Risks and Rewards
Rev. Dr. John Judson
August 29, 2010
It was a strange beginning. They year was 1948. India was in the throes of violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims as they fought for power in what would soon be an independent nation. Into the heart of the city of Calcutta strode a small woman, a nun who believed that she had a call from God to make a difference. At first she tried to start a school but more and more her heart was drawn to the thousands who were dying on the streets of the city, forgotten and ignored by all. Two years later she appealed to the Vatican for permission to create a new order of nuns whose task it would be to care for… "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone." Her request was granted and soon 13 other sisters joined Teresa in what would ultimately become one of the most admired missions in the world…the sisters of Charity. But an interesting thing happened along the way to Mother Teresa’s Nobel Prize…the criticism of her work increased in direct proportion to her fame. The more she was in the spotlight the more she was criticized for her lack of true humility; she was it was claimed in for the money, the fame, the admiration. What this seems to show so clearly is our love hate relationship with those who humbly serve.
I say our love hate relationship with those who humbly serve because that is what it is. We admire those who toil in the trenches of service, especially serving those whom we would not serve. We are inspired by their humility and their service. We like to hear stories of people who sacrifice everything to feed street people out of their cabs in New York City, or someone who has spent all of their money to help build schools in Afghanistan. In fact our national and local news shows go in search of these people so we can be inspired by them. But then something happens when these people begin to become famous because of their humble service. We begin to be suspicious. We wonder if they weren’t in it for the publicity all along. We tell ourselves that if they were really humble they would not have allowed themselves to become so well known. And we do so because we have this image of humility and service…that they are both to be lived out with pure motives. For someone to be truly humble they have to ignore the siren call of fame and fortune. They have to live in obscurity and never actually accept a compliment. And for service to be real service it has to be completely altruistic. It has to be done without any thought to reward and compensation…otherwise it is self-serving. And one of the places to which we point, to make this point is our morning’s story.
As I researched this story all of the commentaries I read echoed this idea. They pointed to Jesus reminding his hearers that they needed to be so humble as to enter a room and take the least favored position. They ought not to think highly enough of themselves to take the seats of honor because they just might not be the most important person in the room. True humility begins with humble actions. Jesus then moves to the issue of service. He reminded his host that when inviting people over for dinner the host ought to invite those who cannot repay because that is true Godly service. Any service which might lead to repayment is to be avoided because somehow that is not really true service. It is not service which God would endorse; it is self-serving and does not spring from pure motives. And so what we do is we turn to these stories and tell ourselves and our children and anyone else who will listen that humble serving must spring from pure, unadulterated motives informed by a pure heart. Which I have to say is fascinating considering that does not actually appear to be what Jesus says here.
Let’s recap these two stories and listen again to what is actually here. First we have the lesson on humility. Jesus tells us that we are supposed to take the lowest seat. Why? He says because we might be embarrassed if we take the higher one…someone else more important might come in. And we are to take the lower seat because if we do so we might be invited to a higher seat and therefore will be honored in the presence of all. The conclusion is that those who humble themselves will be exalted…sounds like a reward to me. Next we have the words to the host about inviting to table those who cannot repay. On the surface this does seem to encourage pure motives…after all we are being called to sit at table with those who have nothing and cannot reward us. But then Jesus finishes the story by saying that if do indeed act without regard for reward from those we invite then God will reward us at the resurrection of the righteous. Sounds like a reward to me. What is most fascinating about this is that only one of my commentaries actually acknowledges that any sort of reward language is used and then forcefully rejects it…essentially saying that is not what Jesus meant. The problem is that is what Jesus said.
What are we to do with these stories then? They appear to strike at the heart of our desire for those who humbly serve to do so from pure motives and to keep themselves clear of any possibility of a reward.. With that in mind let’s wage into these stories and see if we can hear what Jesus is and is not saying. First what I believe Jesus is saying is that if we are willing to risk ourselves for the kingdom then there are rewards for so doing. We need to remind ourselves of the context of this passage. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to be arrested, tried and crucified. Along the way he is encouraging people to live our kingdom values; values such as humility and service; kingdom values which he will demonstrate on the cross. Jesus understands that those two kingdom values are not ones that were either valued by First Century society or were likely to get one ahead in life. In other words there is no reward in this life for that kind of living and so they offer a risky way to live. What he does remind them of however is that God appreciates those values and therefore God will offer a reward for having lived lives of humble service. That’s right God will offer a reward for living a life of kingdom values.
I realize that his flies in the face of our long held Christian tradition of pure motivation…of doing the right thing just because it is the right thing. But here is my question… what is wrong with God rewarding those or lifting up those who have lived by Kingdom values? I ask that because from the beginning to the end of this book God never asks anyone to risk something without offering a reward for so doing. From Abram whom God calls to leave his home and country and travel to a distant land…with the reward being being blessed by God and Abram’s offspring being a blessing to the world; to Revelation where those saints who are willing to be martyred for the faith will find refuge under the very throne of God and will be the first to be raised at the resurrection. In a sense God offers us incentives for faithful living…and we might suppose God does so for two reasons. First God offers incentives because we are human. And being human our inclination is to choose the easy way rather than the risky way. We would rather choose self-serving values rather than kingdom values. Let me ask you how many of you use positive rewards at your workplace to encourage your employees? Why shouldn’t God? Second we might suppose God offers incentives because God loves us. How many of us have ever rewarded our children using positive reinforcement; a hug, a kiss, a smile or a classic 69’ Z-28? Well I can dream. We do so because we love our children and we want them to exhibit the kind of values and character that we believe will make them worthwhile adults. Why should a loving God not do the same?
So here is the bottom line. When Mother Teresa went to Calcutta, and when she humbly served tens of thousands of the least, she did not do so from pure motives. Along the way she wrestled with her motives, her belief in God and many other personal demons. But I do not believe that any of that mattered to God. What mattered to God was that she was willing to go. She was willing to try to live out Kingdom values and I believe God has rewarded her for that. I believe that God will reward us as well. I believe that God is calling us to live out these same values…or humility and service and that it is OK for us to do so believing that God has something great in store for us. So here is my challenge…that we ask ourselves this question, “Am I willing to take a risk by living kingdom values, believing God has a reward for me?”
