LIVING AND DINNING WITH THE LORD

TUESDAY, THIRTY THIRD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Apo 3:1-6,14-22; Ps 15:2-5; Lk 19:1-10

Living and dinning with the Lord

In the message given to the church in Sardis that we read today, the Lord starts again with his perfection in holiness and the knowledge of the truth. His abiding presence among us through the Holy Spirit he sends into the Church and within us gives him a first-hand witness about our spiritual and material constitutions. His words should make us afraid of our shortcomings: “Here is the message of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know all about you: how you are reputed to be alive and yet are dead.” Through the Holy Spirit, who searches our deepest part and constitution, the Lord knows when we have abandoned the interior disposition in pursuit of external accolade; he knows all we have done for peoples’ praise and not for the love of God, our Saviour. The turning to creatures was the cause of the spiritual death of many of the Christians in Sardis. Since it applies to us now, it is the cause of the spiritual death of so many of us who come to Church every Sunday out of routine. When we live a life of mere routine, we are driven no longer by the Spirit of God but by the love of self. The motivation given by self-love can never make us perfect, for it causes us to lose the perfection we gained when we professed faith in Jesus Christ.

We have spiritual perfection when joined to him as our end or head. So, to be driven by a different love makes us lose God-given perfection. “So far I have failed to notice anything in the way you live that my God could possibly call perfect, and yet do you remember how eager you were when you first heard the message?” Ordinarily, we cannot wake ourselves from this death, for a dead man cannot act. But the Lord says: “Wake up; revive what little you have left: it is dying fast.” This is a command and a warning that can revive us from our spiritually dead state. The word of God is Spirit and life, so whenever we hear and receive it in our mind, heart, and soul, it revives and renews our spiritual life, love for God, and strength to move towards God in loving service. Thus, to hear and not act on the word is a refusal to wake up. We are responsible for the refusal. The Lord’s message to the church in Laodicea confirms this, for he introduces himself as “the Amen, the faithful, the true witness, the ultimate source of God’s creation.” The Eternal Word is God’s creative force that brings all things into existence. He faithfully witnesses the Father’s will to us. He knows us truly since every good we do is by him, and every evil we do is by abandoning him. He is the fulfilment of God’s promises and blessings to us. Being the creative force and eager to accomplish the Father’s will, he opposes any form of lukewarmness.

The Lord demonstrates this comprehensive knowledge in the images he uses to communicate with us in our daily spiritual interactions. We see this in both messages to the churches in Sardis and Laodicea. The people of Laodicea had a lukewarm stream they used for their daily needs. “I know all about you: how you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither, but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.” Many were rich through gold mining and trade; some were cloth dealers. They also had a common eye ointment or salve for eye infections. Thus, he specified and directed the message to them in their life situation, time, and events. “You say to yourself, ‘I am rich, I have made a fortune, and have everything I want’, never realising that you are wretchedly and pitiably poor, and blind and naked too. I warn you, buy from me the gold that has been tested in the fire to make you really rich.” The comprehensive knowledge is no less demonstrated in the gospel when the Lord discerned the mind of Zacchaeus, the tax collector. The secret nudging of grace within his heart was by the Spirit of God, hence, well known to our Lord. He is the one through whom we receive very grace from God. Thus, he says: “Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal, side by side with him.” He fulfilled these words in the case of Zacchaeus; he will do the same in our case.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to be attentive to your voice instructing and directing us on the path to fullness of life, that following your inspiration we may come to the banquet of life in your heavenly kingdom.