Today we are treated to one of the most beautiful passages in the New Testament. In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul begins by telling us to be compassionate and merciful. We are urged to put the interests of others above ourselves.
“Be like Jesus,” Paul tells us. “Serve others. Stop being selfish. See others as more important than yourself.” This is difficult advice to heed because pride is so deeply rooted in each of us. So much of our society pressures us into thinking that the world revolves around our wants and us.
Then Paul tells us about Jesus. He says that we should have the same attitude in life as Jesus had. He was forever God, but he did not regard this as something to be grasped. Instead, Jesus emptied Himself of His Divinity. He became human. Jesus became a slave to serve us. He obeyed His Father for our sake, even when this obedience led to His death on the cross.
Because of this, God bestowed on Him the name that is above every other name; so “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
Today’s readings remind us that we balk at doing so. We have two fundamental choices in life whenever the Lord asks something of us: obedience or rebellion. Rebellion is a choice we make at times, but it is the wrong choice.
In today’s First Reading Ezekiel observes that those who blame the Lord for their destructive path and decisions are only fooling themselves. Rebellion is usually egged on by an injustice we have suffered. The countless protests in cities across our country are a testimony to that. Ezekiel debunks any claim that God is unjust in letting the wicked perish and the virtuous live due to their actions. No one can honestly say the Lord hasn’t tried throughout salvation history to dissuade us from taking the wrong path. Ultimately, our decisions are our own.
In his writings Aristotle defined the most fundamental principle of ethics as “do good and avoid evil.” We’re free to do either, but we’re also responsible for the outcome.
The wicked do evil, and many people suffer the consequences of their evil, not just them. The virtuous do good, and many people benefit from that good. God blessed us with the freedom to do good or evil. He wants us to do good because he knows a virtuous life is a fruitful and beautiful life that brings us to the kingdom of heaven.
God also knows the flipside of freedom: we’re free to blow it and choose evil. God doesn’t want us to do evil, but permits us to do so out of respect for our freedom. God gave us free will because our ability to love cannot exist otherwise.
St. Paul traced a simple path for us to follow: the path Our Lord himself followed. He summarizes it very well: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his interests, but also for those of others.”
The parable of the two sons is a classic example of saying that actions speak louder than words. The two sons represent our responses to God’s commands. The tax collectors and prostitutes, portrayed by the first son, had said no to God but in response to John the Baptist’s preaching, they experienced a change of heart. The chief priests and elders, portrayed by the second son, said “yes,” but their actions showed that they didn’t truly change their ways.
Often we hear and respond faithfully to what God is asking of us but at other times, our actions don’t demonstrate what we say. God’s call meanwhile is persistent, always there to prod our conscience, offering his divine word as guidance and calling us to fidelity. Entering the kingdom of heaven depends on being faithful to God’s persistent call and will.
For God to work through us, we have to take on the humility of Christ and empty ourselves for others. A good litmus test for doing that is our willingness to observe the greatest commandment, which calls on us to love our neighbor as ourselves; the corporal works of mercy offer us examples for doing that by caring about others.
Why do we say “yes” and not follow through at times? We do that because the thought of obeying God and denying ourselves provokes inner rebellion. Mankind’s entire history of sin is a history of rebellion, so it’s no surprise that rebellion is deeply rooted in us.
Our Lord gives us a different example: that of a profound obedience to the Father. Obedience is a difficult path, so it is no surprise that we are hesitant to always take it, but this path is the most fulfilling one.
Yes and no are the most powerful words we can say. They make a difference on how our life unfolds. A believer who rebels by saying “yes” to God’s will but doesn’t do it, will get nowhere near God’s kingdom. His lips said “yes,” but his heart said “no.” A believer who says “no” in the midst of rebellion but with a change of heart then obeys, is on his to way toward entering the kingdom of heaven.