Why Do We Do What We Do
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Oct 3, 2022
- 4 min read
Why do we do what we do? What is our motivation? That is an important question for us to answer. Our works of giving, of generosity, of service, what drives those, what is our motive? Are we doing them because they make us feel good or to win the esteem of men? Do we long to hear people tell us we are doing good? When we receive such praise do we respond to them that we have only done our duty: we have loved God and our neighbor. Sunday’s Gospel invited us to consider these questions and to truly understand what drives the things we do.
Increase Our Faith
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. “Will any one of you, who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep, say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and gird yourself and serve me, till I eat and drink; and afterward you shall eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” Luke 17 : 5-10
Scriptural Analysis
The apostles ask the Lord to increase their faith: literally “add faith to us.” They already have faith but they consider it to be lacking. Interestingly enough, the Gospel gives no indication if there was an event or other discussion that prompted this request. Paradoxically, Jesus tells them that even a little faith, the faith the size of a mustard seed, has great power. This imagery is often challenging for us to grasp as we aren’t familiar with mustard plants. Their seeds are very tiny yet they produce a huge plant and when used as a spice, bold flavor. Such faith could uproot a sycamine tree (also translated mulberry) and plant it in the sea. This image shows the power of faith. Sycamine trees have an extensive root system making them difficult do dig up and of course they don’t grow in the sea. This task would appear impossible yet Jesus is saying true faith would make it possible.
Jesus then gives a brief parable about a master and a servant: a common image seen throughout the Gospel of Luke. The point of the parable is not to make the master look unconcerned for the servant, who has been working in the field all day and now has to serve their master, but rather to express social obligation. The master expects the servant to do his job: what was commanded of him.
Jesus then identifies the apostles with the servant who should carry out what they were commanded to. This is true service. This especially applies to the apostles who will plow to spread the kingdom, tend the sheep as pastors, waiting on others in service and brining them food and drink in the Eucharist. The last line of the Gospel is key: the disposition or heart of the servant. True service is not done out of a desire for your own glory but has to be out of love of God and neighbor. That is what makes it beneficial. As St. John Chrysostom says, “Dearly beloved, see how the person with his mouth open for human glory and performing the worlds of virtue on that account has no benefit from it. Despite practicing every example of virtue, if he seems to give himself credit for it, he ends up empty-handed and bereaved of everything.”
Daily Application
This Gospel gets right to the heart of motive. Why do we do the things that we do? This is such an important question to ask ourselves. Why, why does it matter? If I give to charity, help feed the homeless, and pray in front of the abortion clinic, isn’t that all that matters? So what if I like it when people tell me I am doing good work. It matters because those feelings may indicate motive and motive gives us a window into the heart and ultimately, the state of our heart matters.
We are called to love God with our whole heart, and with our whole being, and with our whole strength and to love our neighbor as our selves. Our model for this love is Jesus Christ. He loved the Father so completely that he sought only to do his will and he loved mankind so perfectly that he freely laid down his life so that we may live. He did none of this for worldly praise or the esteem of men. He did none of this for himself. He gained NOTHING by pouring himself out on the cross. He gave everything for us. He humbled himself completely. There was not an ounce of pride in him.
That is ultimately why it matters. Pride is the original sin of mankind: it is what caused Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. We don’t need to listen to God: we can make our own decisions. It is easy for pride to begin to slip into our good works. It won’t happen all at once. It will be a slow, gradual erosion at the motivation for our service. The more that happens, the more our service becomes about us and not about the Lord. The focus is on what we want to do and not on allowing him to use as and direct us as he sees fit.
Today, take stock of those charitable or service activities you are part of. Ask yourself, why do you do them? Are you truly doing the will of God or are you seeking the esteem of men. And then invite the Lord in. Invite him to illuminate your work, to guide you. If you allow him he we place you in the exact place he wants you. He will tell you what he wants you to do. Listen to the master so that you too may respond, “we have only done what was our duty.”
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