Our Collaboration with God

Deacon Les
Homily

WEDNESDAY OF THE 2ND WEEK OF THE YEAR
20 JANUARY 2010

1 Samuel 17: 32 --51

[1 Sam 17:32] Then David spoke to Saul: "Let your majesty not lose courage. I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine."
[1 Sam 17:33] But Saul answered David, "You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth."
...
[1 Sam 17:37] David continued: "The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will also keep me safe from the clutches of this Philistine." Saul answered David, "Go! the LORD will be with you."
...
[1 Sam 17:40] Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's bag. With his sling also ready to hand, he approached the Philistine.
[1 Sam 17:41] With his shield-bearer marching before him, the Philistine also advanced closer and closer to David.
[1 Sam 17:42] When he had sized David up, and seen that he was youthful, and ruddy, and handsome in appearance, he held him in contempt.
[1 Sam 17:43] The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?" Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods
[1 Sam 17:44] and said to him, "Come here to me, and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field."
[1 Sam 17:45] David answered him: "You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.
[1 Sam 17:46] Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will leave your corpse and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.
[1 Sam 17:47] All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves. For the battle is the LORD'S, and he shall deliver you into our hands."
[1 Sam 17:48] The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters, while David ran quickly toward the battle line in the direction of the Philistine.
[1 Sam 17:49] David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone, hurled it with the sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone embedded itself in his brow, and he fell prostrate on the ground.
[1 Sam 17:50] (Thus David overcame the Philistine with sling and stone; he struck the Philistine mortally, and did it without a sword.)
[1 Sam 17:51] Then David ran and stood over him; with the Philistine's own sword (which he drew from its sheath) he dispatched him and cut off his head. When they saw that their hero was dead, the Philistines took to flight.

Mark 3: 1 - 6

[Mark 3:1] Again he entered the synagogue. There was a man there who had a withered hand.
[Mark 3:2] They watched him closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him.
[Mark 3:3] He said to the man with the withered hand, "Come up here before us."
[Mark 3:4] Then he said to them, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?" But they remained silent.
[Mark 3:5] Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
[Mark 3:6] The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In today's Gospel, we read that when Our Lord entered a synagogue, He saw a man who had a withered hand. He knew that His enemies who were present were observing His actions to see whether He would break Sabbath laws concerning work. The first thing that Our Lord did was say to the afflicted man,

[Mark 3:3] ... "Come up here before us."

He thus brought the man close to and in plain view of His enemies, to attempt to soften their hardened hearts by appealing to their humanity. When this failed to move the observers to pity, Our Lord grew angry. We read in today's Gospel:

[Mark 3:5] Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out and his hand was restored.

We observe two things from this short verse. First, Our Lord, being fully human, experienced all the joint activities of the human body and soul: the emotions. On this occasion, He grew angry. Since Our Lord was not capable of sin, we see that to experience anger is not a sin per se. St Paul warns us about dangers associated with anger in Ephesians 4:

[Eph 4:26] Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger,
[Eph 4:27] and do not leave room for the devil.

Anger becomes sinful when harm is desired toward the person who is the object of that anger. Our Lord has commanded us to hate the sin, but love the sinner. For example, we are angry with someone who performs abortions, and hate what he does, but we never allow our anger to become sinful by desiring harm to the abortionist himself. Rather, we pray for his conversion--and, where possible, witness to him the truth.

The second thing that we observe from the verse of today's Gospel cited above is that Our Lord told the afflicted man to "stretch out his hand". The man stretched out his hand and then Our Lord healed him. This tableau by itself teaches us all the lesson that when we collaborate with the grace of God, we have our part to do, after which God does His part.

St John Chrysostom addresses how the Christian properly cooperates with the grace of God. He states:

I exhort you that you not carelessly slumber so as to leave everything to God. Nor, when diligent in your endeavors, imagine that by your own exertions the whole work is achieved. God does not will that we should be indolent. For God does not do the whole work by Himself by fiat. Nor is it His will that we should be entirely self-sufficient. For God does not commit the whole work to us alone.

Our collaboration with God always involves our doing that part which is within the power of human nature to do, and leaving to God that part which only He can do. When the farmer raises crops, he does what it is within his power to do. He tills the earth, and plants the seed. Then with patience he awaits what only God can do. The rains come, and the DNA which specifies the crop replicates itself within the multiplying cells of the plant. The farmer then harvests the crop at the appropriate time, and stores it for subsequent use.

Another example is provided by the raising of Lazarus, as described in John 11:

[John 11:43]...He cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
[John 11:44] The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go."

Jesus did what only God can do--He restored life to the dead Lazarus. He did not, however, loosen Lazarus' burial bands. He commanded those close by to do so, because that was what was within their power to do.

Whenever and wherever we collaborate with God for some good purpose, we must always keep the following in mind:

WE CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT GOD; HE WILL NOT DO IT WITHOUT US.