Faithfulness of God

Today’s Gospel Text: In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechari'ah, of the division of Abi'jah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechari'ah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechari'ah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; 15 for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Eli'jah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared." 18 And Zechari'ah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." 19 And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." 21 And the people were waiting for Zechari'ah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained dumb. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home 24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, 25 "Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men."  Luke 1:5-25

Reflection: What is it that enables people to persevere, despite all odds, is a mystery which at times throws up some insights into the beauty of perseverance, when we delve into it deeply.

 We have a beautiful example in Zechariah and Elizabeth as a faith couple: "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years." (vss. 6-7)

This was definitely not a rosy situation; for this couple to be found righteous before God and walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, that too blamelessly.

Anyone else in their place would have given up on God much before their time.

How many of us can say we have been faithful in our basic duty towards God; maybe just that daily fixed time with God, being in his presence in prayer or reading his word prayerfully.

We could be failing in this badly or may have given in to despair.

Satan’s greatest weapon against those who are serious about their walk with Christ is to lead them to despair so as to push them to give up on God or doubt God's faithfulness. 

How often we may have felt with a dejected heart and given in to despair, that God does not answer my prayers or does not respond to my petitions.

The scripture constantly assures us that God is faithful, this does not mean that God will give us whatever we ask for, it means that God always answers our prayers, because he is faithful.

Which means sometimes his answer is no to our request, because he has better things in store for us, even eternity. 

The Holy couple of scripture are shining examples of God’s answer to their prayers which may have been always “No” till an opportune time they had a son who would usher in the Savior of the World.

Prayer: Lord, grant me a spirit of fortitude, that I may never give up on you and trust boldly in  your faithfulness.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Uselessness of Good Deed

Today’s Gospel Text: And behold, one came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" 17 And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." 18 He said to him, "Which?" And Jesus said, "You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 20 The young man said to him, "All these I have observed; what do I still lack?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. Matt 19:16-22

Reflection: That man in the gospel was much more perfect than the many of who are still worse off. He tells Jesus that he has observed the good commandments of the giver of all good: God himself.

If that man, even after keeping all the commandments perfectly, felt that he lacked something that could prevent his entering into life eternal, then what would happen to the many who falter in every bit of the commandment or who break even one of them?

In the light of the young man’s experience of life and that too in the presence of Jesus, who scripture reveals will be the ultimate to judge the living and the dead, the above question becomes a serious issue for reflection.

What chances do those who follow their conscience or still follow a religion of justification by the law stand? What chances do those who are looked upon as good people, because of their honesty and sincerity, stand in order to enter into eternal life? 

What chances can those who sincerely think that they can and will enter eternal life, purely on the merits of their good works, stand?

As for me, though the young man was sincere in every detail and spoke truthfully, in keeping with his self judgment, he was still not following the commandments perfectly as it was required. Was he still being dishonest? In keeping with his subjective conscience he was not dishonest either; that’s the limitation of our conscience and its knowing!

But fortunately for that man, somewhere in his heart he still felt convicted that he lacked something. That something was his imperfect love of God, the breaking of the first and primary commandment.

Most of us fail in keeping this commandment of loving God and thus even falter and walk imperfectly in the practice of the other commandments too.

Prayer: Lord, may my conscience be ever alive to the promptings of your Holy Spirit and that I may love you above all things.  

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Follow Him

Scripture/Bible:  And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: 'Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" 20 And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth." 21 And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 22 At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." Mark 10:17-27

Reflection:  Finally, we have a man, a rich young man, who had all the self confidence of an apparent faith. Though he seemed unsure of eternal life but he seemed very sure of his rights. He seemed sure that he was the child of God and if he followed certain rules and ethics of life he would inherit God’s Kingdom.

The facts that he used the word ‘inherit’ smacks of a certain kind of arrogance based on confidence, sonship and rights.  Only a son or a close relative can seek to inherit and if it is a son then he can demand his share of inheritance, as in the above Gospel text above.

If anyone thought that following the commandments or selling everything is enough to inherit eternal life, then you are wrong.

You have to first acknowledge your true state, which is evil and steeped in sin: “No one is good but God alone.”  (vs. 18)

The rich young man failed to see this element and hence Jesus had to remind him about the commandments he needed to keep; “Yet, if it had not been for the law, I should not have known sin.” Rom 7:7 And he needed to be reminded of the commandments so that he may know his true worth.

But it made little impact on the man whose conscience failed to show him his defects in the light of God’s perfect law and its limitations. 

For though he seemed to have kept God’s law perfectly, he missed out on the most important commandment which Jesus had not pointed out to him so far; to love the Lord your God with all your heart….……more than your possessions too.

From this we know that the rich young man missed out on that truth which clearly says that we need to love the Lord our God more than our possessions of wealth and money, image and false sense righteousness based on the law. .

Prayer: “Restore us, O God of hosts; let thy face shine, that we may be saved!”  Ps 80:7

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us