“‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:10).
It occurs to me today, that I am a most dutiful daughter to my Beloved Father in Heaven.
I follow most of the rules and I follow them well. And yet, as I read the parable of the master and his servant the other day, it occurred to me that while I am often dutiful, I wonder if that is all I am…
“‘Will any one of you, who has a servant ploughing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table?’ Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink?’ Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (Luke 17:5-10).
The definition of the word “duty” is tied to the definition of the word “due”, which is in turn connected to the word “justice”. When a person is just, we say that they are a person who gives others their due or what is due to them.
When I think about justice and duty and dues I think in transactional terms. I think to myself that if I would like to purchase a dress, I have a duty to provide payment for the dress and the retailer has a duty to provide me with the dress itself. When I consider being dutiful in transactional terms it makes an awful lot of sense.
But what happens when the transaction – when the bargain – is not equal? So what happens in terms of my children? I have – after all – given them far more than they have given me in transactional terms. I have woken up for them when they are sick and I have worked so as to provide food and clothing for them. I cook for them and clean for them and wash for them. I drive them to where they need to be. I stay awake worrying about them and thinking about them. I arrange their education and chase them about homework. And I do all of this with love and without thinking about it very much at all. After all, I love them so much I am happy to do whatever it takes to ensure their happiness and health and success in life.
But when I consider this arrangement in transactional terms it is obviously imbalanced. Of course, my children provide me with love in return and a reason to be alive to care for them. But they are just normal children. That means that sometimes when I ask them to do things – like fixing their bed or cleaning their room – they are not always willing to “pay me back” so to speak. Sometimes, they even consider that I am unfair, unjust and a terrible mother for the demands that I make upon them – demands like eating their dinner and doing their homework.
And I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about my dutiful nature to God. You see, just as I do more for my children than they can – or should – ever do for me, so too does God do infinitely more for me than I could ever dream of repaying.
And really – what that means in very simple terms – is that just as my children should not complain when I ask them to complete some duty for me because in transactional terms I deliver to them far more than they deliver to me, neither should I complain to my God when He asks something of me. You see, God has provided me with everything. And I should consider myself only His servant. And a servant has no right to even ask for anything at all – even if they are dutiful…
And when I think of that today, I hang my head in shame, because I had a feeling that God owed me something, and now I can see that I had that idea all wrong…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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