Give God a Chance | Catholics on Call

by Steve Bevans, SVD | February 23, 2016

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT (FEBRUARY 28, 2016)

Scriptuer readings:

Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15

Psalm 103:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-11

1Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12

Luke 13:1-9

The readings today, in spite of some strong language that might seem to the contrary, point to the reality that—in the words of the responsorial psalm—“the Lord is kind and merciful.” The truth of this refrain is reflected beautifully and powerfully in the first reading from Exodus, in that unforgettable scene of Moses before the burning bush. As God reveals Godself as the God of Moses’ ancestors—“the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,” God expresses the divine kindness and mercy in four powerful verbs. First, God has witnessed the affliction of Israel in Egypt. Second, God has heard their cries against their slave masters. Third, God knows well what they are suffering. And finally—“therefore”—God will come down to rescue them. God sees, hears, understands, and does something. This is the essence of God’s mercy. This is the essence of who God is.

God’s mercy is not, however, a “creampuff” kind of mercy. Being God’s People has consequences. As the second reading from First Corinthians makes clear, if Israel will not take its responsibility as God’s People seriously, they will be “struck down.” God’s kindness and mercy is not cheap; God is always ready to forgive, God “never tires of forgiving,” as Pope Francis says over and over again. But this can only work if people are willing to be forgiven. The great twentieth century religious writer, C.S. Lewis, in his book The Great Divorce, tells a parable about how God provided a bus to give people in hell a tour of heaven and a reprieve of their punishment. Those in hell took the tour, but in the end they all opted to go back to hell and torment. Even God’s forgiveness couldn’t persuade them to be forgiven. God is all powerful, but God always respects human freedom.

But, as the gospel says, God is always the God of second chances. Or maybe third or fourth chances, maybe more chances. Even the barren fig tree gets another chance. Maybe next year. Maybe if God lavishes more love, shows more patience, exhibits more kindness the tree will bear good fruit. But if the fig tree will not respond to fresh cultivation and rich fertilizer, it will eventually be cut down. Being a barren fig tree has consequences.

On this Third Sunday of Lent we can have no doubt about God’s kindness and mercy. But is God’s mercy getting through to us? That is the question. Will we open up to the kindness and mercy that is so freely given? Will we begin to reform our lives? Will we take the time to listen to where God is calling us in our lives? Will we let the cultivation and fertilizer of God’s Word and Sacraments get our juices flowing so we can bear the fruit of service and mercy and kindness in our own lives?

God will always give us another chance. But will we give God a chance?

Image:O Adonai by Lawrence OP Found on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

Steve Bevans, SVD

Stephen Bevans, SVD, is a Roman Catholic priest in the Society of the Divine Word, an international missionary congregation, and served for nine years (1972-1981) as a missionary in the Philippines. He has been on the CTU faculty for 26 years.

His publications include:Models of Contextual Theology(2002),Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (2004, with Roger Schroeder), Evangelization and Freedom (2009, with Jeffrey Gros), An **Introduction to Theology in Global Perspective (2009, Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Mission Today (with Roger Schroeder, 2011). In 2012 Steve edited Mission and Culture: The Louis J. Luzbetak Lectures.

He is past president of the American Society of Missiology (2006) and past member of the board of directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America (2007-2009). In March, 2012 Steve was part of the official Vatican delegation to the assembly of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism in Manila, Philippines. In 2014, he was one of four Catholics appointed by theVatican to the Commission on World Mission and Evangelization at the World Council of Churches (WCC). He has taught and lectured in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Italy, Ireland, Taiwan, Ghana, Thailand, and Hong Kong.