Let me begin by echoing Paul’s wonderful greeting:  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today’s reading from the Gospel has a sense of urgency to it.  It reminds me of a college class the week before finals when a professor is reiterating and tying together the major concepts that have been covered during the semester.  Indeed, this set of teachings by Jesus (that begins at Matthew 24:4 and runs through the end of Matthew 25) occurs only a few days before He was handed over to be crucified, and Jesus is using a last opportunity to emphasize some key points.

Two chapters earlier, in Matthew 22 (something we read in the liturgy a couple days ago), Jesus was questioned about the greatest commandment, to which He replied: You shall love the Lord, your God, with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind.  In today’s reading, he emphasizes that this is to be done ALL the time.  Jesus continued:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  If we are to be the “faithful and prudent servant” from today’s readings, we must love our neighbor.  And given Jesus’ admonition about the sheep and goats (end of Matthew 25), it seems we should love ALL our neighbors.  In other words, we must continually and repeatedly extend God’s love, grace, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness to others.  You shall love the Lord, your God, ALL the time with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind; and love ALL your neighbors as yourself.

The wicked servant, on the other hand, chooses to take a break from serving others and engages in selfish, abusive “me” time.  How often are we tempted to give only SOME of our heart, soul and mind, withholding a part for ourselves to do with as we please?  We are “good” Christians at church or around people we hope will think well of us, but we may be less motivated to act lovingly when we have a sense of anonymity or isolation.  Think of drivers who yell obscenities from the safety of their cars; of social media users who write mean-spirited comments; or of difficult customers who demean overworked clerks and wait staff.  (You can extrapolate from those examples to think of your own areas that may need attention.  One of mine is yelling at referees at soccer matches.)  Maybe we join with other “good” people to gossip, judge, and engage in other behaviors that are unloving, unmerciful, uncharitable, ungracious.  In our interactions, public and private, with individuals and groups who oppose and belittle us and our faith, we can be downright vicious, hostile, hateful – in short, un-Christian – forgetting that, as Dr. King put it: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”   We may even behave acceptably, by society’s standards, at our jobs, in politics, as members of community boards; but do we take actions and make decisions that prioritize loving our neighbors?  When we act unlovingly – individually or collectively, for whatever reason – we become that wicked servant Jesus warns against.

If this feels a bit daunting, take heart. Thankfully, as Paul assures the Corinthians and us, God has bestowed His grace on us in Christ Jesus.  He provides for us and will keep us “firm to the end.” God is faithful!  Alleluia!  Amen.