Native hunters in the jungles of
They take one of these – show coconut – hollow it out and in one half of the shell cut a hole just big enough for a monkey’s hand to pass through. Then they place one of these – show orange – in the other coconut half before fastening together the two halves of the coconut shell. Finally they secure the coconut to a tree with a rope, hide in the jungle and wait.
Sooner or later, an unsuspecting monkey swings by, smells the delicious orange, and discovers its location inside the coconut. The monkey then slips his hand through the small hole, grasps the orange, and tries to pull it through the hole. Of course, the orange won’t come out; it’s too big for the hole. To no avail the persistent monkey continues to pull and pull, never realising the danger he’s in.
While the monkey struggles with the orange, the hunters simply stroll in and capture the monkey by throwing a net over him. As long as the monkey keeps his fist wrapped around the orange, the monkey is trapped.
Isn’t that sad? The poor monkey could save its own life if it would only let go of the orange. It never occurs to a monkey that it can’t have both the orange and its freedom.
The world sets us all traps like the monkey trap. You keep hearing in the papers, on TV and through the internet that if you just have enough money, enough stuff, enough power, enough status then you’ll be happy.
What would Jesus say? Well
Jesus, we read elsewhere, did not grasp at power and riches. He gave them away. God never grasps like the monkey, like us. His hands are never clenched but are open, open to give to us if we will receive.
Is this the sign Jesus would give? Show two fists.
Or this? Show two open hands.
When we come up to welcome Jesus in Holy Communion we have open hands, not clenched fists!
You know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
In Jesus God has come to us, is ready to give himself to us, and is able to help us grow to rely on him more and more in all circumstances of our life. We have only to say yes to God freely and wholeheartedly, to open our hands to receive, for what he has from his riches to reach into the poverty of our lives.
This is what we mean by having faith. It’s about saying yes to God freely and wholeheartedly, trusting him with the whole self.
Faith isn’t sophisticated beliefs, strong convictions, or some sort of moral perfection.
It’s a readiness to reach out and receive from Jesus like the woman in the gospel story.
Remember - she just touched Jesus to receive the great riches of a full and effective healing.
Faith is less something we have and more something we do. People came to Jesus. That and their request revealed their faith.
They came to Jesus to receive – and so showed faith by action.
If I said to you I’d love you to have my watch I could take it off and extend it towards you but for my offer to become effective something else would have to happen. What? Rosie took my watch
God has far more riches in his treasury of grace. They’re on offer. You need faith to lay hold on God’s grace. That means a readiness to open your hands to receive.
I was in
It came from a seagull – and, no, it wasn’t what you might expect!
It was a clam. The bird was continually dropping the shellfish until it broke.
Powerless to break into the clam by its own strength, the seagull invoked a higher power, that of gravity. By working with gravity the bird got its dinner.
This remarkable scene reminded me of how many an impenetrable problem can yield when we act in faith to call upon a higher power to assist us.
To live by faith is to live with empowerment in the praise and service of God!
Like the monkey with his coconut the seagull couldn’t get the clam open but he didn’t get trapped. The bird saw a helper in his situation, handed the problem over to a higher power and got his dinner!
We’re looking ahead as a church and as individuals. We face many situations both as a church and as individuals that we need to approach not with the clenched fists of battle but with the open hands of faith. Maybe God lays on these situations to build our faith, to teach us wisdom and make us more open to his power from on high.
You know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
By faith we come to welcome the riches God has for us in Jesus. We discern God's loving wisdom and direction for our lives. By faith we are sustained through disappointments, frustrations, and failures.
Faith is possible for all. It is simply turning to God as we are. This is exactly what we do at the Eucharist. We kneel before God as we are and hold up our hands to receive the signs of love, the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood.
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