“The Gospel of the Table”
May 4, 2014
3rd Sunday of the Great Christian Passover
Acts 2: 14a; 36 –
47/Psalm 116: 12 – 19/1 Peter 1: 17 – 23/Luke 24: 13 - 35
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
Hallelujah! Christ is risen! This is not
just a greeting but a powerful truth to the theology or reality of Easter that
Christ is risen. It is really good to see all of you here today. We will dwell in booths, so to speak, for the next few
weeks. I understand that this is not the most ideal place to be. I
am not complaining about this place. This stage in our journey is not the
best. We won’t be settled soon. For a few weeks, we will be renting
this facility until we move to another temporary place which will only be
temporary while we are trying our best, Lord willing, to build our own home.
We will not get comfortable until we do that but we
will have the attitude of David. We will not give sleep to our eyes nor
slumber to our eyelids until we find a place for our God, to house the people
of God, and to build a house for our God. For only a little while, St. Peter
says that this is happening because it is necessary. We need to
understand that we need to go through the wilderness to get to the Promised
Land. There is no other way, no way around the wilderness. It is through
the wilderness that you get to the Promised Land. When I say we
will not be comfortable for a while, I am talking about this Wednesday evening
where we will have our Mass in this rented warehouse that we will be in for the
next few years. We won’t have air-conditioning yet, soon it will, but for
Wednesday we will hold our Mass there. If you think it is hot, try
putting on vestments, a cope and a miter.
Don't lose your focus! We are only in a
stage. This is temporary. God is with us on the journey. He
is with us in the boat. If the boat sinks, He sinks with us in the boat.
He is with us in the journey. He will never leave us nor forsake
us. Remember this: don't lose your focus and do not
ever grow weary. The cloud is ahead of us, leading us to that place. We
might lose sleep until we go to the place where God promised to give to us but
He will take us there. I know that because His Word does not return
to Him empty. His Word always accomplishes that for which it was
sent. God is molding us. God is preparing us. This is more
than just a change of venue. It is taking us from one degree of
glory to the next higher degree of glory in our walk with Him.
It just so happen that venues are involved in the
process. He is more concerned about us, His people, and us looking to Him
as our God. This is His promise, “They
shall be My people and I will be there God.” Building or no building, it is about character, about
us partaking of the divine nature of God. The acquisition of the property
is just part of it. How do we get from one venue to another? As a
chaotic direction-less people or as a disciplined army of the Lord, the people
of God, who despite of friction, despite of the wilderness, despite
getting to places where there is no water, still do not lose our focus?
This is what salvation means. It is knowing
God, being one with Him, and partaking of His divine nature so that no matter
what circumstances we face, on our journey, as we grow in Him, we display that
divine nature of which we are partakers. Do not lose your focus!
In Acts 2, St. Peter says, “Know for certain that God made Jesus both Lord and
Christ. We take lightly, “He
is Lord.” We say, “He is my personal Lord and Savior.” We don’t understand lordship because we are not
familiar with the lord and servant culture. We are not of monarchy so we
don’t know what nobility and what royalty are all about. You see
movies where there are slaves and servants where they are properties of their
masters. In Christianity, we don’t understand that. We don’t understand
that we are God’s property. We really don't have a say when we say, “He is Lord.” Only His Word goes and only His Word is followed.
Our idea of Lord, saying, “Jesus is my Lord,” is more like He is my butler. He is my
yaya. He is my personal valet. He goes on errands for my needs.
This is wrong. If He is Lord, then, He must be followed. He
owns us; we are His. He purchased us with His own blood. When
masters purchase slaves with money, the slave becomes their own. If the
masters spends a lot more than just money, that means a lot more. If he
purchases a slave with his own blood, with his own life, then, I would think he
owns him all the more.
We must have that attitude. Now that we know that
Jesus is both Christ and Lord, the next question must be, “Then what shall we do as servants of the Lord?” The reading says to submit to the apostles teaching,
be teachable, not arrogant, and actively participate in the work of the Church
because this is fellowship. Observe always the breaking of the
bread. Submit to the leaders ordained by God’s grace when they lead the
Sacrament and never neglect the liturgical prayers.
In the Church, there is no one superstar, evangelist
or miracle worker. It doesn’t depend on the leader. It is a
corporate witness of the people of God, not taking away the importance of
leadership. All of us are the people of God. It is not one
person. Devotion to these things – the apostle’s teachings, the breaking of the bread,
fellowship and prayers –was what
turned the world upside down. Not one superstar but all the people of God
were devoted to all of these things. Then, God added to their number and
then they had approval with man and with God.
Psalm 116:12-14
says, “What shall I render to the Lord for all
Hisbenefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup
of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I shall pay my vows to
the Lord; Oh may it be in the presence of all His people.” Pay indicates an obligation. Offer
indicates something voluntary; vows are paid. We have obligations.
On top of obligations, we are encouraged to voluntarily give. This is
because we are partakers of the divine nature. The commands of God, the duties
and responsibilities that we have as servants of the Lord and as members of the
Church is not so that the Church can monitor you and check on you and give you
grades. It is so that we can demonstrate the fact that we are partakers
of the divine nature. The divine nature is ever blessing and He fulfills
His Word.
Back when we were in Christian Life Fellowship, we
had membership. There was a membership manual with all the
responsibilities of a baptized member. We signed in this manual and one
of the responsibilities was the “paying” of the tithes. You don’t “give” your
tithe; you “pay” it. You don’t offer it. You don’t tell the BIR
Commissioner, “I offer to pay my
taxes. From the bottom of my heart, I volunteer to pay my taxes.” It is not a voluntary thing, it is an obligation.
You pay your taxes. They don’t tell you, “If God spoke to you, you might want to pay your
taxes. You may want to think about giving an offering for taxes.” You pay the full amount because it is a
responsibility. On top of that, out of thanksgiving, we give to God.
Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving because of all the
benefits. We might be servants but God loves us, He takes care of us, and
at the same time, we are sons and children. Where do we pay our vows and
give our offerings? It is in the courts of our Lord’s house. In the
presence of all His people. As we do, we shout, “Praise the Lord.” We give cheerfully, not under compulsion, because we give out of hearts
that understand all the blessings, all the benefits that God has given to us.
2Corinthains 8:1-5 shows the witness of the church
at Macedonia. St. Paul said to the Corinthians, “I want you to be aware, brothers, about this
grace. It was grace from God given to the church in Macedonia which they
accepted. It was grace that they, in a great ordeal of affliction, overflowed in their abundance of joy and in their deep
poverty. It was seen in the
wealth of their liberality of freedom in giving according to their ability and beyond their ability,they
gave of their own accord.” No
one forced them. “Begging us with
much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.” There was a need in Judea. The Macedonians asked
and begged the favor St. Paul to let them help. Did they have
a surplus? No; it was according to their ability and beyond their
ability. It means they had to exert effort and they begged St. Paul for them
to participate in the giving of offerings to those in need. They
understood it as a favor for them. It was a blessing.
We have been looking for possible properties that we
can acquire. I know how much we can afford, but we never get God out of
the picture. We never exclude the faith factor in our consideration of a
piece of property. If we purchased something that we know we can afford,
then, we don't need God. Always have faith because the Macedonians were
blessed. They were able to give beyond their ability. The grace of God what was
what was beyond their ability. They stretched their ability to beyond.
A song verse says, "Let us celebrate our gracious Lord who
teaches us to give Him more than we ever dream that we could give before.” God's grace gives us ability do to more that which we
think we cannot do. It is all part of being partakers of the divine
nature.
2Corinthians 8:4-5 says, “Begging us with much urging for the participation,
not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord.” What do we give to the Lord? What belongs to the
Lord? Leviticus says it is the tithe. They paid first their vows; and
then, they gave themselves to God, by His will, then came the voluntary
offerings, the freewill offerings, the thanksgiving designated offerings and
love offerings. We are servants; we are members, and we are responsible
because we partake of the divine nature.
This past week, I visited our brothers and sisters
in Hong Kong. This has been planned since last year before we knew about
having to leave Sheridan. We chose the holidays so that we could
gather the brothers there. Not all of them had Saturdays and Sundays off
like we do here. It depends upon their employer. Normally, if it is
a holiday, they are given a day off and they gather. Few weeks ago, I was
talking to Fr. Gary and I mentioned to him that I wasn’t feeling good about
leaving at this time. I said, “This
is ill –timed because this is the
same week that we have to start moving out.” Friday morning, Fr. Gary and I were talking and he
said, “You said that this was
ill-timed. According to our understanding, it may be because we have our own
needs. But it was perfect timing because God timed it. Our brothers and sisters
really needed to hear a message from us. They really needed to have the live
presence of their Bishop. They were on the verge of giving up. They were
feeling neglected. They don’t have a permanent place for years now.
No amount of good quality of preaching that you can hear on the Internet would
beat a handshake, a live presence, or somebody saying to them in the flesh, ‘God loves you. God has forgiven you. God
is not angry at you. God will never leave you nor forsake you.’” I don’t know if they understood my homily then because
I always just emphasized to them that God will never leave them nor forsake
them. We must not leave our brothers and sisters.
It was impossible for death to hold Jesus under its
power. Since we are one with Christ, we are the Body of Christ, and we
have the ability over death. The work in Hong Kong must never die.
The work in Manila must never die. It doesn’t have to because death has
no dominion over us. This is the work of Christ. We are His
body. The people in Hong Kong were thankful like the Macedonians. I
was thinking of bringing along my wife because I have earned so much miles for
the airline ticket. They told us, “Bring
your whole family.” I asked them, “Do you know that I have six children?” They said, “Yes.
Bring them all. We will pay for your fare and for your accommodations.” This is their heart and these are people who have
families in Manila to take care of, but they give.
I am not complaining about our Church. I thank
God for all of you because you are givers also. I am talking about a
witness in Hong Kong. Their situation is not ideal. If you think
that it is hard for us at this point to move from one place to another, on top
of their situations with their employers, most of whom are not the best
employers in the world, they continue the work in the Church. They are an
itinerant church; they don’t have a permanent place to meet. They
blessed me; they fed me; they met all my needs and I just had to tell them, “I am not taking away the opportunity of the blessing
from you, but let me take care of some of my expenses too.”
They showed the heart of giving understanding that
they are blessed and that they can give according to their ability and even
beyond because of the grace of God. Never forget the grace of God.
Never just look at your bank account, your check book or your pay check or your
ability or your talents. God’s grace always stretches all those things.
He teaches us to give Him more than we can ever imagine or do before.
1 Peter 3:8 says, “Don’t
return evil for evil, insult for insult; but give a blessing instead.” Always give a blessing even if you are reviled because
you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
God wants you to bless because this is the way for you to be blessed.
Does God want ten percent of your tithe or one hundred percent? God
wants the whole heart given wholeheartedly. He wants us to give our all voluntarily. It is not out of
compulsion. He does not take pleasure in sacrifices and burnt offerings
which are obligations. The sacrifice of God is a contrite heart – from the
bottom of your heart, you give an offering. He wants a cheerful
giver. He doesn’t want to check on us.
We don’t want to monitor you. We want you to
give your whole heart, soul, mind, wholeheartedly. In Acts 2, they gave
of their possessions. They sold their possessions and gave. They
were not obligated. In the story of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter told
Ananias, “You didn’t have to give your all;
what you volunteered to give is what you give. Just don’t lie about it.” They were not compelled; they were giving voluntarily.
This is what the Gospel of the Table is all
about. Jesus gave His all. He did not have to leave the presence of His
Father to die for a stiff-necked, obstinate people who were His enemies.
He did not have to do that. He was not compelled; He was not
obligated. But because He is love, He gave of Himself. This is what the
Table is all about.
The gospel talks about how that two disciples
leaving Jerusalem, maybe hopeless, going to this place seven miles off called
Emmaus. For seven miles, they had the Liturgy of the Word.
Jesus was explaining to them the Scriptures – the first Reading, the second Reading, the gospel, the
homily – while they were walking for seven miles. Then,
when they reached Emmaus, they got to the Table. Then, they went into the
Liturgy of the Word. After listening in the Liturgy of the Word, they
participated in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. When they had communion did
the recognized they knew Jesus, God, at the Table. They knew Him. Knowing
means having an intimate communion, relationship, or fellowship with.
This is the definition of eternal life –knowing God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
The ultimate venue where we can know God is through
the body and blood of His Son. When we partake of Him, we know Him because this
is when He reveals Himself to us. There is a preliminary to this
which is called the Liturgy of the Word which is something we don’t sleep
through. I don’t think that two disciples slept walking with Jesus.
They understood what Jesus had to say about Himself so that the Liturgy of the
Eucharist would be more meaningful to us. In the first place, it is why
the Table had to be set. Jesus was giving of Himself to us. The
people who crucified Christ asked Peter, “What
shall we do?” Know Him in the
breaking of the bread; participate and observe and be devoted to the apostle’s
teaching; fellowship with one another in the breaking of the bread and in
prayers. Realize that Jesus is Lord and Christ and we give all to Him and
follow His example.
In the Table, we put the body and blood
of Christ which He freely offered to us. He gave His all and He did not
withhold anything. Our offering is put beside His offering.
If His offering is one hundred percent, our offering should be no less
than one hundred percent. I am not saying to clean out your pockets so
that you don’t have transportation fare to go home. It is whole heart
wholeheartedly. What we give represents our whole heart. How we
give that also represents our whole heart. It is nothing short of one
hundred percent because our offering is only acceptable to God because it is
joined with the offering of Christ. Christ’s is the only acceptable
sacrifice to God and He allows us to join our offerings with His so that our
offerings will also be acceptable to God. But if it doesn’t match His offering,
then it should not be. He gave his all, what more can He give? We should follow
after His example. Again, offering side-by-side with His offering. He gave his
all, what more can He give? What then can we give? Also our lives: Whole heart,
whole soul, whole body. In the Torah it says: With all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your strength and with all your money. That is what it says
in the Jewish Scriptures, which is is
why they gave up to 30+% percent of their income to the Temple, almost 40%.
Again I am not saying you are under obligation it should be whole heartedly. Why?
Does God need our offerings? No! Will He be more blessed when we give more? Why
does He want us to bless Him? That we might inherit a blessing, for this very
purpose you were called. Give a blessing so that you may inherit a blessing.
God will not get any richer. What would complete His Joy, if it is not complete
yet, or what His will is, is that we will be like Him, Ever Blessing, so that
we would be ever blessed. That’s His desire, that’s what He wants that’s His
will. That’s the way it is in the Kingdom of our God.
LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
CARDINAL OF HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
AND
VENERABLE PRIMATE
OF THE PHILIPPINES
THROUGH
THE WORD EXPOSED
What does the figure of the suffering servant tell me about God?