Do not Bribe God
Fr Varghese Parappuram
VC
Do not offer him
a bribe,
for he will not accept
it" (Sir 35:14).
It is said that the
thief, on his way to his thieving expedition, enters a church or a temple
in order to pray and give an offering so that he may succeed in achieving
his aim and not be caught. The purpose is clear- the robbery must be a
success. He must escape from the clutches of the law and of the people
around; and so God must be with him. Are not his prayers and his offering
an attempt to bribe God?
Perhaps those who insult
God explicitly may be few. However, when we reflect on the intentions of
the offerings and vows made by so many people, we shall have to say that
they are, in one sense, giving a bribe to God. What is a bribe? Is not
giving the authorities concerned a gift in cash or kind in order to urgently
procure for myself what I do not deserve or what is due to others, bribery?
Offering Mass in
order to win a case
I once happened to meet
a couple, well-dressed, educated and apparently cultured. They had come
with a very simple purpose - to pay the stipend for a High Mass. It was
to get a Mass said and request special prayers for a particular intention
that this couple, ordinarily very busy, set aside their tight schedule
and came to me. Since the matter seemed so urgent and their desire for
prayer so earnest, I wanted to know the intention for which the Mass had
to be offered.
This was their story. A
court case was going on for the past two years. In order to escape the
difficulties involved, to let it be settled soon and to get a favourable
judgment they had come to offer a High Mass and ask for prayers.
The matter concerned their
property. The case was against their own brother. The quarrel regarding
some inherited property had worsened and culminated in a lawsuit. As the
conversation proceeded, it was clear that justice lay in the claims of
the brother. But money and influence were heavily on this man's side. It
was pride, arrogance, stubbornness and a false self-respect that had ruled
this couple and made them determine to humiliate their brother. In their
minds was the desire to teach the brother a lesson, to humble him by winning
the case and to let him know that they were persons to reckon with.
Will God hear the prayer
of the couple to win the case and deny the brother his due? How can we
pray for such an intention? How offer a High Mass? Can this not be termed
an attempt to bribe God?
Let justice flow
like water
To the question whether
God will answer the aforesaid prayer, the book of Sirach gives an apt response:
"Give to the Most High as he has given to you, and as generously as you
can afford. For the Lord is the one who repays, and he will repay you sevenfold.
Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it" (Sir 35:14).
This is not a singular Bible
passage. The scriptures repeatedly teach that worship without truth and
justice are in vain. "Bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination
to me. New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation-I cannot endure
solemn assemblies with iniquity"(Is 1:13-14).
The Lord makes it clear
why he abhors festivals and offerings, "Wash yourselves; make yourselves
clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do
evil"(Is 1:16). This is the same message that prophet Amos had to give
his people. "Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like
an ever-flowing stream" (5:24).
Those who oppress the poor
insult the Creator. The Bible very clearly states that it is a great sin
to oppress those weaker than we. "Those who oppress the poor insult their
Maker, but those who are kind to the needy honour him"(Pro 14:31). The
very life of those who persecute the helpless may be taken away. "Do not
rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate;
for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil
them"(Pro 22:22-23).
May prosperity reign
in all the world
Believers should pray, "May
prosperity reign in all the world." Intercessory prayer for the good and
well-being of others is acceptable to Jesus and heard by him. He accepted
the centurion’s prayer for his paralysed servant (cf Mt 8:5). Likewise
the prayer of the father for his epileptic son (Mt 9:14), the prayer of
the Syrophoenician woman for her daughter possessed by an evil spirit (Mt
7:24) - all these entreaties were answered by Jesus.
However, Jesus did not answer
the prayer to destroy others even though the ones who made the request
were his own dear apostles. On the way to Jerusalem Jesus and his disciples
had to pass through Samaria. But the Samaritans refused to allow them.
This rejection wounded the self- respect of the apostles. Desirous to teach
the Samaritans a lesson, they asked Jesus, "Lord, do you want us to command
fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"(Lk 9:54). The answer to
this request is recorded thus in the Bible: "But he turned and rebuked
them"(Lk 9:55). Jesus and the disciples went to Jerusalem via another village.
It is not the Spirit of
God who guides us to pray for another's destruction and failure. Those
led by God's Spirit, will pray only for the well-being and healing of others.