Faith

The attitude of gratitude – 28th Sunday in ordinary time – Luke 17:11-19

Jesus has begun a long road to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) which will end in chapter 19. Somewhere on that route we are told of this encounter with the ten lepers. As he enters a village, they approach him calling out to him “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” but keeping their distance because they are unclean. If they were addressing an ordinary traveler, their cry for mercy might be a simple plea for alms. Here, they know Jesus by name and address him as master, (Greek: epistata)—a person of authority and a term used in every other instance in Luke by the disciples. It is striking that they don’t ask for alms or even ask for healing. Just mercy! Mercy is what you ask for when you face the limits of changing your life.

Jesus immediately sends them to show themselves to the priests to confirm the healing. Priests were responsible for diagnosing leprosy, and the Torah provided specific guidelines for doing so (Leviticus 13:1-44). A diagnosis of leprosy was treated as a death sentence. En route they are made clean and we are told that only one returns to give thanks and he is a Samaritan.

It is quite evident that Luke was unfamiliar with the topography of Palestine. He seems to indicate that Jesus was in a region between Samaria and Galilee when in reality their regions border each other. But then again, the Gospel was not written to communicate biographic details as much as it was meant to be the communication the faith to a people that lived in a post resurrection period.

This border location explains why the lepers include both Jews and Samaritans; a no-man’s” land for those who were socially, religiously, and physically unclean. Under normal circumstances, Jews would have nothing to do with Samaritans, but these Jewish and Samaritan lepers are drawn together by their common misery. Leprosy made misery their common denominator, and they joined together in a community of woe.

Verse 14 tells us that “they went, and while still on their way, became clean.” We are also told in verse 15 that one of them, when he SAW that he was healed, turns back. Interestingly, while they had to step out in faith to be healed we notice that while in all the miracle narratives Jesus declares, ‘your faith has healed you’ here in verse 15 there is no indication that such a declaration or confirmation of their obedience to his command has led to a ‘faith healing’, at least not for now. The tenth leper simply observers and sees a healing and turns back praising God.

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Faith

The eye of the heart – Saturday, 28th week in ordinary time – Ephesians 1:15-23

Paul began Chapter one by speaking to the Jews who had embraced Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Then in verse 13 he made it known that the Gentiles too were adopted and inheritors of the promise of salvation; stamped and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Verse 15-23 is the prayer of Paul for the community of Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus. It is a payer of thanksgiving for their faith and for the outpouring of spiritual gifts for these believers. It is a prayer that hopes for a purpose driven life and an understanding of the privilege that they share. But it is not just a prayer as much as it is also a catechesis (verse 20-23) on the working of God in Christ and the power given to Jesus. Let us now look at this text in detail and the prayer that Paul makes.

Paul has “heard” of their faith. This is a faith that he sowed when he visited Ephesus on his first missionary journey and then again when he stayed with them for three years (Acts 20:31) during his third missionary journey. Obviously, their teething problems now resolved (remember this book was written between 80-100 AD), news of their faith and unity has come to him. This faith is a belief in response to the message of Christ. And it is for “this reason” he gives thanks to God.

But Paul has not only heard of their faith (Greek: pistis) but also of their love (agape) for the saints. This love is more than just a feeling it is a love that pushes the whole of ones being to give freely of oneself. When we have faith and love it is always sign of our participation in God’s plan.

This love is given to the “saints” or “holy ones.” While Christians today usually think of saints as especially holy people (canonised by the church), Jesus calls all who follow him to be holy. The New Testament uses the words ho hagio is to refer to Jesus’ disciples, not just to a few exceptional disciples, but to all disciples. The saints are those who by virtue are associated with God, now are set apart to be different from the world; in this case it refers to the members of the Church in Ephesus. Faith and love must go together and Paul acknowledges that the Ephesians possess both a vertical and a horizontal dimension.

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Not just a game of dice – Friday, 28th Week in ordinary time – Ephesians 1:11-14

Verses 1-14 provide a thumbnail sketch of Paul’s theology. They are therefore dense and tightly packed. Yesterday, we studied verses 1-11 and today we look at the rest of this doxology; this hymn of praise. Keep at the back of your mind that this letter, while it did not deal primarily with community issues between Jews and Gentiles, did indeed clarify issues caused by division. To that effect I am first paraphrasing verses 11 to 14 for you so that you may understand the text before we look at it in details

The text of today (11-14)begins with a clear address to the Jews. In Christ “we” (Jews) have obtained an inheritance(verse 11). They were the “first to set their hope in Christ.” (verse 12). Now, that same hope of the inheritance is given also to the Gentiles (verse 13) for “in Him, YOU (Gentiles), when you heard the word of truth (that is the gospel) that saved you and when you believed in Christ, you too (like the Jews) were marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit (verse 13) that was promised (to the Jews). This is now not just the pledge of the inheritance to some (that is the Jews) but is now “OUR inheritance” (Jew and Gentile) by which we are saved. (verse 14)

Now let us look at this same text in its application to you and me. The Doxology of praise was to God who chose us and adopted us to be holy and blameless. But because of the adoption we have “obtained and inheritance”. This inheritance “was destined according to the purpose of Christ who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will.” At first glance verse 11 seems to throw up no challenges until you read the text in Greek. The translation of the word inheritance is “kleroo” and refers to ‘casting of lots’. So the question is, were we (and the Jews and Gentiles) adopted by chance?” Were we a game of dice for God?

“Kleero”  does not just refer to the casting of dice as chance but to the casting of lots to decide something or to choose a person for a critical task. A case in point being Acts 1:26 which tells us that after the death of Judas the betrayer, “lots were cast” and it fell on Mathias. Casting lots is not the same as throwing dice which is a game of chance. We tend to think of them as being the same because they resemble each other physically. However, the casting of lots did not depend on chance but was intended for God to make his will known to us. Paul tells us that God did make his will know and it was his will that we receive the gift of Christ so that we would be saved.

Paul tells the Jews that they have an inheritance but this inheritance now includes the Gentiles for they have become “fellow heirs, members of the same body and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus.” Being an heir with an inheritance determined a mans future. With an inheritance the Gentiles have something to poses and something to pass on to our heirs.

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We won the Jackpot! – Thursday, 28th Week in ordinary time – Ephesians 1:1-10

For the next two weeks, the liturgy of the Eucharist will present and ponder texts from the letter to the Ephesians. Without debating and presenting every scholarly opinion on the why’s and how’s of this book it is sufficient to say the following as an introduction.

Even though Ephesians 1:1 says that the letter is “addressed to the saints in Ephesus” we are not sure who this letter was addressed to as the earliest manuscripts do not mention the word Ephesians. This ‘epistle’ or letter is not really written in the style of Paul’s letters though its opening and closing make it appear so. Scholars have called it ‘a circular letter’ or a ‘theological discourse’ or ‘an encyclical’ sent to various Churches in Asia. The letter itself is not from the hand of Paul though in many ways may reflect his mind. When you compare the themes that Paul dwells on or his style of writing or words used, this ‘epistle’ reads far from the Paul we are familiar with.

So, who wrote Ephesians and when? Scholars have opined that Ephesians was written between 80-100 AD after the Pauline corpus of letters were written in the post apostolic era. At best we can say that it was written by an admiring disciple of Paul. We know that Paul visited Ephesus twice; during his first missionary journey (Acts18:19-28) and again on the third missionary journey when he stayed there for three years. Yet when you read Ephesians 3:2-4 it sounds that the Ephesians were not personally squinted with him. Hence the letter was written pseudonymously after Paul’s death. This was not meant to deceive us but was a style of writing in antiquity to honour the person one admired or to continue to keep his teaching or thoughts alive.

The author writes as a Jew to a largely Gentile audience with the message that in Christ God has “made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us” (Ephesians 2:14). It is not easy living together as two groups who have previously been at odds with one another on religious grounds. The letter acknowledges that living with differences requires effort: it takes humility, gentleness, and patience (cf. Ephesians 4:2-3). And yet this is not written to settle congregation issues as in 1 Corinthians or Galatians, it was written to explain some of the great themes and doctrines of Christianity.

Our opening verse is written in typical Pauline style yet if you look at verses 3-14, it is one very long sentence in the Greek text. While most of Paul’s letters begin with a salutation thanking God, this text takes the form of a liturgical blessing of God’s name. The opening verses are part of a hymn of thanksgiving or what we call a “doxology” because it recites what God has done. The term comes from the Greek word doxa which means ‘glory’.

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Life in the Spirit, with its fruit (not fruits) – Wednesday, 28th Week in ordinary time – Galatians 5:18-25

We have often heard of the life in the Spirit seminars. If a preacher ever desires to break the word on this topic, chapter 5 of Galatians has enough course material for several powerful spiritual talks.

Paul fears that his readers are being distracted. The Judaizers are becoming a corrupting influence, like a little yeast that leavens the whole batch of dough. (Gal 5:9, I Cor. 5:6, cf also Matt. 16:6; Luke 12:1) Paul admonishes the false teachers of Galatia; they will pay ‘a penalty’ for their wrongdoing. He has borne much persecution due to these false teachers and for one who could not suffer fools easily, he adds a bit of humour to his anger. The Judaizers pushed the agenda of circumcision. Paul hopes for a little slip in the knife’ it is circumcision they desire, but will end up being castrated (verse 12)

Paul reiterates the issue of freedom he had broached earlier with the Galatians. He had insisted that freedom in Christ is freedom from the requirements of the Jewish law. Freedom is a tempting thing. It could easily be used to serve one’s self. Freedom, as opposed to the law, does not mean freedom with disregard to the law. It is not to be confused with the right to do whatever one wants. Paul is seeking to avoid a pendulum swing here to anarchy.

In 5:13, a few verses before the text of today, he sets parameters to this freedom; it is not freedom for self-indulgence (Greek “the flesh”), but rather “through love become slaves to one another” (Galatians 5:13). The gospel asks more, not less; for though it prescribes only one requirement, love for neighbour, that one is unqualified and its implications and cannot be specified in advance. Where freedom is not exercised in love it leads to mutual destruction.

Just as love is the proper context of freedom (verses 2-15), so the Spirit is its proper context, that by which love is empowered and guided. Paul says, we are led by the Spirit (vs18).Walking by the Spirit is opposite of “walking according to the flesh”. To walk in the Spirit first means that the Holy Spirit lives in you. Second, it means to be open and sensitive to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Third, it means to pattern your life after the influence of the Holy Spirit. Simply put, if we walk in the Spirit (instead of trying to live by the law), we naturally shall not fall for the lust of the flesh; fifteen sins which he lists in verse nineteen.

Walking in the Spirit is the key, but it doesn’t always come easily; it is a battle. There is a battle going on inside the Christian, and the battle is between the flesh and the Spirit. As Paul writes, these are contrary to one another, they don’t get along at all. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Though it is an interior, invisible battle, the results are outwardly evident. We can’t ‘see’ the flesh, but we can see what it does. To walk in these works of the flesh is to be in plain rebellion against God, and those in plain rebellion against God will not inherit the kingdom of God.

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