We know that God is he who is above
all, there being no one or no thing above him.
He is ruler. During his
temptation in the wilderness, Jesus said
to [Satan] in reply, “It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord, your God, and
him alone shall you serve’”[1]
(emphasis added). On the other hand, we
have God, the Son, saying, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to
serve” (Mk 10:45). He goes on to say, “And
to give his life as a ransom for many,” but I want us to focus on the aforementioned
segment. It is not complicated; it is
really simple. From this, we conclude
that we serve God by serving our fellow man.
Nevertheless, just stating the obvious does not show how profound it is,
and words fail to reveal the sublimity of it.
Because God is GOD, he must also be
the servant of all. Therefore, the Son
of God became incarnate, one purpose being that we could visually see God
serving us, being a Servant of all.
Jesus, himself, tells us that he is dependent upon the Father. “When
you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own (emphasis
added), but I say only what the Father
taught me. The one who sent me is with
me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.”[2] He
also tell us that he has life because of the Father:[3] “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the
Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.”[4] In
another place, he explains, “For just as
the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of
life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the
Son of Man.”[5] Serving
consists of giving, assisting, working, performing, attending, etc.; and all of
these we are dependent upon God for.
Because of our fallenness, we
sometimes want God to be a type of Santa Claus and supply the things we lust
for. If he did that, it would be
evidence that he was not GOD because that is not an attribute of God, but an
attribute of the devil. God serves us,
transforming us into the image of his Son.
If we are Baptized, we are children
of God, with God’s nature, and this nature is to be the servant of others,
serving others with that which God has given us. This is difficult for us because of the concupiscence
that is within us. God, in the
Sacraments—especially Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist—has given us the
power to overcome this concupiscence.
All we have to do is exercise this strength. The word “exercise” is key. The average person is not going to go to the
gym and immediately begin to lift 175 to 200 pounds. He must exercise, building up to the level
that he can lift that much. We “exercise”
by going to Mass, hearing the Word
and partaking of the Sacraments.
Confession and the Eucharist are two “weights” that are extremely useful
in building up our “strength.” God is
the Source of all love and goodness--which is redundant because love consists
of goodness, justice, etc. Because he is
the Source, he puts these things in his children who are of his nature through
Baptism in order that they may serve others, bringing them to know the Father.
“It
will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and
entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another,
two; to a third, one—to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and
made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the
man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his
master’s money. After a long time the master of those servants came back and
settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward
bringing the additional five. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See,
I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and
faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you
great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one who had
received two talents also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two
talents. See, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, my
good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will
give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Then the one
who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were
a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you
did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the
ground. Here it is back.’ His master said to him in reply, ‘You wicked, lazy
servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I
did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I
could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent
from him and give it to the one with ten.
For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but
from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”[6]
St. Augustine often, appropriately,
refers to us as being God’s beggars. “For
from where shall you have righteousness but from God, the Fountain of
righteousness? Therefore, if you will
have righteousness, be God’s beggar, who … out of the Gospel urged you to ask
and seek and knock. He knew His beggar,
and lo the Householder, the mighty rich One, rich, to wit, in riches spiritual
and eternal, exhorts you and says, ‘Ask, seek, knock; he that asks receives; he
that seeks, finds; to him that knocks, it shall be opened.’ He exhorts you to ask, and will he refuse you
what thou ask?”[7] Yes, we are God’s beggars.
Speaking to the Lord’s Prayer, the
saint tells us: “You are God’s beggar. The hour of prayer comes, and there I
prove you. You make your petition. How are you not poor, who makes your petition?
… You make petition for bread. Will you
not have to say, ‘Give us our daily bread”?
You who asks for daily bread, are you poor or rich?”[8] We are God’s beggars, begging what we do not
have and cannot receive unless it is given.
Our Lord teaches us, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be
the last of all and the servant of all.”[11] Let there be no one who thinks, “I don’t want
to be first, so this does not apply to me.”
The Body of Christ is one body.
Jesus is First; and, if we are part of his Body, we are also first. “Whoever
serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The
Father will honor whoever serves me.”[12] We serve Jesus, follow
Jesus, when we walk as he walked. Does
this not make us even more the beggar?
Are we not falling short in some way?
I want to conclude with words from
St. Augustine: “And yet Christ saith to you, ‘Give Me of that which I have
given you. For what did you bring here
(into the world) when you came here? All
things that I created you, [being created yourself], have found here; nothing
did you bring, nothing shall you take away. Why will you not give Me of Mine Own? For you are full, and the poor man is empty. Look at your first origin; naked were you both
born. You too then were born naked. Great store have you found here. Did you bring anything with you? I ask for Mine Own. Give, and I will repay. You have found Me a bountiful giver; make Me
at once your debtor.”[13] We are not the judge, the Authority, on
whether we have given enough. There will
be the Judge who determines that. Do we
not need to beg for guidance, for wisdom?
Must we not always remain beggars in order that we may be servants of
God and neighbor? Is God not GOD and
Servant, serving us beggars? Being his children, must we not be like him? “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my
servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”
[1] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Lk 4:8.
[2] Ibid.,
Jn 8:28–29.
[3] Ibid.,
Jn 6:57.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.,
Jn 5:26–27.
[6] Ibid.,
Mt 25:14–29.
[7]
Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin:
Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels, 1888,
6, 295.
[8] Ibid.,
474.
[9]
Stelman Smith and Judson Cornwall, The Exhaustive Dictionary
of Bible Names, 1998, 158.
[10]
John Cassian, Sulpitius Severus, Vincent
of Lérins, John Cassian, 1894, 11, 353.
[11] New American Bible,
Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, 2011), Mk 9:35.
[12] Ibid.,
Jn 12:26.
[13]
Augustine of Hippo, Saint Augustin:
Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels, 1888,
6, 474.
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