Even if Heaven and Hell did not exist, would it not be proper to obey Him (God)? He is worthy of worship without any other motive. — Rabi’a Al-Adawiyya
Do not be afraid little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where neither thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:32-34).
Rabi’a was an eighth-century Muslim saint from the city of Basra, in present-day Iraq. It is said that she was sold into slavery at a young age and miraculously liberated from this situation later in life. After her liberation, she dedicated her life to prayer, becoming one of the earliest of the mystics of Islam, who are known as Sufis.
In the passage quoted above, Rabi’a remarks on a common form of idolatry, i.e., treating God as an object who we value only for the good God can or will provide for us in return for obedience and worship. In particular, Rabi’a implies that we often obey and worship God only out of our desire for heaven and our fear of hell.
With this mind-set, we regard heaven as a possession that we earn through our transactions with God. We act as if heaven is to be our reimbursement for obeying and worshipping God. Thus the question that underlies Rabi’a’s remarks — the question we might put to ourselves — is "Would I obey and worship God without any other motive?"
The passage from the Gospel according to Luke, cited above, may seem to be disconnected from Rabi’a’s concern. Jesus seems to be suggesting that we need not worry so much about heaven because it is God’s "good pleasure" to give us the kingdom.
However, it seems that Jesus then goes on to attach conditions to our reception of the kingdom. It is as if he is saying: "God desires to give you the kingdom if and only if you first sell your possessions and give alms. If you do not satisfy those conditions, then God does not desire to give you heaven."
I believe this reading of Jesus’ words, which is perhaps all too common, is mistaken. Jesus is not reciting conditions that God has established for giving us the kingdom. Rather Jesus is identifying the obstacles we create that keep us from receiving the kingdom.
God wants to give us the kingdom, but we are so bound up and preoccupied with our material well-being that we desire these things — possessions, security, standing in society, etc. — more than we desire the kingdom. So while we may say we desire the kingdom, our concerns and actions demonstrate that our hearts are elsewhere.
This is important because it shows that loving, obeying and worshipping God are not different from the kingdom. They are, as it were, one and the same. When we love God, we receive the kingdom. When we worship and obey God, we receive the kingdom.
These are not two separate and distinct events. That is, there is not first I love, obey and worship God, and then I receive the kingdom. No. Rather, I love, obey and worship God, which is receiving the kingdom. It is not a transaction at all. God does not reward me when I love, obey and worship God. Rather, loving, obeying and worshipping God is my reward; it is the kingdom.
I said that loving, obeying and worshipping God is identical to receiving the kingdom, but there is perhaps this difference. When my motive is to get something, like the kingdom, from God, then I am not loving, obeying and worshipping God for God’s sake but for the sake of a reward or possession. This concern about motives is Rabi’a’s concern with which we began.
When my motivation is to get something from God, I make God into a grace machine, and my relationship with God is transactional. But God does not desire a transaction. God desires instead to freely give God’s self to us and that we freely give ourselves to God.
Such giving is not a transaction. It is a free gift of love of which, as Rabi’a notes, God is worthy, and of which, as Jesus remarks imply, God thinks we are worthy, too. ••
Father Tim Griffin is priest-in-charge at the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, at 1946 Welsh Road in Bustleton.