[stephenkhoo]

Scripture Reflections
05 September 2013, Thursday, 22nd Week, Ordinary Time
OBEDIENCE ALLOWS THE POWER OF GOD TO ACT IN US
SCRIPTURE READINGS: COL 1:9-14; LK 5:1-11

In the hearts of every human person is the desire for true freedom and peace. Indeed, this is the gist of St Paul’s letter to the Colossians. St Paul prayed for the people that they might attain “perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding” and “reach the fullest knowledge of his will.” Only in this way, will they “be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects” and thereby walk in the light. Similarly, if so many people were pressing round Jesus to hear the Word of God, it was because they too were looking for light and freedom.

St Peter too must have been listening to the teaching of the Master from his boat. But he appeared unmoved and unstirred in his heart till the Lord awakened him by destroying his pride through the miracle of the catch of fish. It was at that moment when he came to consciousness of his pride and sinfulness, that he unabashedly, before the crowd, “fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me Lord; I am a sinful man.’” As St Paul said in his letter to the Thessalonians, “as soon as you heard the message that we brought you as God’s message, you accepted it for what it really is, God’s message and not some human thinking; and it is still a living power among you who believe it.” (1 Th 2:13)

This same experience of St Peter and the early Christians being liberated from the chains of darkness in their lives through hearing the Word of God is repeated throughout the ages in our lives until today. To the Christians in Colossae, he wrote, “because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.” So together with the psalmist, we want to proclaim the goodness of God, for “the Lord has made his salvation known: in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice. He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise. The Lord has made known his salvation.”

Having gained our freedom, many of us, especially those who have had a radical conversion experience like St Peter or St Paul, also take it upon ourselves to be His apostles to bring the light of Christ to all of humanity. Like them, we are called to be fishers of men. The response of Jesus to St Peter’s repentance was to call him to be His apostle. “Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’” Indeed, the presupposition of apostleship and of being a missionary for Christ is that we have been set free from the bondage of darkness and sin for the joy of freedom in Christ and for love.

But how can we be His effective apostles, bearing the fruits of evangelical zeal? What is most needed for any apostle is obedience, especially when obedience is absurd or against human logic and calculation. This is the key to success in the Lord’s vineyard. Peter, for us, is the shining example of what obedience entails. Twice in the gospel, Peter showed himself to be obedient to the Word of God. Firstly, when Jesus instructed Peter to “put out into deep water” and pay out the nets for a catch. Secondly, when Jesus commanded Peter to follow Him to be fishers of men, we read, “Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.” In other words, they gave up their rice bowl to follow an itinerant preacher whom they still knew very little about. And what charism would a fisherman have to contribute to such a mission?

We can be certain it was not easy for Peter to take the risk and submit himself to the command of Jesus. Obedience requires faith, trust and most of all, humility. In the first instance, we must remember that Peter was an experienced fisherman and Jesus was only the son of a carpenter. As Peter had said, they had “worked hard all night long and caught nothing.” Furthermore, Peter had also washed the nets. For him to accede to the request of Jesus, it was not only inconvenient but he might even be embarrassed for being so gullible as to listen to a layman telling him where to find the fish. However, although Peter initially found it difficult to let go of his pride and fear, trusted in Jesus and said, “but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.”

The good news is that his trust in Jesus paid off. His surrender to Jesus resulted in “such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear” filling “the two boats to sinking point.” By taking the courage to follow Jesus and be His apostles, that little primitive Church has grown to what it is now, a potent force in the world today. Yes, today, we are called to surrender ourselves to Jesus and His power at work in us. St Paul reminds us that the mission of Jesus cannot be carried out purely on the corporate techniques of the world in doing business. Rather, the power of the Word of God is shown in the wondrous way God works in our lives. That is why Paul exhorts us, “You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.” For this reason, in our apostolic mission, we need not be afraid because the fruits of the ministry will be achieved not by our own meager human efforts but by the power of God at work in and through us.

The lesson we can learn from today’s choice of St Peter to be not just Jesus’ apostle but the future leader of the primitive Church is this intuitive and foresighted gift of Jesus to see the goodness and potentials latent in each person. What we cannot see for ourselves and what others cannot see in us, Jesus can see, and He sees what we can become. He is not interested in what we were, but only what we could be. Jesus is truly a great leader who is able to recognize our potentials and help us to develop them accordingly so that we truly grow into the full manhood that God has always meant us to be. As leaders we must help our subordinates to discover their skills, hidden talents and bring them to full blossom. If we open our eyes bigger and not allow our pride or fear of being intimidated by others to obstruct our view, then we will see much goodness and talent in them. Like Jesus, we can then invite them to join us in leading others out of darkness into His wonderful light and live a life of freedom in the truth.

Today, we must pray for wisdom and discernment so that we can know His will. Indeed, like Paul we must pray to God for that “perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding” so that we can “reach the fullest knowledge of his will.” Knowing His will clearly, we can then confidently surrender ourselves in total obedience, trust and humility to His will, leading the kind of life the Lord expects of us, “a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions” we do and increasing in our knowledge of God. By so doing, we will find great joy and have the strength to bear all things for Christ because we know His overwhelming grace is greater than our sins and weaknesses, just as Peter did.