Zeph 3:14-18; Phil 4:1-7; Luke 3:10-18
In
today’s Gospel John the Baptist tells his listeners that “His
winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to
gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will
burn in a fire that will never go out.”
John
clearly tells us that there are people who can be compared to
precious grain, while others in God’s eyes are useless chaff or
husk. Who are these grains? They are the ones who share one of their two tunics
with their brothers; the ones who share their food with those
who don’t have anything to eat; the ones who do their duty justly,
and be contend with their pay.
The
shortest way to reach God is our brothers, who are around us. The
lesson John conveys is that any person can attain salvation if he is
concerned about his neighbour’s needs. A person may be truly poor,
but no one is so poor as to be unable to help his neighbour in some way or
other.
Love for
neighbour is at the core of the message of the prophets, the message of John
the Baptist, and the message of Jesus. Love for neighbour is the very essence
of the Gospel.
The great
poet Urlloor wrote:
“There
is no wonder if God becomes invisible to those
Who do
not have eyes to see their brothers?”
The
story relating to Poonthanam is very thought provoking.
One day
the Lord assured Poonthanam that He would visit him. Poonthanam
prepared delicious food and waited for the Lord. Then
a boy came to him. He requested Poonthanam to give him
at least a little food to taste. But Poonthanam drove him away.
Then came
a traveller. Poonthanam turned him away without showing any
hospitality.
The third
visitor was an old man. Poonthanam refused to treat him too. He waited for
the Lord’s arrival, but he was disappointed since god did not visit
him till the night fall. Then he went to bed. The Lord came to him in
his dream. Poonthanam asked him:
“My Lord
why did you not keep your word? I waited for you the whole day.”
The Lord
replied, ‘I came to you thrice but you refused to welcome me.”
Poonthanam
learned a great lesson - The invisible god makes himself visible to us
through our brothers.
Whenever
social justice was at stake, God intervened. He sent his prophets to raise
their voice against it.
Saul
raised his hand against Gibeonites (2 Sam 21:2) and God punished them with
famine that lasted for three years.
King
David raised his hands unjustly against his subject Uriah, and
took his wife. God’s judgment fell on him through the voice of Nathan (2
Sam 12:11).
When
injustice spread in the society, and men rose against men, Ezekiel condemned it
and prophesied against them.
The
message of John reminds us that one who wants to find place in the
presence of God should be willing to share his belongings with
his brothers.
Often we
tend to limit the concept of sharing with the
material possessions alone. Along with material possessions we can share
many things, our talents, our time and our sympathy.
The
following poem has a good message:
I lay in
sorrow, deep distressed
My grief
a proud man heard;
His looks
were cold, he gave me gold.
But not a
kindly word.
My sorrow
passed - I paid him back
The gold
he gave to me:
Then
stood erect and spoke my thanks,
And
blessed his charity.
I lay in
want, in grief and pain:
A poor
man passed my way.
He bound
my head, he gave me bread,
He
watched me night and day.
How shall
I pay him back again?
For all
he did to me?
Oh, god
is great, but greater far,
Is
heavenly sympathy.
A
sympathetic glance, an innocent smile, a kind word and a gentle
touch can often work wonders in the life of many.
People
gathered around Jesus to listen to his words of kindness. Even on the way
to Calvary, crushed under the weight of the cross, he stopped to
console the lamenting women of Jerusalem.
Dear
brothers and sisters, God wants us to be generous with our brothers. To be kind
and gentle to them. Our acts of generosity and kindness will turn us into
precious grains in the sight of God.
Satish