HOMILY FOR THE NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR A
Deut. 11:18, 26-28, 32/ Psalm 31 /Romans 3:21-25, 28/ Matthew 7:21-27
AGORSOR Aaron Agbeshie
THEME: In your will is our peace.
The Liturgy of the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary time admonished us to worry no more. Human as we are, anxiety feels our hearts because of our limitations. Today’s Liturgy provides us an opportunity to trust in God’s providence. This trust only comes when we obey his commandments and not just pay Him lip service. Paying lips service to God only brings us anxiety and useless worries and eventually alienates us from God. To be alienated from God is the worst thing that can happen to humanity.
In the First Reading, Moses enjoins the Israelites to obey the commandments of God. He charged them in the following words “You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and fix them as an emblem on your forehead” (Deuteronomy 11:18). What Moses is emphasizing is the fact that the Word of God should direct all their action. For us too,it must permeate every nook and cranny of our life. Above all, the Word of God must be a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths (cf Psalm 119:105).
Again, Moses reminds them that to obey the Word of God will bring blessings, true joy and peace. However, the converse is true for those who pay lip service to God. Curse will be their portion. Indeed, Moses reminds them that curse will come upon them because they worship a God they do not know. None of us knows what tomorrow brings but as Christians we know who brings tomorrow, God Himself. He is the only one who knows our future; he holds the keys to unlock our successes, our progress and indeed our destiny.
Diligence is required of all who seek God with all their hearts. “You must diligently observe all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today” (Deuteronomy 11:32). When we have diligently sought the Lord He will allow us to find Him. “For without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever approach Him must believe that He exists and He rewards all who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
It is this diligence in seeking the Lord that the Gospel reading of today calls us to. Today’s context reveals the end times when God will bring everything to judgment. Obedience to the will of God is the test of true faith in Christ. The test is not the babbling of words for “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
How easy for us to learn a religious vocabulary and even memorise Bible verses and religious songs and yet not obey God’s will. When a person is truly born again, he has the Spirit of God living within him (cf Romans 8:9). The Spirit enables him to know and do God’s will. Words are not substitutes for obedience and neither are religious works. Preaching, casting out demons and performing miracles can be divinely inspired, but they give no assurance of salvation. We are invited to put into practice what we hear (cf James 1:22-25). Our hearing must result in doing. “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who builds his house on rock” (Matthew 7:24).
The foundation in this parable is obedience to God’s Word; obedience that is an evidence of true faith in God. The two men in this story had much in common. Both had the desire to build a house. Both built houses that look beautiful and study. But when the storm (Judgment) came, one of the houses collapsed. What was the difference? Definitely not the external looks. It was in the foundation: the successful builder “dug deep” and set his house on a solid foundation.
Many of us have professed faith in Jesus, only to deny him when life situations become spiritually difficult and costly.
How shall we test our profession of faith? Is it by popularity because we perform miracles? No, for there are many on the road to destruction and there are many more who are depending on words, saying ‘Lord, Lord’. But this is no assurance of salvation. Even religious activities in the Church are no assurance. The two houses remind us that it is only true faith in Jesus that will last not only in the storms of life but also in the final judgment.
There is a story about an artist who wanted to paint a picture of the prodigal son. He saw an unkempt beggar on the street, a young man with dirty tattered clothes and he asked him to come to his studio and pose. The man showed up the next day, but he was neatly shaven and clean and quite well dressed. When the artist saw him, he exclaimed, “Oh, no, I cannot use you as you are now!
The above anecdote captures what Paul enjoins on us in the Second Reading that “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24). God asks us to come to him just as we are, admitting that we are sinners who deserve nothing but his mercy. This is humbling but it is the only way we can receive the forgiveness for which Christ paid for on the cross and was accepted and used by God.
In conclusion, we may not openly deny God, but instead we may try to confine Him to some remote corner of life. We keep Him away from our daily doings, associations, obligations, experiences, joys, heartaches and all the commonplace things to keep body and soul together. We need God in all these areas of our lives. He must be seen affecting them for our good and the good of others. As we begin the Season of Lent, let us be reminded that God loves us and He wants the best for us. Have a blissful season.