Septuagesima Sunday 12.2.17 Working for God
Imagine a town where everyone is suffering from poverty. A
rich man comes and seeks to alleviate the poverty of the town. He could just
give them all a pile of money; or he could give them work, for which he would pay
them. It is this latter way that God takes with us.
He could simply put us in Heaven, but He wants us to work
our way there.
The work itself does not save us. What saves us is that by
working we are putting ourselves in an ongoing lifegiving relationship with
God. Like a branch to the vine (Jn 15, 1-17).
And we do this for as long as we have - from the moment of
conversion to the moment of death. All time belongs to Him, and we fill it with
our response.
Once we start we do not stop: He who has put his hand to the
plough, does not look back (Lk 9,62). The servant should be still at work when
the master returns (Lk 12,37). From now
on you will be fishers of men (Lk 5,10)
And St Paul, in the epistle, speaks of the need to run to
the end, not slacken off.
We must not be alarmed by all this talk of work. Work is not
a burden when motivated by love.
The love of God will act on us; will motivate us so that we
want to do what He wants us to do. People put themselves out for those they
love. As Christians, we love everyone; or at least Christ does, and we are
learning to do as He does.
No one is unemployed in God's kingdom. The old, the sick,
the disabled – all can contribute. It is simply a matter of doing, or enduring,
whatever is required.
‘Work’ in this sense is much more varied than paid work. If
someone asks you, socially, what you ‘do’, you could reply ‘I work for the
Lord’. This could mean, I cheerfully offer up my sufferings; I pray for the
conversion of sinners; I go to Mass to glorify God – it is all work.
We know there is a reward for this, and in fact it is far
more than we deserve.
We are doing only as we should (cf the servants (Lk 17,10)).
We are obliged to be and do good, even if there were no reward.
But there is a reward. It is represented by the denarius of
the parable. We all receive the denarius whether we come in early or late. It
is eternal life, and happiness.
Applying the parable to our situation, we could say that all
the workers are paid ‘too much’; even the ones who came early, and worked all
day.
We might be tempted to envy those who come in late, and find
Heaven. But we are all being treated
better than we deserve, since we are nowhere near good enough (by our own
merits) to go there.
We are all the latecomers in that sense. Only by the grace
of God are we saved.
First He forgives us; then He gives us work to do, for which
He provides motivation; then He rewards us with more than we deserve.
All we have to do is turn up for work, to show enough interest
for Him to do the rest.
We are more fortunate than we usually think ourselves.
So let us work on, not counting the days or hours, until the time of reckoning.
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