Dr. Martin Kallungal
READING: “Well now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we are off to this or that town; we are going to spend a year there, trading, and make some money.’ You never know what will happen tomorrow: You are no more than a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears. Instead of this, you should say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or that.’ But as it is, how boastful and loud-mouthed you are! Boasting of this kind is always wrong. Everyone who knows what is the right thing to do and does not do it commits a sin” (James 4:13-17).
REFLECTION: Throughout the Letter, Saint James explains what it means to do the right thing. In this small passage, he asks businesspersons as well as all who make calculations for the future to remember the brevity of life and the uncertainty of plans, and to acknowledge God as the source of any good. Since life and everything in our life-world might quickly disappear like smoke, we need to think of larger matters in life such as faith in God and obedience to God’s will. We need to exhibit promptness in seeking God’s will in all actions and plans. In fact, all activities of life have an ethical component because we live and do things either in obedience to God or in disobedience to God. St. Paul, for instance, was very keen on this. To the Corinthians he writes, “I shall be coming to you soon, the Lord willing” (I Cor 4:19). We should be conscious of and sensitive to God’s will when we make plans. Such consciousness is our point of contact with our faith in God. The statement, “whatever is not from faith is sin” (Rom 14:23) has to be understood in this light. St. James’ final point is that not seeking to know what God wants us to do is as much a sin as doing what God has asked us not to do: “Everyone who knows what is the right thing to do and does not do it commits a sin” (James 4:17). Put simply, anything that excludes God is evil.
Businesspersons make four claims: (i) that they will go to this or that town, (iii) that they will spend a year there, (iii) that they will do business there, and (iv) that they will make profit. This four-fold claim revolves around three sinful presumptions. First, they plan to start the journey today or tomorrow and spend a year at their destination because they think that time and duration are under their control. Second, they plan to go to a certain town because they think that space and movement are under their control. Third, they expect to make profit because they think that they control causal relations in exchanges. These presumptions make the plans arrogant and foolish. Therefore, St. James urges everyone to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or that.” The advice is not to simply insert “if God wills” in the opening sentences of our conversations. In some cultures, “if God wills” is just a customary usage. What is required is an ongoing recognition of God’s enabling grace in all our activities. A careful reading of the Letter tells us that we need to phrase it as “if it is the Lord’s will.” This means that it is not enough that we use a general impersonal epithet, God. The Lord refers to either Jesus Christ or to God the Father in terms of his relationship with the people. Thus, “will” refers to Jesus’ will, which has always been in conformity with the Father’s will “as it is in heaven.” What is asked of us is not an indifferent resignation that “let come what may” but a loving submission to Jesus’ will.
PRAYER: Lord, Jesus Christ, I am heartily sorry for being presumptuous. Many a time I have lived and embarked on various personal projects without having consulted your will. Today, with the Prophet Jeremiah I realize that “man’s course is not within his choice, nor is it for him to direct his step” (Jer 10:23). O’ Lord, sometimes, I have even gone against your declared ethical will. Pardon me my sins. “Lead us back to you, O’ Lord, that we may be restored” (Lam 5:21).
CONTEMPLATION: Sit down quietly, and gently come to the awareness that God’s will embraces the gift of our lives and the gift of all our actions. Tell your soul, “commit to the Lord your way; trust in him, and he will act” (Ps 37:5).
ACTION: Practice the presence of God in your life in general and in various activities in particular. For instance, train yourself to add clause “if it is the Lord’s will” to all the plans and promises you make these days.
