Do It For God

 In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

From the Acts of the Apostles...
“In those days, Stephen, full of grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.
Some Jews from the synagogue, called the freedmen, from Sirene, Alexandria, Sicily and Asia, they began to argue with Stephen, but they could not refute the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.
Then they got some men to say, "We have heard this man blaspheme against Moses and against God."
They sent out to the people, to the elders and the scribes.
They fell on Stephen, took him by surprise and he was brought before the Sanhedrin.
There they presented false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop talking against the holy place of the temple and against the law. We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth is going to destroy the holy place and the traditions we received from Moses."
The members of the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen and his face seemed to them as imposing as that of an angel.

The Word of God.

+ From the Holy Gospel according to St. John...

“After the multiplication of the loaves, when Jesus fed 5,000 men, his disciples saw him walking on the lake.
The next day the crowd that was on the other side of the lake realized that there was only one boat there and that Jesus had not embarked with his disciples, but they had left alone. On that, other boats arrived from Tiberias to the place where the crowd had eaten the bread.
When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got on board and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Teacher, when did you get here?"
Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are not looking for me because you have seen signs and believe, but because you have eaten of those loaves until you were filled.
Do not work for that food that is running out, but for the food that lasts for eternal life and that the Son of Man will give you, because his Father has marked him with his seal."
They said to him, "What do we need to carry out the works from God?"
Jesus answered, "The works of God consist in believing in the one whom he has sent."

The Word of the Lord.

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Here we find a very human teaching in the two readings, which is basically this: "When you work for the service of God and others, you may not get what you think you deserve. You're going to see fake people, you're going to see self-interested people, you're going to see people who just want what you can make convenient for them, etc."
    This happens to Steven. He works for the service of God, but still in that service of God, there are people who are only looking for their own interest and will go to any extreme to achieve their own aims. They don't like that Steven is right and they cannot best him, so they present false witnesses to kill him.
    Then we see that when Jesus feeds the population, to help them and to teach them about salvation, but there are many who just want a no-cost potluck meal. Some appear to be genuine, wondering what works they might do to the serve God...and for those Jesus says simply believe in me (and act accordingly). But you have to doubt their motives, even so.
So whats the connection here?
    I have said it many times - and I'm sure you've heard it from other people - working for God is not easy. But why?
    Because we want to work for God, but, we do it from a human perspective. And when you work for God from a human perspective, you want to be recognized to applauded and to be rewarded. When you aren't given the credit, or recognition you think you should have, you get tired.
You get angry.
You regret.
You withdraw.
You stop doing it for God.
    Because from a human point of view, one is going to meet the ungrateful, the ones who don't think like you, the ones who just come to watch what's going on....the gossipers..., the meddlers..., the one's who even want to condemn you, to drag you down, to loathe you, and maybe even kill or eliminate you.
    Those people always exist. Even among our fellow Christians – yes, even among fellow Christians. Maybe ESPECIALLY among other Christians. Satan is always working on us with his favorite tool: our own human nature.
    But if we are aware of it and work from a divine perspective, we're not going to get tired, we're not going to give up, and we'll be less disturbed by The Detractors.
    The big problem is that many servers of God are still motivated by, or waiting for, human reward. They may not mean to (or maybe they do), but its always there.

- So, you're going to start helping the poor?
That's wonderful. But don't expect the poor to thank you. Some may, many will not.
But don't expect it.
- Oh, so you're going start leading a church group?
That's good; thank you for such a disposition. However, don't expect it to be easy, or that everyone will support you or want the same things you do.
- You want to help organize the raising of funds for the needy?
God bless you. But, don't expect it to only go smoothly where others are involved.
- Whats that you say... you want to join a group and grow spiritually?
Amen! Just don't expect that you're going to grow spiritually without lukewarm moments, even dark moments, and encounters with the enemy.
    
    What I want to teach you is what I have said many times, which we see again in these readings: Don't work or have expectations from a human perspective. If you are working for God, remember the face of Stephen. That is the look you should strive for. The look of God.
    Yet we too often work for God from the human perspective...which leads us to tiredness, anger, stress, sadness, envy and so on
Why? Because human beings don't pay the same.
Because human beings don't pay well.
Because by nature they aren't grateful.
Because by nature they want more.
Because by nature they are selfish.
Because by nature they are envious.
Because by nature they neither do, nor champion, those who work for God.
You're going to meet those kinds of people.

    But when you do, if your gaze is from God, your nourishment comes from God and you're not liable to get tired or give up.

    This happens on our daily life, of course. Whatever you do in your family, in your job, well, it seems that others arent on the same page.
You might come to adopt the attitude of, “Hey, I clean my workspace, but nobody else does. To heck with it!”
    Or, “I arrive early most everyday, but most of the others are habitually late.”
    Or maybe you brought home pizza for the family, and straightaway, someone complains about the toppings, the temperature, or where you bought it. And no one says thanks.
This happens, right?
    The thing to do, then, is just do your thing. Whatever goodness you wanted to perform, do it in the name of Our Lord....spiritually.
But don't look sideways, or expect rewards.
    In short, don't work for what you think you should get, but for The Lord, and all of us. Then whatever you do, it is done from God's perspective....from the divine, spiritual perspective.
Because when we do it from God's gaze, from the divine gaze, There is strength...There's joy...There's salvation.
    But from a human point of view, the good you do will always be judged by human measures...this includes your own self-judgement and expectations.
    So, the great invitation with these two readings is to work for God - REGARDLESS.
    Stephen was working for God, doing good in the Lords name, and still they presented false witnesses to kill him.
    Jesus famously feeds the multitudes, to both help and teach them. Yet people are insistently looking for him, not because they believe in him, but because they want a free lunch.
    And surely among them there are those who came to gossip, or gripe about the accomodations. No doubt one of the local bakers came to see if the celestial bread would become his competitor!
    But Jesus still fed them, because he did the will of the Father, and took satisfaction of duty done.
    There's a phrase I like from Lucas that fits here: “We are but useless servants. We have done what was our turn to do.”
    Whenever you do something good in your life, for your family, for your friends, at your job, for the church, whatever that is good, dutiful, and helps.... then end it by saying the phrase, “we are useless servants, we have done our turn, nothing but what serves God.”
    Why? Because whether there is a reward or not, you did what was my turn in Gods service.
    Because whether there is envy or not, that was your turn.
    Because if there is someone who wants to make war on me, or make up false testimonies..., I did what was my turn, I did what I felt I had to do and I did it well, I did it thinking about the Good in service of God.
    So let's ask God to help us not be tired, to not give up, that we will see everything we do from a divine look, from a divine plane, because God is there and He knows how to pay and God's paycheck is better than man's.
    So, don't expect the applause of men, or even their thanks. If you do, you're going to miss God's, which are much better. I remember at these times, the phrase: “If men don't pay me, The Lord and Father pays me - and he pays better.”
    So everything from God, with God, and for God.

+ Glory be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, now and always, forever and ever.
Amen.