Bible Readings: 2 Kings 25:1-12; Psalm 137; Matthew 8:1-4.
Psalm 115:3 says “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”
Our God has the power to do anything He pleases. In today’s Gospel, a leper came to Jesus and said: “Sir, if you want to, you can cure me.” This is a powerful statement of faith especially when we consider the understanding of leprosy that was prevalent at the time. The Jews believed that leprosy was a punishment from God to those who have done something grievous and only God can cure it.
So, for this man to have confessed that Jesus could cure him if He willed meant that he recognised the divine power in Jesus. Only God can do whatever He wills. Nothing is hard or impossible for Him. No situation is difficult for Him (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:27).
If He wills, even your present challenge, worries and needs are nothing for Him to take care of.
However, if the Lord does not will or permit something, no force in heaven or on earth can make it happen, He is the one who shuts and no one can open, He opens and no one can shut (Revelations 3:7).
Many times we want to force things that God has not willed or approved, we want things to happen our own way and we are willing to use any means, either by hook or by crook. It is vain, disastrous and self-destructive to try to bypass God in realising our ambition or solving our problems.
This is what happened in today’s first reading. Zedekiah, king of Judah decided to seek freedom from the Babylonians in his own way. Even though the prophet Jeremiah had told him that God does not approve his revolt, that God would deliver them in His own way, at His own time. The king decided to imprison Jeremiah and carried on with His plans (Jeremiah 32:1-5).
He did it his way, see what ignominy, agony and torture he suffered, eventually; the temple, which was the center of their life and joy, their pride and glory, was completely burnt down.
Dear friends, if the Lord wills it, it will happen, if He does not, stop forcing it to happen, stop trying to bypass God, stop aiming at what God has not approved, do not seek to possess what God has not willed to give you or try to acquire anything before God’s appointed time. Let the experience of Zedekiah be a lesson for us and the prayer of the leper is an example to us.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Gukena Okami on June 26, 2020