What’s In It For Us?
January 31, 2024
Fr. John Riccardo
”Brothers and sisters: If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it! If I do so willingly, I have a recompense, but if unwillingly, then I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my recompense? That, when I preach, I offer the gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.”
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Perhaps I’m just really selfish and disordered, but I’ve always been encouraged by passages in Scripture that seem to convey that the disciples thought like me (at least at times). James and John jockey for positions of power, wanting seats at the right and left of Jesus. The Twelve wonder aloud which of them is the greatest (have you ever tried to picture that?). But my favorite such passage is when Peter says to Jesus, “We’ve left everything to follow You – what’s in it for us?” (Mt 19:27). I think like them. I think many of us think like them. Like Peter, I often do cost-benefit analysis.
This all comes to my mind this week as we listen to Paul’s words. Again, we need to remind ourselves that what we’re hearing at Mass is a very brief excerpt of a much longer letter written by a real man to a real community. And this real man has a single, driving goal in his life: to make known far and wide that Jesus is the true Lord of the whole universe; that He has defeated the powers of Sin, Death and Satan; that God is faithful to the plan He had when He brought everything into being in the first place; and that to know His love and to surrender our lives in grateful response to Him is to find true life, true freedom, and true happiness. More simply, perhaps we could say Paul is trying to get the two that he loves into each other's' arms: God and every single human person.
Paul invites the Corinthians to consider a question this week that might be worth our considering as well. Paul acknowledges that those who labor for the gospel have a right to be taken care of for their labors. This right comes from Jesus Himself, who had taught, “The laborer deserves his pay” (Matthew 10:10). Paul, however, foregoes this and preaches the gospel “free of charge.” He asks, colloquially, “What do I get out of this?”Let’s quickly remember what happens to Paul as a result of preaching the gospel: once he was stoned and left for dead (cf. Acts 14:19); three times he was beaten with rods (cf. Acts 16:22; 2 Cor 11:25); another three times he was shipwrecked as he traveled to proclaim Jesus (cf. Acts 27:41; 2 Cor 11:25); five times he was whipped with forty lashes by the Jewish authorities (cf. 2 Cor 11:24). And we could go on and on. You’d think he’d give up! But he didn’t.
Why? Love.
Paul was a man who knew himself to be loved intensely by God and who loved intensely. And because he was and he did, he willingly went through all that he did because he wanted others to come to know that Jesus is Lord and is the only one who can make right all that is wrong with the human race in general and with each of us in particular. He’s the only one who can deal with Sin, deal with Death and deal with the one who prowls around seeking to tear us apart both individually and as a race.
So, what does Paul get out of preaching the gospel? He gets the grace and joy of being able to do it, that is, the grace and joy of being a herald of the King. He gets the grace and joy of seeing people set free from the dominion of darkness, despair and death and brought into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (cf. Col 1:13). And he gets the grace and joy of seeing people awaken from the nightmare that is life apart from God and being overwhelmed by His personal love for them by name.
I would suggest this is worth our own consideration because, increasingly, many of those around us think that to be a Christian is to hate. The Church’s teaching on sexuality, to take but one example, is a prime place to start. “Why does the Church hate_____?” We can fill in the blank with a variety of answers. And because increasingly more people think that we hate, to be a disciple of Jesus is to put ourselves in positions where people are going to reject us, call us all sorts of names, cancel us, shun us, and perhaps much worse in times to come. And not just “people,” but people we are close to: family, friends, co-workers, those we play and travel with.
But disciples of Jesus don’t hate. They love. OK, sure, some people who call themselves Christians do in fact hate, so perhaps it might be more accurate to say that to believe in the gospel in its entirety, including all that the Lord has revealed about sexuality, is not to hate.
To be a disciple of Jesus is to love God and to love others – even love those who hate us. Such demonstrable love was one of the reasons why the early Church won over the Roman Empire that was executing them.
Through the intercession of St. Paul may we be overwhelmed anew this week by the love that God has for us by name, may we grow more and more in charity towards others, and may that charity manifest itself in and through us to each person we encounter in the days ahead.
ACTS XXIX Prayer Intentions
February 2024
For God’s protection upon Fr. John, our team and our families.
For the ordained and lay leaders who will be joining us for a Leadership Immersive on our campus.
For missions in Indiana and Florida State University.
For all those running The Rescue Project in parishes and homes across the world.
For the grace to be attentive to the Holy Spirit.