3rd Sunday Year A

Isaiah 8:23-9:4
1 Corinthians 1:10-13,17
Matthew 4:12-23

How do I respond to God’s call?

My brothers and sisters, have we ever asked ourselves: How have I responded to God’s call? In the previous week, we reflected on “What is God calling me to do”. As baptised Christians, we are all called by God. The truth is, the kingdom of God is built by Christians over time and over space, each doing their part – in small or big ways. Indeed, the kingdom of God will be laid to waste if Christians do not respond to God’s call. Importantly, no one is too insignificant to be called by God. And, having been called by God, there is no role too small or too unimportant. This week, let us continue to reflect on the calling of God and examining the nature of our response.

The Gospel this week tells the story of the calling of the brothers Peter, Andrew, James and John. These pairs of brothers were not learned rabbi or community leaders. They were simple fishermen. But as St Paul said, “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Cor 1:26-29) Indeed, who we are and what God calls us to are secondary. The important thing is the disposition our hearts and our response to God. As we read, though they were simple fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John are well-dispositioned to God’s call. So, when Jesus called Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people” (verse 19), this was their response: “Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (verse 20) Similarly, when Jesus called James and John, they were “mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.” (verse 21-22) These brothers had a livelihood; they were attending to their work mending their nets; and James and John had a father. In spite of these, when Jesus called, their responses were resolute and immediate. They saw the light in Jesus and prioritised Jesus over their worldly concerns. It was as the prophet Isaiah wrote in the First Reading this week: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.” (verse 2) So we reflect: Have I seen the light when God calls me?

We need to be clear on one thing. While God’s call requires sacrifice on our part, God will never calls us to be unfaithful to His teachings. For example, in the case of James and John leaving their father, we can be sure that while this is a great personal sacrifice for them, in doing so, they are not leaving their father uncared for. Perhaps they had other siblings to take care of the father; or perhaps, the father is still relatively young and healthy and could take care of himself. The temptation for James and John, however, is to use their father as an excuse for not responding to God’s call in the resolute and immediate menner that they did. For example, elsewhere in the Gospel, we read a would-be disciple giving this exact excuse when he said to Jesus, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” (Mt 8:21) In saying this, he didn’t mean that his father has recently passed away and he need to go attend to the funeral. For if this was the case, Jesus’ response of “let the dead bury their own dead” (Mt 8:22) would be too harsh and unreasonable. Rather, the man is using the father as an excuse, saying that he will follow Jesus in the onward years, after his father has passed on.

Hence, the first reflection the Scripture asks of us this week is: How have I responded to God’s call? Has my response been resolute and immediate? Or do I find excuses not to?

In the Second Reading, St Paul invites us to examine on the motive of our response. For even if we response to God, with impure motives, we can do more harm than good. So we ask: in responding to God, do I do so with love and with the pure motive of serving God and His people? Or do I do so with self-serving motives? For example, sometimes, people serve to attract attention to themselves; others serve to derive monetary and non-monetary benefits for themselves. And the result of impure motives is division. This is the reason we often see divisions in organisations. Divisions are especially damaging when they happen in our churches. As St Paul urges in the Second Reading, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.” (verse 10) As an example, St Paul cited the cult-like following he witnessed among the believers. He observed, “What I mean is that each of you says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (verse 12-13) This division must have bothered St Paul greatly. For as we read a little later, St Paul revisited the same theme and counselled: “For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul,’ and another, ‘I belong to Apollos,’ are you not merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” (1 Cor 3:4-7)

So, why is division such a great issue? It is because it acts as a counter-witness to Jesus. As believers, in imitation of Jesus, our love and unity are how we convert the world. But when we are divided, we have fallen into the trap of the devil. For all of Jesus’ sacrifices on the cross, our division serves as an obstacle so that instead of seeing Jesus’ love and sacrifice on the cross, non-believers will only see our division. In this way, the cross of Christ will be “emptied of its power.” (verse 17). This is a grave consequence indeed.