Posts
(15.11.2009)
Gospel Reading: Mark 13:24-32
“He will gather his chosen from the four winds
The Word of God this evening is troubling.
You know, whether we are conscious of it or not, fear has tremendous impact and influence in our lives, even in our relationship with God. And that is why there are so many bible Christians who took the book of Daniel, the first reading, and the last book of the bible, Revelation, as the whole truth.
But why must fear determine and shape our life?
Yes, I know in this evening’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the end time. But let us get this very clear: Jesus is not telling us, “Look here, guys. Live well, because the end is coming”. He is not telling us to live life fully because we do not know when it will come. That is not the message of Christ, you know.
The message of Christ is this: whether the end is coming or not, whether we know it or not, it is irrelevant. What matters is that we are God’s children and this itself is good enough, and that it is our urgent priority to live well. Not because of fear, but because to be a child of God is so good.
To live life fully is so great. But, how often we do allow love, do we allow God’s presence to shape and influence our lives?
Instead (I guess we’re human), we allow fear to shape, to influence and even, to a great extent, determine our life. The end of the year is fast approaching. Next week will be Christ the King. Then it’s Advent season - preparing for Christmas and the new year.
Is it joy, is it love that moves us? Or is it fear? You see, God can do everything, possible and impossible, for us. Nothing will change. Nothing will change. It will change when we decide not to let fear influence and determine our life. Do not let this fact that we do not know when the Lord is calling us to determine our life. We have no indication when the end will be.
You know, in every decade we have prophets of doom. I remember in KL in 2000, there was a small bible group who believed that 2000, two zero zero zero , is the end of the world. And they did what all the past prophets of doom did - get their church members to sell everything, buy candles and go up to a high place. But after being up there in a high place for a month, they ran out of candles. The end was not coming. And I remember this prophet of doom said, “We are doomed, because doom is not coming”.
Why let fear shape and influence our life? Isn’t it more joyful and more truthful to allow God’s presence and God’s love to shape and influence us?
The message of end time is this: it’s not the fear. I know, “The Fear Factor” on TV is very popular. The fear factor in religion is also very strong. But we make a stand. Yes, we know things can be fearful, but we have the power not to be shaped, not to be determined, not to be influenced by just fear.
We are all God’s children. This is the truth that empowers us. Christ is with us. This is the reality that transforms us. Why not let God’s presence, why not let the truth that we all are God’s children influence and shape our lives? In other words, because we are God’s children, it is urgent that we live our life fully, not because we do not know when we will kick the bucket. We live life fully simply because we’re God’s children. And we live life fully because this is the joy of God.
God has done everything so that you and I have the power and the resources to live life fully.
In this holy mass we thank God for His love, for His presence. And we ask Him to touch us. Better still, we ask Him to allow us to touch Him, so that in touching Him and experiencing His presence, His power and His life in us, fear will not determine our life, fear will not shape our life. Because we are God’s children, we are free – free to live life fully – simply because we have a God who loves us.
To this God who loves us, we praise and thank Him.
Rev Fr Stephen Lim
Holy Trinity Church, Kuching
