Sunday readings in brief 27 A
Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalms 79(80); Philippians 4:6-9; Mathew 21:33-43
Christian Responsibility: What is expected of a Christian.
Dear friends, Christianity is a way of life, a course of conduct, a path of virtue. As such, Christians are expected to conduct their lives in a certain manner, distinguishing themselves from worldliness. This path of life is not an ideology but an imitation of Jesus of Nazareth the Christ of God. Whatever God wanted human beings to know and live he has told it all in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1). All a Christian needs to do in order to be on that path is to imitate Him.
Now, in order to imitate someone, one needs to know that person deeply. Christians ought to grow in the knowledge of Christ every day by listening to his teachings. The Holy Scriptures are the doorway to comprehending Christ and his revelation about the Kingdom of God.
Christianity is not a passive lifestyle but an active one with many responsibilities towards the self and the world around. A Christian is expected to bear good fruits (Jn 15:16). In the first reading, Isaiah compares Israel with the vineyard and the Lord as the owner. A good farmer prepares his vineyard well before sowing the seeds and in return, he expects it to bear fruits. He puts a fence around it to protect it from the intruders. He removes all the obstacles and cleans it of all weeds. God prepared the people of Israel to bear the fruits of his plan of salvation for humanity. However, the people of Israel bore bad fruits of iniquity instead of Justice.
In baptism, God prepares the vine of our lives by cleaning us of all infirmities inherited from our parents (original sin). He saves us by the blood of his son poured on the cross. He surrounds us with his grace and keeps us safe from the evil one. In return, God expects us to bear fruits of love, justice, and peace. On the contrary, people who are baptized are the ones who hate more, commit more injustice, and disrupt peace. Starting from the family, we see how baptized people commit despicable atrocities. People who carry around Christian names are the most corrupt civil servants who plunder the plight of the poor by misappropriating public resources that are supposed to improve the quality of life.
While doing all this, humans tend to forget that God is watching. When we are caught and action is taken against us, we complain or politicize the matters. We cry foul when things turn against us and we lose everything. What we do not realize is that God has long removed the fence around us. No one can understand this more than the farmers who live with pastoralists or wild animals. In order to harvest the grains, the farmers have to spend a lot of resources to guard their fields from the day of sowing the seeds to harvest. I have seen how the animals can clear the whole field in minutes and leave it devastated. We really do not want God to remove the fence of his care and protection around us. Better to have challenges surrounded by the grace of God than to have his protection withdrawn from us. Better to be poor but with God on our side than rich without his presence.
In the Gospel passage today, Jesus tells a parable meant to criticize the elders of Israel who were charged with the responsibility of leading the people to God. Instead, they occupied themselves with their selfish businesses and when the prophets warned them, they put them to death. Finally, God sent his Son but they killed him by hanging him on a cross. What they did not know was that time had arrived when their stubbornness was no longer tolerable. Christianity was born in these circumstances. With Christ coming, responsibility was shifted from dynasties to individuals. The law of justice was to be written in every man’s and woman’s heart so that each one could answer for themselves. However, still, we have people who have been given more responsibility to bring people closer to Jesus and teach them how to be like him.
The Church leaders are the farmers in the vineyard of the Lord. They are expected to tend well to the people of God and bear fruits. The missionaries, for example, are people sent by the Church to bring Christ to the people who have never heard of him or have not understood him well. They are the light to them. They are supposed to help them see the light and transform their lifestyles. They are supposed to be close to them and in the words of Pope Francis “smell like them”. However, they are not expected to be like them but help them to be like Christ.
At the beginning of evangelization in Africa, the missionaries worked hard to bring people to believe in Jesus. They contributed enormously to establishing the local Church. Some gave their last breath to the mission and their fruits are what has become the vibrant local Church. However, some missionaries made a big blunder whose consequences are being felt even today. They thought that immersing themselves into the local cultures and becoming like the people and even dressing like them was the best way to evangelize. They compromised basic Christian truths and values to mobilize mass baptisms in the Church. They spent fortunes to maintain the people in the Churches by giving clothes, food handouts, and other items. They took the responsibility of educating the children from the parents. Now that those days of donations have gone, the people feel abandoned and devastated. It was like finding people bathing in dirty water, removing one’s clothes, and joining them. Many years down the line, the local people have not embraced fully the Gospel. The missionary is supposed to show the people the correct way to imitate Christ. To help people be like Jesus and not to make Jesus look like the people and convert to their traditional practices.
If people live a way of life that they have not fully understood or are convinced of, they tend always to return to their old ways. Popular crusades that lead to mass baptisms and emotionally charged worship do not demonstrate faith but a wave of psychological satisfaction that comes and goes by the wind. It is not long before those who seemed to be at the highest pick of spiritual ecstasy drop back to what they understand better – their traditions.
Being a Christian is a journey full of challenges and not a hideout from responsibilities. The devil does not take vacations. It requires dedication, devotion, commitment, and hard work to maintain Christian living. A Christian is supposed to be the light and salt to the world. A Christian civil servant is supposed to deliver faithfully his or her responsibilities to the people he or she serves and so do all other service renders private or public. Many prophets have emerged with packages of goodies and miracles that are attractive to naive people. They are preaching how one can succeed without hard work and richness without sweating. We can call this “conmanship” in the name of Jesus. People should keep away from such. God himself worked and commanded man and woman to work (Gen 1:1-28).
My dear friends, today we have a choice to make. We have to decide whether we will imitate Jesus of Nazareth who was a hard worker, compassionate to the poor but firm on his teachings on the kingdom of God, or of Jesus on the streets and crusades from Sunday to Sunday who will do everything for us without us having to do anything.
Have a responsible Sunday.
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 