“A LIFE THAT IS A GIFT OF LIFE”
A
Biblico-Theological Reflection based on the Gospel of Jesus according to Luke
(17:5-10)
By Rev.
Jeric C. Cortado, October 2, 2016
Every first Sunday of
October, Christian churches celebrates the World Communion Sunday. This
celebration was first observed by the Presbyterians in 1936, adopted by the
Federal Council of Churches (USA) in 1940, shortly thereafter observed in
Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren Church, and inherited by the United
Methodist Church founded in 1968 at Texas, USA.
In this celebration we join in Spirit with our sisters and brothers
around the world in remembering Christ’s sacrifice and God’s initiative for all
of us. We affirm God’s inclusive love and grace, and that we are equal before
him, as men and women. And once again reminded the attitudes should be by those
in the body or in the movement of Jesus Christ.
First, the willingness to deepen each one’s faith as
one body of Christ. The gospel lesson starts with a petition from the
apostles, “Dagdagan niyo po ang aming pananalig” (Luke 17:5). According to John
J. Pilch, the word “faith” in the New Testament is better translated as
“loyalty” or “reliability.” Ang hiling ng mga alagad, ay hiling na tulungan
silang mapatatag ang kanilang katapatan sa Diyos, sa misyon ng Diyos at maging
reliable sa pagtugon ng mga hamon ng panahon. Same with us today, deepen our
faith, strengthen our loyalty to God in Christ and to fully mature as reliable
agent of God’s liberating word and actions.
Jesus answered them to have faith
like a mustard seed, like one of the smallest seed but gives impact to the
world. For Jesus, the size of faith does not matter but having faith either big
or small that gives impact. Having faith like a mustard seed, though small but
terrible in its impact is a kind of faith supposed to be embrace and live out
by the disciples. A kind of faith that leads to build a household, a community
where everybody regardless of their races, color, sexual orientation,
generation and culture can feel at home, having a safe space and secured place
(Luke 13:18-19). Having faith like a mustard seed means having the qualities of
life like what the mustard seed have.
According to the studies,
this plant is found in the various location of the world. Even though
considered as one of the smallest seeds, it can grow up to 20 feet tall and 20
feet wide shrub. It can grow and survive in a dry land, clay or sandy soil, and
in the dry and wet climates. Even if the tree will be cut down to the trunk it
can grow again. The mustard tree has many uses, it can produce edible salt, the
small branches of it can be used as toothbrush, and the leaves can be used to prevent
tooth decay and alleviate tooth aches. This plant gives impact anywhere it is
planted at any time to anyone.
In this sense, Jesus are called
us as his disciples to live out our faith that give impacts to our community,
and can survive even in the dry times
in our lives, even during the times of pruning we can overcome it and came to
be stronger than before.
Second, the
willingness to be compassionate as the God
our Parent is compassionate
(Luke 6:36). The word “compassionate” came from the word “compassion”, which
is in Hebrew word (the plural of a noun) and tradition in its singular form
means “womb”. Compassion for the
Hebrew people or indigenous and marginalized people during the time of Jesus is
both feeling and a way of being that flows out of that feeling. Compassion
means “feeling the feelings of somebody else, the suffering of our neighbor and
being move by that suffering to do something. Thus, leads us to be
compassionate, meaning to be a womb.
Jesus
is expecting to live out this attitude by his disciples when he said, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if
her repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in one day, and
each time he comes to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him” (Luke
17:3-4). In response to this, the disciples asked to Jesus, “Make
our faith greater”,
this simply expressed that they have faith but not enough to sustain their life
to be compassionate. And so Jesus answered, “If
you had faith as big as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Pull
yourself up by the roots and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it would obey you”
(Luke 17:5-6).
And so, to be compassionate means
to serve and not to be served. As Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you has a servant who is
plowing or looking after the field. Do you tell him to hurry along and eat his
meal?” (Luke 17:7). Instead of saying, “Get
my supper ready…wait on me while I eat and drink..” (Luke 17: 7-8). This
reminds us and his early disciples that we should exist not to be served but to
serve.
When Jesus said, “Do you tell him/her to hurry along and eat
his/her meal,” that in our vernacular could be is saying, “Hunong usa diha sa imong pagtrabaho dong o
inday. Naa ko giandam nga pagkaon, mangaon sa ta,” was in the context of
the Greco-Roman world that even the relatively poor one had at least one
servant. Except, the poorest families who are forced to give some of their
children to other families as servants to ensure that they would be fed. Ang nais ipahiwatig ni Jesus ay hayaan ang kapwa na
makasalo sa biyaya ng Diyos. Tulungan ang kapwang magawang maibalik ang dangal
at pagkakataong lumago. Inviting a servant to eat his meal instead of
saying “Get my supper ready,” is an
invitation of reclaiming their dignity as a human being. This action reveals
the attitudes or the disciples should be, that empowers and provides the
opportunity for his/her neighbor to be redeemed to their state of life.
And
third,
the willingness to deepen our faith as one body of Christ and to be
compassionate means to live out a life
that is a gift of life. A life that we affirm always during our celebration
of the Holy Communion, especially in our prayer of thanksgiving, “We give you thanks for this Holy Mystery in
which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into world, in the
strength of your Spirit to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus
Christ, our Lord.” We are gathered in one table
to remind ourselves to the final advice of Jesus, “When you have carried out all your orders, learn to say, ‘We are
worthless servants, we have only done our duty’.” (v.10). This only says
that in doing services and living out our faith, hindi natin hinahanap ang
papuri. Sapagkat ang ating ginagawa ay isa nang akto ng papuri at pasasalamat
sa Diyos na nagbigay sa atin ng buhay.
Having faith like a mustard seed
is having a kind of life that makes the body of Christ relevant and concrete.,
and the grace of God be visible to the people. It is a kind of faith the brings
us again to the Lord’s table and commit once again to be more reliable, bold
and strong for the realization of life in its
fullness. Amen.
Reference:
1.
Pilch, John J. (2004). The Cultural
World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday Cycle C. Philippines: St. Pauls.
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