Today\u2019s Gospel story is puzzling to many people. It even sounds a bit harsh. The servant has been out working hard all day. The master has probably been sitting around the house or, at best, has been engaged in some high level negotiations. Dirty and weary after a long day\u2019s work, the servant comes home and the master has a number of expectations before the servant may eat himself or rest. The master expects the servant to serve his supper, wait until he has eaten, and then probably wash the dishes, sweep the kitchen and dining room, run a few errands, serve him his after dinner coffee, and so on. Then the servant might be allowed to sit down and eat himself. And Jesus says that this is what the servant should expect! He is, after all, the servant. The master does not owe him any thanks or consideration. The servant should understand that doing all of this is simply his duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This feels rather harsh \u2013 especially to those of us who are not even used to the idea of servants. It doesn\u2019t seem right that one person should work so hard and then be expected to wait on another person who probably has not been working very hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the point Jesus is trying to make?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The focus is really on the servant, not the master. And the point is that nothing the servant does can obligate the master. The servant can not earn the master\u2019s praise or obligate the master to repay him for his good work. That\u2019s not because the master is unkind or ungrateful. But it is because the master does not owe the servant anything, while the servant probably owes his very life to the master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Jesus is doing is drawing an analogy between God and the master, between the servant and us. The behavior Jesus is discouraging is the idea that we can somehow earn God\u2019s approval. And the scripture that comes right before this story is one of the places we might have acquired some bad theology. Jesus says that if you had faith so weak that it only resembled a mustard seed, you could still say to the most deep- rooted tree, \u201cPull yourself up by the roots and move over there,\u201d and the tree would do it! We listen to that and we assume that our faith somehow controls God \u2013 if we have great faith God will do what we ask. If our faith is weak, God will not respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The place where this is most often heard is when someone is ill. \u201cIf you have faith, you will be healed,\u201d someone will say. Or, worse yet, when someone is not doing well they will say, \u201cyour faith isn\u2019t strong enough.\u201d We assume that if Jesus says our little faith can move trees, then if we had any faith at all, we would certainly be healed. But, we fail to recognize that this means we would be manipulating God. In other words, if I have enough faith, then God has to do what I want God to do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that is not what Jesus is really saying. Jesus makes it clear that we are simply expected to have faith \u2013 that is part of being Christian, just like serving is part of being a servant. Our faith does not require God to do anything. God does not heal us because we have faith. God heals us because God is God. God loves us simply because God chooses to love us. God\u2019s power is active in our lives. God is present to us. God gives us more than we ask or deserve. God sustains our very life. God does all of that but NOT because we have faith. God does that because it is God\u2019s nature to love and heal and sustain life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither our faith nor our actions can earn us God\u2019s favor. Nor can our faith or our actions earn us salvation \u2013 the other common misconception. Many people believe that they must be good or do good in order to be saved. Or, on the other hand, they believe that their current or prior behavior makes it impossible for them to be saved. Yet there is nothing you can do to earn salvation \u2013 it is a free gift offered by Christ through his life, death and resurrection. Even as God\u2019s love is a free gift offered with no requirements or regulations. God simply is love. And Christ\u2019s life, death and resurrection have already saved us. Nothing we can do, no amount of faith we can generate, makes God love us more or makes us more saved. Being saved is already a done deal \u2013 an accomplished fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our responsibility is to respond to God\u2019s action in and through Christ. We are called to a life of faith; not to obtain anything from God but in response to God\u2019s loving action toward us. We are called to have faith, not to get God to love us or heal us or to get Christ to save us. But we are called to have faith because God loves and heals us. We are called to have faith because Christ has saved us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our faith does not need to impress God or anyone else. Our faith simply needs to respond to what God has given us. So the next time you are concerned about whether you have enough faith, stop and get in touch with God\u2019s love for you. Remember that Christ\u2019s life, death and resurrection already has made eternal life available to you. Become aware of all the gifts God has given you. And know that you are infinitely loved. Respond to God\u2019s love with thankfulness and love in return. That is your faith. And that faith, even if it were as small as the tiniest mustard seed \u2013 that faith can transform you and the world. For God, working through you can do more than you can ever ask or imagine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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