20160203 THE GRAVITY OF THE SIN OF A LEADER
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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2 Samuel
24:2,8-17 ©
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King David said to
Joab and to the senior army officers who were with him, ‘Now go throughout the
tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and take a census of the people; I wish
to know the size of the population.’ Having covered the whole country, they returned
to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. Joab gave the king the
figures for the census of the people; Israel numbered eight hundred thousand
armed men capable of drawing sword, and Judah five hundred thousand men.
But
afterwards David’s heart misgave him for having taken a census of the people.
‘I have committed a grave sin’ David said to the Lord. ‘But now, Lord, I beg
you to forgive your servant for this fault. I have been very foolish.’ But when
David got up next morning, the following message had come from the Lord to the
prophet Gad, David’s seer, ‘Go and say to David, “the Lord says this: I offer
you three things; choose one of them for me to do to you.”’
So Gad
went to David and told him. ‘Are three years of famine to come on you in your
country’ he said ‘or will you flee for three months before your pursuing enemy,
or would you rather have three days’ pestilence in your country? Now think, and
decide how I am to answer him who sends me.’ David said to Gad, This is a hard
choice. But let us rather fall into the power of the Lord, since his mercy is
great, and not into the power of men.’ So David chose pestilence.
It was
the time of the wheat harvest. The Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the
morning till the time appointed and plague ravaged the people, and from Dan to
Beersheba seventy thousand men of them died. The angel stretched out his hand
towards Jerusalem to destroy it, but the Lord thought better of this evil, and
he said to the angel who was destroying the people, ‘Enough! Now withdraw your
hand.’ The angel of the Lord was beside the threshing-floor of Araunah the
Jebusite. “When David saw the angel who was ravaging the people, he spoke to
the Lord. ‘It was I who sinned;’ he said ‘I who did this wicked thing. But these,
this flock, what have they done? Let your hand lie heavy on me then, and on my
family.’
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Psalm
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Psalm 31:1-2,5-7
©
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Forgive, Lord, the
guilt of my sin.
Happy the man whose
offence is forgiven,
whose sin
is remitted.
O happy the man to
whom the Lord
imputes
no guilt,
in whose
spirit is no guile.
Forgive, Lord, the
guilt of my sin.
But now I have
acknowledged my sins;
my guilt
I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will
confess
my
offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have
forgiven
the guilt
of my sin.
Forgive, Lord, the
guilt of my sin.
So let every good man
pray to you
in the
time of need.
The floods of water
may reach high
but him
they shall not reach.
Forgive, Lord, the
guilt of my sin.
You are my hiding
place, O Lord;
you save
me from distress.
You surround me with
cries of deliverance.
Forgive, Lord, the
guilt of my sin.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Mt4:4
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Man does not live on
bread alone,
but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Jn10:27
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The sheep that belong
to me listen to my voice,
says the Lord,
I know them and they
follow me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 6:1-6 ©
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Jesus
went to his home town and his disciples accompanied him. With the coming of the
sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue and most of them were astonished
when they heard him. They said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this
wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through
him? This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and
Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And
they would not accept him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is only despised
in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house’; and he could
work no miracle there, though he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on
them. He was amazed at their lack of faith.
THE
GRAVITY OF THE SIN OF A LEADER
Many
aspire to be leaders. But not many understand the responsibilities and
the magnitude of a leader’s burden. Most people think of leadership
in terms of power, glory, honour, status and even wealth. Many fail to
realize that leaders are not only responsible to themselves but to the
community, the organization or the nation that they lead. Leaders are
ultimately accountable to God and to their people.
The
scripture readings today impress on us the grave responsibility of leaders. Every decision that a leader
makes has far reaching consequences beyond himself to his community.
Making the wrong decision could destroy not just himself or his family but the
whole nation, as in the case of David. This is true for all forms of
leadership, whether it be political, corporate or religious leadership; or
simply as parents and teachers. Their success is the community’s success
and their failure is the community’s failure. Their honor is that of the
community’s honor; so too their shame is the community’s shame.
Because
our decisions and actions have serious implications for everyone under our
charge, leaders must not take decisions or even the conduct of their personal
life lightly.
His mistakes and sins will affect the rest as well. When a father of a
family commits a crime, he brings shame to the whole family and even to the
clan. His children will suffer the shame and ridicule of the public when
he commits an offence. So it need not be professional decisions that we
make as leaders that are exposed to the world; even our personal life is on
exhibit. Failure in personal life will impinge on our credibility as
leaders. If we cannot manage our own life and our family, how can we
manage the household of God or that of the nation? “He must manage his
own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every
way for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can
he take care of God’s church?” (1 Tim 3:4f)
This
was the lesson King David learnt, albeit at great cost to the lives of his
people. He did
not think through his decision. He regretted, but it was too late.
In his impulsivenss, he ordered a census of the people so that he could
determine the strength of his army and military might. Instead of relying
on the power of God, he relied on himself and the strength of his
soldiers. It was an affront to the Lord who, in the bible, was supposedly
the Lord of Hosts, the Military commander of Israel who fought the battles for
Israel. As a result, the Lord was annoyed and angry with David and the
peoples for lacking faith and trust in Him. David was sorry for that rash
decision of his. Indeed, as leaders, how often do we do things without
thinking through the consequences and implications for our people? We
make decisions lightly without prayerful consideration and proper discernment
of the spirits. We are not in touch with our motives.
How
do we avoid such pitfalls so that we do not cause the people whom we lead and
serve to suffer the consequences of our actions? We must be aware that
the greatest sin of a leader is always the temptation to pride. Most leaders think that they know
everything. As they are used to having people at their beck and call,
they become arrogant, demanding, impatient and presumptuous. Just because
everyone defers to them and few contradict them, they begin to believe that
they are omnipotent and omniscient, knowing everything and how everything must
be done. Ironically, leaders have difficulty submitting to higher
authority, but they expect all those under their charge to submit to their
authority! The pride of a leader is always the cause of his or her
fall from grace.
When
his right hand man, Joab, advised David against conducting the census, he
refused to listen. It
would have been enough for David to trust in God, but he was too proud and
blind to his pride. And so those under a leader normally oblige, as Joab
did against his will.
Indeed,
when King David ordered the census, it was done out of pride. He
wanted to feel great about himself because of what he had done for
Israel. It is true that with King David, there was peace and prosperity
after 400 years of fighting and war. He was able to unite Judah and
Israel into one nation; and conquered the surrounding foreign nations, or at
least subjugate them.
So
too we read in the gospel that the townsfolk of Jesus’ village did not welcome
Him because of pride. The
gospel said that “most of them were astonished when they heard him. They
said, ‘Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been
granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him? This is the
carpenter, surely the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and
Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?’ And they would
not accept him.” This pride was manifested in prejudice. It was too
difficult for them to believe that someone who was amongst them and whom they
knew as a carpenter could have such eloquence and power. It was too
humiliating for them to admit that Jesus was better than them.
When
we allow pride and prejudice to colour our judgments, then we will have to
suffer the consequences of our sins. What we sow is what we reap. So too in the case of
David! Even in allowing the fruits of his sinful pride to take place, God was
merciful enough to give him three options. “So Gad went to David and told
him. ‘Are three years of famine to come on you in your country,’ he said,
‘or will you flee for three months before your pursuing enemy, or would you
rather have three days’ pestilence in your country? Now think, and decide
how I am to answer him who sends me.’”
Yet, when
we consider the sin of King David, we see there is also God’s saving grace,
even in his sinfulness. A leader does not have to be always
perfect. God does not demand that a leader be impeccable all the
times. But like King David, we must be quick and humble enough to admit
our mistakes and make amends immediately. So in his moment of folly,
David called for the census. But immediately upon realizing what he had
done, he repented.
David
was sorry for his sins that caused the people to suffer on his behalf. His sorrow for his sins is reflected in
today’s responsorial psalm. David continued to rely on the mercy of God
even in his sin and in his suffering. He said to Gad, “This is a hard choice.
But let us rather fall into the power of the Lord, since his mercy is great,
and not into the power of men.’ So, David chose pestilence.” As leaders,
we need not be perfect at all times. But we must be humble like King
David, acknowledge our failures and mistakes and learn from them, ask for
forgiveness from God and our people, and then move on.
Indeed,
the greatness of King David was because he was truly a man after the heart
of God, the Good Shepherd. He knew his weaknesses and sinfulness, but
he trusted in the Lord’s mercy and confessed his sins whenever he was
confronted or came to realization. He did not blame anyone for his woes,
whether it was his adultery with Bathsheba or the calling of the census.
He accused himself without any excuses. “Forgive, Lord, the guilt of my
sin.” He also accepted the punishment because of his sin.
He was a true leader who was willing to assume full responsibility for
his decisions and not blame his subordinates. He chose to suffer for the
rest of the nation and take the guilt upon himself and his family. He put
the safety and interests of his people before his own and even his loved
ones. Such was the kind of leadership that David displayed.
We too
are called to imitate King David when we carry our responsibilities as
leaders. We must always be conscious that as leaders, we are public
figures and no longer private citizens. Everything a leader does, whether
in his public or private capacity, is under scrutiny by the public. Our
enemies are waiting for us to make a mistake so that they can discredit us and
put us and the community or organization we lead to shame. As such,
leaders must be watchful always not just of their public life but personal life
so that we do not cause scandal and hurt our community. This is what the
scripture readings today remind us; that pride and the lack of faith will
deprive our community of the healing grace of God.
Let
the life St Paul remind us as well. “We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault
may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended
ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships,
calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,
truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for
the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good
repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and
yet are well known; as dying, and see – we are alive; as punished, and yet not
killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as
having nothing, and yet possessing everything.” (1 Cor 6:3-10)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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