20210817 THE PERILS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY
17 August, 2021, Tuesday, 20th Week, Ordinary Time
First reading | Judges 6:11-24 © |
'Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die'
The angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah which belonged to Joash of Abiezer. Gideon his son was threshing wheat inside the winepress to keep it hidden from Midian, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘The Lord is with you, valiant warrior!’ Gideon answered him, ‘Forgive me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, then why is it that all this is happening to us now? And where are all the wonders our ancestors tell us of when they say, “Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian.’
At this the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength now upholding you, and you will rescue Israel from the power of Midian. Do I not send you myself?’ Gideon answered him, ‘Forgive me, my lord, but how can I deliver Israel? My clan, you must know, is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least important in my family.’ The Lord answered him, ‘I will be with you and you shall crush Midian as though it were a single man.’ Gideon said to him, ‘If I have found favour in your sight, give me a sign that it is you who speak to me. I beg you, do not go away until I come back. I will bring you my offering and set it down before you.’ And he answered, ‘I will stay until you return.’
Gideon went away and prepared a young goat and made unleavened cakes with an ephah of flour. He put the meat into a basket and the broth into a pot, then brought it all to him under the terebinth. As he came near, the angel of the Lord said to him, ‘Take the meat and unleavened cakes, put them on this rock and pour the broth over them.’ Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened cakes. Fire sprang from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes, and the angel of the Lord vanished before his eyes. Then Gideon knew this was the angel of the Lord, and he said, ‘Alas, my Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!’ The Lord answered him, ‘Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die.’ Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The-Lord-is-Peace.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 84(85):9,11-14 © |
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people and his friends
and those who turn to him in their hearts.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
The Lord speaks peace to his people.
Gospel Acclamation | Ps24:4,5 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Teach me your paths, my God,
make me walk in your truth.
Alleluia!
Or: | 2Co8:9 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Jesus Christ was rich,
but he became poor for your sake,
to make you rich out of his poverty.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Matthew 19:23-30 © |
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ When the disciples heard this they were astonished. ‘Who can be saved, then?’ they said. Jesus gazed at them. ‘For men’ he told them ‘this is impossible; for God everything is possible.’
Then Peter spoke. ‘What about us?’ he said to him ‘We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.
‘Many who are first will be last, and the last, first.’
THE PERILS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Jdg 6:11-24; Mt 19:23-30]
The world today underscores the need to rely on oneself and no one else. To rely on God is being childish and naïve because there is no God, no power beyond us to help us. Those who rely on God are wasting their time praying to Him when that time could be better spent on solving our problems. In other words, we can solve all the problems of this world by ourselves. There is no God or supernatural power to save us. This is the arrogance and pride of man, even worse than that of Adam and Eve, or even the people at the Tower of Babel. Indeed, today the real idolatry is the worship of self, of one’s intelligence, power and resources.
This was the real problem of the rich man in the gospel. He had everything he wanted. He was a wealthy man with possessions. He was contented to give token worship and reverence to God. Externally, he seems to be better than those who reject God or worship idols in pagan worship. He felt that he had done his duty in giving God the honour He deserves. But in truth, he was self-reliant. He did not really need God. He could depend on himself. This is true for most rich people in the world. Even though some give the appearance that they worship God, but deep in their heart, it is only a formality. They are not sincere. This is why the Lord wanted to test the rich man to see if his heart was with God or with his possessions. “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” And the truth was revealing, “When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.” So his heart was not truly with God nor did he have real love for his fellowmen.
This was precisely the same mistake of the Israelites during the time of the Judges. Instead of relying on God, they rebelled against Him. The pattern of the history of Israel was to turn away from God when they became self-sufficient. Only when they were in trouble did they turn back to the Lord. Gideon should have known the answer when he asked the angel “Forgive me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, then why is it that all this is happening to us now? And where are all the wonders our ancestors tell us of when they say, ‘Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has deserted us; he has abandoned us to Midian.” It was not because the Lord deserted them, rather it was they who deserted the Lord. Like Jesus, God can only invite us to respond to His love but He will not force us.
God wants us to trust Him and to rely on Him so that we will never become too proud of ourselves and our achievements. Only the humble can truly serve God and their fellowmen. Otherwise, we tend to be arrogant, proud and self-righteous. In the bible, God always called weak people to serve Him. God called Moses, Gideon and prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. When he was called, Moses felt very diffident and tried to find all sorts of excuses to reject the call. He said, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Ex 3:11) He felt unworthy to be God’s spokesman, “O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” (Ex 4:10) Gideon made it clear to the Lord that he could not deliver His people for he said, “Forgive me, my lord, but how can I deliver Israel? My clan, you must know, is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least important in my family.”
But this is precisely what the Lord wants to show. The central theme of the story of Gideon is that God would work out His purpose and plan in those who are truly helpless and dependent on Him. Only those who are children can enter the Kingdom of God. If we are His messengers, then any success would belong to Him alone, not to us. As God’s servants, it must be clear that the power and strength comes from God alone. Jeremiah too protested on the basis of his unworthiness and inability. He said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy.” (Jer 1:6) But the truth is that we need not rely on our strength. God told Gideon, “Go in the strength now upholding you, and you will rescue Israel from the power of Midian. I will be with you and you shall crush Midian as though it were a single man.” To Jeremiah, the Lord said the same thing. “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you. Now I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jer 1:8f) St Paul captured these sentiments when he wrote, “But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” (2 Cor 4:7)
We must not think that Gideon and the prophets of God, or even the apostles, including St Paul, were people of great courage. They were cowardly, but because of God’s grace and His presence, their courage gradually grew from strength to strength. The apostles all ran away when Jesus was arrested by the soldiers. They came back only after the resurrection, and upon receiving the Holy Spirit were then ready to bear witness to Christ’s resurrection before the Sanhedrin and governors. So too, we must not imagine that we are ready to die for Christ, but when the time comes, God will give us the grace and strength beyond our imagination. This was what the Lord said to His disciples, “When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Mt 10:19f)
However, we must not misunderstand the Lord when He said, “I tell you solemnly, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus is not saying that the rich cannot enter the kingdom of God; only that it is more difficult. Riches and blessings need not prevent a person from serving God humbly and generously. There are many who are well-to-do and talented, yet remain humble and self-effacing in all that they do. In spite of their riches, they did not become proud or arrogant. And they are grateful and generous. Such people have received grace from God. Again, if they can be generous, it is not their work but the grace of God. This was Jesus’ response to the disciples when they were taken aback by Jesus’ remark, asking, “Who can be saved, then?” Jesus gazed at them and said, “For men this is impossible; for God everything is possible.” Indeed, it is the grace of God that makes all things possible.
Still, weak as we are, we need some signs of assurance that God will assist us and protect us. God is kind and merciful to us and will not leave us without some signs. So when Gideon asked for a sign, the angel said he would wait for Gideon to offer the sacrifice to God. The angel told Gideon, “‘Take the meat and unleavened cakes, put them on this rock and pour the broth over them.’ Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff in his hand and touched the meat and unleavened cakes. Fire sprang from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened cakes, and the angel of the Lord vanished before his eyes. Then Gideon knew this was the angel of the Lord, and he said, ‘Alas, my Lord!”
The apostles who were shocked at Jesus’ reply asked the Lord, “What about us? We have left everything and followed you. What are we to have, then?” Jesus said to him, “I tell you solemnly, when all is made new and the Son of Man sits on his throne of glory, you will yourselves sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over, and also inherit eternal life.” This was the assurance of our Lord that whatever they gave up, they would receive a hundred-fold on this earth and eternal life hereafter. Of course, the rewards on this earth would not just be worldly rewards but security, love, fellowship and joy in the Lord as they give themselves in service for the gospel. Like Gideon, those who serve Him will find peace. “The Lord answered him, ‘Peace be with you; have no fear; you will not die.’ Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it The-Lord-is Peace.” This peace no amount of money can buy for it is given by God alone.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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