Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
One thing that is clear, obvious and certain is that God does not share in our calculation. God’s calculator is always different from our calculator.
Sometimes, we are too quick to conclude. We have already arrived at the answer and are ready to put the total, but God is still calculating. We conclude that something is finished, while God is still working. We conclude that a person has failed, while God is still writing the person’s story. We conclude that God has forgotten us, while God is still calculating.
Dear people of God, this is one of the reasons why we sometimes go against God or fail to recognise Him when we need Him most: God does not calculate the way we calculate.
One of the funniest things about human beings is that we like to calculate everything. Even those who failed mathematics calculate everything. We calculate how to survive. We say, “I have this amount of money. I will use this much for this, manage this much for that, and hopefully I will still have something left to cook.”
Sometimes, we even calculate God’s goodness. We see someone and say, “God has really blessed this person.”
We see another person and say, “God does not seem to bless this one.” But who gave us the calculator with which we measure God’s blessings?
The first reading today has settled the matter: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” When you begin to place God according to the limits of your thoughts and standards, God often surprises you because He is not using your calculator.
Sometimes we calculate who has suffered more, who arrived first, who has served God longer, who has prayed more, and who therefore deserves to be rewarded more. We even look at people’s outward religious practices and begin to calculate their relationship with God.
Someone carries a rosary, a crucifix and a prayer book, and we say, “This person must be very prayerful.” You enter somebody’s room and see an altar beautifully arranged with Mary, angels, candles and other religious objects, and immediately you conclude, “This person must really be close to God.”
That is human calculation. Sometimes, even our prayers become like an application submitted to the Human Resources Department. We pray and say, “Lord, I have been doing this for three months. By the end of these three months, I must receive this particular thing.” We begin to calculate our prayers, our sacrifices and our service to God as though we are negotiating a contract with Him.
But the readings of today invite us to confront one divine truth: The operational system of God is different from our own. That is the painful truth that all of us must realise today. The prophet Isaiah tells us: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
This statement challenges our entire understanding of God. We want God to behave according to our understanding of fairness. We think justice means giving everyone exactly what we think they deserve. But God’s justice and judgement are rooted in His own ways.
Look at the forgiveness of God. We forgive, but sometimes we keep the incident in our mental archive. We say, “I have forgiven you,” but we remember the date, the time, the place and everything that happened! But when God forgives, He does not continue calculating the offence against us. That is the greatness of God’s mercy.
The readings of today are also very important for us in Nigeria. Human beings can easily write people off.
A person fails examinations and comes from a poor background, and we immediately begin to calculate the person’s future. We say, “This one will not amount to anything.” But God does not calculate that way.
There are people who did not succeed academically, people who did not pass their examinations, yet they followed a politician who appointed them as councillors. Before you know it, they became chairmen. And you who succeeded academically are still struggling.
Some of the people you go to visit on Christmas Day may not have certificates, yet they are the ones feeding you. You are praying with your certificates, while you are still looking for a job. When you were growing up, you had already calculated how your life would be. You thought you would become this, achieve that and arrive before somebody else. But life has a way of reminding us that God is the one holding the calculator.
The person you thought would never succeed may surprise you. The person you thought would never survive may still be standing. The person you thought had no future may become a source of blessing to others.
The God revealed to us in Scripture is constantly calling people back to Himself. Mary was not chosen because she had achieved everything according to human standards. The apostles were not selected because they had perfect CVs. God has a habit of surprising people. Why? Because His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts.
Some of us have looked at people in the hospital and, from what we saw, concluded that they might not survive. But God surprised us. They are alive and are even worshipping with us today. Some of us see the mistakes of others and begin to behave as though those people are no longer human beings. But remember, “My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts.”
St Paul, in the second reading, teaches us something very important about living for Christ. Our lives must ultimately be directed towards Christ, not towards comparison with other people.
Then Jesus gives us the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Some workers came in the morning, while others came later in the day.
Imagine, as a priest, I go to the junction in the morning and hire workers. Then I return in the evening and hire another group. At the end of the day, I pay everybody the same amount. If I pass that same junction the next day, they will call me many names!
But Jesus is showing us something deeper. This parable exposes a lot about us. Sometimes we feel that our reward from God should depend on how long we have been serving Him. Some people believe that because they have spent many years in the Church, they should have a special chair in the Church. We calculate our years of service. We calculate our sacrifices. We calculate our prayers. We calculate our contributions. And then we begin to calculate what God owes us.
But something very important happens at the end of the parable. Jesus asks. “What is wrong with me giving the last person the same amount I gave you? Do I not have the right to use what belongs to me?” That is the question God is asking us today. Why are you angry because I have blessed someone else? Why are you disturbed because another person received what you were expecting? Why do you think another person’s blessing reduces your own?
My dear brothers and sisters, Jesus exposes something important in us. We are interested in comparative advantage. We are happy when something good happens to us. But when the same good thing happens to somebody else, we become jealous. We compare the blessings of God. We compare our marriages. We compare our children. We compare our jobs. We compare our houses. We compare our achievements. We compare our progress. And sometimes, without saying a word, we can even pray for somebody’s downfall.
That is why the Gospel reading invites us to stop measuring our lives against the lives of other people. Stop comparing yourself with other people. Whatever God has given you, manage it well. Be grateful for it.
Many people are suffering today because they began with the life that was theirs, but later they started measuring their lives against somebody else’s life. They saw another person’s house. Another person’s car. Another person’s marriage. Another person’s children. Another person’s success. And suddenly, their own blessing no longer looked like a blessing.
Dear brothers and sisters, nobody can collect what belongs to you. What God has destined for you does not become yours by comparing yourself with another person. So stop distracting yourself with the blessings of others. Celebrate when another person succeeds. Celebrate the joy of others without interpreting their joy as your own loss. If God blesses somebody today, it does not mean that God has forgotten you. If someone arrives before you, it does not mean that your journey has ended. If somebody receives something before you, it does not mean that God has cancelled your own portion. Remember, God is still calculating.
Let us therefore seek the Lord while He may be found. Let us trust His ways. Let us surrender our calculations to Him. Let us learn to celebrate the joy of others without seeing it as our own loss. Let us stop comparing ourselves with one another. And let us remember that the calculator of God is not the calculator of man.
May God help us to become what He truly wants us to be. May He give us the grace to trust His timing, accept His ways, rejoice in the blessings of others, and never depart from His path.
Amen.
Compiled By Elijah Ugani