Being an unprofitable and useless servant (Gospel: Lk. 17:3-10), I can’t expect any thanks for preaching this homily, which is only what I’ve been commanded to do, after all, but I do it anyway—for if I’m not to get thanks for doing my duty, I shudder to think of what I will get for not doing my duty!
I think that any Christian who seeks praise or thanks for doing what he is obliged to do has things all backwards. We want the Master to thank the servant for serving, yet it is we who should be thanking the Master! We ought to thank Him even for the privilege of serving Him, and for the opportunity and wherewithal for doing so. The world is full of people who have not been chosen to serve Him as we have, or who have themselves chosen to serve other masters, which will be to their ruin—for if you don’t serve Christ for the time of this relatively short life on earth, you will end up serving the devil for all eternity in Hell. Indeed, we ought to thank the Master for permitting us to be his servants!
But there is more to it than that. Unlike some earthly master who simply demands service from his servants, our heavenly Master is so benevolent that He grants all kinds of gifts to his servants, and even forgives all the sins and failures of his unprofitable retinue. So let’s not get things backwards. We ought to realize that we owe thanks to our Master, and that no thanks are owed to us. We should also thank Him that He doesn’t give us what we actually deserve: the just wages for our inadequate works! Most people insist upon their rights, but you almost never hear them insist upon their responsibilities and obligations. It’s all about me, me, me: Look at me, pay attention to me, thank and praise me, take care of me, don’t offend or criticize me, arrange all things to the advantage of—me! But this is only a recipe for unhappiness and frustration. No one who looks out for himself first is happy. Only those who selflessly serve others are happy, especially if they are consciously doing this as a service to the Lord.
Maybe St Paul had this in mind when he uttered his famous saying, which we hear in the Epistle (1Thess. 5:14-23): “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus— for you!” In the verse immediately preceding this, he sets the context, or perhaps the condition, which is that of service: “Always seek to do good to one another and to all.”
If we are always seeking to do good to others, we are not seeking anything for ourselves. I’ve no time for me, me, me, when all my efforts are directed toward you, you, you, and thus ultimately toward God, God, God. To make sure that we don’t allow any loopholes for selfishness, the Apostle uses terms that don’t allow any loopholes! Rejoice always, pray constantly (literally, “without ceasing”), give thanks in all circumstances (literally, “in everything”), and a couple verses later: “abstain from every form of evil.” And why should we make the great and consistent effort to do all this? It is because this is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus! That’s like a servant asking: Why should I do these tasks? The answer is, of course, because your Master has told you to do them! He didn’t ask your opinion as to whether or not you preferred to do them, or if you had any suggestions to modify them to make them more acceptable to yourself, or if you thought it was practical or even a good idea to do them. He’s the Master, you’re the servant, now get to work!
But let us remember who our Master is. He is the Divine Lord and King who humbled Himself to enter our lowly human condition, to teach us the truth about God and eternal life, to suffer and die to take away our sins and to welcome us into Paradise forever. He loves us with an everlasting love. So we ought to be longing to serve Him, begging to receive a command from Him, trying to outdo all others in the perfection of our service and obedience.
He knows that by ourselves we are useless, unprofitable, and unworthy, so He grants us his grace and all kinds of heavenly help from Our Lady and the Saints and Angels, so that we can in fact do what He asks us to do. Jesus says that only those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, so this should be where all our desires and efforts are focused. And in case we’re not sure of what God’s will is we just heard it today: “Always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances… hold fast what is good, abstain from every form of evil.” Give glory to the Lord, who has shown us useless servants how to get to Heaven!
