WE ARE ADVERTISEMENTS OF JESUS

HOMILY FOR THE 6^TH SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR B

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Advertisers seek to persuade their targets to make a preference for their products over the others. They work and present their products so as to entice the consumers to love and buy from them. This is what we are called to be for Jesus. However, unlike the advertisers of this world who sometimes present that which is not in congruence with the product being advertised, ours is an advertisement which is real and represents exactly the importance and the benefits of the product. This advertisement is done in love and for love, and not for money. Jesus said: It is not you who chose me, but I chose and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. These words in the Gospel of today (John 15:9-17) are demonstrative of the purpose of the mission to which we are commissioned.

It remains non-negotiable that we are chosen because of the love God has for us. His love for us led him into choosing us. We are not our own callers. We did not make the choices of ourselves. It is God, who, by his grace called us to be with him and to live for him. He loves all equally. This is the ground-breaking discovery that Peter did in the First Reading (Act. 10:25-48). In his love, God shows no partiality. The implication of being chosen in love is a clarion call to learn and show love to God and to others. The first manner of showing love is directed to God, by obeying his commandments. We abide in God when we keep his commandments. The choice God has made for us has reasons, for God does not act without purpose. The second manner of love is seen in the Second Reading (1 John 4:7-10). We must love one another. We now explore the reasons of God’s love as shown in the Gospel of today.

1) God calls us towards complete joy. This is what he desires to achieve in us through his love. He wants his joy to be in joy and that our joys may be complete. He does not believe in mediocrity. He believes in perfection, because he is perfect. Having joy at the superlative level implies that such a joy has gone beyond mere comparison. This type of joy does not compare one Christian and the other. What it does is that it makes every Christian fulfilled and wholesome. The Christian then becomes a person of joy. We must then see ourselves as harbingers and carriers of joy who infects the world that needs it. We must be joyful, for we are not sinners anymore, but sinners who are redeemed in the blood of the lamb.

2) God calls us to be his friends. He does not work in or with us as slaves but as friends. Friendship is an institution of honour by the honourable and for the honourable. This is why everyone desires an honourable friend who does not make him/her less a human being. Friends respect each other, love each other, sacrifices for each other and can even die for each other. Becoming the friends of God is a proof that we are wise. In Wisdom 7:27, wisdom is said to make men the friends of God. Friendship is also a sign of our fidelity and faithfulness. In Isaiah 41:8, Abraham was regarded as a friend of God. When God calls us his friends, he restores that ruptured relationship he had with the first family of Adam and Eve. So, friendship with God is a restoration of the original standing with God. However, we must also note that God did not end in calling us his friends. He went beyond this restoration to a new installation of us as his brothers after the resurrection of Christ.

3) God calls us to become his ambassadors. He chose us to send us out. Only trusted people can be sent out for serious messages. This is a proof of the trust Jesus has invested in us. We must work so as not to disappoint him. Jesus chose us to represent him. For we are ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor.5:20).

4) God calls us to be fruitful. It is by being fruitful that we can convince those we preach to that they too would be fruitful. So, fruitfulness becomes a sort of advertisement. We are advertisements of Jesus. We are his marketers. We entice people to come and buy from Him. Thus, our fruitfulness becomes a source of attraction to those who desire to be fruitful. The way to spread Christianity is to be a Christian. To be a Christian, we need to practice what we preach. Hence, Christianity involves action even more than it involves words. There ought to be greater discipline and devotion in the life of a Christian than greater arguments and doctrines. Do not forget that our calling is to a lasting fruitfulness. We must remain fruitful. It is our calling.

5) God calls us so that whatever we ask of Him, he does it for us. This is prayer. He calls us to the life of prayer. But remember that praying and getting an answer involves a lot of things. Prayer must be made in faith (cf. James 5:15). It needs to go beyond mere formality and routine to embrace hopefulness and constant newness. Prayers have to be made in the name of Christ. We cannot pray for things which contradict the nature of God, just like a thief praying for success in his robbery attack, or a liar praying not to be caught. This is a show of a lack of faith. When we pray, we must have the consciousness that the will of God be done, not our will. The real prayer is that God should make us able to accept the things he wills. Prayers must be selfless. Our prayer must be for the good of all, not just for our own good.

May we be ardent and authentic advertisers of Jesus the Christ now and always. Amen. Happy new week. God bless you.