Practise Integrity: 8th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
Sermon and Christian Act in The Word
Theme: Practise Integrity! Be responsible! The quality of a good Christian life is integrity!
Point of Reflection: What kind of a person am I? Do I have integrity? Am I a hypocrite? Today’s Sunday readings are teaching us as Christians to be men and women of integrity. To reach personal integrity, a believer must be rooted in Jesus’ teaching, and be honest and self-critical. Such integrity will bear the good fruit of blameless speech and sound judgment; it will make a believer, to use the words of the Psalmist, “flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”
First Reading: Sirach 27:4–7
Psalm: Psalm 92:2–3, 13–16
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:54–58
Gospel: Luke 6:39–45
Sermon (Reflection): Quite enriching today is the Gospel passage which contains Jesus’ three instructions on integrity and bearing good fruit. He begins with a proverb in the form of a rhetorical question, which states an obvious truth that a blind person cannot be a guide. Jesus then uses this proverb to tell his disciples that they must learn from him before they can guide others. Moreover, their learning cannot be partial or superficial but must bring them to a level equal to their teacher, thus, Jesus himself. He does not mean that they become equal with him in dignity, but that they must accept his entire teaching, not just selected fragments. This was the first and indispensable step before they could be called teachers and lead others. This is also an indispensable step for us Christians to be called true Disciples of Christ.
A stark warning against hypocrisy is the second part of Jesus’ teaching. How many of us are hypocrites?
Using the symbols of a speck and a log lodged in someone’s eye, Jesus warns his disciples against correcting others without first correcting themselves.
Guides and teachers must examine themselves before attempting to correct others’ faults. Jesus warns his disciples against the danger of hypocrisy, and a lack of objectivity founded on a lack of honesty and self-critique. Such self-critique and examination were done in the light of Jesus’ teaching to assure integrity. It prevents one from being a guide blinded by his or her delusions.
As Christians, we need self-critique now and then; even as priests and sisters and brothers, we need to be disciplined before we discipline others.
The final instruction quotes yet another proverb which states that a tree’s worth is determined by the type of fruits it produces. Jesus implies that pretence and deception of any kind cannot be maintained for long. Eventually, a person’s deeds and words will reveal the true content of the person’s heart. Falsehood cannot be made to appear as truth for long. Here, Jesus agrees with Ben Sirach stating, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. Thus, the real state of the heart will eventually be revealed through words.
The quality of discipleship and the level of goodness cannot be faked. A true disciple accepts the entirety of Jesus’ teaching while being honest and self-critical about his or her limits and faults, before attempting to guide and correct others.
In today’s first Scriptural reading, Ben Sirach uses two proverbs to teach that a person’s true character, which remains hidden from the eyes, is revealed through the use of words. The Book of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus, belongs to Israel’s wisdom tradition. Biblical wisdom means living well through reverent obedience to God, his laws, and instructions. The first proverb speaks of a sieve which the farmer would shake to make the impurities hidden among the grain appear. The author explains that just as shaking a sieve makes the refuse appear on the surface of the grain, so words make known hidden faults and concealed intentions of the speaker. The second proverb uses the image of a kiln, thus, a furnace used for firing pottery which tests the quality of the potter’s vessel. Like this furnace, the inner quality of the mind and the levels of intelligence are tested in the course of a conversation. Ben Sirach’s third and final statement is not a proverb but an instruction. Here, based on the first proverb, Ben Sirach instructs that no person should be praised before his or her true self is revealed in the course of the conversation and by hearing their words. The lesson we can learn from these parables is that a person’s integrity and true self cannot be known by looking simply at outward appearances.
Words are the audible fruits and reflections of the person’s heart and mind, and a basis for distinguishing between wisdom and folly.
The second reading brings St Paul’s teaching on triumph over death where Jesus Christ has offered us resurrection. This act of resurrection is the act of transformation now in our hearts and it will take place in the future on the final day. St Paul adopts the words of the prophets Isaiah (25:8) and Amos (13:14) to compose a short victory hymn that celebrates this victory of life which Christ accomplished by defeating the main tool of death – sin. Since the law makes sin known, Christ also “defeated” the law because the law becomes unnecessary where there is no sin. He concludes the hymn with a solemn thanksgiving to God who, acting through his son Jesus Christ, was the architect and power behind this victory. This is an act of transformation. We need to be transformed people so that we can be men and women of integrity bearing in mind that there is final judgment and resurrection.
Christian Act in Word of God “Being a man/woman of integrity”
As Christians, we have a great responsibility. For ordinary people, such as ourselves, words may be our most powerful tool for shaping the world around us. Unlike the few individuals who enjoy great political, military, or even moral authority, the vast majority of us have little formal authority and power over others and our environment. Instead, we use words to communicate but also to influence others and shape the world around us. As we have noted at the beginning, the book of Ben Sirach uses two proverbs to teach us about a person’s true character, which remains hidden from the eyes and yet is revealed through the use of words.
Our choice of words and how we use them can bind or separate, bring harmony or conflict, inspire or discourage, guide or deceive. We need to be honest with our words and actions, by doing so, we are becoming men and women of integrity.
More to it, our words must reflect who we are. Honesty and integrity in speaking must be one of the trademarks of the true believer. Many people in our world have lost confidence in the value of words because words have become tools for self-promotion and deception for many. We see this in public life, in the example of many politicians and media houses. Unfortunately, we see this also in our Christian communities. But there is a lesson to be learned here. We all know who these pretenders are and know their true character. This is the clearest proof that both Ben Sirach and Jesus were right stating that the words will eventually reveal the truth about a person’s true self and his or her intentions. As Christians, let us be men and women of integrity.
We often say things attempting to create a self-image that is not true to who we are, hoping that others will believe us. This is an illusion. Both our own life experience and the Scriptural readings of today confirm that neither we nor anybody else can pretend for long. If we try it, everyone will eventually come to see past our deception, which will leave us in shame and isolation. Our Christian wisdom consists in realising that our path to gaining respect, and ultimately to eternal life, leads through honesty, integrity, and faithfulness to Jesus’s teaching, all expressed through our right use of words. A word can kill or build, let us use our words correctly by being men and women of integrity.
Action: By all means, I need to be a man/woman of integrity: doing the right thing even when nobody sees me.
Prayer: Lord our God, you are the source and giver of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. We kneel before you to ask you to make us men and women of integrity, to be responsible and honest with ourselves and others in all our daily undertakings. Help us not to be pretenders in life. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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