A Theology of Number “Zero”

Zero is an interesting number. It is not worth anything, but if you put a zero in the correct place, it is worth a lot. For example, if you add a zero after the number “100” you make it into a “1000”: a lot more.

Zero, by itself is nothing. Perhaps, Mr. Zero thinks that, because he is round, and the circle is perfect, he is perfect. But, poor Mr. Zero, he indeed is nothing, he is a hole...

The value of number zero is a relative value. In order to be worth something, zero must be related to another number: it must be related to “one,” and put behind, after “one.”

Zero can teach us about humility. Each one of us is like a zero. Sometimes we look proudly at ourselves, thinking that we are something… However, like Mr. Zero, by ourselves we are (in a sense!) like a hole, nothing.

True humility is to realize that without God we are nothing and can do nothing. Jesus said, “Separated from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). St. Paul used to say: “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7) Life is a gift. What are we, without life? Zero.

Jesus is the “one” to whom we must be related. Without Jesus we are nothing, but together with him, behind him, we are precious, we are the glory of God: we form the number 10! When zero follows one, we have a beautiful number ten. When a Christian follows Jesus, God is glorified on earth.

Humility does not consist in saying that you have no talents when you have them, but in realizing that all you have is a gift and being grateful… Being humble is like being a good zero: a good zero who realizes that his own value comes from the One.

Finally, a community is like a bunch of zeros. A good Christian community happens when all the zeros follow the One. When the One is not there, it doesn’t matter how many zeros you add, you have nothing. Also, in order to count, the zeros need to follow the One, not put themselves ahead of the One.

And remember, the last zero is not the least important zero: quite the contrary!

May the One bless us all. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Church Built Upon Rock

(On Matthew 16:16-18) Jesus does not say to Simon you are the rock (the petra , rock in Greek). He says to him “you are Peter ( Petros ) and upon this petra I will build my Church” ( Matthew 16:18). St. Augustine explains that the name Peter comes from petra as the name Christian comes from Christ. [1] We are Christians because we participate in the life, grace, truth, doctrine, body and blood of Jesus Christ. Simon is Peter because he participates in the stability and firmness of the petra , the rock which is Jesus Himself. There is something in Peter which is as stable and firm as a rock. [2] Peter is not the rock: he will still break a few times, and Jesus knows it. Peter will die one day, and Jesus knows it. But Peter’s confession will never break, it will never pass away, it will never be moved to the left or to the right. Peter’s confession will never die: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” ( Matthew 16:16). How can the confession of a man be so stable? Have no...
Read more

To Ceasar What Belongs to Ceasar

Is God’s power opposed to political power? What is the relationship between these powers? Today’s readings shed some light on this mystery. God’s power is superior to any human power. Cyrus’s power comes from God (cf. Isaiah 45:1, 4-6) as does every authority on earth. Nobody could obtain human power without God’s allowing it. Some people use God’s given power in the wrong way, but God does not punish all of them in this life. God’s power is not opposed to the right use of human power. Jesus does not oppose Ceasar regarding taxes (cf. Matthew 22:15-21). Ceasar has a certain right over the material goods of his subjects. God, however, has an absolute right to our faith and love. If Ceasar ever asked us something against our faith and our love, we would not give it to him, because Ceasar is not more than God. Ceasar could send us to jail until death, but God can punish us and Ceasar after death and forever. In those cases, we must obey God rather than human beings. Even in cas...
Read more

God’s Glory and the World’s Approval

“I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” What is this glory? We are not meant to obtain from this world a glory we do not yet have. The world cannot give us what we want. We are meant to glorify God with the glory he has already given us, so that we may then receive further glory, not from the world, but from Him. We go from the glory we have to the glory we do not yet have, as St. Paul says, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image from glory to glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” ( 1 Corinthians 3:18). Modern society, with its own standards and values, exercises a certain pressure on Christians. It is peer pressure sometimes, it is also felt like an attraction other times, or like the threat of failure if we do not comply. The world offers us its own “salvation” from the evils of life; the world offers its own “redemption” from our sense of failure and worthlessness; the world offers its own...
Read more