Sexagesima Sunday 11.2.07 Our inheritance
Esau, son of Isaac, is one of those people who has gone down in history for one big mistake he made. He was so hungry one day that he agreed to give his privileged position to Jacob, his younger brother, in return for an immediate meal of soup. He thus made himself a lesson for future generations in not trading a long term goal for a short term gain. (Genesis 25,29-34 and Hebrews 12,16)
We are tempted to do the same thing as we travel through this life. Our ‘birthright’ is that we are children of God and we have an inheritance waiting for us – a place in the kingdom of heaven.
We can be robbed of our inheritance by the various forces acting on us – all originating with the devil, the great Deceiver.
When we look at the world we see that there are many people who are not living as children of God, in various ways stunted in their spiritual growth, held captive to one or more besetting sins. People suffer from all kinds of addictions, false beliefs, chasing after false gods, looking in the wrong places for happiness.
Thus we see before our eyes today’s parable (Sower) lived out. This parable gives three different ways of selling our birthright and ending up with nothing.
Some people don’t listen to the word of God, or they don’t have it told to them. These people live as though there were no God, seeking all their happiness in this life. They are not aware that they are destined for eternal glory.
Others have some exposure to the word of God and may even be His disciples for a time, but they give this away either because they cannot cope with the sacrifice required or they seek other short-term delights.
Only some persevere to the end (and we must be among this number) and yield a harvest many times over.
Only this last group can live with true human dignity, aware of who they are, and holding on to that birthright, giving it up for nothing or no one.
In short, we must not let the devil rob us of what we have. He will offer us anything else if only we give up our privileged position.
As we approach the season of Lent we can look at our own lives and see where we may suffer from stunted spiritual growth, where we may be lacking in full response to the word of God.
Do I suffer from addictions to false ways, besetting sins, chasing false gods, always trying to take the easy way out, always seeking my own comfort and pleasure above all else?
We not only do not want to lose heaven, but even in this life we want to live as free children and not as slaves of sin.
The New Testament is always telling us to break free from sin, not to go back to Egypt.
Who would go back into slavery after being released? Answer, Christians.
How do we avoid all these pitfalls.
1) Keep the vision, remember the long term goal, and reaffirm it every day. I am a child of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I will live as such this day.
2) Be watchful at all the attempts the evil one will make to deceive and distract us.
3) If we have a particular area of weakness, where sin comes easily to us, we may not be able to break free from this straight away.
So we have to work on it a little bit. Avoid obvious occasions of sin. Seek counselling or spiritual direction if necessary. Use the sacraments for extra strength. Develop the practices of penance and self-denial. Keep life as simple and clear as possible. If we must live in the world then may as little as possible accumulate on our souls. We travel best if we travel light.
We can tackle the big problems with a combination of keeping the long term view and inching our way through the short term struggles.
By His grace we can conquer (My grace is enough for thee… today’s epistle).
