“Together Revealing God’s Glory”
July 20, 2014
The 7th Sunday
In Ordinary Time/Kingdomtide/Time of the Church
Wisdom 12: 13; 16 – 19/Psalm 86: 11 – 17/Romans
8: 18 – 25/Matthew 13: 24 - 30; 36 - 43
His Excellency
The Most Reverend Ariel Cornelio P.
Santos D.D.
of the
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the
Charismatic Episcopal Church
It is good to see all of you again. It is good to be back and it
is good to behome. There is nothing like your own home. Even if you
see places that in your evaluation are better than your own home, there is
nothing like home. No place like home. I am talking about our own
country. I am talking about my own house, my own bed, my own
pillow. I also mean that it is good to be in your “home”. Not
in a hotel function room, not in other places, but your own home. This
place will be our home for the moment. I told the staff and I want to tell
you this, “It is time for us to call this place not a warehouse. This is
now the house of God.” It was a warehouse, but the Spirit of God dwells
here now – for the moment.
I bring in news from the House of Bishops. It was generally
good. I think it is time for us to move forward and to anticipate better
things ahead of us because our God has good things in store for us. His
business is increasing His kingdom; making His house more glorious. We are
working together; we are working on unity, on building the Church.
The House of Bishops happened in a city called Toledo,
Spain. Giving a historical background, Toledo was one of the places that
contributed to the division in the Church. This city was where an addition to
the Creed was made by a portion of the Church which led to the eventual split
of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. In that place, we
decided that as there was division, we were to reverse that and work on the
unity of the Church.
In November, the Patriarch, Archbishop Craig Bates is coming here.
I asked him to bless this place. I asked the other bishops to be here
too. We can dedicate this place as a house of God because this is not a
warehouse anymore. This is the house of God! Patriarch mentioned
something about coming here which I liked. He said, “I am coming to visit you
and I will speak to people. I will meet with people and I intend to talk
to them about the futurebecause God has something good for us, in store for
us.” I want us to continue to have hope and anticipation in
our hearts because our God wants the best for us. His kingdom is always
on the increase.
I have a signature ending to my homilies: That is the
way it is in the kingdom of God. I end with that, not just for ‘pa-cute’ or
just to have something like a punch-line, but it is because I have a desire to
give a little more understanding to the hearer of what the kingdom of God is
all about. Many of the parables are preceded by the words of Jesus, “What
is the kingdom of God like?” Then Jesus would proceed to tell a parable
to illustrate what the kingdom of God is all about.
Understand this: I speak as an instrument of God, not as a
personality. I don’t want you to see me as a personality, but see me as
an instrument to whom God speaks. It is His voice. I intend to
yield myself so that God could speak through me to you about the kingdom of our
God.
In creation, it was perfect. You might say, “How come
sin entered into the world?” It was perfect, but it was a perfect
beginning. “In the beginning…”Creation which was started in the
beginning was perfect. It had a perfect beginning which was the intention
of God. It was a beginning of something that would reach its fullness when the
time comes. It was a beginning and it was perfect. We know that creation,
at a certain point because of man’s sin and his fall, was subjected to
futility. Man sinned and it affected all of creation because he was the
steward, the manager through whom God entrusted His creation. Creation
was subjected to futility when man fell. It is God’s will to win back His
creation, His handiwork. It was perfect and God was going to bring it
to fullness. I believe the fall was part of it. God's will
is to win back and restore His creation – His obra maestro; His
masterpiece; His magnumopus; His opus Dei - the work of God.
In Revelations 21:5, Jesus said, "Behold, I am making
all things new again." He understood that all of creation was subjected
to futility and He is said, “I am making all things new.” In Acts
3:21, it says that Jesus is held in the heavens until the restoration of all
things because all things were subjected to futility. It is God’s will
that all things be restored. What happened was that Jesus was the
instrument through which that could happen. He restored man by being man so
that He becomes the first fruit of all creation and the firstborn among many
brethren.
We, who have been founded and chosen by Him, became the
“second-born.” James 1 says, “In the exercise of His will He brought
us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the kind of
first fruits among His creatures.” Man, we, were part of creation and
we have been given dominion over the rest of creation which is why man was
first to be restored. We are the first fruits among His
creatures. The first, after Jesus, to be restored because the restoration
of all things were followed. It is “una-una” lang. As first
fruits, we must understand that we are instruments through whom the rest of
creation will be restored because all things will be restored. All of
creation will be restored - the elements, flora, fauna, and
fallen man. As of yet, not all of mankind have been restored. They have
been, but they don’t know yet and so they haven’t heard the news and they
haven’t been living it. Some have heard, but some don’t believe
yet. They are in futility as they were subjected to futility. They groan
and they moan and they anxiously long and eagerly wait for their emancipation,
for their freedom from futility and from the curse. We are the first
fruits so that the rest of creation can be freed also from futility.
In Matthew 13, Jesus, as explained, is the sower of the good
seed. He is the sower of the Word. In the beginning of my teaching,
I said that it is God speaking. Don’t look at personalities. Seed
is being sown right now and Jesus is the Sower. He sowed good seeds, but
He also allows the tare to dwell among the wheat. Tares are weeds
whose leaf blade resembles that of the wheat but it can be
distinguished from wheat when both are fully grown.
The difference is in the grain. The difference is in the
fruit. A tree is known by its fruit, not what it professes to
be. As Christians, as believers, we will known by our fruit.
Not by the stickers on the back of our cars, “Honk if you love Jesus” “All Life
is Sacred” “Caution: In Case of Rapture, This Vehicle Will Have No Driver.” We
will not be known by these things but by our fruit. We will not be
known by the fact that we come to Church. It is part of it, it is the beginning
of it, but it is our fruit outside. Where were the tares sown? It was in
the field – right where the seed grows. There are tares around us, among
us. We are not to look down on them and we are not to even identify
and judge them by saying, “You are a tare. You are a wheat. You
smell like wheat or you smell like tare.” It is just acknowledging the
fact that there istemptation and a tendency for us to act like tares.
We are known by our fruit. The song says, "They will
know we are Christians by our love.” Patriarch Adler on his 10thanniversary
said, “The CEC will not be known by three streams or convergence or if we are
liturgical or if tongues are talking or if people are getting healed.” It
is by our relationships and by our fruit. The devil sows bad
seed in the midst of good. The sower allows that the tares and
the wheat to grow together side by side. One of the
reasons is because we, as light, shine the most in themidst of darkness.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine among
men that they may see your good works that they may glorify your Father who is
in heaven.” The light shines best in darkness; wheat’s fruit is
evident among tares. Philippians 2:14-15, “Do all things without grumbling
or disputing;(in another translation, ‘Do all things without complaining
and arguing’) so that you will prove yourselves blameless and
innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation,” in the midst of tares, in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation, among whom who appear as lights in the
world. You appear as lights in the world among tares in the midst of a
crooked and perverse generation. The righteous are meant to shine
like the sun in the kingdom in the presence of tares.
There is the song, “Take Me Out of the Dark,” but if you heard the
explanation of the Parable of the Tares, it is not the righteous that are taken
out. It is the tares, not the wheat. This is our Father’s
world. This is our home. Why would we leave? Strangers leave;
aliens leave. Those who do not belong here leave because this is our
home.
I happen to know of men, some of them fathers, who avoided home
because they did not want to face a nagging wife and noisy children. One
of them even said, “I don’t like a crowded place, a smelly place.” For an
excuse, they would work overtime even if there is nothing to do in the
office. They would go to bars and spend time there just so they could
avoid the home. There is also a saying, “A man’s home is his
castle.” To me, if it is my castle, nobody is kicking me out of it.
If there is something to be fix in it, I will fix it. If there is
something to be kicked out of it, then I will kick it out because it is my
home. This is the Father’s world. This is His creation. If
something goes wrong, He will not escape but fix it. This is our
Father. God’s house will be fixed and He appointed you and me, His sons,
for the job of restoration.
Jesus is at the right hand of the Father held in the heavens until
the restoration of all things. If Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God,
who is going to do the job of restoring all things? It is you and me in
whom Jesus is present. We are His Body! Creation is anxious to be
freed from futility, and we, the wheat, the sons of God, are revealed.
Creation is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God. Then, we are
revealed as sons of God when we bear grain, when we bear fruit; then, we are
freed from futility. Talking about saving the planet, it is not the job
of the environmentalist, but ours. We are not just saving the planet, but
we are saving all of creation. Creation is nature and most importantly
man. Man and the rest of creation groans within them wanting to be freed
anxiously. It will be glorious. At this point, it is a little
difficult to see but it will happen. It will be glorious so you can
probably call it a gloriousmystery because it is difficult to see it at this
point. It will be the Lord’s doing and it will be marvelous in our eyes.
Romans 8:18-25 - "For I consider that sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that
is to be revealed to us." In a parallel Scripture in 2
Corinthians 4:17, St. Paul says, “Momentary, light affliction
(inconvenience, lack of peace) is producing for us an eternal weight
of glory far beyond all comparison.” Eye has not seen nor
ear heard what God has instore for us. It will be glorious. It is
difficult to see because we see tares among us. In some cases, it seems
like that the tares outnumber the wheat, but it is a temporary thing, momentary
thing.
In 2 Thessalonians 1:10, St. Paul says that Jesus will come
to be glorified in His saints on that day when all things are
restored andto be marveled at among all who have believed. He will be
glorified when we are revealed as sons and we bear fruit and we bear
grain. We are revealed as wheat among tares.
With regards to God's plan for us – plans for welfare and not
for calamity –Daniel 7:18 says, “But the saints of the Highest One
will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to
come.” Thekingdom has been given to us. We are not going to
be taken out of it. We will be living in it, possessing it, and bringing
it to fullness. Daniel 7:22 says, “Until the Ancient of Days came
and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the
time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.” Verse
27 says, “Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all
the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints
of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all
the dominions will serve and obey Him.”St. Paul says, “You will judge
nations and rule over them.” This was the plan from the beginning.
Man was to rule and reign on the earth. It is the same thing brought into
fullness. Creation was perfect; it was a perfect beginning. His
kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all the dominions will serve
and obey Him.
I say to you, “Don’t be discouraged.” I say further, “Don't
complain about what you see. That is not ideal.” There are tares among the
wheat and God’sintentions is for that to be so that we would be evident
and we would one day be revealed as the sons of God. We will be
revealed as wheat because then will come the restoration of all
things. It is not the fullness yet. We don’t see the fullness
yet, so don’t lose hope.
I repeat: there will be glory explicable that will be revealed
which eye has not seen and ear has not heard. So far, we have seen and
proven God’s faithfulness to us enough to believe Him! We haven’t seen
all that He has to do, but we have seen enough to know and to prove that God is
alive and God loves us and God wants the best for us. How many
miracles have you seen in your life? There are several, but you are yet
to see more!
I don’t know how many of you have seen this place before the
priests, the deacons, and the faithful people transformed it to these.
They are not yet done. We are not done yet. This place was a box
that was dirty, gloomy, and a plain warehouse. It is no longer a warehouse.
More glorious things are to come. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord
is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward
you, not willing that any should perish but that all come to
repentance.” He is not willing that any of His perfect creation is
destroyed or that any should perish but all should come to repentance and all
should come to restoration. Psalm 86:15 says, “But Thou, O Lord,
art a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in
lovingkindness and truth.”
God doesn’t hate the unrighteous; He hates that they are
unrighteous and He wants them to come to repentance.
LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
CARDINAL OF HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
AND
VENERABLE PRIMATE
OF THE PHILIPPINES
THROUGH
THE WORD EXPOSED
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