HOMILY: SATURDAY 30TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A

HOMILY: SATURDAY 30TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A

THEME: JESUS CONFRONTS OUR MOTIVES.

BY: FR. KARABARI PAUL

‘One Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.’

In the Gospel of today and a continuation of yesterday’s (Luke 14:1, 7-11), Jesus turns the tables; instead of the Pharisees observing Jesus, Jesus observes them. But His motives are totally different from theirs. He isn’t watching them in order to trip them up, but to confront them with their sin and hypocrisy so that they would repent and be right before God.

Hypocrisy and pride are related sins. Those who keep up outward appearances to impress others are invariably self-focused and proud. These men do what they do to be noticed by others and to gain honour for themselves (Matt. 23:5-12). Jesus shows them that the way of pride leads to ultimate disgrace. The way of humility leads to ultimate reward. If a proud man makes it through this life without being humbled, he is in for a rude awakening at the final judgment! There, the proud, who have trusted in themselves and their own good deeds, will be brought low before God. The humble, who have recognized their own sin and have cried out to Jesus for mercy, will be exalted into His eternal presence.

When Jesus tells the dinner guests that they should seek out the lowest seats, He is not advocating a self-focused scheme as to how you can really end up in the first seat, namely by taking the worst seat. For a man to do that, he would still be operating out of pride, which is the very thing Jesus is confronting! Rather, the point is, every one before God ought to feel that the lowest place is the proper place for him.

The more we grow in grace, the more we will grow in humility. Biblical humility is the recognition that everything good that we are and have comes as an undeserved gift from God. As Paul put it to the Corinthians, “And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). Biblical humility is a recognition that apart from Christ, I can do nothing (John 15:5), and so I do not trust in myself, but in the Lord. Biblical humility is always accompanied by a growing awareness of the depths of my own sinfulness, along with a growing appreciation for the abundant grace of God shown to me in Christ. The psalmist put it, “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared” (Ps. 130:3-4).

Biblical humility runs completely counter to the predominant self-esteem teaching that has flooded the world. We are being told that at the root of our problems is the fact that we do not think highly enough of ourselves.

Jesus confronts our sin of using people rather than loving them (14:12-14).
Jesus doesn’t stop with rebuking the guests for their sinful pride. He goes on to rebuke the host for his sin of using people rather than loving them. Jesus is not teaching that it is wrong to invite your friends and relatives to a dinner party. Rather, He is making the point that you are not being generous and loving if you only invite people who can return the favor, and especially if you invite the rich with the motive of the status or possible advancements they may be able to provide you in the future. That is just plain old selfishness. True ministry out of Christian love serves and gives without thought of return. It isn’t manipulative, serving for what you can get out of it. As Christians, we should serve others out of love for God and others.

To go Jesus’ way, you have to have your focus on eternity, not on the rewards of this life. You have to believe that God “is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). Often there are many blessings that come back on you in this life when you serve the Lord. But, often there are not any visible rewards here and now. You serve and no one notices. You give to help a needy person and you get ripped off, and the person never even says, “Thanks.”

One test of whether your motives are right in your service for Christ is, “Are you hurt when you don’t get the recognition you think you deserve?” Another test is, “What is your attitude toward the poor and the hurting?” If you are only willing to serve those who can pay you back or who might later be able to advance your cause, you’re using people, not loving them. Jesus confronts our motives for service. Any selfish motives in serving Christ are sin. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our world and land, bless and protect us all through Christ Our Lord Amen. Good morning.

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