27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’
To me, when I hear the word 'worthless', I think, good for nothing. Garbage. Throw it out. This is NOT something I want to hear anyone say about themselves. If I hear someone say, "I am worthless," then I become worried about them. Isn't every life precious? Isn't 'precious' the opposite of 'worthless'?
Aren't we all children of God???
I think that's the point, actually. Who gives our lives value? Who makes them worthwhile? Without God, we don't amount to much, do we?
Remember the mustard seed? There's no way we would even notice a mustard seed lying on the ground. Without the power of life that God places inside of it, it could do nothing. It would be nothing. Useless. Worthless.
But God chooses to give it life. And God chooses to give us life. And a purpose. Dignifies us with a mission given to us at Baptism. God pours into us more worth than we could ever possibly need so that we might work with God to build the Kingdom.
We don't serve once and are done, looking around for praise. We serve because that's what we do as disciples of Jesus. Because we have been given worth. Because without God, what are we? Who are we?