Homily (Reflection) for the Twenty-Ninth
Sunday of the Year (A) (22nd October, 2017) on the Gospel
Is 45:1.4-6;Ps 95:1.3-5.7-10. (R.v.7);
1Thess 1:1-5;
Matt 22:15-21.
There is a story in Father Gerard
Fuller’s book, Stories for all seasons
about John Wesley’s three-point sermon. During this sermon, his first point was
“Get all you can.” To this, an old rich miser said, “Amen.” Next Wesley said,
“Keep all you can.” Again, the miser said, “Amen.” Then the preacher said,
“Give all you can.” And the selfish man said, “What a shame to spoil a good
sermon”.
Topic:
Giving to Emperor what is Emperor’s.
As I reflect on today’s gospel,
Jesus’ reply to the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodians who were sent
to entrap him: “… Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the
emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt 22:21) reminds me of lots of things people who belong to
different Christian denominations do. Hence, I consider this reply a good
material for our Christian reflection.
Some of the actions people try to justify with this reply
are quite contrary to the will of God. We shall consider some of these from two
perspectives – seeing Christianity as opposing whatever the civil authority
decrees whether good or bad and secondly, the syncretistic practices among
Christians today.
For many Christians today, one of the major characteristics of
Christians is opposing everything other than what his/her church says no matter
how stupid. To engage in whatever others who are not members of the same church
do is sinful and as such should not be condoned. This has increased the
disunity in the world and continues to impoverish many communities. Some Christians
fulfil their civic responsibilities only when there is no escape route. In his
letter to the Romans, Paul writes:
Let every person be subject to the
governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those
authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists
authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur
judgement. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad…. do what is
good, and you will receive approval (Rom.
13: 1-3).
Going further we read,
For the same reason you also pay
taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. Pay
to all what is due them – taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue
is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due (Rom 13: 6-7).
And for some Christians, giving to the emperor the things
that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s is a licence to
syncretistic practices. Hence you see one person consulting both his/her priest
(pastor) and a diviner, booking Masses and at the same time offering sacrifices
to different deities, and so on. According to people of this kind, consulting
the priest, booking Masses and other religious activities are giving to God
whereas consulting the diviners, offering to the idols and other fetish
activities symbolize giving to emperor. Considering how rampant such practices
are today, it is important to find out what God wants from his children? In his
first letter to the Corinthians Saint Paul writes:
No, I imply that what pagans
sacrifice, they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be
partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of
demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons (1Cor 10:20-21).
Furthermore in his second letter to the Corinthians, St.
Paul also writes:
Do not be mismatched with
unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness?
Or what fellowship is there between light with darkness? What agreement does
Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever? What
agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living
God (2Cor 6:14-16).
Remember,
Whoever says, ‘I have come to know
him,’ but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the
truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love
of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him:
whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ ought to walk just as he walked (1Jn 2: 4-6).
God wants us to be faithful to Him
and to the society without involving in any syncretistic activities. Every
child of God has responsibilities towards God as well as the society. Again, if
one is living outside his biological community, he/she is called to remember
God, place of his/her birth, and the place he/she is living, cf. Jer 29:7. It is wrong to be
disrespectful to the constituted authorities under the pretext of being a
Christian or even a church leader. This reminds me of a priest who yelled at
the policeman who asked him for his vehicle particulars and driver’s licence:
“Don’t you know that I am a priest? Can’t you see?” That is not what God wants.
We must fulfil our obligations to whoever we owe them. Hence, for Henry
Templeton, “Christianity does not remove you from the world and its problems;
it makes you fit to live in it, triumphantly and usefully.”
Bible Reading: Rom 13:1-7; 1Jn 2:1-17; 1Cor 10:1-32; 2Cor 6:14-7:1.
Thought for today: To what extent do you fulfil your obligations to
both the Church and the society? As you consider this, these questions might
be useful: Have you been useful to your community? Have you paid your
tax? When did you renew your vehicle particulars last? Do you drive/ride with a licence? What have you
contributed to the church? Do you pay your tithe? And so on.
Let
us pray: God, give us all
the graces necessary to be faithful to you and to the civil authorities as you
want us to be without being syncretistic – Amen.
You are
free to share this reflection with others if you consider it worthy.
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