Seeing is Believing

Readings: Exodus 33:12-23, 1Thessalonians 4:1-7

Matthew 15:21-28

As Moses was leading a cantankerous group across the desert in the escape from slavery in Egypt, he had the privilege of speaking with God who gave Moses the beautiful words, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest" (v. 14).

One day, however, Moses wanted more. He wanted to see God. 

And God complied as a loving Father would; he arranged for Moses to see so he could believe, while making sure that Moses would live through the experience, for "no one may see me and live" (v.20). God told Moses where to stand, and then, with a very loving gesture, He covered Moses with His hand until He passed by so that Moses could see God's back. Moses was given that needed bit of reinforcement in order to carry on with his incredibly difficult task. 

Seeing is believing.

In the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew, we see faith in a different way. In fact, it is the faith alone of the Canaanite woman that allows her to ask Jesus for help for her daughter-in-law who is suffering. In this story, it's the example she and Christ "draw" in their discussion that help the rest of us "see" what gifts we are afforded. As the story goes, the woman's daughter is demon-possessed. The woman approaches Christ and asks for help. Seeing that she is a Canaanite, Jesus says, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel" (v.24). She wouldn't give up in her plea for help, so Jesus then spoke to her directly, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs" (v.26). She was not Jewish; in her day she was most certainly considered less than others. But she persisted: "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's tables" (v.27). With this, Jesus was pleased. He told her that her faith was strong and that her request was granted. We, as Christians, might not immediately like what we "see" in this story--that in our history we were, as a people, on a level of dogs. However, being this new religion of Christianity, we have taken those "scraps" and with the love and guidance of Christ and his disciples after him, have become eternal beings, through the grace of Christ and our holy Father.

We know how we are to live; we need to ask ourselves how are we perceived by others. 

1Thessalonians gives us straight-forward directions in how to live to please God: "For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life" (v.7). In the current times in which we live, we are witness to greater and greater numbers of people who aren't following many of the directives given in these passages. We see more and more sexual immorality across the board. We see a lack of control when it comes to the sanctity of one's body--our temples to the Lord. We see more and more people taking advantage of or wronging one's brother in Christ. All these show that we are straying as a whole; we need to encourage our brothers and sisters as well as ourselves to tread carefully in order not lead others astray. Through our lives, we can be strong examples to others to live a holy life. So, remember...

Seeing is believing.

Peace be with you.