“Alms atone for sins” (Ecclesiasticus 3:29): Charitable Deeds Will Earn you Heaven
Growing up in northern Nigeria, it was a taboo to be a debtor; my parents wouldn’t accept that. We, my siblings and myself, were taught contentment with whatever meager resources we had, especially finances. The implication of this lesson was that no one spent the money he didn’t earn or have. North America taught me a different lesson: here, everybody is a debtor, including self-acclaimed rich people like Donald Trump. In fact, being a debtor is a good thing out here, because one has a credit history and can even have good credit. By borrowing, one is able to borrow more – it is called good credit. As a matter of fact, one of my priest friends learnt this lesson the hard way in Edmonton, Canada. He went to buy a new car, they wouldn’t sell to him because he had no credit history; that is, he had not been a debtor in the past. Interesting enough, this priest had the money to pay cash, for his car. Finally, he had to finance his car, which means he had to start owing! How economic values change and are perspectival! Tantalizingly, thanks to the availability of credit cards, even in Nigeria today, one can spend the money one hasn’t and has not worked for!
The financial really of today, especially in North-Atlantic countries, help us to understand and explain the reality of salvation, just as the terms for financial transactions of Jesus’ time was a medium of explanation for him and the generations before his Incarnation. Our first reading points in this direction, when it speaks about and teaches the important lesson of helping the poor. As we know, Ecclesiasticus/Ben Sira is one of the books we call “wisdom book.” It teaches us the wisdom of living on the planet earth. One such wisdom is what our relationship with the under privileged of our societies should be – charity. The key phrase in our first reading is this: “alms atone for sins” (Ecclesiasticus 3:29).
For those of us who are theologically savvy, “alms atone for sins” (Ecclesiasticus 3:29) recalls to mind the Reformer’s attacks on the Catholic doctrine of Indulgence; but Indulgences are still taught in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church, which means that despite Protestantism and the Reformation, Indulgence remains a sound theological teaching – how so? The God who gives different gifts to people has complementarity in mind when he refused to give the same gifts to all. This lesson in complementarity is core to our message this Sunday – the affair of others are my affairs, stop the individualism!
To begin with, Ecclesiasticus 3:1-16 teaches the rewards that accrue to those who respect their parents – forgiveness of their sins: “Those who honor their father atone for sins” (Ecclesiasticus 3:3). One may wonder how Ecclesiasticus arrived at this conclusion; in fact, such statements as this make some Protestant groups to reject Ecclesiasticus as part of the Bible. However, a close reading of Ecclesiasticus provides an answer: “Those who respect their father will live a long life” (Ecclesiasticus 3:6). This is simply a rephrasing of Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” In other words, God rewards those who honor their parents with longevity. This is a clear example of indulgence: the fact that good deeds are rewarded by God!
This same opinion, that God rewards good deeds, is put forward by Jesus in the gospel of today: “For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14). There is no ambiguity is Jesus’ teaching that every good deed gets rewarded by God, from this statement. But let us turn our attention to Jesus’ example in our second reading. This is the last sentence of our second reading “and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). We all know that the blood of Abel was pleading for vengeance; on the contrary, Jesus’ blood pleads for mercy for sinful humanity. It follows that the blood of Christ continues to plead for mercy even today. The translation “the sprinkled blood that speaks,” should actually be, “the sprinkled blood speaking” because the Greek verb λαλοῦντι, which is translated as “speaks” is a present participle or present continuous tense.
One fascinating reality about Christianity is that every Christian has a good credit history because the blood of Christ (speaking for mercy) is a down payment for human salvation. Watch it, though, good credit can turn into bad credit, when one fails to pay one’s premiums. For a Christian to maintain his/her good credit, good deeds or charitable works are expected – “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food” (Matthew 25:34-35). When today’s gospel makes the invitation of the poor and dejected to one’s party a Christian imperative (corporal work of mercy), it makes charity towards the poor an investment and capital project in heaven; this is the reality the Catholic Church calls Indulgence – doing good on earth, in order to reap the harvest in heaven. “when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you” (Luke 14:13).
An important aspect of the virtue of Charity is faith. Only those with faith can be charitable. The reason is simple, when we do good for earthly rewards, it is not done for God because their is an earthly reimbursement; we see examples of this in political campaigns and contributions, where expectations of votes or contracts undergird political maneuvers. Today’s gospel lays emphasis on the inability of the poor to payback, then God pays on their behalf: “when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.” No wonder our first reading talks about faith in a circumlocution.
When Ecclesiasticus talks about humility, “My child, conduct your affairs with humility (ἐν πραΰτητι)” (Ecclesiasticus 3:17), he is talking about faith. “Humility” (ἐν πραΰτητι) in biblical terms, is obedience to God’s injunction or command. It is God who commands that his children be charitable towards the underprivileged. Obedience to that command is what makes God repay those who practice charity on behalf of the poor. James corroborates this point in two places: “Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive in humility (ἐν πραΰτητι) the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). It is pertinent to remember here that James is arguing that only those who practice the teachings of Scriptures will be saved, not just those who hear and refused to practice or obey.
Our second example comes from James 3:13: “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in humility (ἐν πραΰτητι) and wisdom.” James teaches this lesson to show the difference between earthly and heavenly wisdom. This means that heavenly wisdom is obedience to God’s word and the practice of that word. James’ teachings on wisdom comes close to what “wisdom books” of the Old Testament, like Ecclesiasticus, teach.
An implicit warning is at stake today, from the second reading. It begins this way: “you have come (προσεληλύθατε – perfect tense: “it implies a past action and affirms an existing result”) to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22). This is a statement of where we are now, guaranteed by the blood of Christ. The decision to maintain this status quo depends on each one of us. The piece of advise put forward today is that Christian charity helps Christians consolidate on their position in the house of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. What is your decision: do you want to be in or out? The presence or lack thereof of charitable works, in your life, will determine your decision!
Assignment for the Week:
Can you offer free lunch to somebody this week or help a poor kid with his/her needs to return to school this Fall?