EPIPHANY VIII

The 'birds of the air' at the Sea of Galilee

Isaiah 49:8-16a
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Matthew 6:24-34
Psalm 131

"No one can serve two masters”, Jesus warns us in this week’s Gospel. Almost immediately he goes on to identify the two masters he has in mind – God and wealth. The message is simple to state -- you can make either spiritual integrity or material well-being the main thing in your life, not both. Because this is a truth it is easy to acknowledge, but very hard to endorse, we often end up performing an impossible juggling act -- paying lip service to Christian discipleship, while trying to ensure that we don’t lose out on a prosperous life and a successful career.

There is freedom on offer if only we could give up the juggling. Let us give our full attention to being a faithful Christian or abandon the attempt. The trouble is, to make this radical choice would mean discovering where our treasure truly lies, and there is no guarantee it would lie with God. It may turn out that in our hearts we are worshippers of Mammon.

In the Epistle, Paul offers us a different contrast. ‘Think of us in this way’, he says, ‘as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries’. On the face of it, these ought to be compatible tasks. Surely he means us to be both? Actually, one good way of reflecting on this brilliant and compelling summary of what it is to be a Christian, is to connect it with Jesus’ warning about two masters.

It is easy, especially at the present time, to think that our role as ‘servants of Christ’ is one which requires us to show people an embracing, inclusive and accepting love, regardless of who or where they are. Being ‘stewards of God’s mysteries’, though, can come in conflict with this. It places on us an awesome responsibility never to sell the Gospel short out of kindness, always to uphold God’s justice as much as his mercy, to speak of sin and call for repentance when we must, and refuse to hide from others the fact that they are ultimately accountable to God. Inclusiveness makes it very tempting for Christians to keep silent in the name of love. It is as though they want to say to the world,  'Think of us this way, as servants of Christ but not stewards of God's mystery'. Yet this is to forget one half of the task Paul assigns us.