The Last Will Be First And The First Will Be Last.

The great Isaiah in Isaiah 55:8 encounters this God who declares to him:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither your ways my ways.

And

St. Paul further examines this complex nature of God in Romans 11:34 by asking:

Who has known the mind of God? Who has been his counselor?

Our jostling for position, our desire for prestige, incites within us envy, jealousy, malice, contempt, snobbery, resentment, anger. Such disables us in our ability in arriving at a process similar to that of God. Hence in many ways we struggle against God’s type of justice, or the course of action he may choose, where we are concerned. We think that God fails to act, is himself unfair, or is not capable of handling the chaotic situations we have to deal with.

Hence a lot of our decision making, a lot of our opinions are not necessarily in sync with God’s. So a lot of us might be thinking that the priest should be getting more diamonds in his crown than the sexton when they get to heaven, or that the person who has been in church all his life should be getting more favours, more rewards, or even a bigger mansion in heaven than the person who spent a short time as a Christian. (this of course raises other questions which Fr. Von will certainly address some other time).

Now, having said all of this, where do we go from here? For in truth, these sacred discourses are not merely an exercise for the mind- they have as their intention, some opportunity for transformation of the heart which should then become evident through action taken.

If we are to make the Kingdom of God real and functional, we must be willing to exchange our thoughts for God’s thoughts and we must be willing to do things his way.

To assist us in achieving this I borrow from John Hargreaves who asks the following questions:

1. Do we who are Christians plan our church services only for church members or do we prepare also for those who are outside the church? (Pause)

2. Do new comers receive a warm welcome when they come to church?

3. Do people who are not well dressed receive as good a welcome as the richer people?

4. Can newcomers understand what is taking place in a service?

My question to you is: Do we judge these “other” people, or do we help to change their circumstances?

It is indeed human nature for us to judge or be tempted to judge them. However, it is our responsibility as Christians as the church militant – to fight against the things that make their lives poor and bad, e.g. unjust laws, disease, ignorance, lack of work, the wrong kind of education, lack of houses, deliberate and calculated sinful acts. Of course people can live good lives in spite of such things. But it is more difficult for people living in bad conditions to live the lives that God meant them to live.

The way in which we behave towards ‘these other people’ is important for our own lives. If we make the right choices in these situations, we are sharing in the way which Jesus took. If we make the wrong choices, it is our own lives which we are spoiling. The parable is, indeed, a warning.