Not a Dog but a Daughter of God!
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28
Those who are slightly above forty years of age, and surely those who are in their fifties and sixties, they’ll recall the glorious days of Nigeria. A Nigeria that was economically buoyant, morally colossal, and academically gargantuan. It was a time when Americans and Canadians scrambled for Nigerian visa, when the English treated Nigerians like equals, at least, on a diplomatic level – Nigerians and Englishmen and Englishwomen needed no visas to visit their respective countries. That was the time Nigerians traveled with ease to Europe and America, ecause the almighty Naira was a commanding force to reckon with in the committee and league of currencies. And today, it is the dirge of the Naira and Nigerian Green passport that we sing. Nigerians hide their passports on arrival on international scenes,. Mycompatriots blush when identified as Nigerians because they are sure that that appellation has some criminal connotations or denotations, no thanks to the notoriety of 419. Even in the area of sports, Nigeria is now incapable of qualification for international and regional competitive football/soccer. Professional footballing is gradually waning on Nigerian big names like J. J. Okocha and Kanu Nwankwo for want of worthy replacement names. Will Nigeria ever come back to her glorious past and even hope to soar above her former glories? Will corruption, bigotry , nd religious perversity offer Nigeria a second chance at revamping and recuperating her glories of yore?
Today, for those who doubt that Africa and Nigeria can rise again; those who think that the last of the glories of the beautiful continent of Africa, with its teaming population and untapped human and material resources, is relegated to the relic of history and the memories of her scars of imperialism and colonialism, such people have not known Africa, for Africa never dies! The slumber that has overtaken Africa now experiences a demise from the effects of its soporific substance; Africa is reinventing herself, rising from the dust of her shame, and timidly charting her future through her diaspora children. Where does one begin in enumerating the exploits of diaspora Nigerians, sons , nd daughters of Africa? In every ivory tower or citadel of learning worth mentioning, we are there; every scientific and technological invention has the trade marks both of African natural resources and the expertise of her Human Resources as co-inventors. In the literary world, nd the field of oratory – Soyinka and Obama represent Africa well.
If God declares everyone today as his son and daughter, irrespective of race, language and culture, according to our first reading; if God proclaims his house to be a house of prayer for all peoples, not just for the Jews and the circumcised, but all humanity; then, there is hope for every man and woman who feels defeated by the vagaries of life; those who feel left behind economically and politically; those who feel the weight of their sins, instead of the joy of their redemption and the grace of happiness as sons and daughters of God; indeed, those of us who ardently look for second chances in life, on account of our past failures and infidelity, today, God offers us a clean slate on which to rewrite our lives once again. Today is not just about the restoration of Israel from slavery from Babylon to her homeland,. Itis humanity’s restoration and restitution to glory. Today is our re-investiture with the regalia of the sons and daughters of God. Today, God refuses to leave us in shame; in fact, he takes away our shame and humiliation and offers us second chances at life, physical life , nd spiritual restorations. You and I are the new Israel returning from exile, exile of sin and ingratitude for all the goodies we have enjoyed from God; we are invited to reconstruct, to rebuild the ruins of our moral, economic, political and religious decadence. At first, it may appear a humongous project, but the presence of God levels the high planes for us through the gifts of his graces, which are uncountable and beyond measures.
The history of Israel is one of frequent falls, just like ours as individuals and as nations, but Israel had a strong determination to always rise up again and again. As a matter of fact, an individual upright Jew can champion the course of the whole nation of Israel. It is not for no reason that one person (Jacob) became a nation, from Jacob, his name became Israel, meaning that the steadfastness of one person person can transform a whole nation. Joseph’s fidelity not only saved Israel from starvation, it saved the whole of Egypt and the Pharaohs from extinction. The missionary crusades and the spiritual doggedness of Saul, who became Paul, established a spiritual, intellectual, and moral foundation for Christianity. The faith and confession of Peter received the applauds of God himself, in Jesus Christ, and the endorsement of the personality of Peter as the head of the Church. The union between a husband and wife establishes families and descendants, replacing God’s direct action as creator of human beings.
There is no better way of putting the necessity and indispensability of restoration for sinful humanity than how Paul has said it – “God’s call are irrevocable.” The power of sin, political intrigues, military prowess, and economic maneuvering can never hijack God’s plans for the prosperity of his children. In the midst of persecution and the experience of finitude/finiteness, Paul, in our second reading, proclaims the irrevocability of God’s adoption of every Christian as his child. Even so, in the midst of our sins and political visionlessness of Nigeria and Africa, God is still dreaming big for every nation of the world and for every human person. Despite the moral quagmire in which our world is enmeshed, in spite of the intellectual obscurantism of world thinkers, as well as their moral myopism, God is preparing a “little rest or remnant” to salvage his world. God is preparing you and I to save our world and communities; to restore hope and confidence that all is not lost.
All that the world and individuals experience is a period of insult and hubris. You and I are the Canaanite woman being asked to establish our credentials as children of God, nstead of giving vent to our anger. In an age of Human Rights, God expects us to claim our rights to divine dignity, just as the Canaanite woman did without fear of contradiction. It was not Jesus who insulted her, the Jewish people did by making her a “dog,” a nobody deserving of God’s favors and graces. The Canaanite woman asserted her right as a child of God deserving of God’s favors; she requested the healing of her daughter and she got it. So, amid the insults of colonialism, economic strangulations, and moral bankruptcy, are you ready to stand up and make your claims as a child of God. Are you and am I ready to go it alone, if need be, the moral highway, to be another Israel from Jacob, Paul from Saul, Peter from Cephas, Abraham from Abram?
Like the complaining voices of the apostles to Jesus to shut up the Canaanite woman because her noises were nauseating, we hear discouraging voices and thoughts accusing us that we are sinful, that we cannot be any good. However, do we hear the Master’s voice encouraging us to rise up to the occasion, like Michelle Obama puts it, “when they go low, we go high”? What are those discouraging voices, persons and events that make you doubt God and yourself? Why not look at those champions of our faith, who made it despite the contrary views of cynics and manipulators? In the life of Zacchaeus, the insult and accusation of financial misappropriation only brought out the best in him: Zacchaeus stood his ground and made a solemn declaration, “I’ll restore fourfold if defrauded anyone!” Do you see how insult is an opportunity to establish faith and declare one’s Christian credential and identity? Do you and I remember our citizenship in God when the odds add up against us, when we are insulted? Can we muster courage and conjure up the little faith we have left, in order to hear Jesus saying to us, in the little good things we do – “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish”.
Yes, the age of shame to own up to God and his teaching has expired; the period when people’s insults mattered has elapsed; the moments of listening to the exterior has fully run out on its course; it is high time we paid attention to the inner and interior voice, where God addresses us by name, a name he pronounced himself over us at Baptism, and and we responded appropriately. Human ideologies and agenda, slavery to material and devilish initiatives, imprisonment to fear and discouragement have met their watersheds in the love of God which keeps no records of the past, a fact which shows that this God of ours is one who offers second-chances to us, he is a restorer God, and God of opportunities and possibilities. You and I need only to be pro-active and all is well already!
If insults are occasions to showcase your faith, why get enraged by insults? To become angry at insults is a sign of failure to realize that every cloud has a silver lining; that from even what we consider insulting, something good can come of it. Yes, insults are golden opportunities waiting to be utilized. Sometimes, insults and temptations precede our blessings; the inconvenience of the cross is a precursor to the resurrection, the rain before the clear sky, the storm before the calm; but in all these, God is ever present and watching on to see whether our faith will weather the storm. Indeed, “the fear of accident will not stop people from driving”, in the words of the author of the Beautiful Ones are not yet Born.
Assignment for the Week :
Think of an insult or insulting situation you experienced, and see what God is/was saying to you through it.