To whom much is given much is expected

Our expectations differ according to the degree of efforts and possibilities provided. What we expect from a desert, which is dry, does not receive any rain, where nobody spends time on it tilling, sowing, or fencing it to protect it from wild animals, is different from what we expect from a fertile land, that has enough rain, farmers tilling, sowing, and protecting it with fences around it. In Luke 10: 13-16 we see this comparative expectation articulated about Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum where Jesus spoke the gospel and worked many wonders, and Tyre and Sidon where they had no privilege of being recipients of Jesus’ words and wonders. To whom much is given much is expected. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum received every bit of Jesus’s providence but refused to reciprocate.

St. Paul has a lovely expression about the people of Corinth in 2 Corinthians 3:3—you are a letter of Christ. Corinth was a rich city, but it had a morally very loose way of living. Paul preached there and maybe others too. When Paul came back he found them transformed as a public demonstration of Christ's message and work, written on their human hearts rather than on stone tablets or in ink. So he writes to them, you are a letter of Christ. Others can read you and know Christ—you have become Christ's message and testament. They embodied Christ. Where do we place them: a desert or a fertile, provided, and protected field? If we are a fertile, provided, and protected field, where are our fruits?

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SPRINGBOARDS and WALKING STICKS

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