O God, the Father of lights, who by the entrance of your word gives light to the soul. Grant us the spirit of wisdom and understanding, that being taught by you in the Holy Scripture, we may receive with faith the words of eternal life, and be made wise unto salvation. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
There is an increasing concern about the falling birth rate. The Office for National Statistics reported this week that the birth rate has fallen to 1.4 in the UK. And this means that for every two people, 1.4 children are born. Over time, this will mean that without immigration, the population will fall and become older.
Falling birth rates are happening across the developed world, and it is very hard to encourage people to have children. It's always been hard to have children. I remember being told that having children will make you old and poor. To choose not to have them, from a narrowly selfish point of view, seems right. You will have more time. You will have more money if you don't have children.
However, in this case, being narrowly selfish is actually not wise, even from a selfish point of view. If there are no children, then there will be no workers to care for us when we are older and to pay for our pensions. If there are no children, we will be poor when we are old. Our Gospel reading today speaks of a meal where Jesus went, where the people are acting from a similarly narrow selfish point of view.
The guests at the meal are trying to sit in the places which are for the most important guests in the hopes of seeming to be more important than they really are. The hosts of the meal are keen on inviting people more important than them so that they in turn might be invited to those people's meals and behave like the guests at their meal, trying to become more important still. Everyone is trying to fulfil their narrow selfish needs by using others. Both the people who are hosting the meal and those who are guests at it. But Jesus points out that even from a narrowly selfish point of view, the guests and the hosts are not acting wisely. If the guest sits in a seat for the more important person, they could be publicly shamed if the host moves them to a different place when the more important person arrives. If the host only invites other important people, then they may be repaid with invites to other meals, but they won't be repaid in the future. Jesus says that God values the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
If the host doesn't entertain them, God will not reward them in heaven. This last point opens up a wider idea of what the selfish point of view is. When talking about a lack of children,
I said that if there are no children, no one will look after us when we're older. But without being part of the kingdom of God, when we die, we will be nothing. Jesus speaks of the resurrection of the righteous. At the end of time, when Jesus returns, he will recreate the world. This new world will contain those who are not of the world. who have lived in the kingdom of God during their lifetimes.
From a wider, selfish point of view, for our long-term self, we want to be part of the kingdom of God now, so that we will be part of the new world that Jesus will create then. We want the eternal life that Jesus promises to those who follow him. So how can we act now so that we can be part of the kingdom of God? Let us look at the example that Jesus himself set us.
How did Jesus act as the host of the meal, as the one who invites and entertains others? At the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and said, I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet. You ought to wash one another's feet. In Paul's letter, In the letter to the Philippians, Paul writes that Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself and taking the form of a slave.
Although Jesus came from God and had all his divine power, he came into the world giving up that power in order to empower others, in order to serve others. Initially he did that by forming a group of disciples around him, and after ascending to the Father, he sent the Holy Spirit to empower these disciples to do what he did, and to go and empower others. And that Holy Spirit is at work to this day among us.
How did Jesus act as the guest of the meal, as someone who is more powerless? He didn't try to gain power for himself. At the expense of others. In the temptations in the desert, the devil offered Jesus power over all the kingdoms of the world. If only he would worship the devil. Jesus replied, worship the Lord your God and serve only him.
When the guards came to arrest Jesus at Gethsemane and his disciples drew swords to defend them. He said, put your sword back in its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. He had promised to the father that he would keep all their lives intact. And of course, he allowed himself to be imprisoned, tortured and killed on the cross for the sake of the whole human race. For all of us.
From a narrowly selfish point of view, not having children might stop us being old and poor. But considered from a wider perspective, it will mean not being cared for or receiving enough pension when we're older. We will be poor when we're old. From a narrowly selfish point of view, using and exploiting others might seem to make us more successful in the present. But from a wider perspective, it means we are not living in the kingdom of God and we risk losing our eternal life when Jesus returns.
So as we go into the week ahead, let us watch out for when we are tempted to use and exploit others and watch out instead for opportunities to empower and serve others. Even if that comes as a cost to us in the short term, in the longer term, we will keep our eternal life when Jesus returns. I close with a prayer.
Loving Father, we thank you that you sent your Son into the world to empower and serve others.We pray that we will not be tempted by narrow selfishness, but look to our place in your kingdom, the eternal life that you've promised us through Jesus. We pray that you will strengthen us through your Holy Spirit to follow Jesus and to empower and serve others as he did. We ask all of this in the name of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
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