Matthew 24:46-7 – “Blessed is the servant whom his master,
on returning, finds fulfilling his duties. Truly, I tell you that he will put
him over all his possessions.”
This passage reminds of the story of Joseph, and how the Pharaoh,
seeing that he was gifted and trustworthy, put him over all of Egypt. It reminds
me of Jesus saying in Luke (16:10), “Whoever is faithful in a
very little is faithful also in much.” In other words, broadly speaking, actions have
consequences. Not rewards, not punishments, just natural consequences. If I
poke myself in the eye, it will hurt. Consequences.
To be clear, however, I am not saying that all the bad
things that happen to us, or the good things either, are a direct result of our
actions. Sometimes bad things just happen. The world is not just or fair.
I’m thinking here about verse 46 through the lens of verse
47. When the master returns and finds everyone going about their duties and all
in order, he’ll be happy, and those workers will be praised, promoted, whatever.
As long as we include the caveat that we’re talking about a good master. Matthew’s
point is that, as workers in God’s kin-dom, we should always be about our
master’s, God’s, business; the business God has given us.
For me, unless I’m doing the work in front of me, I feel
tension all over my body. This tension began way back when I returned to church
after a long absence. I felt a pull I can’t explain. I knew it was where I needed
to be. If I chose not to go, I would be super tense until the church hour was
over. When I went, I felt better; even when I came late and left early. It was
the same when I felt called to ministry. Life was uncomfortable until I gave
in. All through seminary, the jobs I’ve had, the volunteer positions,
relationships, self-care, you name it. If I’m not attending to the work God has
in any given moment, I am tense and irritable. I don’t do them to feel better,
however, I do them because they’re the right thing to do in that moment. It reminds
me of Socrates explaining during his trial that his god was guiding him. He explained
that he would do something until he sensed it was not god’s work. Anyway, this is
my consequence. Of course, it is not a universal phenomenon.
The truth is that I feel better about myself and the state
of the world after writing these short pieces and putting them out there. I feel
better about myself and the world when I join a protest calling for
impeachment, closing the detention camps, stopping family separation, or denouncing cheating
to win elections, jurors promising they’ll be partial, homelessness, poverty,
policy violence. I feel better about the world when I edit the articles for the
local homeless newspaper. I feel better about the world when I contribute to local
work helping to make churches aware of our local homeless situation. I feel
better about the world when I rest, make a doctor appointment, eat well, and
take time to renew and refresh. I feel better about the world when I clean my
house, do dishes, do laundry, talk to friends. These are how I’ve chosen to
resist the hate and anger and cruelty of this administration and its enablers. That’s
my blessing. I don’t expect any promotion, but doing the right thing, that
thing that presents itself in any given moment, always feels better.
However, it make take a while to feel better. Sometimes the right
thing is the difficult thing. Say, admitting I screwed up or speaking up on
behalf of myself or someone else. While not always easy, for me, doing the
right thing is life-giving.
So, today, I’m going to focus on doing what is presented in
every moment, whether that’s resting or working.
Join me. Maybe it works that way for you tool.
B
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