October 20, 2009
Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
By Beth DeCristofaro
If by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many. (Romans 5:15)
Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will. (Psalm 40:8,9)
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. (Luke 12:37)
Piety
Let my heart be the vessel of God’s Love. Let my thoughts be the blossom of God’s Love. Let my words be the expression of God’s Love. Let my actions be the fulfillment of God’s Love. (Rev. David Ridge, Living Water Unity Church, Arvada, CO)
Study
“Our God is an awesome God…” God is and was before there was nothing and before there was something. God created and creates from nothing. God limited the infinite self to become a creature. God offered himself in a sacrifice which is truthfully, beyond all understanding. And our reward, if we recognize and follow the ways of God, is to be “waited on” like a servant should wait on the master. And to further our amazement is the fact that God allows us, no, God frees us, to choose or not to choose to be godly, to be vigilant or to be ignorant and centered on the limited existence of a creature.
So how come we so often choose “no thanks”? I think back to raising my two daughters when they were little. I often became frustrated when I had to say “stop” or “don’t do that” for the umpteenth time. And my girls were little, learning about the world. It took them a long time. Meanwhile I would grow aggravated and even spank them thinking that if they experienced a negative consequence maybe that behavior would not be repeated…Right. I became the center of the universe in terms of discipline and teaching. But my limitations were very much magnified by their falling short because I experienced them as transgressions against me (and yes, safety, values, and all those good things we try to pass on). But God’s model, the model that God offers us, is one which goes the extra mile for those who love God. In Sunday’s gospel Jesus told us For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)
In the gospel passages right after today’s passage, Luke continues the dialogue describing consequences faced by the servant who is not vigilant or who mistreats other servants when the Master returns. There are consequences when we go against our nature, a nature that is created in God’s image. When we abuse that image we abuse God and we abuse God’s creatures. We cut ourselves off from God, the Master of the story, and face the consequences. Why do we keep doing that?
Action
In what ways are we being vigilant servants and in what ways are we being abusive servants? Where do we put ourselves before the Master? Do God’s gracious gifts overflow from what we think say, and do? Or do we overflow with our own desire for power, mastery, and divinity?
