One Friday afternoon I went to get gasoline for my car. When I stepped out of my car, I saw a twenty-dollar bill lying on the ground—a surprise gift from God! I picked it up thinking that if I didn’t take it the next person would. Then I wondered what the right thing was to do. So, I took it to the attendant and asked them to keep it in case the person who lost the money came back for it. I left my phone number and asked him to call me if no one claimed it. I felt a sense of peace come over me which was more satisfying than having an extra twenty dollars in my pocket. Next day I got a phone call from a young woman. She said, “Sir, you don’t know me. My name is Lauren (true name) and I want to thank you for giving the money to the attendant. It was the only money I had left for the weekend.” Praise Jesus, for giving me the courage to do the right thing!
Lauren’s phone call brought me more joy than money that I probably didn’t need anyhow.
Jesus talks today about doing the right thing for its own sake (Luke 17:7-10).
“Jesus said to the Apostles: ‘Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished.’?”
We notice that Jesus was talking to the Apostles, not the disciples or the crowds. He took aside the select group of men who would soon be leaders of the early Christian community. He told them the kind of servants he expected them to be. A typical servant would work all day in the field and at quitting time would hurry in to eat his dinner. A beloved servant who loved serving the Master more than he loved being rewarded for his work, would return from the field, go directly to the kitchen to prepare, not his own dinner, but that of the Master. His love extended beyond satisfying his own needs. The other disciples would be justified in enjoying the reward for working hard that day; the beloved servant would gladly pass up the reward so he could continue to serve the needs of the Master.
Jesus concluded his lesson with:
“So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.”
Most of us are reward-driven. We do our work, even if we find it unpleasant, because we want a paycheck at the end of the week. This is a healthy attitude. Jesus, however, expected more from his Apostles. He wanted their reward to be the satisfaction that sprang from a heart that loved their Master. They clearly put themselves and their desires in second place to their assigned service.
Though this teaching was meant for the Apostles, in some way it applies to us. We can be ordinary servants working for a reward or we can aspire to be beloved servants who are doing our duties out of love for Jesus. Mother Teresa taught us that doing little things with love is more important to God than doing great things with self-satisfaction as our motivation.
We learn that doing the right thing is its own reward as I tried to explain in the opening story (a true one). When we love God enough, any rewards given for carrying out our duties are mere “icing on the cake.” Let us learn the secret of being “unprofitable servants.”
