There were once a priest said this "not many people can see the kingdom of God." It makes me ponder a while and reflect on this statement. Finally, I realized that is true. Not many people able to see and realized that God's kingdom is at hand. We tend to focus more on our earthy matters, because we think that the rewards is much more worthy for our priority in life. We tend to skip Sunday mass because we think job is much more important because the reward of it is money. I guess this is the matters that blured our vision to God.
Most of you who knows me, know that working in the city of KL is no longer easy. I have to wake up early in the morning in order to beat the traffic. It will be quite tiring for me to travel up and down, yet I'm here to share with you my piece of reflection, my thoughts. Importantly, the good news of our lord Jesus Christ. I'm here to share with you not because I want God to reward me in certain things that I'm longing for, not because I want a great repayment from God, not because to show that I'm holy. In fact, I'm a poor sinner. I'm here today because of God's grace has given to me, it gives me strength to share my joy with you, my brothers and sisters who are presence here today.
In today's Gospel, Jesus is not against our being repaid for the good we do. His concern is when we will be repaid and by whom. Visiting "bomoh" or fortune teller, one may argue that the things that these fortune teller, whom they claim themselves as gods, speculate thing accurately. However, because of our human weaknesses and the greed that we have, we might not able to recognize whether that is god or devil.
God the Father plans to personally repay us at our resurrection (Lk 14:14). Upon reading this, we might feel like God has paid for our service by using a layaway plan! Will our payment ever come? In His love, God does repay us to a certain extent during our time on earth. He begins His eternal repayment plan a bit early by "depositing the First Payment, the [Holy] Spirit, in our hearts" (2 Cor 1:22).
Once we receive the Holy Spirit, we serve Him with such devotion and power that the world opposes us. Next comes our second payment on earth. St. Teresa of Avila once remarked to God: "How true it is that whoever works for You is paid in troubles! And what a precious price to those who love You if we understand its value." (To read the fine print on the terms of this second payment, read Sirach 2:1, 2 Timothy 3:12, and James 1:2-4)
As always, the Lord wants to purify our motives for serving Him. If we serve Him to be repaid in the currency of this world, we should "expect no recompense from" the Father (Mt 6:1).
"Who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?" (Rm 11:35, RSV-CE) God does not owe us anything. Yet no one can outgive God. True, He might repay us with a lifetime of troubles. "Do not, then, surrender your confidence [in God]; it will have great reward" (Heb 10:35). "Look out that you yourselves do not lose what you have worked for; you must receive your reward in full" (2 Jn 8).
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