What does God Want?

Gospel: Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

The phrase "God's will" is one that is heard often and encouraged to follow in our lives.  But when we ask the question, "What is God's will?' we tend to focus on the particulars of our life: vocation, career, etc. or we look at issues related to sin and avoiding things that lead us to sin.  Each one of us has to discern those areas of our life, to be sure.  Looking at God's will in a more general sense may help us in our particular areas of discernment.

In the Gospel's Jesus is clear that God's will and judgment are tied to two fundamental things: the measure of mercy we show to others, and the love and service we show to others.  Jesus taught repeatedly that the measure in which you measure will be measured to you, that the unforgiving servant was severely judged for his lack of mercy, and that in the prayer Jesus taught us we pray to be forgiven as we forgive others.  To forgive and show mercy is a divine action, it is to be Godlike in our actions, to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.

Additionally, judgment is tied directly to how we love and serve others.  The only questions of judgment in Matthew 25 are related to care for others: feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, visiting the imprisoned, caring for the sick, welcoming the stranger.  The rich man was judged harshly for his failure to care for Lazarus.  The good Samaritan was the answer to the question on what must be done to inherit eternal life.

So today when Jesus asks us to do God's will, we consider these things in a general sense, and discern how we are to do those things in the particular areas of our own lives.