Isaiah 2:1-5 / Ephesians 3:2-12 / Mark 16:15-20
Whenever someone asks us “How are you?” most probably we will reply with “I am okay” or “I’m fine” or “I’m good”.
In a way, we are expected to reply like that. And in a way, when we ask others “How are you?” we expect likewise replies.
What we don’t expect is when we ask someone “How are you?” and they reply with something like this:
- Do you really want to know?
- What do you want?
- Overworked and underpaid.
- Compared to who?
- Next question please.
When someone is not having a good time, asking that person “How are you?” may just open the floodgates to something that we do not expect.
The fact is that everyone has their own battles to fight, and it is not just one battle but many battles at the same time.
The question is that do we want to fight their battles for them, or do we just want to stay out and mind our own business?
When Jesus sent His disciples to go out to the whole world and proclaim the good news, He was like sending them out into a war zone.
That are devils to cast out, there was snakes to pick up and clear, enemies will put poison into their drink and they will have to attend to the sick to cure them.
And these are not their own battles. These other people’s battles and they need not get involved.
But as disciples of Jesus, we have to understand that Jesus sends us out to fight other people’s battles.
But when we fight other people’s battles in the name of Jesus, then Jesus will also fight our battles for us.
We just have to do what Jesus wants of us and He will give us what we need from him.
As the Church celebrates Mission Sunday, we are reminded that Jesus will send us out into the lives of people, so that He can teach them His ways, and so that we will walk with them in His paths. That is the vision of the prophet Isaiah in the first reading.
That sounds good and neat. But the reality is that not every day is a good day. But there is something good in every day.
And we, the disciples of Jesus, must be able to see that, to see that there is something good in every day, and to help others to see goodness in every day, and also to see goodness in their lives.
But of course, the human tendency is to look for what we think is good, and we lament at what we think is not good or what is bad.
But good thing or bad thing, it is hard to say isn’t it? The following story might help us to understand what this means.
Once upon a time, there was a king. The king liked one of his servants very much because he was faithful and always gave very useful advice. Therefore the king took him along wherever he went.
One day, the king was bitten by a dog on the finger. The wound got worse and worse. He asked the servant if that was a bad thing. The servant said, "Good thing or bad thing, hard to say". In the end, the finger of the king was so bad that it had to be cut off. The king asked the servant again if that was a bad thing. Again, the servant gave the same answer, "Good thing or bad thing, hard to say". The king became very angry and sent the servant to prison.
One day, the king went hunting in the jungle. He got excited when he was chasing a deer. Deeper and deeper he went into the jungle. In the end he found himself lost in the jungle. To make things worse, he got captured by natives living inside the jungle.
They wanted to sacrifice him to their god. But when they noticed that the king had one finger short, they released him immediately as he was not a perfect man anymore and not suitable for sacrifice. The king managed to get back to his palace after all.
And he finally understood the servant's wise quote, "Good thing or bad thing, hard to say". If he hadn't lost one finger, he could have been killed by the native people.
He ordered the release the servant, and apologized to him. But to the king's amazement, the servant was not angry at him at all. Instead, the servant said, “It wasn't a bad thing that you locked me up.”
Why did the servant say that, we might ask. Because if the king hadn't locked the servant up, he would have brought the servant along to the jungle. Since the natives found that the king was not suitable, they would have used the servant for the sacrifice. So "Good thing or bad thing, hard to say".
Well, as we look at the world that Jesus is sending us out into, do we see it as a good thing or a bad thing?
Good thing or bad thing, it is hard to say. But as the prophet Isaiah saw in his vision: swords will be hammered into ploughshares, spears into sickles, nation will not lift up sword against nation, and there will be no training for war anymore.
Yes, let us lead others to Jesus, so that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.
That is the Good News that people want to hear. Let us go forth to proclaim it joyfully and courageously.