Christ is risen!
Knowing God by Knowing His
Goodness
The word of the day is “witness.” The farther away we
are from God, the more we forget about His goodness and lovingkindness. Yet,
the signs of His mercy are everywhere to be seen by believers and nonbelievers
alike. Today in our reading of Acts 14:6-18, Paul preaches to pagans who think
that he and Barnabas are gods come down to earth.
Paul proclaims that they
should turn to the One Creator. He teaches that the “Living God” has “not left
Himself without a witness in every place.” Everywhere,
“He did good, gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling [our]
hearts with food and gladness” (OSB vs. 15). Today we learn how we become blind
to these signs of grace. We consider how we should pray for the healing of our
spiritual sight so that we might recover the gift of gratitude and know the
depth of the mercy of God.
Today is the midpoint
between Pascha and Pentecost. Our reading at this juncture interrupts the story
of Cornelius, the first Gentile convert to Christianity. Paul and
Barnabas are on their first missionary journey. Hearing a plot against them in
Iconium, they flee to the cities of Lystra and Debre in Lycaonia. They are now
in pagan territory in the heart of Asia Minor.
Mistaken for Pagan Deities
In Lystra, they raise a
disabled man to his feet, and the miracle leads the locals to believe that they
are a visit from the gods Jupiter and Mercury. Paul and Barnabas could hardly
restrain them from offering sacrifices to them. Paul takes the opportunity to
proclaim the Gospel to them.
Note that in Jewish
circles, Paul could argue from the fulfillment of scripture. The pagans do not
know of the scriptures. Thus, Paul sets back to the basics of the faith, the
belief in God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. As he says in Romans and Acts,
God can be known. In Romans 1:19, Paul claims God reveals His “eternal power
and divine nature” in creation. Moreover, in Romans 2:14, the apostle argues
that their conscience is God’s Law written in their hearts. Then too, Paul says
that the “Lord of Heaven and Earth” is near everyone on earth, just as the
philosophers have said, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts
17:24-27).
God Witnesses to Himself by His Goodness
But these arguments are
for the learned. To the unsophisticated crowd in Lystra, Paul teaches that God
has provided a “witness” to Himself in His goodness (Acts 14:17). He
sends rain from heaven that produces a fruitful harvest. The harvest provides
food. And food fills them with both nourishment and (Acts vs. 17).
Why, then, don’t the
pagans read these signs and believe in the witness of the
Creator’s existence, power, and goodness? The answer lies in the response of
the crowd to the healing of the man who was crippled. They do not attribute the
miracle to the living God but to the lifeless gods of paganism. Paul makes the
point in Romans: “Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God… and
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible
man—and birds and four-footed animals, and creeping things” (OSB Romans
1:22-23). In other words, false belief in idols blinded them to the truth. This
spiritual confusion was so strong that Luke reports that the apostles could
hardly prevent the mob from making sacrifices to them.
For Reflection
The signs of God’s grace
surround us and lie within us. But we have our own idols that blind us to all
the signs that give witness to the steadfast love of God. Yet
the troubles of this world, the suffering of illness and grief, the attractions
of this age, the temptations of greed, jealousy, and avarice, and the press of
daily affairs conspire to hide the goodness of God from us. Further, in times
of distress, we might even blame the Almighty and All-Merciful for our
troubles.
The remedy for this spirit of ingratitude is the healing of our spiritual sight so that we see the indications of God’s mercy wherever we look. Thus, we should pray for the gift of gratitude, the ability to perceive and give thanks for the never-failing mercy of God in all things, and in all that happens,
Gratitude: A Way of Knowing God
In summary, gratitude is
a way of knowing God as Thomas Merton says, “To be grateful is to recognize the
Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything.
Every breath we draw is a gift of His love; every moment of existence is a
grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude, therefore,
takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, and is constantly awakening to
new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows
that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all
the difference” (Merton 2021).
Works Cited
Merton, Thomas. 2021.
“To Be Grateful” AZQuotes.com. https://www.azquotes.com/quote/378255,
No comments:
Post a Comment