Here at Creighton we had a few days break from classes last week.  We have a similar break in the Spring of the year.  In recent years an increasing number of students use this time for what we call service trips.  They journey to many different places in the United States and even to some other countries to be of service to others.  We think this is an important part of the education our students receive.  They learn to appreciate what it means to be of service, to help others.  And they learn that in being of service to others they are following the example of Jesus. 

In today’s first scripture reading we learn that God is the source of all good and that he will reward us for doing good and being of service to others, but that he expects no reward for his goodness to us.  He gives us the heavenly reward that we earn during our lives here on earth.   

In the gospel reading Jesus, gives us an example of what he means by service.  He speaks of the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.  These are the people that Jesus sought out during his travels in Galilee and Judea.  He constantly sought to be of service to them and to teach them by his words and his example.  Even when Jesus spends time with leading citizens like the Pharisee on this occasion, he doesn’t go to relax and enjoy himself, but rather to teach them that they too should follow his example and find ways to serve others.

And that is what Jesus is still asking of you and me today as we listen once again to the story of Jesus’ visit to the home of the Pharisee.  He asks that we look for people who could use our help.  He asks us to find ways to help them without seeking anything in return.  In other words he asks us to follow his example and to learn from him.  And as Jesus tells us, the reward for our service will come not from those we serve and help, but from God who will repay us with that heavenly reward to which all of us aspire. 
Perhaps if we learn to serve others after the example of Jesus, we will also learn to better understand the meaning of the sentences in the letter to the Romans that speak of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, and of the inscrutability of his judgements and the unsearchableness of his ways.