Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okaml
1st Reading: Isaiah 7:1-9
During a national crisis people must first turn to a deeper faith in God
In the days of Ahaz son of Jotham son of Uzziah, king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel went up to attack Jerusalem, but could not mount an attack against it. When the house of David heard that Aram had allied itself with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.
Then the Lord said to Isaiah, Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, and say to him, Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.
Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted evil against you, saying, ‘Let us go up against Judah and cut off Jerusalem and conquer it for ourselves and make the son of Tabeel king in it;’ therefore thus says the Lord God: It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. For the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. (Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer a people.) The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.
Gospel: Matthew 11:20-24
Even Sodom was better than the towns where Jesus preached but was not listened to
Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you; on the Day of Judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the Day of Judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Let me begin this reflection by asking these questions.
What do you when someone threatens to make your life miserable? For instance when someone tells you “I will deal with you, I will make sure you don’t get promoted, I will make sure you don’t graduate, I will make you cry, you will suffer, I will block every way for you, when a human being tells you “I will make you regret coming into this world”, how do you handle it when someone tells you he/she will fight you both physically and spiritually even though you are on your right?
This is the situation we have in today’s first reading;
Razom, the powerful king of Syria was in a league with Pekah, the king of Israel to attack and plunder Judah. They said Let us invade Judah and terrorize it and seize it for ourselves, and set up a king there, the son of Tabeel.
We are told that the heart of Ahaz (the king of Judah) and his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. That is, their heart was pumping at unusual frequency and their heart was almost out of their mouth.
The Lord Sent Isaiah to Ahaz to tell him that his fears are unnecessary. These two strong enemies are not stronger than God. The Lord told him this about their threats “It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass.”
Dear friends, in case you are in a similar situation, someone is threatening you in any way, you are being hunted by day and harried by night, you are surrounded by woes and foes, the Lord has these three messages for you – listen attentively;
- God is saying to you as he said to Ahaz “keep calm, have no fear, do not let your heart sink…
God just wants you to have confidence in His power to save you. God is enough to save you. Very unfortunately, we remember this when we counsel people but we forget when we have problems.
- Whatever, the world is saying about you or to you is not the point. The important thing is what the Word (Lord) says.
I can also remember I had a fair share, someone told me “I will never become a priest, he will do everything to stop it and he actually did everything, but as God will have it, I have been celebrating anniversaries of my priesthood and by God’s grace I will celebrate till I die.
Lamentations 3:37 says who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it.
III. The Lord is also saying to you “if you do not stand by me, you will not stand at all.” Just stand by God, be on the side of God and you will see that it is vain to fight someone whom God is not fighting.
In today’s Gospel. Jesus reproached the towns where most of his mighty works had been done, because they didn’t repent.
The essence of witnessing God’s power is to call us to faith and repentance. Dear friends, the protection and mercy you have enjoyed before now is meant to build your confidence, to teach you to trust and have faith to face the challenges of today.
I leave you with these two verses for you to ponder further
Romans 8:31
“If God is for us, no one can be against us”.
Psalm 27:1, 3
Verse 1
The Lord is my Light and my salvation:
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
Verse3:
Though an army encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war rise up against me,
Yet I will be confident.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel OkamI at the Catholic Church of the Presentation, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria on Tuesday July 17, 2018