The grandson of one of my mentors, when he was a small boy, prayed for an adversary who had offended him in some way “Lord, make him good, punish him”. Out of the mouths of babes, wisdom! For he knew from his brief experience on earth that being punished for bad behaviour led to either a change of heart or as a boy at least a temporary change in behaviour.
It was interesting to learn that an eminent exorcist used a rather similar prayer during an exorcism where the demon was reluctant to obey his commands. So he prayed to God the Father to “punish him in a way he has never been punished before” Moments later, agonising howls of anguish, impossible for Hollywood to simulate, emanated from the demon as he was punished and then became compliant and submitted to the commands given by the Priest.
A few weeks ago I spent the night in the historic town of Taal in Batangas, in a house where the freedom fighters who began the liberation of the Philippines from Spanish Colonial rule, used to meet and make their plans. It made me reflect on how quickly idealism and self-sacrifice can decay to abuse of power, self-interest, and the corruption that Filipinos have become accustomed to since full independence barely 80 years ago.
Some commentators theorise that whilst having the appearance of government, with a senate, congress, governors etc. it is now essentially a failed state. More akin to a loosely affiliated entrepreneurial criminal enterprise of political dynasties, land owners and business people whose sole task is to harvest cash from the public purse by any and all means with complete disregard for God, country or people.
Everything in heaven and on earth operates on authority. Even if the votes have been purchased illegitimately, those in power have been given authority by the people. And perhaps this is why ‘people-power’ has no real effect as the on-going pantomime performances in congress and senate illustrate. However there is one avenue left to explore for real change which is to appeal to the One who has complete authority over all. ‘Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”(Matt 28:18) And the church and its members have the task of enforcing it by prayer. Often we hear in church petitions asking God to make leaders honest, or humble or to have integrity… that’s nice, but to get the job done we need more than a suggestion we need the prayers of the young boy and the exorcist “Lord, Make them good (or compliant); Punish them” and then watch Him work.
