Deacon Dominic Thien Ta

OBEDIENCE

Luke 22:42 - “Not my will but yours be done”
Acts 5:29 - “We must obey God rather than men.”

If you look up at the center wall of my church, you will see a very large wooden sculpture of Jesus on the cross and below the sculpture is the tabernacle. There is a wide area between the tabernacle and the altar. When I proclaim the Gospel, I have to walk through this wide area between the tabernacle and the altar because the pastor chair is in one side and the podium is on the other side.

According my Bishop, I have to bow the altar not the tabernacle because when the priest kiss the altar at the beginning of the mass, the center of the mass is now transfer from the tabernacle to the altar until the end of the mass, the priest will kiss the altar again and transfer the power back to the tabernacle. However, when the new pastor assigned to my church, he disagreed with the Bishop and made a new rule. During the mass, everyone has to bow the tabernacle not the altar from now on. I understand that the new pastor is wrong but for the sake of love and unity I have to obey.

Obedience is the free surrender of one’s will to another out of love and trust. Unlike animals that act only by instinct, humans can truly choose to obey because we possess intellect and free will which the animal does not have. The natural instinct of a fish will prevent it from not leaving the water; or when a cow first approaches an electric fence and get shocked, it will not come back to the fence again, because it instinctively memorizes the previous pain.  Animals, like dogs and pets, may appear to be obedient and faithful, but that is just the limited built-in cognition, emotions and habitual that by no means equivalent to human level.  The obedience of man requires a certain intellect and the will.

In case of my new pastor, spiritually obedience is rightfully a moral virtue because it is part of justice as Thomas Aquinas pointed out. The direct object of obedience is not God but his precepts as expressed or inferred by a superior or His representative. Hence, the pastor discerns and obeys God’s will to express the manifested precepts with goodness and just.  There maybe a deficiency of a pastor’s will on those underneath him, especially if such deficiency runs counter to the salvation of the soul, and is unlawful. Thus in obedience, we pray for the pastor and discern God’s plan in whatever the outcome is.

In society,  obedience to laws and rules is necessary for order and peace, yet when human laws contradict the law of God, Christians remember the words of Acts 5:29: “We must obey God rather than men.”

Even in the business sector, every successful company establishes and conforms to its rules and guidelines in order to execute plans for achieving business goals.  Obedience can achieve or break a company if its vision is not tactically carried out at a low level.  Then again, if a company’s vision or business rules have some flaws, even if all levels follow through with it, the company will still fail.  Hence, who and what one obeys must also be accounted for.  Just like if man created laws contradict natural laws and/or God’s laws, as Christians, we must not obey.

For people of faith, obedience flows from love. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that love of God is the heart of obedience. Scripture contrasts the disobedience of Adam and Eve with the faithful obedience of Abraham, Mary, and above all Jesus. In Gethsemane, Christ prayed, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), revealing perfect obedience that brings salvation.

Through Baptism and vocation, the Holy Spirit gives grace to live as priest, prophet, and king and to follow legitimate authority. Those ordained promise obedience to their bishop, trusting that the Spirit guides the Church. Yet obedience is never blind. It is a moral virtue within justice: giving God and rightful superiors what is due, while always discerning God’s will first.

The best models of obedience are Jesus and St. Joseph. Jesus shows perfect love and total surrender to the Father’s plan. Joseph demonstrates quiet courage and humble action, accepting God’s will without words. In them we see that true obedience is not mere rule-keeping but love in action—a free, grace-filled choice to follow God’s will and grow in holiness.

The next best model is my obedience to the pastor who changed his rule of bowing to the tabernacle to the altar after two years of serving. We had a happy ending and that is a clear sign of the Holy Spirit at work.