January 31,
2013 Daniel
Daring Daniel's
previous reflections
Sunday 4C: Open
your mind; enlarge your heart
Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19; 1 Corinthians
12:31-13:13; Luke 4:21-30
I watched his crusade on TV. Richard, an American pastor, came to Nigeria to preach the Gospel. Thousands of people gathered at the stadium. He assured them that they were going to witness the mighty deeds of God. In the course of his preaching, the people brought a woman to the stage. He asked them what was happening and they announced that she was just healed from her deafness. Richard asked everybody to be quiet, moved away from the woman, and then whispered: ‘Do you hear me?’ ‘Yes, sir,’ – was her response. While the whole stadium went wild praising God for this miraculous sign, I was asking myself: ‘How can he do such things?’ Then in my anger and frustration, a malicious thought entered my mind: ‘Maybe it was just staged for that TV documentary.’
The
people of Nazareth heard Jesus’ words of grace and could not comprehend how
this son of Joseph was able to preach in such a powerful way. “ ‘Where did
this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?’ they asked. ‘Isn’t
this the carpenter’s son?’ ” (Matthew 13:55, cf. Luke 4:22). Answering
their doubts Jesus exposed their prejudices and lack of faith.
Prejudice
Sidon, the country of a widow in Zarephath, and Syria, the country of Naaman, were constant threats to Israel’s independence and the purity of their religion. The worshipers of many gods and enemies of Jewish people, Sidonians and Syrians were definitively the enemies of God. At least that was what people presumed to be so. And yet Jesus reminded them that the great prophets of the past, Elijah and Elisha, were used by God to provide for the widow from Zarephath and to heal Naaman, the Syrian soldier.
Prejudice against or in favor of somebody is an unreasonable dislike of or preference very often based on his/her race, religion or even sex. There was recently an international job fair in Bangkok, Thailand, and a friend of mine, an English teacher with a lot of experience commented that the Filipinos were discriminated against during the whole affair. The international community seems to have an image of a Filipino as a domestic worker, not as a highly skilled professional. On the other hand, in its desire to learn English, Asian countries eagerly hire any native speaker of English without even considering whether s/he has the necessary qualifications. We do not fare better when it comes to the issue of religion. It is enough that your look resembles a Muslim and you are going to be picked up by the security service at any international airport. On the other hand, try to visit Saudi Arabia or Bhutan and dare to read your Bible or pray your rosary. You will be lucky if you end up being sent back home without spending years in jail.
Jesus
exposes our prejudices and helps us to realize that God is the God of all
humankind, concerned for the salvation of every person. Jesus reveals to us the
face of God, who “does not show favoritism, but accepts men from every nation
who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35).
Problem
with faith
There were many widows in Elijah’s time. I wonder why they did not shelter the prophet in their homes. Why did Elijah have to go all the way to Sidon to find a widow who would offer him a place to stay? There were many lepers in the time of Elisha. I wonder why they did not approach the prophet with a request for healing. What moved Naaman to go all the way from Syria in order to meet Elisha? Jesus indirectly suggests that these two foreigners believed in the word of God that was spoken to them. The widow of Zarephath was readying herself to die, having only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug, when Elijah told her: “Don’t be afraid. . . . For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not be run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land’ ” (1 Kings 17:13-14). After hearing from a young Israelite girl the assurance that the prophet from Samaria would cure him of leprosy (2 Kings 5:3), Naaman did not think twice but took 340 kg of silver, 70 kg of gold, clothing and a letter of recommendation from his king to the king of Israel and went to the prophet expecting healing.
Faith is often understood as a religion to which you belong. We use to describe people by saying that s/he is a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and so on. Faith can be described as strong religious belief. There are people who believe that the world is flat, there are those who believe that there is life on other planets of the universe, and there are those who believe that in near future science and economics will solve all the problems of humankind. The people in the synagogue of Nazareth strongly believed in God, and Judaism was their religion.
But
faith can be also defined as trust,
trust that God has the ability to do what he has promised. And this disturbing
characteristic of faith often reveals that deep down in our hearts we are
unbelievers. Yes, we adhere to Christian faith; yes, we believe in God and
accept the teaching of our Church. But, do we trust? Do we trust that God can
provide for our needs as He did for the widow in Zarephath? Do we trust that God
can heal us as He healed Naaman? The most disturbing passage I have found in the
Bible is this: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what
I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going
to the Father” (John 14:12). It is disturbing, because, as I look around, I
hardly see myself and many of my brothers and sisters in faith doing what Jesus
had been doing. Jesus unveils our lack of trust in God in order to remind us
that it is not enough to adhere to a certain religion and declare, from time to
time, belief in God. Jesus unveils our lack of trust to help us realize that
faith is a close relationship with Him who is able to provide, heal, forgive,
and gift us with life that last for ever.
Conclusion
I put off the TV and sat in quietness. I tried to take out of my mind that malicious thought, but it kept coming. I was jealous and angry. I was jealous that this pastor could do what I could not, and I was angry about it. Then I felt ashamed. I began to pray for that pastor, giving thanks that Jesus was able to use him so powerfully to bring healing and salvation to so many people. As my prayer continued, my thoughts changed and I was able to realize how full of prejudices my heart is and how small my faith is. Jesus’ countrymen wanted to throw him down the cliff for exposing their prejudices and lack of faith in God (Luke 4:29). But there is a better way then that. We can face the truth about ourselves, and ask Him to open our minds, and enlarge our hearts, so we will be able to rejoice at seeing God’s grace working in and through people of different Christian denominations and different religions.