Readings: 1Cor 3:1-9 , Ps. 33, Luke 4:38-44
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia
GOD MAKES EVERYTHING GROW, WE ARE ONLY HIS INSTRUMENTS IN THE WORLD
Every day, every moment, God is working on us so that we can work with him just the way engineers and builders take their time to construct a building plan which an architect has drawn, and this is done in different stages with different instruments.
Some are meant to begin from the drawing of the plan; some join at the pegging, digging and casting the foundation; some specialise in laying the blocks, casting the floor, raising it to the lintel, roofing, plastering, painting and furnishing. But in all this, God is the Master planner who determines what becomes the outcome of the whole structure, but not the instruments he uses.
This is the message St. Paul is trying to communicate to us in our first reading today: it does not really matter who we encounter on our journey of life; only God makes things possible in our life. Other things are only God's fellow workers, his field and also his building. He said this because the people were busy causing division among the instruments God used to minister to them.
They said, ‘I am for Paul’ and ‘I am for Apollos’? But St Paul said to them: “What is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow”.
This is clearly demonstrated in our Gospel passage, when Jesus healed Simon's mother- in- law and others with several diseases as he goes about preaching the Good News of God's kingdom, a purpose for which he came into this world. Thereby demonstrating God's ultimate role and power in our lives.
Dear friends, it does not matter who God has used in ministering to us, what really matters is what God has done and the message he wants to communicate. So, as disciples of Christ, we have the grave obligation to announce the Good News taught by Jesus. We are to bear witness to the truth we have found in Christ. But we should not make ourselves the centre of attraction; rather, God should be at the centre while we make ourselves available instruments in his hands.
Therefore, as God's field and building, no matter the stage we are at with him, what really matters is our cooperation with his grace and plans for us. Let us learn to make God the centre of attraction and not the instruments he uses to accomplish his plans. Remember, you are not God, you are only his instruments in the world. For we are people the Lord has chosen for his heritage.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, as your workers and your field, you have invested so much in us; help us to be great instruments in your hands through Christ our Lord. Amen. As you go about your duties, may the favour of God be upon you now and always.
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