Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalm 1; 1Corinthians 15:12, 16-20; Luke 6:17, 20-26
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Trust in God
Fr. Daniel Evbotokhai
In the Gospel we have St. Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. Sometimes called “Sermon on the plain” because, according to Luke, Jesus came down from the mountain and stopped in a place which was flat and there He delivered the beatitudes. In Matthew’s Gospel, this same sermon was given on the mountain (Matt 5:1) and so it bears the name “Sermon on the Mount.” In Luke, the sermon is shorter and more radical. It contains four blessings and four curses contrasted – poverty/riches; hunger/fullness; sorrow/laughter and defamation/commendation. However our attitudes shall determine our fates. Therefore, the beatitudes are Christ’s commentaries on our attitudes. As a Christian, what can be said of your of your attitude? Both the first reading and the psalm today highlight the fact that trust in God is the best attitude of Christians (Cf. Jer17:8 and Ps. 1).
Recounting the beatitudes; Christ highlighted two basic attitudes: The attitude of the poor and the attitude of the rich.
The Attitude of the Poor: In Luke 6:24 of today’s gospel Jesus says “Blessed are the poor; woe to you that are rich”. Similarly, in Matt.19:24 Jesus says “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Many people have misconstrued the biblical meaning of poverty. For them a poor man is saved and a rich man will die in hell. Listen, whether you are rich or poor is insignificant to salvation; hell or heaven is a function of your attitude. A poor man with bad character can go to hell and a rich man with good character can make heaven. Beloved, attitude is everything. Therefore, the biblical understanding of a poor man is one who pours his heart to God that is, one who trust in the Lord not in riches. Whether you are rich or poor inasmuch as you trust in the Lord not riches you might be saved. (Cf. Ps. 20:7; Ps. 33:16; Ps.125:1; 1 Sam. 17:45).
The Attitude of the Rich: In Luke 6:24 Jesus says “…woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” Who is a rich man? A rich man attributes glory to himself and the gospel says the Lord grieve over the rich because they have found their consolation. They see all their achievement as a function of their might and skills. A rich man is one who feels that because of his wealth he has no need for God. Jesus described a rich man in Luke 12:20 as a fool; He says he looked as his barn said ‘my soul relax, eat and be merry’ however, that night the bible says God came and said to him you fool, this night your soul is demanded of you. Speaking about the attitude of the rich; Jeremiah says in the first reading; “cursed is the man who trust in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert and shall not see any good come….” (17:5-7). Therefore be careful when you think money can solve everything Prov. 11:28 those who trust in their riches will fall but the righteous will be like a green leaf. Psalm 1:3 says “he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
The way forward: We must learn to trust in God at all times. Irrespective of riches or poverty absolute trust in God is the best attitude. The second reading reminds us that we must detach our hearts from earthly riches; this world is but a fleeting moment. Our full and final life will come later.
LET US PRAY
O God, who teach us that you abide in hearts that are just and true, grant that we may be so fashioned by your grace as to become a dwelling pleasing to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
TWO TYPES OF TRUST
Fr Galadima Bitrus (OSA)
Trusting is generally defined as “believing in the reliability or ability of someone or something.” The readings today invite us to reflect on and make a choice between believing in the reliability and ability of God and believing in the reliability and ability of our human nature (1st Reading), and between believing in the reliability and ability of the Gospel which has been handed down to us over the last two Millenia and believing in the reliability and ability of the gospel of our own likeness and imagination (2nd Reading), as well as between believing in the reliability and ability of the satisfaction that comes from worldly possessions and believing in the reliability and ability of the satisfaction that comes from God (Gospel Reading).
The 1st Reading (Jer 17:1-5) contrasts two types of trusting (bāṭaḥ), one in the human nature (’ādām) and the other, in the Lord (Yahweh). In each case, the imagery of a young, able-bodied man in the prime of his life (géḇer), is invoked as the trusting subject. Thus, trusting is portrayed as a free choice, not a necessity or the result of being in a weak condition.
The issue here is not about trusting in another person but in the human nature or humanity, hence, the choice of the term, ’ādām, which indicates humanity, further clarified by the parallel synonymic statement, “the one who sets the flesh (bāśār) as his strength (zerō‘ô).” Such a young, able-bodied man who trusts in his human nature is characterized as one whose heart (lēḇ) turns away (yāsȗr) from the Lord.
The heart in the Hebrew mentality represents the inner man, both the mind (understanding) and the will (where one’s decisions and choices emanate). Therefore, the one whose heart turns away from the Lord is the one whose entire being and existence have turned away from the Lord and have rather turned only unto his human abilities.
Such a one is reminded, however, of the fragility of humanity in which he trusts: it is ’ādām, that is soil, and it is bāśār, that is, flesh. It is compared to a shrub in the desert valley which cannot see when good comes, but is just lying in the desert, in a barren land, unable to make it a dwelling place, unable to blossom. This is how insecure the life of one trusting in human nature is. Such a life is adjudged as akin to living under a curse or misfortune (’ārȗr), helplessly headed towards disaster.
This is contrasted with the blessed life of one who trusts in the Lord, which is comparable to a tree transplanted into the waters, whose roots are cast into the stream, hence, has nothing to fear when heat comes: its foliage will remain fresh and in the year of drought it is not anxious and does not cease bearing fruit.
Note that the one who trusts in the Lord is described as a “tree” and the one who trusts in humanity is described as a “shrub”. Despite the relative strength of the tree, it is still planted in a favourable environment: in water with its roots cast in the stream. As such, it is doubly secured, hence, not anxious even in difficult times of drought but continuous to bear fruit. But the shrub, despite its relative fragility, is still exposed to harsh conditions of desert life: it is doubly insecure.
The psalmist characterizes the life of the righteous person who delights in the law of the Lord in terms similar to Jeremiah’s characterization of the man who trusts in the Lord: “He is like a tree that is planted beside flowing waters, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves shall never fade, and all that he does shall prosper” (Ps 1:3).
This passage, therefore, exposes the nature of trusting in our human nature versus trusting in the Lord, thus inviting us to choose this day whom we will trust.
The 2nd Reading (1 Cor 15:12-20) is a summary of the Gospel which Paul preached, described from four angles: its transmission, its observance, its promise of salvation and its content. Regarding its transmission, Paul speaks of “the Gospel that I preached to you and which you have received” (15:1a); of its observance, he speaks of it as “the Gospel in which also you stand” (15b); regarding its promise of salvation, Paul says, it is “the Gospel through which also you are being saved if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you” (15:2).
Note that when talking about the Gospel’s promise of salvation, Paul adds a conditional statement, “if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you”, clearly showing that while Christ’s salvation is offered unconditionally in the preaching of the Gospel, its bearing fruit in one’s life is conditioned on one’s acceptance of it, one’s standing in it and one’s holding firmly to its message.
The content of the Gospel is the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus and its implication for the salvation of humanity: “that Christ died for our sins, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared” to several persons. Here Paul underscores the centrality of the resurrection of Christ: there can be no Gospel without the resurrection message. Without the resurrection message, the Christian faith has no value: no forgiveness of sins, no eternal life, to die is to perish.
Today, our Churches are fast becoming centres of entertainment and business schools, manufacturing a prosperity-oriented gospel instead of a gospel that looks unto salvation made possible by the crucified and resurrected Christ. As a result, the resurrection of Christ and its implication for our own resurrection has been pushed either totally out of our proclamation of the Gospel or to a marginal place.
This reading calls on us to bring back the resurrection message of the Gospel to the centre stage, to preach the Gospel as it has been handed down to us, to stand in it and live by it, knowing that it is only by holding firm to it that we shall be saved through it.
The Gospel Reading (Lk 6:17.20-26) is the account of Jesus’ discourse on the plain, according to Luke, which parallels Matthew’s account of Jesus’ discourse on the mountain (cf. Mt 5-7). It would seem that by situating the discourse on the plain, Luke repurposes for his Gentile audience Matthew’s Jewish-addressed discourse which associates Moses and Jesus through the idea of the mountain.
Thus, where Matthew situates the programmatic discourse of Jesus on the mountain to bring out the association of Jesus and Moses (with Moses receiving the commandments while Jesus is delivering the beatitudes), Luke situates this all-important discourse of Jesus in the plain, for his Gentile (Greco-Roman) audience for whom important discourses take place, not on mountains, but rather, in amphitheatres, which are open spaces designed to accommodate really great crowds. Luke, in fact, describes the audience of Jesus as consisting of “a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon” (6:1).
Like the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading, Jesus contrasts the blessed (Hb, “bārȗk” or “’ašrê”; Gk, “makarios”) and the cursed (Hb, “’ārȗr”; Gk, “oùaì”). The condition of the blessed or fortunate reflects the consequences of the choice not find one’s satisfaction in the world (the poor, the hungry, the mourning and the persecuted by choice) in order to enjoy the satisfaction only God can give, while the condition of the cursed or unfortunate reflects their fundamental option to seek ultimate satisfaction in being rich, full, merry and praised in the world.
Our world is experiencing an intensification of greed for power, wealth and fame. The beatitudes remind us of the shallow and transient nature of the satisfaction that worldly power, wealth and fame can offer, thus inviting us to seek the satisfaction that God alone offers. In that way, we will become “like the tree that is planted beside flowing waters, that yields its fruit in due season and whose leaves shall never fade” (Ps 1:3) or like the tree planted in water, whose roots are cast into the stream, having nothing to fear when heat comes, with ever-fresh foliage even in the year of drought, never anxious and never ceasing to bear fruit (cf. Jer 17:8).
May the Lord help us to discern the things that truly have bearing on our true happiness and give us the courage to choose them! Amen! Have a blessed week!
Put your trust in God and you will never be disappointed
Rev. Fr. Stephen Udechukwu
One of the most important aspects of every business is trust. A businessman who is not trusted by his customers is doomed; in fact such business cannot stand. That a business is blossoming is based on the quality of trust customers have on such business. Again one great ingredient that makes marriage to work is trust. I believe no man and woman can come together if there is no trust. Marriage begins to have problems once both couples lack trust in each other. The presence of trust in whatever we do can bring about greatness while its absence is capable of ruining an age long empire. As much as trust is very important in our dealings with each other, it is much more important in our relationship with God. In fact we cannot truly serve God if we don’t trust him. And sometimes as children of God, we may not enjoy his blessings if we do not trust him hence psalm 9:10 says that God has never forsaken those who trust in him. Daniel enjoyed God’s blessings because he trusted in God. The threat of being thrown into the lion’s den did not shake Daniel’s trust in God. The book of Daniel 6:23 says that “king Darius was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” And then he made a decree in V. 26 that people should revere and fear the God of Daniel throughout his kingdom all because Daniel trusted in God.
After Israel inhabited the Promised Land God sent various prophets and leaders to speak His Word and lead the people before they had a king and Gideon was one of these judges. God called Gideon in Judges 6:11-24 to lead Israel into battle with the Midianites. The Midianites army had about 135,000 soldiers while Gideon gathered an army of 22,000 men. However, God told Gideon in Judges 7:4 that there were too many men in the army and through a selection process they were reduced to three hundred men in Judges 7:6. How can three hundred men fight 135, 000 men?. It looked like an impossible mission. But Gideon trusted in God and the Lord brought him victory.
Again God called Abraham in Gen. 12 and told him to leave his country, his family and his father’s house and go to a land he knew nothing about. Because of trust Abraham at an old age of seventy five as we are told in Genesis 12:4 left his land to an unknown land. Sometimes I continue to marvel at the story of Hagar even though nothing much was said about her in the bible. Sarah had become impatient waiting for God to fulfill His promise of a son, so she decided to have a child through Hagar. Hagar was given to Abraham to marry, but, because she was a servant, she had no say in the matter but to do as her mistress had commanded. When Hagar became pregnant, Sarah realized her mistake. She complained to Abraham in Genesis 16:5 and Abraham told her in V.6, “your slave is in your power, do with her as you please.” And Sarah dealt harshly with Hagar, forcing her to run away. She ran into the wilderness where an angel came and told her to return to Sarah. Hagar returned to Sarah, and soon Ishmael was born. In Genesis 21. Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, the son promised to them many years earlier. Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. Sarah saw Ishmael scoffing at Isaac at the feast and again went to complain to her husband. Abraham was troubled because of the problems between Sarah and Hagar, but the Lord told him, in Genesis 21:13 “From the son of your maid servant I will also form a nation”. So, Abraham gave Hagar some bread and water, and she left with her son to wander in the wilderness. When the bread and water were gone, Hagar decided to simply sit down and wait for Ishmael to die. But an angel visited her a second time in Genesis 21:17 and told her, “Fear not, for God has heard the cry of the boy.” Again she is told Ishmael will be a great nation. When the angel left, Hagar saw a well and gave Ishmael water to drink.
Hagar is only briefly mentioned in the Bible, but she is an example of great trust in God. Twice she was visited by an angel and told to do something difficult. The first time she was told to return to her mistress in Genesis 16:5. She knew that as a servant she could be severely punished for running away, but she trusted that God would protect her and went back to Sarah. The second time the angel visited, she was in the middle of the wilderness with no water while waiting for her son to die, and she was told not to give up all hope. We know she trusted God this time as well because in Genesis 21:20-21 we are told the child grew up and eventually married.
Where do you place your trust, in human beings or in money? It was the great sin of the Israelites to always flee to foreign and idolatrous nations to help them and to repose their confidence in them. They insulted and ignored the God who has been so good to them through the ages. They trusted in human powers instead of trusting in God as we see in 2 Chron 16:1-9, 28:16-20, Isa 30:1-2, 31:1-2. The Prophet Jeremiah has been foretelling consequences for the people of Judah because of this sin. And so Jeremiah makes a prophecy against them and says “cursed is the man who trusts in man…whose heart turns away from God ” but “blessed is the man who trusts in God. He is like a tree planted by water…” Where then do we belong?. Because some of us trust in men and wealth, we accumulate riches at the expense of the poor, we exploit society, we cheat one another and do all kinds of evil for the sake of money. To this kind of people Jesus expresses pity for them in the gospel reading and says “woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation”. God pronounces curses on the people of Israel who look for alliance with men and abandon their God. But many of us too are in their category. Many of us have abandoned God thinking that he doesn’t hear prayers. Today students form alliances with lecturers for marks, workers trust in their boss for survival, wives worship their husbands as gods etc. When you find yourself in the problems of life, sometimes the tendency is to turn your back on God and think that He has forgotten you. This is the time when you should cleave harder to the Lord.
It is interesting to note that Hagar was an Egyptian and most likely did not grow up believing in God. It is possible that she overheard Abraham and Sarah talking about God, but there is no record of anyone actually talking to Hagar about the God. Perhaps she saw how Sarah was blessed with a child in her old age and this gave her the faith to know that God always keeps his promises. We may not know why, but for some reason Hagar did not question the angel at the different times he appeared to her. She did not try to argue with the angel or offer alternative ideas, as we so often try to do. She simply did as she was told, and God watched over her each time. If Hagar was able to completely trust in God even though she had very little knowledge of Him, how much more should we who continue to hear about him all day and even have the bible and other materials about him put our trust in Him. We can read of many examples of faithful people in the Bible putting their trust in the Lord during difficult times. Why are we not able to do the same? Remember Proverbs 29:25 says, “Whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” Let us therefore put our trust in God no matter what the situation might be and all will be fine for our God is a God who fulfills his promises and that is why he said in Matthew 23:35 that “heaven and earth will pass away but his word will never pass away.
HAPPY SUNDAY AND GOD BLESS YOU.
