HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY (2)
HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE CHRISTMAS WEEKDAY
HOMILY THEME: CHILDREN OF GOD OR CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL?
BY: Fr. Evaristus Abu
“Little children, let no one deceive you. He who does right is righteous, as he is righteous. He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning.” 1 John 3:7-8.
Just like yesterday, St. John hits hard on the meaning and danger of sin in our lives as Christians. According to him, sin not only removes us from our status as God’s children, it also makes us children of the devil. “Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning.”
John does not stop there, he goes on to say: “Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God.” Now, does this mean that as children of God having received the sacrament of baptism, having been born of God, we are no longer capable of committing sin? Or is John trying to say that those things that bother our conscience are not really sins? To assume such would be to read the text completely out of context.
Now, in other for us to understand what John is saying, think of light and darkness. These are two opposite realities. Light and darkness cannot co-exist at the same time within the same space. Sin makes darkness of us. The moment Adam and Eve sinned, they could no longer remain in the Garden of Eden. Why? Darkness and light cannot co-exist. As children of God, we cannot sin – meaning we cannot afford to swim in sin lest we lose our identity as children of God.
By the way, we must point out that sin is not something that happens unconsciously. Every sin requires full prior knowledge, the full volition of the will (consent), a pre-meditation and the boldness to execute it. For instance, one cannot commit sin while asleep. In other words, we have all it takes to avoid sin if we are so determined.
By saying “we cannot sin”, John was actually saying: “we cannot afford to give up on ourselves as far as fighting temptations is concerned.” Just as God saw the efforts of the Ninevites when Jonah preached a message of repentance, God loves to see the efforts we are making so as to assist us with his Power. GRACE BUILDS ON NATURE.
In our Gospel passage, we see John the Baptist having introduced Jesus as the Lamb of God allow two of his disciples become followers of Jesus. One might assume that John was sad to see two of his disciples leave him but this was not the case. In fact, it brought him much joy to see Jesus increase while he decreased.
In John 3:28-30, we hear John the Baptist saying: “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.” He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
And therein lies the key to living above sin. It is a matter of allowing Jesus increase in our lives. When I compare the number of hours I dedicate to pursuing my career, making a living or even mundane activities with the number of hours I spend in communion with Jesus daily or at personal prayers, I cannot but see that there is a huge difference.
I say I want to avoid sin, yet I dedicate just 30mins or even less out of my entire 24hours to God, who am I deceiving? I say I want to live above sin, yet I spend hours on entertainment; watching movies produced by people who have no regard for God, even outright pornography, and music loaded with sexually explicit lyrics (e.g. “banana fall on you!”), then I cannot even read my bible. Who am I deceiving?
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, fill me with your grace to live above sin. Amen
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you and Happy New Year. Thursday before Epiphany. Bible Study: 1st John 3:7-10 and John 1:35-42.)
