Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14
God’s Wisdom and not Human Justice leads to Salvation!
It was Jean-Jacques Rousseau who once said, and I paraphrase, that “man was born free, but he is everywhere in chains.” Where do the said chains come from, who made them? Just like God, who has put in place natural and divine laws, human beings have enacted social laws to guide their interpersonal dealings, and law courts to arbitrate in cases of infringements of human laws; of course, there will be judgment day for every violation of divine laws, a heavenly court. The chains of which Rousseau spoke is partly formed from the kinds of laws human beings have put in place, on the basis of human understanding of Justice, which doesn’t square with God’s revelation of Justice in Jesus Christ. Laws are good for our earthly existence, though.
Here and now, since we are residents of the planet earth, en route towards our heavenly home land, the fundamental Christian question is this: what is the moral foundation of my life, so I may make heaven? Our first reading attempts an answer to this question, from the perspective of Jewish wisdom tradition. The book of Sirach is a collection of the traditional wisdom of Israel, taught in Jewish schools to children, and which was also taught in Alexandria, Egypt, to Diaspora Jews there, thanks to Ben-Sirach, who made available a Greek translation of this wisdom book.
Today, the book Sirach addresses the question of favoritism: does God love some people to the exclusion of other people? Why are some people rich and others poor? How come some persons keep God’s commandments and others do not: that is, some are virtuous and others immoral? Or, why did God fight on the side of Moses and Israel against the Amalekites last Sunday? These questions have plagued generations of believers, and have divided Christendom and Christians on how to appropriately respond to them. We now present a Jewish response, to the question of God’s partiality because God is very partial on behalf of all and sundry not on behalf of any particular people! Here is the reason for the importance of the law: where there is law, one may be partial because standards can be compromised, leading to partiality.
Our first reading opens up with a dilemma: “The Lord is a God of Justice, who knows no favorites. Though not unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed” (Sirach 32:12). How does one reconcile God’s Justice with God’s favoritism towards the weak, poor and widows? The English substantive “Justice” comes from the Latin noun “Justitia;” but at the base of “justitia-Justice” is the word “jus-juris” – “law.” Now that we know that “justice” is a legalistic approach to morality, because Justice is based on laws, the next question is to ask: what kind of law undergirds God’s dealings with the rich, the poor and weak, since they are all his creatures?
When we realize that God’s “Justice” is his restoration of orderliness in his creation (Genesis 1-2:4a), and the restitution of equity and equality (Galatians 3:28), then, we understand that God is not partial towards the poor and the weak; rather, God corrects the mistakes and errors of his children, the rich and powerful, so that they may carry out their responsibilities towards their neglected brothers and sisters. Here is a corroboration of our point, from the first reading: “The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens” (Sirach 35:16). The key expression is serving “God willingly.” The “law” is not the basis of human worship of God, NO! Human beings worship God as a sign of gratitude to him for having created them, and having endowed them with spiritual and material blessings. On the contrary, the legalistic approach to God is that of entitlement – the language of right. For Christians, it is an attitude of humility because everything is GRACE, that is, free gift from God, unmerited!
The language of entitlement is what Jesus condemns in today’s gospel: “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity – greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income” (Luke 18:). Two mistakes or incomprehension are underscored here: 1) the Pharisee thought that his righteous acts were by his power and might, and not God’s grace, and 2) he thought that he had the right to ridicule the image of God that his brother is, though a sinner! The sin of arrogance is that of robbery: we deny God the glory due to his grace at work in us, and we arrogate to ourselves the power and ability to do good!
The singular act that exonerates God from nepotism, cronyism and favoritism is God’s universal will and desire for the salvation of humanity: God’s salvation is for all his children, without exception. If God gave his only Son to die for the salvation of the whole world, it follows that he is not partial but works for the salvation of all. And, in the logic of salvation, God suspends the law – Justice – and considers mercy and forgiveness as sole tools for human salvation. In the face of Justice, we will all be condemned because no one keeps the law perfectly. For instance, the Pharisee was keeping the laws and precepts he narrated, but failed to realize that he was a proud person, and that “pride goes before a fall”: fall, indeed, he fell flat. The tax collector, though a sinner, but he was a humble person – there was some good left in him. Make no mistake, nobody is 100% a sinner: God looks at our efforts and his mercy; not law/Justice but mercy and compassion.
What is the worth of knowledge, without wisdom? What is the price of intelligence without Christian revelation or the mystery of Christ? The wisdom of God is what was revealed in Jesus Christ, a wisdom which was not revealed as Justice but as mercy and compassion. Yes, God is the God of Justice because every just law comes from him, and his laws are just. But what he has revealed to us in his Son, Jesus Christ, is his mercy, not his Justice. Little wonder, then, the Pharisee who brags about the Law, forgetting that there are other laws he was not keeping, especially humility and giving God the glory for the blessings of righteousness, was condemned, only for a humble sinner to be elevated to sainthood and justification by God. This is the Wisdom of God that was revealed in Jesus Christ, and it is only when human intelligence and knowledge acquiesces in this Wisdom that we will realize that God shows no partiality, human salvation is of paramount importance to God!
Saint Paul provides us with a solution to the apparent injustice or partiality of God – FIDELITY. At the end of his life, according to our second reading, Paul was exhorting to fidelity rather than condemnation: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). He sees his life as one permeated by the grace of God which kept him faithful, and which will keep others too faithful. Besides, Jesus’ revelation of Justice is that which will be mitted out at the end of time, not right away. While Christians journey on earth, everyday is an opportune time to repent and make heaven. Anyone condemning anyone else before final judgment uses earthly standards. On earth, God mercy trumps his Justice!
Assignment for the Week:
Can you pray the Divine Mercy chaplet everyday this week, asking for God’s mercy upon you and on the whole world?
Father Ayo I keep thanking God for the wisdom to explain the scriptures to our basic understanding and reflection. Am one of ur student at Seat of Wisdom Seminary, remember me in ur daily mass now undergoing my Novitiate but ur Homilies uplift my spiritual hunger.