Be dressed for action

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

I don't know anybody who thinks that the end of world is a good thing; but actually, I know a few good people who want the end of the world to happen. I’m going to make a public confession – I’m one of them. Whenever someone presents me with a litany of problems, problems beyond my capacity to resolve, I would just utter the ancient Aramaic prayer, “Maranatha” – “Come O Lord!” (Please come!) For many, the end times may seem dreadfully frightening but for me, and indeed for the Church and as it should be for every Christian, an immensely desirable event, when Christ will come in glory to vindicate the innocent and punish the wicked, put an end to suffering, pain, turmoil, violence and evil and finally, set things right.

The end of the world is Good News. That’s right. You didn’t hear me wrong and it was no slip of the tongue on my part. In today's Gospel our Lord gives us the promise of the end of the world specifically as a consolation and not as a cause for anxiety: “There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.”  This is certainly the case for those who have been faithful, as the Master in the parable will be seen rewarding the faithful servants on his return. But for the others, who did not anticipate the Master’s return, then his coming would certainly be a dread moment of judgment and punishment.

Today’s gospel reading is to be read together with last week’s passage where our Lord tells the parable of the rich man who foolishly hoards his riches and fails to make preparation for his impending death. The theme that strings both passages is the End Times with a special emphasis on the Final Judgment.

In last week’s parable, our Lord wishes to expose the futility of amassing material stores for the future when that future could be cut off at any time. In fact, our Lord concludes that self-serving riches is worthless when compared with being rich in the sight of God. The problem is not mere possession of riches but the selfishness which governs their use. In this week’s teaching, the Lord will show how one becomes rich for God by sharing one’s earthly riches. And so today’s passage makes three basic points:

Firstly, disciples are not to be anxious over material security because “it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom”;

Secondly, disciples must be generous in giving alms – “sell your possessions and give alms”. And the reason for this generosity is that we will be given a “treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it.”

Third, because our treasure and our reward lie elsewhere and not in our earthly possessions or achievements, disciples must constantly be looking to the coming of the Son of Man.

Since a disciple’s concern must always be with the Kingdom of God rather than the earthly anxious concerns of the world, false anxiety and lack of generosity are urgent matters which cannot be put aside for the future. In their attitudes and relationships, the disciples must be “dressed for action and have (their) lamps lit.” This sounds like our Lord imposing a dress code, perhaps the one thing that is most unpopular in this parish. But the reality is that the dress code imposed by the church merely reflects in a sacramental way the proper inner disposition of a disciple. To be “dressed for action” translates to have our “loins girded,” to be dressed for a journey, a new exodus as we follow Christ on the path of discipleship that leads to the cross. In other words, you cannot be “on the way,” if you are not wearing the proper “underwear” – that is, to have your loins girded. Ungirded loins may be comfortable for loitering around the house, but try running a 10 kilometre marathon without your knickers!

The disciples must also keep their lamps burning. This second metaphor is associated with the parable of the servants who await their master’s return from a wedding feast, thus the lamps refer to the constant state of watchfulness and vigilance. No Christian, no disciple of Christ can be caught off guard. There is no sabbatical or ‘day-offs’ for Christians because the Son of Man is already at the wedding feast. When He returns at the unexpected hour, He will introduce the disciples into His banquet, provided that they are awake and ready. As an incentive and motivation for vigilance, the parable promises a reward for the faithful servants. But for the steward who has decided to fall asleep on the job and take additional liberties especially in mistreating others, “his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.”

So, how can we be like the faithful servants in the story? The Epistle to the Hebrews gives us examples of our spiritual “ancestors” who were such faithful servants. Unsurprisingly the story of Abraham whom we call “our father in faith” has a prominent place. The author of Hebrews proposes Abraham as a powerful model of Christian faith because his whole life was lived as a pilgrimage. Even when he was in the Promised Land of Canaan, he recognised that this was not his true homeland, but only a sign of it. It points beyond itself – as all signs do – to the heavenly realm, life with God, for which every human being was created.

So if we find ourselves, in this present life, unsettled, uncomfortable, sorrowful and suffering, then we have the assurance that this hardship is part of our journey into joy. We are all on our journey, an exodus from the slavery to sin, to the freedom of becoming heirs of the Kingdom. Of course, it is indeed the task of the whole Church, and of every Christian – to make that hope believable, to make the pilgrimage to God sustainable, to bring into the lives of the sorrowful the authentic joy of Christ’s victory over sin and death.

Christians are called to be pilgrims of life. We must be in a constant state of departing. We are people “on the Way.” Thus, our every action and existence in the here and now becomes more urgent when we do not lose sight of the fact that God may call us to account at any moment. Every moment, every deed, every decision ceases to be trivial when our lives are lived and shaped directly in and toward the light of eternity. If we forget this immediacy, we end up abusing our stewardship of this earth; injustice and oppression becomes staple activities, we set “about beating the menservants and the maids and eating and drinking and getting drunk.” It is clear that many things would be quite different if everyone indeed keeps this simple truth in mind, that there will be accounting for our actions and decisions when the master returns.

Christians are not Marxists: we do not believe that we are going to bring about, by our own efforts, the perfection of humanity which in fact will only be achieved by God when He brings history to its fulfilment. But that does not mean that in the meantime we can rest easy. Our Gospel tells us that the Son of Man will come when we do not expect – He will break into history not when it seems to be finished, nor indeed when all seems hopeless, but at a time that makes sense to Him. But when He does come, He expects to find us working for that Kingdom which He alone can bring to completion. So, with our lamps lit, let’s get working, let’s be dressed for action, so that we can indeed face the future, and the present, with courage and joy.