Boast in the Lord

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Here is the irony of Asian parenting - Asians are fond of reminding their children to not brag about their accomplishments, and yet Asian parents love to brag about their children’s achievements, real or make believe. Perhaps, we think that we can be subtler in boasting about our children than in boasting about ourselves. And yet it is clear, that we hope to take the credit for our children’s accomplishments since the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

All this talk about bragging and boasting reminds me of an anecdotal story which I like to tell in the company of a good friend of mine, a Jesuit no less. According to the story, St Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus, told his confreres that they should not try to compete or seek to emulate the charisms of other religious orders: “Let the Dominicans boast of their intellect and the Franciscans boast of their poverty. But let us Jesuits boast of our humility.” As proof of their humility, they are fond of saying: “To find a humble Jesuit is a rarity. To have a Jesuit Pope is an impossibility. But to find a humble Jesuit Pope, you require a MIRACLE!”

Despite the efforts of our parents, Paul tells us that there is, in fact, a condition under which we can brag (or boast): we can boast if we boast in the Lord. Boasting in the Lord is, on the one hand, quite the opposite of boasting in oneself. Instead of drawing attention to ourselves, we should draw attention to Christ. But boasting in the Lord is actually quite hard for us to do. It requires us to be in a state of humility in ourselves, but pride in Christ—a tension unnatural to us. In a social media and reality-TV obsessed society which encourages narcissism, hunger for affirmation and approval is paramount. For this reason, we generally do not boast in the Lord; rather, we boast in what we think we are, in what we think we have accomplished and finally, in what we think we possess.

Paul knew that Christ was not what most people wanted to hear. We want to morph Christ into one that is less poignant, less demanding, less holy, less God. In other words, we have our own ideas about what Christ should be. But God does not call us to boast in a Christ of our own making. Rather, the real Christ was the Christ that was crucified. In his letter to the Galatians, today’s second reading, Paul writes: “The only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” Christ was crucified for our sins. This Christ is foolish and repugnant to the world because the world will not recognise its own sinfulness and that it was its sinfulness that nailed our Lord to the cross!

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends out seventy-two of His disciples on mission and provides them with a list of instructions. He reminds them the task will be enormous, that “the harvest is rich but the labourers are few,” and that they should pray for more collaborators. Secondly, the mission will be dangerous as they will be sent like “lambs among wolves.” Thirdly, the Lord reminds them to travel light and make do with whatever they receive from those who show them hospitality. A heavy baggage implies a lack of trust in God’s providence. It is clear that the most important lesson that the Lord wanted to impress on His disciples was to depend on God’s providential care, rather than rely on their own devices, efforts and resources.

But unfortunately, the seventy-two seem to have missed this point when they returned from their successful mission. Instead of glorifying God and boasting in the Lord, they began to boast of what they thought were their own accomplishments. They acclaimed, “Even the devils submit to us when we use your name.” For them, this was the epitome of success. For this moment, they were invincible, indestructible. This was the ultimate trophy as a disciple, or at least they thought so. The Lord’s response to the enthusiasm and joy of the seventy-two is most interesting. He seeks to re-focus their joy and helps them put the whole matter in perspective. The seventy-two saw their success only in terms of their having authority over the demons, but the Lord saw the victory on a larger cosmic scale - Satan being defeated, and his power and authority as being overthrown. There is nothing to gloat or pride themselves about. Power over demons, as wonderful as it is as a harbinger of the Kingdom of God, is nothing compared to the immense privilege of being beneficiaries of God’s salvation wrought through the cross and sacrifice of Jesus. Our abilities, our deeds, our spiritual gifts gain us no standing with God. Rather, Jesus says, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

So, this is what the Lord Jesus would have you rejoice in. It is so easy to rejoice in success and brag about it. Our self-identity may become entangled with the fruitfulness of our ministry. And then the danger, of course, is that it is not God who is being worshiped. And when we begin to idolise success, we end up idolising ourselves. It’s fine that you can get things done for the Church. That’s great. But even greater, far greater, is what God has done for you through the sacrifice made by His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is something which we did not acquire through our own hard work or earn through merit. God did it for us. This is the real reason for rejoicing. And like St Paul, this is the only thing that is worth boasting about.

Boasting in the Lord becomes the real antidote for self-glorification. Don’t lose sight of the main thing. Your ticket to heaven is not based on how much you can do for Christ or for His Church. If you can do a lot, don’t get big-headed. If you can’t do very much anymore, don’t feel like you are unloved or not valued. If someone else seems to do more than you, you shouldn’t feel jealous or feel threatened. Nor when someone else doesn’t meet up to your standard of service, it doesn’t make him any less valuable a member of the Church. There’s no need to make comparisons or match each other in terms of commitment or service. You see, it’s not about how good a worker you are in the Lord’s vineyard. That’s not it. That’s secondary. The primary thing is that you are first and foremost a recipient of God’s unearned gratuity.

So, do not boast about how much you’ve done, or what you’ve accomplished or what you now possess, but rather, the only thing you should “boast about is the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” Rejoice because your sins have been forgiven by the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Rejoice because you are chosen by God for Eternal Life! Rejoice because you are now the children of God through faith and the power of baptism! My Jesuit friend once shared with me this piece of timeless wisdom, “The saints laugh not because life is good or pleasurable. Despite life being grim, they laugh because they know that whatever the outcome of this life, they have found their purpose, they have a direction, they have a destination: Jesus Christ.” They rejoice because they know that their “names are written in heaven”!