvation, including theirs. The feeling of sufficiency and the snub of receiving any help beyond one’s capabilities force Jesus to take an alternative route instead of the Samaritan way. In similar behavior, we disqualify ourselves from the offer of God and the possibility of serving him, when we count on our abilities and NOT on God’s grace. The second is the non-alliance of our wills with God’s for us. The man who excuses himself on account of his responsibility to the dead (Let me go an bury my Father first) exemplifies our selfishness and reluctance to make sacrifices for others.
The heart of our gospel reading is the fact that God respects a sinner’s freedom of choice, if you like, human right to freedom of choice. It is true that James and John wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans for refusing Jesus free-passage through their town, by rebuking them Jesus underscores the need to be obedient to God’s directives and not to invent directives on our own. God does not need our sympathy on how to judge sinners, he only invites us to take our cue from him – the respect of sinners while being willing to die for their salvation. In fact, James’ and John’s desire to call down fire from heaven upon the Samaritans is on the same wavelength with the man who freely opts to follow Jesus, and Jesus refuses his offer. Vocation remains the exclusive prerogative of God, human beings only have to either accept or reject God’s call. Moreover, “vocation” has only one objective – the salvation of souls, even at the cost of one’s life.
The new cloak Elijah places on Elisha, in our first reading, typifies God’s mortgage on Elisha. It was the cloak with which Elijah parted the river Jordan, and which guarantees Elisha’s right of succession as a prophet of God (2 Kings 2:1-14). The power Elisha needs for his job comes to him through the symbolic cloak of Elijah. By slaughtering his oxen and preparing a parting meal for his workers, Elisha makes a definitive break with his former job and past life/plans and accepts the new job God offers him as a prophet. Elisha places his hands on the plough, as Jesus requires in today’s gospel, and there was no turning back because he accepts God’s assignment to him.
According to our second reading, for a Christian, the collateral for our mortgage is the Holy Spirit, whom every Christian received at Baptism. Our adoption as children of God makes us credit worthy before God. With the fruit of love, as the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in us, we keep the unique commandment of loving our neighbors as ourselves. It is the love of neighbor that makes one ready to work for the salvation of every human being. The law of love supplants every other law because, as the very last code of the Code of Canon Law says, salus animarum suprema lex – the salvation of souls is the supreme law!
For you and me, we have no right to turndown God’s call to us to serve in our different capacities and duties. The realization that all we need to do is put our best to whatever we do, which keeps intact our mortgage, and the Holy Spirit guarantees our collaterals. Today, God wants you and me to humble ourselves before his qualification that makes us his servants and administrators of his goods – the care of human soul, above all else. The trust and confidence God reposes in us dissipates our anxieties and weaknesses. Even when the going gets tough, God’s collateral, the Holy Spirits, keeps interceding for us. Let us not disqualify ourselves, since God has qualify us for our different vocations – let us keep moving either by running, crawling, hopping or leaping, but just keep moving in the grace of God!
Assignment for the Week:
Whatever your vocation may be (parent, teacher, priest, politician, etc.), do something that will make your vocation attractive to someone this week.