Jesus is telling us two things in the passage above: First, that it’s good to see ourselves and to recognize others as slaves and messengers of God, and second, that we are to always give the glory to God. These are important points to live in the spiritual life. Let’s look at both.
Depending on who you listen to or believe, the coronavirus pandemic is either reaching its peak in the United States or it is on the wane. Either way, the present is still full of uncertainty and anxiety. The past (the way things used to be) is becoming a distant memory. Our future is described as the “new normal.” We can only imagine what that future “new normal” will be like. As Christians—messengers of Christ—we have a duty to bring Christ into this future “new normal.” As Christians, this duty begins now with service to one another, washing our hands and each other’s feet. As Christians, we recall the graces of the past so we can bring them into the future.
On my walk this morning, I traveled past several local restaurants that Marilyn and I got used to getting take-out from several times a week before COVID-19. We don’t do much take-out these days, except on Friday, which is a ‘small t’ tradition we have managed to maintain through all of this. Instead, Marilyn and Alicia have been planning and cooking more meals at home, which is a good thing; but still, I miss going to the restaurants and even grocery stores more than I thought I would.
This “sheltering in place” has opened my eyes to how much we all like being served, and how I’ve been taking for granted the people who serve me, especially my wife, my daughters and my grandchildren (in their own way). Also the cooks and the wait staff in restaurants and even clerks in grocery stores. It’s taught me how dependent I am upon my family and even ‘unseen’ neighbors.
Luckily, I’m served by many servants I don’t see nor have an opportunity to say “Thank you!” to, like the plumbers, roofers, truck drivers, and yes, the nurses and doctors serving on the front lines trying to keep me and all of us safe from the COVID-19 that has us all sheltering in place today.
God, I thank You for the many servants You’ve graced my life with and pray that You will open my eyes today to any opportunity I receive to serve You and to glorify You by freely sharing my gifts and talents to each person I encounter You in, especially the most needy and marginalized in our world today.
The “Super Moon” tonight reminded me of a lot of the campouts I went on when I was in the Boy Scouts. There were so many stars out that you could actually see all of the constellations at once without having to look very hard. Those of us who were going for our Astronomy merit badges would make sure we had a brand-new battery in our flashlights so we could aim the beams at the different stars that made up the constellations and amaze the younger guys with our knowledge.
One could even see some of the nebulae, or "clouds" around clusters of stars. And, once in a while, even a planet was visible to the naked eye. On particularly warm, clear nights we would beg the scoutmasters to let us "sleep under the stars". Shooting stars would occur about every 10 minutes and almost invariably someone would let out a sigh, or a gasp, or even a shout of "Oh, my God!" without realizing they were in fact praising the Creator for the view.
This reaction is natural. Anyone who has experienced a night sky like this knows what I'm talking about. Even the most scientific-minded individual must know instinctively that the universe didn't create itself. One can't look at this sight and not feel God's hand in all of it.
The most incredible thing about the sight is that it is the exact same night sky that has been viewed by Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, Noah from the Ark, Abraham on the mountain in the Land of Moriah, Jonah from the bow of the ship he was thrown off of into the belly of the whale, the wise men from the East (although in this case there was that one extra-special star), and the Holy Family as they traveled to their exile in Egypt!
They are the same stars that God told Abraham to count as a measure of the number of descendants he would father (Genesis 26:4). Can you imagine that the number of people who have been born since the beginning of time might even exceed the number of stars in the night sky? And Jesus sacrificed Himself for every one of them and us! Why wouldn’t everyone want to serve and glorify Him?
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