HOMILIES
Thus says the Lord to Shebna, master of the palace: "I will thrust you from your office and pull you down from your station. On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, and gird him with your sash, and give over to him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on Eliakim's shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts, no one shall open. I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honor for his family."
(P) The word of the Lord.I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth; in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy temple. (R)
I will give thanks to your name, because of your kindness and your truth: when I called, you answered me; you built up strength within me. (R)
The Lord is exalted, yet the lowly He sees, and the proud He knows from afar. Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. (R)
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counselor? Or who has given the Lord anything that He may be repaid? For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.
(P) The word of the Lord.Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven." Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
(P) The Gospel of the Lord.I am sure you have heard the story of the six blind men who were asked to describe what an elephant looked like by touching different parts of the elephant's body. The man who touches the leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who touches the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who touches the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who touches the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who touches the body says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who touches the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe. Who is right? All of them are right. Who is wrong? All of them are wrong.
Friends, we are all like those blind men when it comes to knowing God. In spite of our scriptural knowledge and our experience of God, none of us can claim to fully understand and know God. Our ability to comprehend God is limited. We catch only glimpses of God. Many of us struggle just to have a glimpse of God because our view of God is perhaps quite different and much narrower than the biblical view of God. Apostle Paul was just as well acquainted with God as any of us are, yet, in his letter to the Romans, he himself confesses he is at a loss when it really comes to knowing God at a deeper level.
In the first ten chapters of the letter, Paul speaks about the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He expounds step by step how God chooses to send His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins; how we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection; how the Christian life is lived in the spirit; how God saves both Jews and Gentiles. As he reflects on how God has designed and carried out His plan for our salvation he is simply overwhelmed with praise and glorifies God for His riches, wisdom, knowledge, judgments, and ways. He writes, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways!"
To challenge our understanding of God, Paul poses three questions, "Who has known the mind of the Lord?" Who has been His counselor? Who has given the Lord anything that he may be repaid?" The answer to all three questions is, "No one." So the questions challenge the proud human beings who often compare themselves with God and who think they know better than God, and who feel greater than God. Paul reminds us that we are not even close to being great. We are not great in either wisdom or knowledge or riches or judgments or ways. Only God is great. Since God is beyond our comprehension, Paul wants us to humble ourselves before God and praise and worship Him. He says, "From Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever." In other words, God is the source of all things; means of all things and they are all for the glory of God. Therefore, Paul says all glory belongs to Him. His glory is the goal of our life.
Friends, what is the message for us? The message is very simple. Since God is infinitely wiser, richer, greater and more powerful than us, we must first and foremost humble ourselves before Him and recognize His power over our life. Secondly, we must gratefully acknowledge that our life and all the things in life are from God, through God and for God and so, praise and worship Him all the days of our life to bring glory to Him and His name.
(P) Amen.God Bless You!
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