Reading 1 Phil 3:3-8a
Brothers and sisters:
We are the circumcision,
we who worship through the Spirit of God,
who boast in Christ Jesus and do not put our confidence in flesh,
although I myself have grounds for confidence even in the flesh.
If anyone else thinks he can be confident in flesh, all the more can I.
Circumcised on the eighth day,
of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage,
in observance of the law a Pharisee,
in zeal I persecuted the Church,
in righteousness based on the law I was blameless.
But whatever gains I had,
these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.
More than that, I even consider everything as a loss
because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Gospel Lk 15:1-10
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So Jesus addressed this parable to them.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.
“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.
When you acquire something special or you succeed in doing something heroic, it is natural to want to boast of it.
So it’s not surprising to hear people say things like “I was the person who took the first reading when the Pope came to England, I was among those who started our Lady of Peace Parish, I have a Doctorate degree in “swimology”, etc.
In today’s first reading, we hear St Paul recanting his own natural privileges, his spiritual and intellectual achievements but he ended it by calling all of these rubbish. Wait a minute! How can someone call such a “big profile” rubbish? Yes, because he acquired something greater than all that and that is “intimacy with Jesus.”
St Paul, therefore, tells you and I that in the long run, we shall see that everything we boast about in this world is useless and there is only one thing that is useful- our relationship with Jesus.
No matter who you are and what you have, if your relationship with God is nothing to boast about, then you have nothing to boast about.
The same message resonates in the gospel, the Pharisees and scribes boast about the law and circumcision, their affiliation with Moses and so they dissociated from Jesus, they missed it all. In John 5:45, Jesus told them that in fact Moses himself will judge them. The tax collectors and sinners sought intimacy with Jesus who is the way and so they can boast already of Salvation.
Dear friends, Jesus is telling you today as he said to the disciples in Luke 10:20, do not rejoice that you have some expensive pieces of jewellery and other investments, do not rejoice that you have paid your mortgage, do not rejoice that you have so much in your account or that you are being admired by people for whatever reason, rejoice rather that you know Jesus, rejoice that you have a relationship with him which gives you hope of salvation. Of what use is it boasting when we may end up in eternal damnation?
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okami on November 8, 2018