Wake us up!

 

Today I want to talk about my pathway to become a disciple of Jesus. We all have a unique story of how we came to have a relationship with God! Some of you, have had this strong relationship with God from the very beginning. Others like me rebelled a bit before we returned to God. My journey to have a serious relationship with God started during the war. It was like I was spiritually awakened from a long sleep! I thought I was very “religious” growing up and I went to mass every Sunday but there were times I felt something was missing, I didn’t know how much I needed God and I didn’t know how to go about it, in seeking him. Sometimes I wonder why did it have to take a war to wake me up and realize my constant need for God. Sometimes in life, we need to be woken up as well, woken up from our complacency, our denial that we are not absolutely spiritually bankrupt! No no! I am fine! We tell ourselves! What are you talking about? Perhaps we need to be woken up from our cozy slumber that tells us in our sleep, I got all I need in life, It’s sufficient for me. I was indeed woken up and realized how much, I am nothing without God.

To follow Jesus is not an easy journey. The Bible speaks about this as the narrow path. Yes, it was a narrow path for me. One moment I thought I was fine, but I came to realize how my faith was shaky and that I was not okay. During the war, my thought pattern was such that there was no peace in my heart, there was anger, sadness, so much disquietness in my soul, so much unwholesome talk, nothing that was Gospel like. I woke up! That’s what happened. There was that moment of my life before and my life after that. God got hold of me! I had to wake up and see how my life needed to change! My suffering in the refugee camps made me re-think everything about my life.

We need to wake up from our slumber, we don’t need a tragedy to be the one to wake us up. Follow Jesus! Follow Jesus! This is what was in my mind. I finally caught the fire! The same fire that St Peter, Paul, St Andrew caught. The same fire Jesus is talking about in our Gospel Reading. The word “Fire” is used in different ways in the Bible. Two of them interested me: it could mean punishment, or the power of the Holy Spirit. In this case, I am convinced fire here, is describing the power of the Holy Spirit that resurrected our Lord Jesus, and the one that propels a life to a pathway of discipleship. I was now on this path to discipleship. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who was murdered for opposing Hitler. He wrote a book called the cost of discipleship. There is a cost following Jesus.

When we begin to be serious about our faith, it’s like there are forces in the world that try to stop us, to make us sleep... That’s why Jesus says once anyone catch this fire, there will be divisions: parents, children, in-laws… In my case, when some of my siblings heard that I was saved, they tried everything they could to verify if I had really changed. I did confess that at times, I was angry inside but didn’t react like I used to. I needed to wake up and I wanted my life to change for the better despite all the appalling refugee situation around me! It was as if I had been dancing to the world’s luring tune that makes us slumber and forget the very Christian values we were taught from the very beginning. Don’t Give in! Close your ears to its worldly melody, try meeting your Christian brothers and sisters every week, to study and learn something new of your faith in God. You see, Jesus once said: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Someone, sound the alarm! Wake us up! This is our warning… if we can predict when tornadoes and hurricanes are coming, why can’t we predict what’s after this godlessness around us? We need to wake up, to wake each other up! Talk to me if I am slightly distracted from my goal to serve Jesus Christ! Keep your lamps burning and ready with sufficient oil like in Jesus’ parable.

Now, there is a possibility that we may not always realize that we are in a cozy place and that’s not a good thing! We may be like the frog enjoying so much the warm water and not realize that the temperature is getting higher and higher, instead of jumping out, he stays until he boils. The world is like that for us. Jesus is telling us that we need to wake up, rely on the power of the Holy Spirit with us every moment, to be guided by Holy Scriptures into godliness, to be transformed moment by moment into the likeness of Christ our Savior.

What a moment we have here now, to desire today a serious relationship with Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It can begin here at the Holy Communion Table if you want it. In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Amen.