OUR SUFFICIENCY IS OF GOD

A MESSAGE FOR THE 12th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

In speaking openly of his ability as a minister of the new testament, St. Paul is making no idle boast.  On the contrary, the Apostle of the Gentiles is careful to make the disclaimer that his own powers of preaching are not sufficient in themselves, but that "our sufficiency is of God."  His trust in God leads him to conclude that he is not capable of doing anything by himself, but that in God, all things are possible.

This simple yet solid confidence in Divine Providence is a sound lesson for the rest of us, who plod along in this rather difficult world, seemingly bouncing from one tribulation to another.  If we are arrogant enough to believe that we can conquer all temptations through our own will-power, or achieve great virtue simply by our own cleverness and aptitude, the confessional in the next room is a sobering reminder of our constant failures.  Nevertheless, the shame we feel for those failures should not discourage us, but on the contrary drive us all the more firmly into the strong and powerful arms of Almighty God, who alone is capable of carrying us along the path that leads to holiness.

That strait and narrow way of perfection is one that concerns itself no longer with the letter of the law—those hundreds of rules and regulations of the Mosaic law by which the people of the Old Testament still live today.  In fact, the letter of the law "killeth," says St. Paul, and he couldn't be clearer than that.  We cannot go about our lives thinking this is a sin and that is a sin, decrying the vast sum of humanity who commit them, and, like the publican in last week's Gospel, thinking we are better than they.  We must look beyond the rules, and see them for what they truly are—offences against our loving God.  This is the true spirit of the law that giveth life.  Our Lord summed it all up in today's Gospel, that we must love God above all, and our neighbor as ourselves.  If God is truly the primary object of our affection, we will automatically follow in the spirit of the law by never wishing to offend him.  If we love God, we will keep his commandments.  It's as simple as that, and the whole of the law rests on this one concept.

As for the love we are asked to bear to our neighbor, that too will come naturally if we love God first.  Heaven knows that many of our neighbors are not well equipped to be the object of any love on our part.  And yet heaven asks that we love them in spite of these deficiencies.  It is not because they merit our love by their own deeds, but because it is our solemn duty as a neighbor to be a neighbor to them.  The Samaritan in today's Gospel is the example our Lord chose to give us—that no matter the race or color, no matter the political or religious beliefs our neighbor holds, we must show him that love which Christ demands if we are to save our souls.  Just as the Jews and Samaritans were as hostile to each other in those days as the Jews and Palestinians today, Christ set the standard of love by which each must live.  We may feel that it's impossible for us to love our enemies in this way, but let's be reminded this Sunday that "our sufficiency is of God!"