Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

The book of Sirach was written by a wise teacher who lived 200 years before Christ. Sirach ran a school for young people in Jerusalem. In today's section he gives his students a string of wise sayings that will guide them in their conduct.

Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24

Mt. Sinai is where the old Covenant was ratified in an Atmosphere of fear and trembling. Mt. Zion is the hill on which the temple was built, and is another name for Jerusalem – the city where Jesus established the new Covenant. In today's reading, the author contrasts these Covenants, looking ahead to a glorious future in the heavenly Jerusalem.

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Bishop Untener's Homily

I think that when we die and go to God, just about the only thing that will matter will be the way we treated other people. That's what seems to come through in what Jesus preached over and over again.

And, if that were not enough to convince us, in the Letters of John, written toward the end of the first century, he says over and over, "Little children, love one another." There is an interesting story about John. They say that when he was an old man, they had to carry him to preach to his community at Eucharist, and he would repeat this same thing: "Little children, love one another." The people began to ask if he wouldn't preach on something else. After all, he was with Jesus, and must have had much more to say. John responded, "When you learn this, then you know everything: Little children, love one another." And he went right on preaching it.

When we die and go to God, just about the only thing that will matter will be the way we treated other people. It's not off the wall to think that, because most everyone will admit that it's the hardest thing of all. And any Scripture scholar will tell you that it's what Jesus lived and preached most of all. We're even supposed to love our enemies. This is a particular emphasis in Luke's Gospel. You remember, in Luke's account... when Jesus was arrested in Gethsemane and one of his disciples struck the high priest's servant with a sword and cut off part of his ear ... Jesus healed him. And later, when Jesus was hanging on the cross, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing."

I think that sometimes we treat "things" in our life better than we treat people - especially people who aren't important to us or, worse, people we really don't like.

For example, our car. We wash it, "feed" it gasoline, change the oil every 3,000 miles, and make sure it's serviced in many other ways. There's nothing wrong with that. Except that there are a lot of people - not people far away, but close to us - who don't get fed as they should, and don't get cared for when they need some care, perhaps only a kind word. Or, our lawn. We water it, cut it, weed it, and even feed it.

Or... just yesterday, I took my golf clubs out and I washed them. (The way they've treated me, they don't deserve such good treatment!)

So, I start thinking about people we mix with - at work or wherever - and I'm not sure we give them the same care and attention that we give to things in our life.

There's something else we need to keep in mind. If it's true that when we die and go to God, just about the only thing that will matter is the way we treated other people, then there's something we have to realize. Generally speaking, the best things we do for other people are things that go unnoticed. By that I mean that they're not outstanding. Bystanders don't notice them (usually there aren't any bystanders), and the people we help may not even say thank-you. It's not that no one cares, but these actions aren't what you would call "prominent." Think, for example, of all that a parent does in raising a child. There are thousands of things that go unrecognized, because they seem to be such small things. But what an effect they have. And people who don't have children, what they do for others in the course of a day. For example, people who take care of elderly parents. The best things they do are little things. Or people who notice others who cross the path of their lives on a given day. And they notice that someone is "down." First of all, they notice, which is no small thing. And they try to do something about it. Nothing magnificent - just a thoughtful word. Those things don't make it into print. But God uses a different book.

In the Gospel, Jesus talked about inviting "the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind." Those are figurative descriptions of lots of people who aren't necessarily literally poor, or crippled, or lame, or blind. Then Jesus says, "Blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." When we die and go to God, just about the only thing that will matter will be the way we treated other people.

One final thought. It's a bit personal but it might be helpful. There are many, many ways to pray. One of the patterns that I learned is to spend a few minutes looking back on the day gone by. You can do it at night or, as I prefer, do it the next morning. You ask yourself three questions: First, what did I do well yesterday? Then you give thanks to God for letting God act through you that day. Second, what did I do not so well? And you ask God's forgiveness and healing so that you'll do better next time. Third, what do I have coming up today that will probably be difficult? And you ask God's help to do it well - to be sure to open yourself to the Lord's presence within you and let the Lord act through you.

Now here's what I've noticed. When I look back to something I did well - and sometimes I can't think of anything in that category, but often enough there is - it's almost always something I did for someone else, and it's something that in world history seems very, very small. It's never a speech I gave, or a meeting I ran, or something I published, or something that made the newspapers. It's a phone call, a stop at the hospital, a note, a word with someone in the hallway.

Interesting. The best thing I do on a given day is usually the way I treated someone... and it’s almost always something very small.

So, I pass it on to you for whatever it's worth. I pass on to you what I believe is the meaning of today's Gospel passage. When we die and go to God, just about the only thing that will matter, is the way we treated one another. John had it right: "Little children, love one another."

Originally given on September 2, 2001