Are You Codependant Or A Coworker?

Let us remember that St Paul calls us co-workers with Christ. We are working together for the Kingdom of God. Many might say I am not doing anything great for the Kingdom. But each of us is, as St Paul tells us, working out our salvation. How are we doing this? We are doing it by being together as a Body of the Christ. We encourage one another. We live together in community caring for each other. We help each other in our love for Jesus and His Church. These are all aspects of working out our salvation.

When I sacrifice and take Holy Communion to our shut ins once a week, I am working out my salvation. It means even more when I don’t want to do it. When I don’t want to inconvenience myself, even though it is my job, I must as St Paul tells me, mortify my flesh. It is only my flesh that cries and whines about being inconvenienced. We are to crucify our flesh with its selfish desires. When we do this, we are working out our salvation. Even by offering a kind word to another person, we are helping that person and ourselves work out our salvation and see the Kingdom of God in our lives. When we take out the garbage at home and we are inconvenienced, offer it up to Jesus as a part of His inconvenience. You remember that He was inconvenienced by coming to the earth as a man. Perhaps you can also think of another time He was inconvenienced. (Point to the Crucifix.)

When we take the garbage out at church and help clean up after our fellowship time, we offer it up to Jesus and thereby work out our salvation. When we hold our tongues and NOT tell everybody how angry we are how, we offer the trying situation up to Jesus as an offering of self-denial and love, then we receive God’s blessing. We realize that to NOT say anything is good during the particular engagement, but to then blab about how I have been wronged is a sin. Remember we are in Lent. We are running the race; we are crucifying our flesh so that we might love God and our neighbors better. This is what we are called to do as Christians and followers of Jesus Christ. It is no accident that these Scriptures are positioned for today in our lectionary. We are beginning the journey of Lent which is a time of sacrifice and inner reflection. It is by its very nature a time to assess our calling as co-workers with Jesus in the Kingdom. How am I doing serving Jesus by serving others? Have I served others to the point that I have been inconvenienced? Have I had to employ self-discipline and self-denial to serve Jesus by serving others? How do I feel about the instances of self-denial? Am I harboring any kind of negative thought or feeling? Offer the negative up to Jesus in all honesty and lay it at His feet at the Cross. He understands. Have I imitated Jesus Christ who showed to all humanity self-discipline and self-denial by dying on the Cross? These are good questions followers of Jesus Christ can ask as we embark upon our Lenten journey. Let us remember to be co-workers for Christ in His Church and thereby glorify our God: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen