Luke 10:1-12, 17-20; Galatians 6:14-18; Isaiah 66:10-14c
Let the Real Me Appear: The Power of Reform
Patience is a relation of reform. As the saying goes, “Rome was not built in a day,” even though what was done daily led to the building of Rome! The creation of personality and character too take very long, and perseverance leads to the desired goal and reward. “Let the real me appear: the power of reform” becomes a very urgent question given the readings of this Sunday and the result of the recent referendum in England. Is unity possible and how does God create unity, so that humans may learn from him?
Isaiah 66 reminds us of God’s patience and strategy in the creation of a people, the people of God. Wars of hegemony and territorial expansion divided the Middle-East and Levant, when Isaiah 66 was written. The scramble for supremacy among the gods was a daily occurrence, part of which saw lots of exiles: Israel went to Assyria and Judah to Babylon, just to mention two: the children of God killed each other and failed to love one another. This story is also true of the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, in the recent past. Whether it is the case of “atheistic communism,” compulsory capitalism, invented democracy or jihadist extremism, the blood letting and all forms of exiles have become the bane of our time. What is the way forward?
Our first reading today comes from that section of the prophecy of Isaiah, where God works to bring reconciliation to humanity, to create a people that goes beyond languages and races, cultural differences and religious ideologies. From the cries of every oppressed human being, either through internal or external exiles, economic poverty or enslavement to greed and wealth, God began a reform based on the common humanity of his creatures. Pains and oppressions are equally harmful to every human being with no regards to race, gender and religion. William Shakespeare puts it beautifully, in The Merchant of Venice, where he talks about a common humanity of all human beings:
“I am a Jew! Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.”
Fortunately, lex talionis – law of revenge – is not Christian, but the law of love and unity is very Christian because that is the example and legacy of the founder of Christianity – Jesus died to restore to unity the scattered children of God (John 11:51-52). The only blood that could be shed, was shed by Christ, every other human blood is sacred and must be defended and protected! The best job ever, is that of crusading for peace, peace because we are all human beings, peace because there can never be two gods, if that term defines a supreme being! Yes, working for unity and peace is the way forward!
The Jewish and Islamic exceptionalism has only encouraged blood-shed and made peace impossible. The gospel of love and sacrifice is the only way towards peaceful co-existence and lasting brotherhood and sisterhood in the world. The fundamental lesson of Isaiah 66, whence our first reading is the importance of seeing God as a God of unity and peace. Yesteryear, God started the initiative for a universalism which takes every human being as important and loved. That initiative needs disciples and crusaders today to promote it, without which violence, anarchy and chaos will overtake humanity. The balkanization of the Caucasus and the threat to a possible disintegration of European Union, a hard earned unity, are palpable summons for universal unity among human beings.
Jesus takes very seriously the need for unity above other earthly needs, so much so that those he sent out were forbidden to carry with them earthly means of sustenance – “Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals” (Luke 10:3). Humanly invented religions, economic policies and forms of government cannot bring about peace and unity except the example of the life of Jesus Christ. The vulnerability of a messenger of peace is the first weapon of a crusader of peace. Military empowerment and absolute trust in technological powers only encourage the domination of one people or race over another. The vulnerability of a person with no money, weapons of war and clothing, just to repeat the three in Jesus’s injunction to his disciples in our gospel today, before a hostile world – lambs among wolves – is the revealer of our real selves. Those who accept the vulnerability of constructing a new world order on the basis of personal risks to their lives, with no confidence reposed in war machinery and financial manipulation, are the authentic children of God and genuine builders of peace and harmony among human beings. Every peace and unity built on economic and military might will collapse, and only those people without affiliation to God are its architects! A Christian imitates Christ: “It is true he was crucified out of weakness, but he lives by the power of God. We too are weak in him, but we live with him by God’s power in us” (2 Corinthians 13:4).
When the preoccupation of a religion and nation is economic, political and military power and dominance, war and violence are not far fetched. It is the realization of human weakness and the experience of fragility and vulnerability that puts human beings in contact with God. God died in Jesus Christ in weakness not in strength. The second lesson of today, from the gospel, is the power of reform, from a culture of power to that of weakness. This “weakness” actually means moral power not military and economic power. Reform gets its power from moral empowerment. Moral bankruptcy reveals itself in the crave for human control through military intrigues and political maneuvers. The ugly inauthenticity of religion rears its ugly head in repression of freedom and hierarchically contrived definition of power and legal enforcement of law rather than the power of an exemplary life.
Talking about the impact of religious and racial violence, Paul of Tarsus is qualified to advise us, on the basis of his personal experiences: because he suffered danger at sea, danger on land, persecution from fellow Jews, risk of robbery, etc (2 Corinthians 11:26). So, when Paul talks of the non-importance of circumcision and uncircumcision, but a new creation, that was borne out of person experiences and not simply from imagination. It is the person who suffers from insecurity who knows the power of weakness. Hence, “Let the real me appear: the power of reform,” summarizes the life and message of Paul in our second reading today and proves that that is a possibility for every authentic Christian. What Christ did is also doable in the life of a Christian. Paul, the persecutor of Christians, became a persecuted Christian. What he considered strength and power, he now considers as mere rubbish. In fact, here are his words, according to our second reading: “may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6:). This is a total and 360 degrees transformation. This same transformation is the only way out of our contemporary disunity, and the only true recipe for a viable cosmopolitan unity, peace and happiness.
As we start a new week, it is worth the while to be agents of self and human transformation. To do this, moral uprightness and love of vulnerability are helpful tips to consider. Just consider the futility of the multiplication of gun and bomb violence, without humanity being better for it! Think about the division engendered by World Wars, Japanese and Islamic suicide bombers, and the fragmentation of humanity those acts continue to propagate today. Indeed, if it is true that the instinct for self-preservation is highest in every human being, the Christian version is the instinct for seeking love and peace. Consequently, it’s high time we revealed that core of our humanity – let the real us, seekers of love and peace, appear; only moral reform will lead us there, not violence but love of all!
Assignment for the Week:
Think of a way to preserve a human life this week.
Thank you Father for those beautiful insights…