As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church
2 Kings 4:25-37,
Romans 8:1-11, Matthew 9:18-26
The Gospels
of Mark and Luke both give longer and more detailed accounts of the two
miracles in today’s gospel. What are we to make of this very brief description
from St. Matthew? It seems that Matthew is attempting to make a point of Jesus’
concern for each of these individuals. Matthew does not dwell on either
person’s motivation for seeking help. By extension, he would like us to realize
Jesus’ concern for each of us, whatever our motivation is. It does not matter
how we come, no matter how inadequately or how imperfectly we come—only that
we come seeking help. We come to Christ exactly as we are, and Christ’s Spirit
is able to make us what we are able to become. We can always say no to our
inspirations, since God does not force us but does continually give us other
chances to be Christ-bearers.
In today’s Epistle, St. Paul’s
admonition to the believers was that when a person became a Christian, there
came to them the surging power of the Spirit of God. Sinful human nature
makes it easy to be absorbed in all kinds of things that appeal to and are
dominated by the flesh. The flesh making us prone to envy, murder, jealousy, anger, selfish
ambition, sexual immorality, idolatry,
greediness,
covetousness, and malice.
Paul taught
that If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, then our
mortal bodies, our flesh, are Spirit-controlled, Christ-controlled, and God-focused.
We then come to realize that Jesus became human to show us the way. The way is
to see the goodness in all that God created. It is when our mortal bodies unite
with our spirit that we are truly Christian.
In Matthew’s
rendition of these two miracles, it is clear that Jesus is responding to the
need of others. In following this Christian way and responding to other’s needs,
our actions can bring about hardships for us. Christ’s self-emptying, exemplified
by his life on earth, are lessons in self-giving we can aspire to as our own lives
progress.
If our
communities are based on mutual service, respect, kindness, and equality, these
are virtues exemplified by love. The domination of one sector of society by another,
or the notion that violence can be solved by violence, or the failure to
examine all aspects of every question, or the attempt to use one group of
people for the comfort and convenience of another, is destructive to any
society.
Communities are composed of individuals. In
our day and age, individuals can be in danger of getting lost. People tend to
become numbers in the social security system, or members of any association or
union or ethnic group, rather than the individuals we are. God loves each of us
individually because we are all unique from one another.
The woman in
today’s gospel was not simply a poor woman obscured by the crowd; she was
someone to whom Jesus gave of himself wholeheartedly, for it seemed that
nothing but her need existed.
Christ is
aware of each of us in our need. So it does not matter how we come, no matter
how inadequately or how imperfectly we come. We come to Christ exactly as we
are, and Christ’s Spirit is able to make us what we are able to become.
When we remember
that we are loved, we are prompted to be able to love the other and respond to
their needs.
Christ is in
our midst!
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