2^ND SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR B

Readings: Genesis 22:1-2, 9, 10-13, 15-18; Psalm 116; Roman 8:31-34; Mark 9:2-10

Theme: If God be for us…

1.      A pilot made an announcement midflight that there was a turbulent cloud ahead. As is customary, he asked all passengers to fasten their seatbelts but stay calm. There was palpable tension in the plane, and many passengers started praying and calling on God for help. There was a little boy in the plane who seemed oblivious of all that was going on; he was happily playing with his toy and giggling. This irked an elderly lady sitting close to him and she shouted at the boy, “Are you not afraid that we may all possibly die? Stop laughing and pray!” The little boy looked at her, bewildered, and he retorted, “No, I am not afraid, daddy is here.”

2.      Why do children take cover behind their parents when they are threatened? Why do they not care how big or how strong the source of that threat is, once they have their parents in their front or near them? How do you also feel when, in the midst of a difficult situation, you are given the assurance of the love, support and protection of your superior in the work place or of your spouse at home? The feeling, no doubt, is comforting and encouraging. This was the kind of assurance Jesus received from God the Father as he journeyed towards Jerusalem to face death, and the thought of the gruesome death he was going to face was overwhelming. So he went up to Mount Tabor, where he was transfigured, with Moses and Elijah. Saint Luke tells us that they were talking about his death which he was to undergo in Jerusalem (9:31), and then the Father’s voice was heard, saying, “This is my beloved Son…” This was an assurance to Jesus that he was not alone, even in this very tough time of his earthly life.

3.      In our 2^nd Reading, this same kind of assurance is given to us. There, scripture says “If God is for us, who can be against us?” We can also add, “Or what can be against us?” The journey of life sometimes throw overwhelming challenges at us that may make us lose hope, which may make us feel God is very far. It may even get so bad that we cry out like the Psalmist, “Why are you so far away, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself when we are in trouble?” (Psa 10:1) But today, God is saying to us that he is close by, he is never far. Why is it so? It is simply because we too are his children, and he loves us.

4.      Whenever we encounter the turbulent clouds of life, we need to ask ourselves if we trust God enough to save us like the child trusts his father. At such times, we will need to believe God to keep his word to be there for us at all times the same way Abraham believed him. That is why Saint Peter admonishes us to cast all our anxieties upon the Lord for he cares for us (1 Pet 5:7), and unless and until we bring our difficulties before God, in complete faith and confidence that he can handle it, they will be too heavy for us to bear. The situation may seem hopeless, and you may appear to be helpless, but the word of God says “All things work together for those who love God” (Rom 8:28).

5.      So, if God be for us, who can be against us? What can be against us? If God be for us, what challenge is there in our lives that he cannot handle? Are you childless? Or maybe unemployed? Are you finding it hard to feed? Or to pay your children’s school fees? Or maybe hospital bills? Are you looking for a life partner? Is your promotion being denied you? Do you have a boss who is making your life miserable? Is your spouse or your children making your life a living hell? Is there a sin in your life you are constantly struggling with and never appear to be able to conquer? Do you think there is no hope for you anymore? Does it seem that there is no help anywhere? Do you think that God has forgotten or abandoned you? Then I have good news for you: there is God in heaven and that God says he is on your side. If God is on your side, if God be for you, no one and nothing that is against you can overcome you. God has assured us of his everlasting love, which is greater than that of a nursing mother for her suckling child, especially at those times when we say he has abandoned us, because our names are inscribed in the palm of his hands (cf Is 49:14-16).

6.      Child of God, the same God who rescued people from their difficult and hopeless situations as we read in scriptures and even as we hear people testify in our own day, is the same God that we serve today. In Malachi 3:6, God says “I am the Lord and I do not change, therefore, you, my people, are not consumed.” If God has said we will not be consumed, then we will not be consumed, because he is not a man that he should lie (Num 23:19), and it is this same God that the Bible tells us today is for us, therefore, no one and nothing can be against us. Please note that this is not to say trials and difficult moments will not come, for surely, they will come. But God’s assurance to us is that we will not be consumed. I pray for you today, that you may experience God’s presence and power as he intervenes to bring you out of that difficult situation. As God made last minute provision for Abraham, may he also make provision for you in the name of Jesus! Amen!