The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity

3^rd October 2010 9:00am & 11:45am

Preacher: The Dean

Readings: Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4, 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Luke 17:5-10

Loyal Servants

‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ (Lk 17; 5-10) – This is what Jesus teaches us to say after we have done all that we are ordered to do.

Why does Jesus say that after we have fulfilled our duty and done all that we were told to do, we should then say we are 'worthless slaves'? Nowadays both psychologists and educators encourage us to affirm and fulfill ourselves, become the whole person we are meant to be and be full of self-confidence. Are not the words of Jesus quoted above completely contrary to the thinking of people today? If we believe that 'each person is useful and has unique gifts,' how can we be ‘worthless slaves'?

To help us understand each aspect of our faith Scripture sometimes uses metaphors and different forms of speech to guide us. Sometimes there are even contradictory phrases so we can make comparisons and understand every level of the truth being presented.

But no matter how clear the words of Scripture are, we still need faith. With the light that comes from faith we must meditate on our faith so that we can understand more clearly God's action in our lives and better discern our relationship with God.

In other words, we need to use both our hearts and our minds to understand our faith. We must use our minds to ponder on our faith and our hearts to embrace that faith. We must let every aspect of faith including elements that may seem contradictory to permeate our entire lives so that life becomes one harmonious and unified whole.

Today's Gospel presents us with that kind of a contradictory situation. We have done all that we were supposed to do, then why should we still call ourselves 'worthless slaves'? In the same Gospel (Lk 12:37) why does Luke say that the master will reward his faithful servants?

What Luke says in his Gospel is that if the master finds his servants still awake when he returns from a wedding banquet, those servants are truly blessed: “The master will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.” (Lk 12: 37) .

That is to say, when the servants have performed well and done what they should have done, not only will the master commend them and express appreciation for their work, he will reward them in return as well!

How will he reward them? That is the key point.

In the Bible, the master represents God while we all are the servant. Some may worry about : will our reception be that rough at the end of our life? This is how some Christians still think : We behave well and make contribution to the Church. God one day will certainly reward us for the many good deeds we have done. It is a bit strange and mysterious why he doesn’t give us already from now a share of what we deserve, but this is not a big problem anyway. Now we have to bear the same sufferings as the wicked, but one day God will reserve his attentions only for the upright.

Those who think thus can stop worrying : God will be immensely more generous than what they can imagine. He will not forget the tears and sacrifices, the gestures of love and the alms of his faithful servants. But this way of understanding our relationship with God hides also a very serious risk : the danger that we, who are but dust and ashes, may want to assert what we think are our rights with him. These childlike claims of ours will certainly not disturb him, but such a ‘religion of merit’ may prove disastrous for the person practicing it.

Let’s think about it : How can it be true love if one does good deeds only to accumulate merits in front of God? Such a man is still being selfish. If I help my friend because I hope that one day God will reward me for this good deed, I am not loving my friend, but myself, am I not? This kind of religion turns God into a clerk who keeps a good record of our credits and debits.

The parable of today aims at destroying this kind of image of God, it condemns the ‘religion of merits’. Why do we not like it? It annoys us because the idea that by doing good we gain merits in front of God is deeply rooted in us. Jesus is telling us that the human cannot gain anything before God. Even after doing all that was expected, each one must repeat : ‘I am a worthless slave; I have done only what I ought to have done!

Why then should we do good? Because we shall be really happy only when we will succeed in doing everything gratuitously. I know a hot-tempered young man, who offends his parents and friends. However, after he commits himself to Christ, he tries to learn to control himself bit by bit. He gave up saying bad words against his family members and good to his friend. After half a year, he was so liked by all as he has changed by the power of Jesus.

I feel very amazing as well, especially when he shared with me that he was very happy since he rebuilt his relationship with his family members and friends. Well, does he need to pretend from God a prize for his efforts to improve? No. He instead thanks God and his fellows who helped him to change his manner and behavior. He is now respected and liked by all; he is happy because he feels at peace with himself, with his family and with God. If we undertake to fulfil certain tasks or ministries in the community, we must not act to win human approval and not even to win God’s approval. We must do everything gratuitously, because it is wonderful to be able to act without taking into account one’s advantage or possible reward. When we act in this way we are similar to our Father who is in heaven. Let us put aside the idea of merits! Let us begin to be full of joy now and to thank God for the good we do.

But the story does not end here. Back to the story Jesus taught in the Gospel reading of today, the reward the servants wanted from their master was probably some kind of gift, a material reward. But the reward the master wanted to give them was himself. He wanted to give himself to them, to come and serve them himself!

Some people treasure the warm clothes their mothers themselves knit for them, jokingly calling them 'A Warm Brand.' There is a traditional Chinese poem which has been handed down in many families:

“A thread is in my fond mother's hand moving,
For her son to wear the clothes 'ere leaving
With her whole heart she's sewing and sewing,
For fear I'll ever be roving and roving.
Who says the little soul of grass waving
Could for the warmth repay the sun of spring?”

There are probably many young people today who would spend a lot of money to buy famous brand clothes rather than wear their mothers' hand-knit clothes. They think hand-made clothing is old-fashioned. The servants in the Gospel story were probably like that. The reward they hoped the master would grant was very different from what the master wished to give them.

Today's Gospel seems to say that doing something well is itself a reward and we need not boast about it. Nor should we look for others' appreciation, even less should we expect a reward. Everyone should do what he or she should do and be at peace about it. There is no need to talk about it or congratulate oneself.

When we have done something good, God Himself is our reward. A clear conscience, peace of mind and heart, is already its own reward, what other reward do we want? Having done all that we should, we can attain that happy state of mind described by Jesus: “We have only done what we ought to have done” . Why would we speak of needing anything else?