Third Sunday of Lent: on the Epistle

I would begin by re-telling a story which we may have read or heard before to explain the Pauline letter today (Third Sunday of Lent). The story is told of a unionist general in the American Civil War, General John Sedgwick. General Sedgwick was inspecting his troops during the Battle of the Wilderness. There was a low sand bank which the troops had built to protect them from enemy fire, but the general continued walking head high over the protective sand bank overlooking the enemy position. His officers suggested that this was unsafe and that he should duck while passing the sand bank. “Nonsense,” snapped the general. “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance...” Before he finished the sentence, the general fell to the ground, fatally wounded by an enemy bullet. This sad story shows us the tragedy of overconfidence in military matters. Overconfidence in spiritual matters is even more tragic. In today’s second reading Paul warns us against spiritual overconfidence or presumption.
Among the Christians of Corinth to whom Paul writes in the second reading, there were some who thought themselves to be men and women of strong and sure faith. These people threw caution to the wind and did things that scandalized the weaker members of the community. For example, they joined the pagans in their celebrations and ate meat sacrificed to idols. Their argument was that idols do not exist. Theologically they are right. They also argued that as free children of God they could eat any meat because all meat comes from God. Again they are right. But the fact of the matter is that, in the exercise of their liberty, they are scandalizing others and hurting them spiritually. This is because, as Paul explains, “It is not everyone, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled” (1 Cor 8:7). So Paul warn them to “take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak” (1 Cor 8:9). Paul realizes that for a child of God “All things are lawful but not all things are beneficial” (1 Cor 6:12).
Like these super-Christians of Corinth, there are many Christians today who are so sure of their salvation that they become a source of scandal to their less advanced sisters and brothers in the faith. Such over-confidence is often found in Christians who are very close to the sacraments. You hear them say such things as “I am a fully baptized and confirmed Christian,” “I am born again in water and received the Holy Spirit,” “I am saved,” “I attend church services and receive holy communion regularly,” “I am a church member in good standing and I belong to so-and-so committee in my parish.” Paul is saying that even after we have attained such high standings in the church, we should still watch it, because we could still lose it.
To prove his point, Paul cites the case of their Hebrew ancestors on their way to the Promised Land. They had their baptism by passing through the waters of the Red Sea. They had their Eucharist by eating the “spiritual food” of the manna, and drinking the “spiritual drink” of the water from the rock. “Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness” (1 Cor 10:5). Even after one has become a full member of God’s covenant people, one could still lose that relationship by giving free rein to one’s cravings and desires. This is what happened to the Israelites in the desert. Paul does not want this to happens to the Christians in Corinth.
The people of God are a people of hope. We live in hope that salvation will be ours, just as God has promised us in Christ. Our salvation is a hope and not a reality that we possess already in such a way that it can no longer be taken from us. This should make us add some humility to our faith. It is this humility which makes us listen to the concerns of our sisters and brothers in the faith who do not enjoy the same strong faith or deep knowledge that we possess. In the end, what recommends us to God is not our deep knowledge or strong faith but our tender loving care for the least of our brothers and sisters.