Vain Quests

Gospel: Luke 17: 20-25

Christian search parties look for all sorts of things: the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, the kingdom of God, and the second coming of Jesus.  The first two items are curiosities that are the stuff of cinema and legend.  They are interesting artifacts, but it is unclear as to whether finding them will assist people in their faith life in any appreciable way.  The search for the kingdom and the coming of Jesus are different matters entirely.

The search for the kingdom and Jesus' coming have dominated faith life throughout the life of Christianity.  These quests have import to faith life, but so often they result in more harm than good in the life of faith.  That is because the kingdom is already here, and Jesus has already come again in the person of our neighbor.  Judgment is not some future event; it is in the here and now in the way we interact and treat our neighbor.  

We can put away all the maps and interpretive theories on the kingdom and Jesus' coming.  We need not build the kingdom of God.  It has already been built; it is already here.  It remains for us to live in the kingdom as we ought: a life of the Beatitudes, a life of mercy and care for others.  Realizing the kingdom is here and Jesus is come in our neighbor inoculates us from political idolatry and religious charlatans and their bags of trombones.   

Care and Gratitude

Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19

Jesus is traveling along the border, on the edge between Israel and its hated neighbor Samaria.  Along the way ten lepers approach him, and Jesus receives them.  They ask to be healed, and without inquiring of their nationality, religion, or any other consideration Jesus heals them.  The only reason we know that any of them was a foreigner is that one of them came back to give thanks to Jesus for being healed.  The one who came to give thanks was a Samaritan.  

We think of hospitality as occurring in one's home or in a building, but hospitality is not about place but about situation and attitude.  Jesus provides hospitality to the lepers - he welcomes them and provides care to them.  The Samaritan leper provides the other component to the hospitality relationship in offering thanks for the welcome and care.  Jesus praises this man for this gratitude - for completing the hospitality relationship effectively.  

God has provided hospitality to each one of us - welcome and care in the person of Jesus.  Our obligation is to offer thanks and to live in gratitude throughout our lives by offering welcome and care to others.  Like Jesus, this welcome and care is to be extended on the borders, on the edges where conflict exists between hated neighbors.  Care and welcome is to be offered to all without discrimination, without imposing conditions - just as Jesus did.   

Merely Servants

Gospel: Luke 17: 7-10

In the world of institutional religion it is rather common to find people seeking honors and positions of influence and esteem, both in realms ecclesiastical and secular.  Regardless of theological or political persuasion, this jockeying for position is regular fare in organized religion.  And yet time and again in the Gospels Jesus repeatedly urges us to a life of humility in undertaking the work of mercy and loving kindness to others in the world.

In today's Gospel portion Jesus gives us an analogy where every Christian is a servant of equal rank in the house of a master.  Each is given a task in the kingdom, and like servants it is our mere duty to carry out these tasks.  There is no seeking of accolades or special recognition.  We are not to expect anything other than a place in the master's house.  That we are serving our master is reward enough for the faithful servant.  

As this parable suggests, the seeking of honors and status is a folly of the ego.  There is only one master; everyone else is a servant - both are fixed and immutable statuses.  Servants may create special ranks among themselves, but at the end of the day they are but servants.  We cannot be anything else.  The question is whether we accept our duty of serving others in a life of mercy and care, or whether we will pursue illusory vanities.