Seventh Ordinary Sunday, Year C
Theme: Lead An Authentic Christian Life 度真正的基督徒生活
All of us, be we Christians or atheists, are called by God to lead authentic lives, not fake ones.We were created in the image of God and were assigned to manage the Creation, aka the known universe (Genesis 1:27) This is our first call, to be human beings and stewards of the visible world.
What does it mean to be human? It is a huge philosophical question. Let’s narrow it down to finding out how human beings are different from other living creatures such as plants and animals. As stewards of the visible world, how do we manage wild beasts which have sharp fangs and claws; which sprint faster than us and whose strength is stronger than ours? We make use of our intelligence which is a gift from our Creator. Admittedly, animals also have a certain level of intelligence. Otherwise we don’t have domestic cattles and pets. Nevertheless, human intelligence is far more superior than animal intelligence.
Like brute strength, our intelligence spreads across a spectrum from low to high in whatever scale we design. For example, IQ test is one but it is notoriously biased. For our meditation, I propose another workable scale which is to measure how much unnecessary brute force is deployed to handle an adverse situation. The less force is deployed the higher the intelligence. For example, the intelligence of human beings is demonstrated by the invention of a lot of machines to enhance their muscular strength such as pulleys and wheels to lift heavy objects; areoplanes to fly higher than any birds could scale; ships and submarines to cross the oceans. We even invented rockets to send men to the moon and back. Without doubt, most of us are able to discharge the first call to be human by using our intelligence instead of our brutality.
In the years during and after World War II, we invented computers and the Internet to help us solve a wide range of problems, thus enhancing our intelligence. Nowadays, some computer software is even able to defeat Grand Masters in games of chess! At the moment, we are at the threshold of the age of Artificial Intelligence. As AI is gradually able to overtake our ability to solve problems, it forces us to think further how human beings are different from robots. As of this writing, robots do not possess consciousness. They are not aware of their existence and what they are but we human beings are aware. How is a person aware of himself? Comatose patients may help us understand. A normal person begins awareness with sensations which come from his needs such as hunger and shelter. Whatever satisfies his physiological and security needs are good. We reason that things happen regularly must be true. We feel that some sensations are pleasant. Things which cause pleasant sensations are beautiful etc. Not only does a person receive sensations caused by his needs, but he also make judgments according to criteria such as truth, goodness and beauty mentioned above and take actions accordingly to generate more pleasures. His likes and dislikes as well as his habit of actions help establish his identity which is an embodiment of a collection of values. But no man is an island. When a person begins to be aware of himself, he/she will surely begins to be aware of the existence of other persons. He/She is not alone. Interpersonal relationships are weaved to meet the needs of belonging as well as achievements and esteem etc. Acting as a community, human beings are able to modify their environment to meet their common needs.
From the rough sketches above, what makes human human is more than his/her intelligence and rationality. Human beings are not just rational animals but are also social and moral animals. Their lives are guided by moral principles of different colours because all actions bring consequences which can be good or bad to people. Some people enjoy calculation. Their actions are guided by cost-benefit-analysis. In order for an action to be moral and acceptable, it must result in a maximum utility, that is benefit minus cost, for the person or a group of persons. Some people prefer order and stability because men cannot live in uncertainties for too long. They pursue universality. For these people, an action is moral when all persons are respected and that the action could be applied without exception anywhere any time. For example, honesty is such an action.
All human persons are unique and in real life situations, some people are more capable of discharging the first call to be human while some have difficulties. Some external environments are more conducive to healthy development of persons with moral integrity but some are not. Just as there are physical deformities, there are psychological, social and cultural deformities as well. In order to maximize utility, some people would act immorally but intelligently. They resort without remorse to tricks, frauds, harrassments, threats and even paying others to assault in order to get what they want. They may even build up institutions to satisfy their greed and hunger for power at the expenses of other people. Some people are less ambitious. They prefer applying their intelligence in whatever that pleases them even pleasures that are not socially acceptable. Some obsessions may not appear to be pervert at first glance but in time they bring harm to the community. Some insist of believing in false prophets and keep feeding themselves with illusions to affirm their misplaced beliefs. Some simply play safe to follow the herd etc. Fortunately, not all human beings are like that. Otherwise, human beings would have devoured each other until the last man would have noone else but himself to blame and kill (Galatians 5:15).
If the Beatitudes are broad principles, the gospel passage today is more concrete (Luke 6:27-38; Matthew 5:39-47, 7:1-2).
How do we deal with people who hate us (Luke 6:27)? They hate us either because they have misunderstood us or we have done something which deprive them of their benefits. Hatred is a low level response which achieves nothing. It shows that the haters are not using their intelligence enough. Either way, we should do good to them to compensate their loss and to keep the communication open to remove misunderstanding. What good it is for us to hate them back, tit for tat? Perhaps “an eye for an eye” (Exodus 21:24) was good enough in the Old Covenant but not for the New. When we Christians deploy the same low level tactics, how are we different from them? During the year of social unrests, when law-enforcers called the demonstrators “cockroaches” and the demonstrators retorted “dogs”, they were not far away from being dogs which bark back! Why Christians should degrade themselves! Jesus tells us to love each other as He has (John 13:34). In fact, Jesus is trying to restore the image of God in each one of us, no matter how unlovable we have made the image! We deserve to be called Christians when we do as Christ has done.
Similarly, Christians should offer the other cheek (Luke 6:29) not to defuse the fury of the abusers. Rather it is a gesture to show the abusers our respect of God’s images and to demonstrate our capability to love as followers of Christ. Who is stronger? The one who is able to restrain and overcome oneself or the abuser who overcome others? Is there no justice in the world? We should be very careful with our human standard of justice which is far inferior with the righteousness of the Lord. Therefore St. Paul advises us to let God take care of the vengeance business (Romans 12:19, Deuteronomy 32:35). Otherwise, our impulsiveness may cause us and the situation more harm than we are able to contain.
Brethren! We are grateful to be called by the Lord to be His ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). We are the first to benefit from this vocation because we have been elevated to the status of God’s children. So now, let’s go forth to spread the spirit of the Beatitudes by discharging faithfully our mission as Christ’s ambassadors of reconciliation. Accompanied by Christ, our meagre strength will be able to improve the present environment and build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
God bless.
Photo Credit: dnaindia.com
2019 Reflection
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