20141111 THE JOY AND REWARD OF BEING A SERVANT
First
reading
Titus
2:1-8,11-14 ©
It
is for you to preach the behaviour which goes with healthy doctrine. The older
men should be reserved, dignified, moderate, sound in faith and love and
constancy. Similarly, the older women should behave as though they were
religious, with no scandal-mongering and no habitual wine-drinking – they are
to be the teachers of the right behaviour and show the younger women how they
should love their husbands and love their children, how they are to be sensible
and chaste, and how to work in their homes, and be gentle, and do as their
husbands tell them, so that the message of God is never disgraced. In the same
way, you have got to persuade the younger men to be moderate and in everything
you do make yourself an example to them of working for good: when you are
teaching, be an example to them in your sincerity and earnestness and in
keeping all that you say so wholesome that nobody can make objections to it;
and then any opponent will be at a loss, with no accusation to make against us.
You see, God’s grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for
the whole human race and taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything
that does not lead to God, and all our worldly ambitions; we must be
self-restrained and live good and religious lives here in this present world,
while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the
Appearing of the glory of our great God and saviour Christ Jesus. He sacrificed
himself for us in order to set us free from all wickedness and to purify a
people so that it could be his very own and would have no ambition except to do
good.
Psalm
Psalm
36:3-4,18,23,27,29 ©
The
salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
If
you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live in the land and be secure.
If
you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire.
The
salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
He
protects the lives of the upright,
their heritage will last for ever.
The
Lord guides the steps of a man
and makes safe the path of one he loves.
The
salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Then
turn away from evil and do good
and you shall have a home for ever;
The
just shall inherit the land;
there they shall live for ever.
The
salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
Gospel
Acclamation Mt4:4
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Man
does not live on bread alone,
but
on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Alleluia!
Or Jn14:23
Alleluia,
alleluia!
If
anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and
my Father will love him,
and
we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
Gospel Luke 17:7-10 ©
Jesus
said to his disciples, ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep,
would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal
immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make
yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink
yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was
told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We
are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’
THE
JOY AND REWARD OF BEING A SERVANT
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: TITUS 2:1-8, 11-14; LK 17:7-10
In the
first reading, St Paul exhorts the Christians through Titus that they must
live a Christian life worthy of their calling. St Paul gives specific
advice with regard to the decorum and behavior of the older men and women
towards each other as spouse and towards their children so that they can set
good examples for others. Such Christian conduct is also required especially of
those who are leaders in Church organizations and ministries. As leaders
of the Christian community, we have to be exemplary and show greater maturity
in our spiritual life. We are called not only to lead in terms of
organization or even teaching, but most of all to lead by example.
Leaders are role models. We are credible to the extent of how we walk the
talk, otherwise no matter what we say, no one will believe us. Today, the
world needs witnesses rather than teachers. Nonetheless, without exception
all are called to live a respectable Christian life.
However,
there is a downside to such a life as it can endanger the fundamental
doctrine of St Paul’s justification by faith in Christ alone through the grace
of God. Indeed, today’s parable of the Undeserving Servant is
probably St Luke’s pastoral application of this doctrine of St Paul’s.
After all, we must not forget that Luke was the constant companion of St Paul
in his missionary journeys. Thus, St Luke reminds us that even if we have
been profitable servants, still “when you have done all you have been told to
do say, ‘we are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.’”
Indeed,
many of us who have lived good Christian lives can unconsciously demand
rewards and appreciation for what we have done. Many of us make
demands on the Church simply because we feel we have given a lot in terms of
time and resources. Sometimes, parishioners treat the Church like a club
house where privileges depend on the kind of membership we have. Some expect
special treatment from their priests because they have given large donations to
the Church, or because they have served the Church for a long time. Most
certainly expect gratitude and appreciation from their priests or
leaders. They also expect that their leaders will come to help and accede
to their requests when asked. Some even want preferential treatment, like
having special seats of honour, etc in the Christian community.
The message of today’s
liturgy is that we are servants of God. Actually, a better translation would be
“slave.” Indeed, St Paul in his letter to the Philippians, speak of Jesus
as the slave of God. As slaves, we do not have any rights or
privileges. A slave belongs entirely to the master. He or she is no
longer his or her own possession. Hence, one cannot speak of rights or
rewards. Everything we have, our health, our wealth, our talents, our
positions all come from the grace and mercy of God. If God has blessed us
with all these temporal goods, they are given for the service of humanity and
creation. We are all the servants of God and the people we serve
belong to God.
Indeed, because we are
servants and slaves, our only desire is to please our master; our only joy
is to make our master happy. Isn’t this what a dog will do for his
master? The dog has no other joy other than to be with his master; to
accompany him, to be with him and to welcome him home. Its only happiness
is to belong to the master and to be faithful to him always. For this
reason, because we are the servants of God, not only can we not speak of
rights, but we must desire to serve Him only, as the parable tells us.
Even when we have been working the whole day in the field, on our return, we
would still want to serve him more, so long as we can make our master
happy. As Jesus says, “So with you: when you have done all you have been
told to do, say, ‘We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.’”
Concretely, for us to
serve God therefore would mean that we would want to give ourselves totally to
the service of the Bishop who represents Christ our Good Shepherd for us.
Besides the Bishop who is the authentic successor of Christ, we serve those
priests or leaders appointed to lead us. Obedience to those placed over
us requires a faith perspective. Obedience is not reducible simply to a
worldly notion of being subservient to our leaders. Rather, if we render
obedience to our religious superiors, it is because we see them in faith as
appointed by Christ for our good.
Unfortunately, many no
longer perceive their religious leaders in that manner. Obedience is
given to their leaders provided they agree with them and are convinced by their
arguments. If that is the case, then religious leaders are no longer
chosen by the election of God but are appointed solely on their knowledge and
professional competency. That being the case, we might as well employ the
smartest and most capable people to be priest or bishop and let them run the
Church like a multi-national corporation! Precisely, St Paul reminds us,
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of
you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of
noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God
chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things
that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before
him.” (1 Cor 1:26-29)
Finally, we are not only
servants of those in charge of us; we are also servants to those under our care.
We are called to empty ourselves to be servants for the rest of the
servants. For this reason, the Pope is called the “Servant of
servants.” He is conscious that he is the servant of God and acts in such
a way as to serve his fellow servants of God. He, like Jesus, is the
chief servant. All priests, following the Holy Father, are servants
of Christ. Whether as religious or lay leaders, we are not here to lord
over the people under our care but to be at their service to foster unity by
providing servant leadership.
But are there no rewards
of serving our Lord? Our only reward and joy is the privilege of serving
Him. We do not
desire any other reward. We must realize that being a servant is already
a reward in itself. In fact, to be chosen as the servant of God is a
great honour. That God would choose us, unworthy weaklings, to be his
leaders and servants implies that God has great confidence in us, more so than
we have in ourselves. Indeed, to serve the Lord is the greatest honour
one can have. To be chosen for His service is itself the reward, so we should
not be expecting any other reward. In fact, it would be even worse to be
unwanted and totally useless to Him and to society. So, instead of hoping
for appreciation and recognition, we must instead with all humility thank God
for counting us worthy to serve Him in whichever position He calls us to in
life.
If there is any reward, it
is that God has given us the means to grow to our full potential.
In giving ourselves to the work of God and to the service of others, God is
giving us the opportunity to develop our potentials and talents. The
reward of serving the Lord is to be called to serve Him in ever greater
ways. He said, “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have
an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from
him.” (Mt 25:29) The more we give, the more we grow in grace and in
character. Indeed, the only way to grow is through giving and
loving. So it can be said, as St Paul tells us, that through giving
ourselves to God, His grace will lead us to Him and we will gradually become
one with Him. Identified with Him, we become truly purified so that we
“could be his very own and would have no ambition except to do good” like Jesus
Himself. By living good “religious lives here in this present world”, we
can wait “in hope for the blessing which will come with the appearing of the
glory of our great God and saviour Christ Jesus.
Let us then live our lives
in such a way that we expend ourselves entirely for the glory of God
instead of harping on what we have not got. Like the industrious servant,
we must be grateful for the privilege to serve and to grow through the
responsibilities that God has given to us in life so that we can prepare
ourselves to be with Him when the time comes for us to meet Him. Until
then, let us give and remind ourselves, that “we are merely servants; we have
done no more than our duty.” If we could say these words sincerely from
our hearts, we would always be contented and be at peace in all that we do and
are.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV
WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP
OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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