Third Lenten Sunday, Year C
Theme: A Utilitarian God? 天主功利嗎？
In the gospel reading today, we read of the parable of the barren fig tree. Usually we focus on the mercy of Jesus Christ, the gardener who always intercedes for our good at the right hand of God (Romans 8:34). But today, my attention is somehow attracted to an inconsistency which I have never noticed before: God seems to be utilitarian (Luke 13:7). Woe to us if God were utilitarian! His love, mercy, righteousness and truth would all be questionable. Our existence would not be worth living. What a terrible world!
Fortunately, as far as my understanding goes, the Father whom Jesus Christ reveals is not utilitarian.
First of all, in doing anything, it is not necessary for God to do any cost-benefit-analysis before He takes actions. Why? Because God is eternal. He is free in the dimension of time and is able to travel freely to and fro along this dimension. Translating this into the time it takes in getting something done, it is zero. Therefore, God’s energy and power becomes infinite. That’s what we mean in physics when we say theologically that God is almighty. When God’s energy/power is infinite, no work is able to cost God anything. That’s is to say, the word “cost” does not exist in God’s dictionary!
Nevertheless, costs do exist in our universe. Energy has to be dissipated in getting work done because the universe we know exists in time. For example, the energy to get things done, such as the multiplication of bread to feed 5000 people from five loaves and two fish, is huge in our eyes. [Using the famous Einstein formula E=mc2, and assuming 100 gm of starch for an adult per meal. Therefore 5000 * 100 gm = 500 Kg of mass should be created. Take the speed of light to be 3 x 108 m/s. It costs God 500*(3x108)2 Joules of energy: 4.5x1016 KJ, where 1 KJ is energy of running a 1 Kilo-Watt heater for 1 second. Given that there are 3.1536x107 seconds a year. The amount of energy God created is enough to run 1 million 1KW heaters for 1.427 million years!] Nevertheless, it is negligible in God’s eye because previously, God fed sixty thousand Israelites for forty years in the wilderness with manna!
From this first premise, we can deduce that if God so wishes, He would save humanity without the need to count the amount of costs, even suffering death to repay all our debts! This is exactly what the Father is doing when He sends His only begotten Son to become flesh (John 1:14) and to die on the cross to redeem humanity. He couldn’t care less the actual costs He has to pay. Costs do not bother Him, but love does. Therefore, the last label we can apply to God is utilitarian.
On the other hand, we find “bad guys” reasoning in a utilitarian manner in the gospels. For example, Jesus had raised Lazarus from dead. The status of the Jewish religious authority was furthered eroded and threatened. Therefore Caiaphas the High Priest wanted to make sure that Jesus should die and persuaded the Sanhedrin to hand Jesus over to the Romans. He said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” (11:49-50) Killing an innocent person is evil because it breaches the Ten Commandments. But killing the whole nation is an even greater evil. In order to save the whole nation, they were willing to give up the life of one innocent person! To soothe their conscience, they would make up crimes to frame the innocent. It is prudent to choose the lesser evil! The logic was good to the ear and Caiaphas prevailed.
Take another example, when Mary the sister of Lazarus, anointed Jesus with a liter of costly perfumed oil, Judas complained, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?” (12:5) Let’s put aside the motive of Judas’ complaint and simply consider the validity of his logic. His rationale was truly utilitarian. Jesus was only one person whereas 300 days’ wages would be able to feed 300 families! The usefulness of the money would be greater if it were spent on relieving the plights of 300 families instead of on showing gratitude to a single person. The logic was impeccable. But in the end, Judas betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. His demise was tragic. These two examples show that at least God does not buy utilitarianism.
Here are the master’s words, “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So, cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?” (Luke 13:7) St. Augustine interpreted the “three years” as three ages in the Salvation History: the age of Patriarchs, the age of prophets and lastly the age of the gospel. God visited the Israelites and interacted with them throughout these three stages and yet the Israelites did not believe and live a righteous life. The fourth year represents the age of the Church. With the help of the Son of God, hopefully the Church, the People of God, is able to bear the righteous fruit which the Father demands etc.
It is not the interpretation by the Church Fathers which troubles me. Rather, it is the utilitarian logic of the master of the vineyard that makes me uncomfortable. “Why should it exhaust the soil?” Some Church Fathers suggested that the Church have more Gentiles than Jews nowadays, the fourth year. The addition of Gentiles would save the day. The soil is not wasted etc. But that’s not the point. How can God reason in a utilitarian manner? If utilitarianism is right, then Caiaphas and Judas cannot be wrong!
Take a step back. The world is full of evil. The story of Job tells us that without God’s permission, evil cannot prevail. Why God allows evil is another thorny question which theologians are having a hard time struggling with. If we accept such a premise, one may argue that God does not approve utilitarianism but allows it to exist. It is a respectable branch of ethics which is guiding a lot of people in their decision making in a rational manner. Indeed, the existence of utilitarianism is not without merits. Plurality is always better than uniformity. If only one ethics system is permitted, the ideology of a country would suffer malnutrition and her culture a poverty of ideas. Lastly, we may argue that God is not utilitarian but most of us readers are. Therefore in order to keep the parable simple, not requiring extra explanations and qualifications, Luke personified the master in a human understandable manner. I will not oppose this argument.
Brethren! Allow me to apologize for such a dry and rational workout. The good Lord says, “Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16) I use this in a defensive manner that I am only a fig tree. Don’t look for grapes in me! I have to confess that for years I have been trying hard not to be so rational but more spiritual, obviously without success. There are some unknown obstacles that divert my efforts. Perhaps I’m applying my efforts in a wrong direction or perhaps I need to let go and entrust my soul into the hand of the Holy Spirit to carry me where it pleases God.
Pray for me.
2019 Reflection
Picture Credit: wchimereflections.blogspot.com
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