God’s thoughts and ways are not the same with ours. God knows what is proper and good for us, so the only thing that we should do in order to know and understand His plan for our lives is to participate and cooperate in His will. He “hired” us for a purpose and mission, so we should not degrade ourselves that our existence here on earth has no meaning at all. Our life is purpose-driven so we are being called by God to do His will every day. At the end of the day, just like the laborers in the gospel for today, we are being called by God to receive our “pay” as we do our best in following His will. But, only to find out that the cost we received from our effort in following His will is but as usual daily “wage” the same with others who have just only been called by God at the moment they seek Him and found Him. At first, we will react immediately that this is unfair and unjust, but at hindsight, there’s a lesson that we should understand, consider, and be aware of.
The gospel for this Sunday does not talk about the “wage’ itself which the laborers received; but it talks about the generosity of God which is equal for all of us. As we are being called by God, He does not expect only for the result of our labor, but more importantly on how we respond to His call. Simply put, God is not a result-oriented God. Even though sometimes we fall short in answering to His call, He still shows His generosity to us which is unconditional and compassionate. God does not also play favorites. He treat us equally regardless of the kind of person that we are-righteous or sinner. His grace is sufficient for all of us, and the only manner that we should present to Him is our capacity to receive His grace with joy and contentment.
Actually, we are far from the characteristic of God as a considerate God. We are result-oriented individuals. We exert our efforts according to the expectations of the people around us. We strive with our best not for maturity, but for excellent grades or better results because the world of today shows to us this idea; better result is equal to better opportunities and less worries. On the contrary, a poor result is equal to poor opportunities and more worries. We are the ones who invented these things which created a lot of complexities in life. Why crave for excellent grade and better results if God doesn’t need these things but only our growth, and our maturity? Hence the gospel of today is challenging us to deepen our obedience towards His call. Obeying is not all about striving for the sake of fulfilling the expectations of others and to crave for better results; it’s all about our generous response and generous following towards His call and to be contented on what God could give as a cost for obeying His will. It’s demanding, but this is what the gospel means by loving God with all our heart and soul and strength.
Insights from a WIMPY millenial 