Rewards

From childhood we are taught to expect a reward for our ‘good’ behavior. We clean our room, eat our dinner, and finish our homework, and we get rewarded. Do all those things without complaining and our reward is greater. Sound familiar?

Brethren, recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.  For you had compassion on the prisoners, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.  Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.  For you have need of endurance, so that you may do the will of God and receive what is promised.  “For yet a little while, and the coming one shall come and shall not tarry; but my righteous one shall live by faith.”

Hebrews 10:32-38

When God speaks of rewards, He does not mean candy and extra play time. The reward we receive from God is greater than any physical gift. Our reward is life with Him in heaven. Our reward is the envy of all creation. No other creature besides humans is rewarded with heaven.

Sure, all rewards require hard work and sometimes unpleasantness. Very few ‘enjoy’ cleaning their room and doing homework as children. Fortunately, we learn early that greater rewards are worth the struggle.

Since nothing is greater than heaven, nothing is more struggle than the Christian life. The is what Saint Paul is reminding us of today. God sees our effort. He knows our desires. He understands our struggle. He was beaten, lied about, and eventually tortured to death.

Here’s the thing about struggle. IF we don’t really care about being in heaven with God, then the struggle doesn’t seem worth the reward. Remember being a child and thinking, “I don’t mind a messy room. It’s just a piece of candy.” How do we reconcile the difference?

Repentance is the key. When we change our mindset about the reward, about being in heaven with God, then we see the struggle from a greater vantage point. The reward has already been promised and given to us. All that remains is for us to ‘want’ the reward.

Nobody can ‘convince’ you to want to be with God in heaven. All I can offer you is the example of the saints, like Saint Ignatius the God-Bearer. Today the Church commemorates the removal of his relics. He considered being devoured by a lion meant he received his reward from God.

By those standards, a life of prayer and fasting pales in comparison to Saint Ignatius. Our reward is the same. We are all promised eternal life with God in heaven. Our struggle is unique to us. Some of us will struggle more, some less. But we will all struggle.

My invitation today is to stop thinking of the struggle and start thinking of the reward. There is no reward greater than what God has promised. Together we can encourage each other and honor the victory when we see it, like we honor Saint Ignatius. Here’s to the reward!