Duty - by Ben Bonython
“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
NT Reading - 14 April - Luke 16:19-17:10
We are hard wired to consider return on investment.
If I do this, I will get that. If I put time into this, I will receive that.
A reward mentality is part of our cultures meritocracy and expectation. Yet there is great truth in meritocracy and the results that follow are evidentially support its assertion. I practice and teach this.
Yet have you ever considered being diligent is more than just a meritocratic response towards temporal reward?
It seems to me that meritocracy when considered from the perspective of the Kingdom of God lends itself clearly towards faithfulness, and faithfulness lends itself clearly towards obedience, above sacrifice.
Note that the Rich Man received good things during his temporal life on earth with the implications that obedience and therefore faithfulness were lacking - and receiving an eternal reward of agony. Isaiah 11:3 records that Jesus delighted not just in good things, rather in obeying the Lord
Jesus obeyed and was faithful to His calling to give His life for us - a terrible agonising death yet Jesus choose obedience. The cross not only appeared to be a bad choice, but was clearly understood as a cursed choice. However that did not dissuade Jesus from obedience. Like the Rich Man and Lazarus, we all face opportunity to obey but often we simply choose to obey based on the apparent temporal result of obedience?
If I do this, I will get that, but if I obey, I will be worse off.
The idea here is that in our temporal world, we can determine to obey based on the appearance of the temporal reward. Yet what Lazarus discovers is that faithful obedience is what determines eternal reward, regardless of temporal suffering.
The passage reminds us that temporal reward is only an small part of eternal life. Would we sacrifice eternal comfort for temporal reward?
We need to consider this passage fully because in truth, we are all like the Rich Man in terms of our wealth, in comparison to the majority of the world, and they are no less loved the Lord because of their race or status. If we consider statistics from the World Bank, even now during COVID, we are all Rich, and even if the figures from the World Bank are 50% wrong, they are nonetheless staggering and sobering….
While rates of extreme poverty have declined substantially, falling from 36 percent in 1990, the report’s expanded examination of the nature of poverty demonstrates the magnitude of the challenge in eradicating it. Over 1.9 billion people, or 26.2 percent of the world’s population, were living on less than $3.20 per day in 2015. Close to 46 percent of the world’s population was living on less than $5.50 a day.
The issue of the scripture here is not about rich or poor, but about what we do with our lives, whether we are rich or poor - do we obey or do we considering obedience based on the temporal reward - forgetting the enteral reward of obedience? As a rich person in a rich country when compared to the world, what does it mean to obey? Proverbs 21:3 says that to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. James 2:8 says that we are doing well if we really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The difficult aspect of this passage is that to obey means we need to expend our temporal resources - time, comfort, money, skills, gifts and we find this hard because often we do not receive a commensurate temporal reward…..
Jesus however reminds us that our temporal resource isnt really ours - we are but servants and at most stewards. The really make the point, Jesus finishes our reading addressing the root of the issue - our hearts and our expectations.
The truth is we all expect some reward for our good. In our hearts, we all expect a say for our giving, a seat at the table for our contributions, honour for our good deeds and affirmation for our efforts.
Because of my experience and my knowledge and my giving, I deserve……..
Yet this is the same attitude and heart, fully matured, resulted in the Rich Man simply receiving his reward in his temporal life. As Isaiah 11:3 expresses, we all face and can never escape judging our desire to obey against the cost or reward received, based on only its temporal appearance.
Jesus says to us - obedience is just duty. Good deeds is just expected from a servant.
Serving is normal, not abnormal.
Sharing is the way, not the occasion.
Giving our lives is just what it means to follow Jesus.
Jesus says when we have done everything the Word says, we should say we have only done our duty!
“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
Questions
Do I fall into the trap of expecting a reward for my faithfulness?
Do I fall into the trap of de terming my obedience based on the apparent reward?
Do I find it hard to say ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty?
We all need to be reminded that it is our great joy to be called a servant of the Master. May we ignore the temporal reward, but focus on the eternal comfort of Christ. May our humble and joyful cry be ‘we have only done our duty’