Saint Matthew 20:1-16

There are many areas in our lives where some of us have taken a wrong turn …

We are living in a time of taller buildings but shorter tempers,
Wider freeways by narrower viewpoints,
Higher incomes but lower morals,
More knowledge, but less wisdom.
Fancier houses, but broken homes,
Conquests in outer space, but not inner space,
Learning to make a living, but not a life,
Adding years to our life, but not life to our years.

We spend to recklessly, drive too fast, laugh too little, anger too easily, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, reach out too seldom.

While all the above may not be true of some of us, some of the above might well be true of all of us.

Summoning His twelve Apostles, Jesus gave them a precise set of directions for their mission in life as His followers, saying, "You received without charge, give without charge" (Matthew 10:8).

Some years ago there was a book published called "Looking Our For Number One." In it, the Author argued strongly against generosity. For example, he said that if you make the other person's happiness your first responsibility, you pervert the Laws of Nature and, unless someone is poor because you robbed him, no down-trodden individual is your responsibility.

The New Testament writers are telling us, of course, that this brand of "Looking Out for Number One" is perverting the Law of God.

The really troubling thing about the "Looking Our for Number One: book is that it was so well-received - a monster best seller in America.

Why does such a book become a best-seller in our time? Are we attracted by the title because it states our secret longings? Do out hearts echo "Yes!" to the notion that living well means abandoning our religious traditions of heroism or servanthood? Have we slipped so far down the ladder of morality that we're ready and willing to embrace the Looking-Out-for-Number-One notion that other people are mere instruments of our self gratification.

"To do good," wrote the Apostle Paul, "To be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, this is the way to make sure of the only life that is real" (1 Timothy 6:18-19).

Are we ready and willing to join those in our busy world who see the Christian Faith as irrelevant and out of place?

Are we ready and willing to join those who seem to be laughing at Jesus' teaching that the number one priority in people's lives is not to satisfy their personal greed but to satisfy their brother's needs?

Looking Out for Number One? "Hold on!" says the Lord in today's Gospel Reading. "The last will be first, and the first, last" (Matthew 20:16).

A man was talking to his Pastor about the Church always asking for money. "It's upsetting to me," he said, "This business of Christianity is just one continuous Give, Give, Give!" To which the Pastor replied, "I want to thank you for the gift of one of the finest definitions of Christianity I have ever heard."

The supply of God's Grace that the Christ Spirit brings into our lives is never exhausted. The living waters of God's Gift of Love never cease to flow, never run dry.

Christ's command that we love one another is a command to love one another in a very special way. We are called upon to be Christlike, to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

To be Christlike is to minister to others - right at the heart of their humanity - in their crying and in their laughing, in their hurting and in their rejoicing, in their good moments and in their heavy crisis moments.

To be Christlike is to convince others - all others without exception - that we believe in them because God believes in them; that we are for them, because God is for them; that we are with them because God is with them, that we love them because God loves them.

To be Christlike is to be a living sign of God's Gift to the world - the Gift that keeps on giving.

Giving to others returns to us more than we give away. And when people discover this awesome secret, no longer do they regard doing for others as a reluctant duty.

Free and spontaneous giving is the means of our life-enrichment.

We all have self-interest built into the core of our being, and that isn't all bad. In fact, one of the reasons we are here today is our concern for self-fulfillment. What many of us seem slow to learn, is that there is a point at which self-concern becomes self-defeating.

Many of us seem slow to learn that the more we concentrate on our own fulfillment, the less likely we are to achieve it.

Many of us seem slow to learn that only by being attentive to others' needs can our own deep felt needs be served.

Hell is not to love anymore. To lock ourselves away in a little ego world of our own is hellish.

To search for any kind of lasting fulfillment outside the context of "giving a drink of water," is hellish. That is a hellish life to be living.

Can you, deep within yourself say, "Yes, the Gift of God's Love is so good for me, so life-enhancing for me that I will put every part of my being into my response. I will let the Christ Spirit of God baptize my time, my skills, my feelings, my mind and body and soul, as I offer them to God in service of others?"

The truth, the Gospel truth is that we cannot give without receiving in abundance to overflowing.

A Man there was, and they called him MAD.

The more he gave, the more he HAD.

Again, in the words of the Apostle Paul, "To do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, this is the way to make sure of the only life that is real." Thanks be to God!!!!!

Amen!!!