III Sunday in OT:[2012]: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

III Sunday in OT:  Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20

From the earliest days of Christianity, believers have felt a conflict with life in the world. This is because Christians know themselves to be citizens of heaven, yet they have to live in the world. It is somewhat like fish living out of water. Christian values and ways of doing things vary considerably from those of the world around us. How do we resolve the conflict?

Christians have responded to this conflict in three ways. First, there are those who respond by conforming to the world around them. Their motto is: If you cannot beat them, join them. Such Christians may still participate enthusiastically in church services, but in their thinking, values, and priorities in life, there is no difference between them and those of the non-believers around them. They hold grudges and nurture hatred rather than forgive those who offend them. Paul condemns this approach outright. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Secondly, there are those who respond by flight, fleeing from the world. Some of the early monastic movement and spirituality was driven by a desire to isolate oneself from the world so as to draw near to God. Thomas à Kempis wrote in the Imitation of Christ, “As often as I have been among men, I have come back less a man.” According to this spirituality the way to be holy is to shun contact with society and one’s fellow human beings. This might have worked for some hermits, but it is definitely not intended for the vast majority of Christians. Jesus’ prayer for his disciples is that they remain in the world even though they do not belong to it. “The world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:!4-15).

The third way of responding to the conflict of living by Christian principles in a corrupt world is the most demanding and the most faithful to the teachings of Christ. It is based on the principle of being in the world but not of the world. In one word you can call it detachment. This is what St.Paul is teaching us in today’s 2^nd reading.

Verse 29:  I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,
30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning,
and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing,
and those who buy as though they had no possessions,
31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31)

Joke: After digging to a depth of 100 meters last year, Russian scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1,000 years, and concluded that their ancestors already had a telephone network one thousand years ago.

So, not to be outdone, in the weeks that followed, American scientists dug 200 meters and headlines in the US papers read: "US scientists have found traces of 2000 year old optical fibres and have concluded that their ancestors already had advanced high-tech digital telephone 1000 years earlier than the Russians."

One week later, the Nigerian newspapers reported the following: "After digging as deep as 500 meters, Nigerian scientists have found absolutely nothing. They have concluded that 5000 years ago, their ancestors were already using wireless technology.

St.Paul is not urging a flight from the world. He is not saying that people should stop marrying, buying and selling or dealing with the world. He is saying that whereas Christians should engage in these necessary activities, they should go about them with a spirit of detachment. They should go about these occupations without investing their heart and soul, their hope and confidence, in these things. In other words, Paul is expounding what Christ himself taught:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21)

The reason why we should not place our confidence in any worldly possession is because the world as we know it and everything in it is passing away. In the end the only wealth that will be of value to us on judgment day is the wealth of righteousness that we have accumulated through the acts of faith and love that we have done.

Anecdote: J. Edwin Orr, a professor of Church history has described the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the Protestant Welsh Revivals of the nineteenth century resulting in real metanoia.  As people sought to be filled with the Spirit, they did all they could to confess their wrong doing and to make restitution.  But this created serious problems for the shipyards along the coast of Wales .  Over the years workers had stolen all kinds of things, from wheelbarrows to hammers.  However, as people sought to be right with God they started to return what they had taken, with the result that soon the shipyards of Wales were overwhelmed with returned property.  There were such huge piles of returned tools that several of the yards put up signs that read, "If you have been led by God to return what you have stolen, please know that the management forgives you and wishes you to keep what you have taken."  In today’s gospel Jesus challenges each one of us to revive our lives with a true spirit of repentance.  

A deep sea diver lives in the water but breathes the air. Similarly, believers should live in the world but in the spirit of Christ. We should be fully involved with our world and society but our driving force should be the divine spirit that keeps us alive spiritually. In this new year let us resolve to be close to God, to be nourished, guided and enlightened by the light of God’s word while engaging in all the legitimate activities and duties that God has given us in this world – duties in the family, in the community, at work or school, in the community, in the society and in our world.