Intending Our Ending



We’ve all heard about the straw that broke the camel’s back. In other words… Year by year the pounds pile on, until one infamous morning those beloved pants just won’t zip up. Month by month the credit card balance creeps up, until one embarrassing afternoon we swipe our card at the counter and the system flashes ‘declined.’ Day by day we keep cramming more and more storage into the garage, until one awful evening we discover we can no longer fit the car in.

Creep. Straw by straw, pound by pound, purchase by purchase, stash by stash, affairs we are always going to see about ‘later’ come home to roost. But there are remedies we can use… Weight Watchers stands ready to help us deal with lifestyle changes. Credit organizations advertise help with cleaning up debt. Storage units proliferate to stow our overage, or if all else fails Craig’s List will help us offload. In all these pragmatic situations, as circumstances force us to acknowledge our own role in getting where we got, we do acknowledge our responsibility to do something about it.

But when it comes to our religious lives, and our relationship with God, we find it much harder to own up to our part. We say to ourselves, “God is all-loving and God is all-powerful. Surely he will make up for our lapses.” And so… From the prophet Zephaniah we hear about self-satisfied souls who assure themselves that whatever they do, God will never react. That puts us as masters of our own fate, and the captains of our own souls.

From the apostle Paul we hear of complacent souls who presume that whatever peace and security they enjoy today will be there tomorrow. We can confidently take their rest and confidently rise up, and it will all be there.

From the evangelist Matthew we hear of a servant entrusted with a rather modest task who self-indulgently refuses to follow through. What would be our upside in putting ourselves out?

In all these risky situations the prophet, the apostle, and the evangelist caution us that God knows he is being taken for granted, and God is not amused.

After all, choices have consequences. Often they are delayed—like all the pounds piling up before the zipper gives way, or all the purchases charged before the credit cuts off, or all the cartons stacked before the last one blocks the bumper, or all the straws loaded on before the camel’s back breaks. When consequences are delayed it is easy to forget about the problem. Our forgetfulness changes nothing.

Choices still have consequences. When it comes to our relationship with God, scripture is clear that despite God’s longsuffering patience, he is never slack, as 2 Peter puts it. God is not mocked, as Galatians cautions. “These things you have done and I kept silent,” warns Psalm 50—but that does not mean that God indefinitely accepts our ways.

The day comes when circumstances prove we have grown out of touch, or out of step, with God. Our first instinct is not to do something about it, but to blame God. Just listen to the servant in today’s Gospel. God knows this man well and respects him. God has asked of him only something he is fully capable of doing, and its accomplishment will confirm him as God’s friend and help him to grow. But he has other ideas. And when God finally calls him to task for continuing to blow off their relationship, the servant berates God for expecting too much. Let God be wrong, so he can be right. See how crazy we humans get?

We all want to hear from God’s lips that coveted affirmation, “Well done, good and trustworthy servant.” Our challenge is to live our lives in ways that allow God to utter it truthfully. Recently I was looking into some research on the American love affair with self-esteem. Concerns have recently been raised about the consequence of constantly offering lavish praise when efforts have been trivial, of emphasizing good feelings while disregarding actual accomplishment. These well-meaning behaviors arise from a sincere belief that people who feel good about themselves will accomplish great things. But researchers are noticing that constant praise readily distorts reality, and creates a false sense of confidence which must constantly be shored up. Some studies are even suggesting an inverse power of praise, in which overinflated egos become fragile in the face of genuine adversity and failure.

As with all research, time will reveal the truth. In the meanwhile, we can rely upon the Bible’s guiding framework to help us avoid making really big mistakes in life. The mistake of assuming God is indifferent to what we do. The mistake of simply assuming our good fortune will go on forever. The mistake of choosing not to partner with God in worship and good works. The mistake of compounding all our other mistakes, by blaming God for the consequences.

God grant us to hear these holy scriptures, to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, and so hold onto our own hope of everlasting life with you. Amen.