Amos 8:4-7; 1 Timothy 2: 1-8; Luke 16:1-13 or 16:10-13
“United we Stand, Divided we Fall”: We are all God’s Children!
The prophet Amos is popularly know as the prophet who promoted social justice, bringing to the fore the oppression and exploitation of the poor. Today’s first reading gives credence to this opinion, and Pope Francis lends support to the crusade for workers’ rights and the rights of poor people. A close look at the plights of the masses, in the economic distribution, in the whole world, one cannot but still see the necessity for and relevance of Amos’ prophecy for contemporary societies. In the West, jobs are exported overseas, not to provide jobs for Asians, but to exploit them, because of loose labor laws and human rights records of those countries, in order to maximize profit for multinationals and corporations. In the South, human lives are bought and sold, especially in human trafficking, organ harvesting, mineral exploitation. It cannot be any worse, in the twenty-first century!
If the prophet Amos’ fundamental message is that of social justice, is the society composed exclusively of two antagonistic classes, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie? Is every rich person an oppressor of the poor and every poor person an oppressed person? Today’s gospel, with the parable of the wasteful, yet astute servant, we notice that exploitation can go either way: the exploitation of the rich by the poor, and the oppression of the poor by the rich. By implication, today’s readings are inviting the rich and the poor alike to return to the basis – creation and it’s imperative to all humanity. At creation, God’s mandate was “increase and multiple, be custodians of creation” (Genesis 1:28). This statement simply invites everybody, despite their social status, to the building of a humane society. Since this is the case, this Sunday is not a Sunday of division between the rich and the poor, with the poor as good guys, and the rich as bad guys. On the contrary, we celebrate the responsibility of all God’s children toward the creation of a just and joyful community. We are to move from a divided society into a united community, a communion of God’s sons and daughters.
Today’s gospel parable, situated in a business model, squares off fairly with what happens in the twenty-first century investment companies. No thanks to the economic meltdown of the last decade (2008-2010), corporate greed, and investors’ insatiate crave for profit caused untold sufferings on global economics and people. The poor were aggressively trying to climb the ladder of wealth, so they invested in lies and promoted corporate greed. CEOs were desperate to maximize profit in order to keep their jobs and please their employers. The poor were as bad as the rich in their inordinate pursuit of profit from hedge funds and corporate returns, no wonder scammers and ponzi schemes had a field day! This simply means that humanity has not changed.
If Jesus uses a business model’s aggressive pursuit of profit and the deification of money or wealth in his parable today, it is because God invites us to the ultimate investment of all – eternal life. The smartness and aggressiveness of the servant, in today’s gospel, is the way every Christian is expected to fight for eternal life – give it all you’ve got! Generosity was the weapon of the astute servant, when the odds added up against him – he was about to loose his job and go begging. Although it was his master’s wealth, he made friends capable of taking him in, should he loose his job: impressive!
It is Paul, in the second reading of today, who points the direction to today’s message – universal salvation, salvation for the poor and the rich. We have a God who has no favorites, who makes not class distinction among his children; whoever does what is right is acceptable to God. According to our second reading, “[God] wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. For there is one God” (1 Timothy 2:4-5). It follows that the apparent favoritism of God, on behalf of the poor, has become an opportunity for the salvation of the rich and the poor.
“‘United we Stand, Divided we Fall’: We are all God’s Children!” is a fitting topic for our reflection today. The invitation to see that the desire for heaven and salvation binds the rich and the poor; that there is only one God for the poor and the rich; that division leaves everyone impoverished rather than stronger. We need to have the eyes that see the good in every person, and the desire to work for the salvation of all and sundry. After all, Jesus Christ died for the salvation of all human beings, whether they are poor or rich, oppressors or oppressed. If Christianity must continue to be the great and resilient religion that it has always been, crusading for unity, instead of division, must be its priority. Christians must continue to see goodness in everybody, and resist the temptation of superiority complex.
Assignment of the Week:
If you’re poor, can you pray for the salvation of the rich, especially those who exploit you, this week? If you are rich, can you pray for the salvation of the poor and find ways to alleviate poverty in your immediate vicinity, all week long?
An African Homily for Twenty-Fifth Sunday, 2016
God has played his part: Your Salvation is in your hand, Rich or Poor!
There was a beggar, whom children nicknamed “Mr. Do-Good.” This name (My Do-Good) originated from the way this beggar begged. He had the habit of going around the village begging and saying to people, “you do good, you do for yourself; you do bad, you do for yourself.” Even when he was given money or food, he never said “thank you,” all he said was “you do good, you do for yourself; you do bad, you do for yourself.” Children loved him, and often stopped by his house, which was by the roadside, to help themselves to some of the gifts he received.
There was a lady, who never liked the fact that Mr. Do-Good never said “thanks” for the numerous acts of charities he received. This lady decided to teach Mr. Do-Good a lesson in gratitude. On this faithful day, she cooked a very delicious meal, and when Mr. Do-Good was making his rounds begging, she called him and gave him the food she prepared. He took it from her, and as it was his custom, he said to her, “you do good, you do for yourself; you do bad, you do for yourself.”
Mr. Do-Good returned home and kept the food aside, waiting to be hungry before eating. Meanwhile, there were three children of the same family returning from school, who stopped by Mr. Do-Good’s house and requested for food because they were hungry. He offered them the food he got from his begging, and the three children ate it all up, and thanked him.
On getting home, the oldest of these three children began to complain of stomach ache. No sooner had he started did the second and third began complaining. Their mother returned from working in the fields (farm) to meet this situation and asked the children what the matter was, and they said, on their way home, they ate a delicious meal at Mr. Do-Good’s house. As soon as the woman heard that her children ate at Mr. Do-Good’s, she fainted, because she was the woman who gave Mr. Do-Good a poisoned food earlier in the day, and now she is loosing her children to the poison she destined for the elimination of Mr. Do-Good! Indeed, “you do good, you do for yourself; you do bag, you do for yourself!
I apologize for the length of this story, but it captures the essence of this Sunday’s readings – charity or generosity as a double-edged sword. This implies that, the doer of charity is also blessed, not only the recipient of charity. The rich, in today’s first reading, as far as they were concerned, they were oppressing the poor, without realizing that they were preparing everybody, including themselves, for slavery and deportation to Assyria. They were basking in temporary wealth, earned from the exploitation of the poor, only to end up in servitude to Assyria, alongside the poor. In fact, Israel never repented and did go into slavery in Assyria. This is the logic of sin, the sinner makes life difficult for others, but the sinner makes himself/herself a fit candidate for Hell of fires – the oppressor shares in his own oppression.
Our first reading is taken from Amos 8. In order to understand what is happening there, one needs to read Amos 7, where the prophet Amos, from Judah, confronts Israel with her sins. Amaziah, the temple priest, was the one protesting against the prophecy of Amos. As a royal temple priest, Amaziah’s daily ration of food and money were guaranteed, so he did not care less, what happened to the poor: he was out to prophesy good news, when there was disaster looming! If the people had been warned, perhaps the deportation to Assyria would have been avoided. Unfortunately, Amos was left a lonely voice calling for social justice!
Our first reading may sound very remote to us, but when we look at our respective African countries, what do we find? Take Nigeria and Cameroon as examples. The richest priests, evangelists and pastors are those who have access to the powers that be, and have safe passages around the corridors of power. These always see good visions for the country and its leaders, even though their own families and wards are all overseas because of joblessness and deplorable academic system in the country. In fact, I was driving around Enugu city, Nigeria, the other day, when a policeman asked a bus driver for bribes, and the bus driver said he had no small bills (he had no change), and the policeman asked the bus driver to give him the bill and he will give him change: police checkpoints have become markets, where you buy and get change. What are my doing as a priest, what are you doing as fellow African to stamp out corruption in Africa?
What we seem not to get, and which today’s readings want us to know, is that what goes around comes around – “you do good, you do for yourself; you do bad, you do for yourself.” Like the African proverb which says, “a person who brings home an ant infested wood, should not be surprised at the visits of lizards.” This is to say that African woes are self-inflicted, because Africans are neither authentic Christians nor authentic Africans! The temple priest, Amaziah, in rebuking Amos, thought he was doing himself and the king some good, forgetting that every support we give to evil returns to hunt everyone, not just a portion of the population.
There is a way out, offered by today’s readings, a Christian way: salvation is for all! Here is how Paul puts it in the second reading (1 Timothy 2:2-4): “[God] wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” God has played his part, by dying for the salvation of all, your salvation is in your hand, rich or poor! We are called to an authentic Christianity. The proof that God wills the salvation of all people is made manifest in the death of Christ for the salvation of the good, the bad and the ugly; the poor and the rich. If we made the same reality ours, to fight so that everyone lives a dignified life, there will be a difference in the way we live our Christian lives, and the poor’s perception of the rich and vice versa. To achieve this, Paul asks “that supplications, prayer petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
Now, an essential part of prayer is action – acting to transform an unjust situation! “Forgive us . . as we forgive . .,” we say in The Lord’s Prayer. Paul says the same thing, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). You know what, our topic today, “God has played his part: Your Salvation is in your hand, Rich or Poor!” is not heretical, because that is what the gospel teaches today. The gospel is not teaching us 419 or a criminal way of making ends meet, NO! It teaches us that intelligence is not meant for decoration, rather, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit which enables us to “work out our salvation.” This message becomes clear, when we realize that it is God himself who is the employer of the so-called “astute servant” in our gospel parable, the same God whom Paul says “wills that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” The “astute servant” uses charity or generosity as a way of making heaven, so Jesus praises him for his astuteness.
The question may be asked: can you use another person’s property for charity, as we see done by the astute servant of the gospel parable? The answer comes from Paul, “what have you that has not been given to you?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). The rich, who oppress the poor, do not realize that heaven is also for the rich, and the rich, just like the poor, have to make heaven too! A clear decision has to be taking and a conscious choice has to be made: preoccupation with salvation should keep us busy trying to be authentic Christians; then, and only then, will social justice be achieved because it is everyone’s project not just that of the rich.
It follows that God’s warning, in our first reading, is God’s invitation to the rich to contribute their own quota to making the world a better place for themselves and everyone else. This does not mean that the poor should go to sleep. The mandate that prayer be said for those in authority, according to our second reading, invites even the oppressed poor to be a “prayer warrior,” for the transformation of the earth. When the rich and the poor fail in their collective responsibilities, to work for collective salvation, to see each other as partners in salvation and the journey to heaven, there is anarchy and chaos. Worse still, Hell of fires will be ours, the rich as well as the poor.
What is essential for all Christians, whether rich or poor, is the realization that the responsibility of making the world a better place for all, and the job of practicing one’s faith in order to enter heaven, has no regard for human status or position. What Christ did for the poor and the rich is what all and sundry should imitate: “For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). If Christ gave up his life for the salvation of everybody, each Christian is called to do the same, to sacrifice his/her life for the salvation of his/her brothers and sisters. This is the highest form of charity, that only a person of faith can do.
The major hindrance to having a better world, not to say a better Africa, can be found in Jesus’ surprise and disappointment: “For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light” (Luke 16:8). The children of this world know how to manufacture new iPhones and Samsung phones every year, yearly economic and ethical theories, annual codes of conducts and anti-Christian legislations, but what do Christians, children of light, do: they exclaim, hurray! we are a free people. It’s high time we woke up and use our intelligence to fight evil, in all its forms, for the greater glory of God, and for the good of the human race!