A Call to Fidelity: Be Part of the Solution, Not the Problem!
Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10
There was a poor couple whose house was made of thatch and situated by the road side. They did not have bathroom and toilet inside the house, but a latrine and a bathroom behind the house. As good Christians, they were very hospitable to all strangers. As a matter of fact, many people had warned them against their hospitality to strangers because of the possible danger of taking in robbers and brigands. One day, a stranger arrived at their door at midnight seeking shelter for the night. They took him in. Despite the fact that it was very late at night, the woman prepared supper for him to eat; he ate and went to sleep. In the morning, the woman gave him a bucket of water to bathe with. While behind the house, the stranger brought out a matchbox from his pocket and set the thatch house of his host ablaze and took off. It was the smoke in the house that alerted the couple to the reality that their house was on fire. Before they could go to the stream and fetch water to put out the fire, their home was already destroyed. Friends and neighbors reminded them of their warnings to desist from their hospitality and they wouldn’t listen. Anyhow, the couple decided to rebuild. While digging a new foundation, the couple found a piece of diamond! All the while, they were poor, yet sitting on a diamond without knowing it. It was thanks to this man who set their house ablaze, and thanks to their hospitality, that their fortunes changed, thanks to the diamond they found. Their Fidelity to hospitality was rewarded by God.
It so happens that there’s enough of problems to go round, without anybody having to add unto it. Internal crisis between right and wrong, political debates about justice and injustice, economic decisions of fair play and outright greed, domestic division of labor and gender differentiation, children’s right versus parents’ respect, the list goes on. Amidst these problems, Christians are called upon to make a difference in the world, to be lights of the world and salt of the earth. Obviously, pessimism greets the opinion that says that the world can be better than what it is right now because the power of evil is so omnipresent that the light of a candle seems insignificant before a pitch darkness.
We forget that one’s proximity to light is what makes the difference in the thickest of darkness. For darkness only impacts those in darkness, and not those in the light. This is the argument of the prophet Habakkuk today, tips for stepping out of darkness, the darkness of sin and unbelief, to bask in the light of God which is fidelity and righteousness.
Habakkuk’s experience of the darkness of sin and the disappearance of virtue, which our first reading recounts, only gingered the prophet to proclaim a panacea to darkness – the rise of virtue. For the prophet, judgment takes place daily: the sinner oppresses the righteous person, but the righteous follows a different logic from that of darkness. A righteous person is a light in the dark, he/she defies darkness because, since creation, original darkness continues to give way to God’s light: “let there be light!” The solution to darkness is the provision of light, and light is at its best when more lights come on – brightness is a conjugated light, and concerted effort is expected on the part of human beings to obliterate darkness in order to let the light of holiness and righteousness to shine.
Surely, darkness or sin is a reality on earth. The activities of the unrighteous are troubling even to the righteous and serve as temptations for them. However, “but the just one, because of his faith, shall live” (Habakkuk 2:4) makes “faith” synonymous with light, a light that makes it possible to journey in darkness. This is the case because the righteous forges ahead despite temptations and sin propelled forward by a different logic – he/she realizes that God and virtue trump evil and sin. Notice that the statement about the righteous is in the future and not in the present: “shall live” shows that the inconveniences of the present are endured because of the reward that awaits a righteous person in the future. This is to say that the works of faith do not have an immediate reward, but they will surely get rewarded by God in the future. This is also the lesson from our opening story. Every good deed is rewarded by God at the appropriate time, as long as we remain faithful to keeping God’s commandments.
Obviously, it is the righteous person who is the first to bask in the light which his virtue of fidelity lights up, before others can enjoy and share in it. According to our first reading, “the righteous shall live by faith,” what does this mean? Simply, it is an invitation to the righteous person to find consolation in his/her fidelity. “Faith” is imperative here because God is the master of history, nothing happens without his being aware of it. The righteous is untrammeled by evil of the unrighteous, for God’s logic of patience keeps him/her going, while hoping for an eternal reward in heaven. It is the perseverance of the couple in our story, against the advise of those who told them to stop welcoming strangers that made the discovery of that diamond possible. Yes, at the time their house was burnt, they must have been thinking that the man who set their house ablaze was evil, but after the discovery of a diamond, that man must be considered an angel!
According to Jesus in the gospel today, “faith” is not something inactive and a mental process; “faith” is revealed in action, through what we endure for God. The first part of today’s gospel depicts how the craving for faith, in order to show off through miracles, is inferior to fidelity to God’s commandments. Instead, Jesus talks about faith as fidelity to the duties and responsibilities God has entrusted to us. Jesus’ advice to every Christian, in the gospel, “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do,” (Luke 17:10) captures well the meaning of faith. The word “unprofitable – ὠφείλομεν” clearly shows that religion is not about commerce and profit making. It argues against the request of Jesus’ followers for an increase in faith because of the wrong use to which it was to be put. As it is usually the case with Jesus, he redirects his disciples to the right path, each time they were in error. What God needs and expects of Christians is the practice of fidelity to God, made visible through acts of faith. It is not a surprise, then, when God expels miracle workers from heaven: “On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:22-23). Hell of fires awaits miracle workers who failed to keep God’s commandments because the keeping of God’s precepts is more important than miracle working: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
If miracle working and exorcism, though good in themselves, could transform a nation, Nigeria would have been the best nation on earth. Nigeria has the highest number of Churches in Africa, yet corruption reigns supreme, especially among the so-called healers and exorcists. Jesus healed and exorcised for free, today there are prices, not only for exorcisms and miracles, but also for church attendance. Church members who cannot pay tithes and contributions are exclaustrated and excommunicated. The rich and the affluent receive regular visits from “men of God,” but the poor are forgotten. Politicians have a field day campaigning in churches, but the rights of the poor are neglected. Ex-convicts and notorious politicians are the chair persons at church harvests and bazaars. In fact, the best way to rebrand one’s personality today and reignite one’s political activities is to take looted money to church for thanksgiving; immediately, the pastor or evangelist will begin to speak in tongues and see visions of prosperity.
It must not be so! The capacity to keep God’s commandments has been given to each one of us at our sacramental receptions. At baptism, the power to live a Christian life was given to us. At Confirmation, we receive the Holy Spirit of power and evangelization. At Holy Communion, we are continually nourished for earthly combat against sin and evil. At Matrimony and Holy Orders, we receive the graces for our respective states and vocations in life. Since this is the case, Paul reminds Timothy today, to fan into flames the gifts he received at his commissioning as the representative of God before his Christian community. The same message is given to us today. This world can and should be a better place, than it is right now. The blame for the evil currently in the world falls squarely on our shoulders: we have not started living according to God’s commandments. Consequently, the world is in a state of sin and darkness. Conversion is possible because the Holy Spirit is willing to use each one of us, if we chose to be faithful and docile to him. So, be a part of the solution – fidelity, and not the problem – sin!
Assignment for the Week:
could you avail yourself of the sacrament or Reconciliation/Confession this week?