Deuteronomy 13:12-18
Isaiah 41:8-16
Galatians 6:12-18
Mathew 8:23-34
Today in the tenth Sunday of the Elijah cross and
Moses church gives us the message that worship God, who is might and powerful
protector of humankind, and consider all other worldly things as worthless in
front of God. Through the four readings of today mother church wants her
members to love God more than anything in the world. So she asks her children
to get away from everything that deceives us from the love of God.
In the first reading Deuteronomy 13:12-18 we see a
warning given to Israelites against idolatry. In the first part we see the
warning given to the family members who try to draw other family members into idolatry.
And in the second part we see the warning given to the cities who lead others
to idolatry. God orders to destroy the cities which embraced idolatry. In
verses 13/13 we find that a man who is leading others to idol worship
considered as scoundrel. Scoundrel means “worthless” or good for nothing man.
Here we see that Israelites are asked to destroy all things which lead them
astray from the love and true worship of God. And the man and things which lead
them away from God’s worship is considered as useless and worthless. So here God
wants us to worship and love Him, only Him and all other worldly things which
destroys our true worship must be considered as worthless.
In Isaiah 41:8-16 we see that the power and might of
the Yahweh. Prophet Isaiah tells people that if we give prime position to
Yahweh, then do not be afraid of anything in the world. Nothing can have the
ultimate victory over the God. Here we can find that the personal presence if
Yahweh is assured by telling them do not fear. He will be their covenant, he
will strengthen them,, he will help them and uphold them. So God assures His
help to those who worship Him and gives Him prime position in their lives. That
is why in verses 15/16 it is said that the mountains and hills will be
threshed. This means that enemies of Israelites will be destroyed by Yahweh and
they are described as mountains and hills. So here we can find that those who
love God more than anything in the world and consider worldly things as
worthless will be exalted by God.
When we come to the third reading we see the same
message given to Galatians community by St. Paul. We know that Galatians
contains important information about Paul’s own life and about the beginnings
of the church. It is also a key to understanding Paul’s deep faith in Christ.
So in today’s reading Galatians 6:12-18, Paul gives his final admonitions by
telling them to love God more than anything in the world. He gives example from
his own life. He tells them that it is not circumcision and uncircumcision that
matters. What is important is to love Jesus Christ and he tells them to boast
in Christ and his cross. This mark of Jesus branded him as the son of God. So
all other things of the world is nothing.
When we come to Mathew 8:23-34 we find that Jesus
stills the storm and heals the demoniacs. We can see that this incidents follow
just after a discourse on discipleship. In that Jesus tells the disciples that
those who want to follow him has to make so much of sacrifices in their lives,
and they shall not follow him expecting reward on this earth, that means, by
expecting power, position and money etc. If they are ready to make sacrifices
in their lives, they will see wonders. That is what Jesus wanted to teach them
through theses incidents
In the first incident, where Jesus stills the storm
we can see that the disciples were afraid and they cry-out to Jesus to save
them. And Jesus accuses them for their little faith, then we can see that Jesus
stills the storm. Here Jesus wanted to convey the message that those who follow
him must have strong faith in him and they should not be afraid of any worldly
powers, because in front of him all worldly powers are nothing.
In the second incident also we see the power of
Jesus, who is good and has power over the demons. That is why when they saw
Jesus, they were afraid. Even they understood the power of Jesus. Here we can
see a paradoxical situation. Nature and demons understood the power of Jesus
and those who are called did not grasp it. Through these incidents the
evangelist wanted to convey the message that God’s might is over the nature and
also over demons. Nothing in the world and any other world is greater than God.
Now let us come to our life and evaluate. Do we
consider and love God as greatest in the heaven and on earth? Do we really give
prime importance to our Lord? Do we consider worldly things as worthless when
compared to God? The sad thing is that we are giving importance to many other
things than to God. Sometimes we even live as if there is no God. We try to
amass wealth, power and position in the world. We go after them, because of our
greed. In the modern world we are after money, giving too much emphasis for
money. Then we are worshipping money. Each person has got his/ her own crazes.
Then understand that we are moving towards idol worship.
That is why church asks us to come back from
worthless position to worthy position, from idol worshipper to true God
worshippers. Give prime position to God more than anything in the world. So
church tells her children to worship God, who is might and powerful protector
of humankind, and consider all other worldly things as worthless in front of
God. For this grace let us pray in this Holy Eucharist. Amen
By Boby Kaiyalakakathu MST
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