Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Isaiah 49:14-15; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; Matthew 6:24-34

"But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” ¹⁵ “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" (Isaiah 49:14-15).

What "joy" there is in the Lord's "comfort" and "compassion" (Isaiah 49:13). He reaches out to us in compassion. He reaches out to us with His comfort. We rejoice in Him - the God of compassion, the God of comfort. "The Almighty Lord helps me" (Isaiah 50:7,9). What help there is in the Lord! The Maker of heaven and earth is our Helper. "The people ransomed by the Lord will return. They will come to Zion, singing with joy" (Isaiah 51:11). How does the Lord help us? He has "ransomed" us. We have been "bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:20). We have been "redeemed with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Pleasing God - this is the most important thing.
As ‘servants of Christ’, we must concern ourselves with one thing – being ‘found faithful’. This is not a matter of pleasing people – ‘it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you…’. Pleasing God – this is the most important thing (1 Corinthians 4:1-4). Serving Christ is not easy. There are always those who are quick to pass judgment on the Lord’s servants. What does God say about this? – ‘Do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes’ (1 Corinthians 4:9-13,5). Being ‘found faithful’ is not just a matter of ‘saying the right words’. We must be the right people. This is what Paul means when he says, ‘The Kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power’ (1 Corinthians 4:20). ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses’ (Acts 1:8; Romans 12:11).

Our top priority is pleasing God, not impressing people.

On the one side of Christ’s disciples, there are the hypocrites. On the other side, there are ‘the Gentiles’ (Matthew 6:32). The hypocrites represent religion without reality. The Gentiles represent the world, living for material things only, refusing to take spiritual realities seriously. We are to be different from both the hypocrites and the Gentiles. Our top priority is pleasing God, not impressing people. We are to live for God’s eternal Kingdom rather than living for a world which is passing away. Living for Christ is very different from worldly living. Our life is to be governed by heavenly, and not earthly, priorities (Matthew 6:19-21). We are to walk in the light, refusing to be overcome by the darkness (Matthew 6:22-23). We are  to  trust  the Lord, refusing to let unbelieving  anxiety  rule our lives (Matthew 6:25-34).