Humble Yourselves Now
Humbe Yourselves Now
By Fr. Anthony Messeh
Every now and then there is a message that comes in the Gospel that hits so close to home for the preacher that you almost don’t know whether to say it or not. What I mean is that the message is so clear to me that it seems like it applies to no one else but me. Today’s message that our Lord Jesus Christ gave us in the Gospel is a message of extreme danger that could be awaiting
At the very beginning of today’s Gospel (Mt. 18), the disciples are arguing about who would be greatest in the kingdom of God. So what starts off as a comfortable discussion quickly turns in a very dangerous direction. As soon as our Lord Jesus Christ knew what they were talking about, He quickly answers them saying. “Assuredly I say to you, that uness you become converted as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt.18:3) What happened? One minute we’re sure we’re going to be in the kingdom of God, but we’re just trying to figure out if we’re going to be level 1 or level 2 and then Jesus says, “Hold on here, slow down. Who even told you you’re going to be there? Because unless you make a big change, you’re not even going to enter the kingdom of God.
The First thing we can note from this is that the path to the kingdom is not static, it’s always changing. The path to the kingdom of heaven is not as simple as driving from Washington D.C. to Florida. That’s easy, just hop on Route 95 and go straight, it doesn’t change. The kingdom of God, on the other hand, has detours, lane shifts, road closures and is winding and difficult. Just because you’re on the path to the kingdom of God yesterday doesn’t mean you’re necessarily there today. I am not saying that you can be doing everything right and all of the sudden it will be snatched from you. Our Lord Jesus Christ promises in John 10 that if we are in the Father’s bosom, no one can snatch us away. What I am saying is it’s a road that you have to be on, but that road is not one where you get on the road, put it on cruise control, take a nap and end up there. No,you have to make sure you’re on the right rod and cheching if you missed a turn because we as human beings tend to miss a turn every now and then.
Saint Antony Monastery Magazine, July 2012 issue