Easter 7

In the 1935 Marx Brothers movie, A Night at the Opera, con man Otis P. Driftwood (played by Groucho Marx) has this snappy exchange with a member of the ship’s crew:

“Do they allow tipping on the boat?”

“Yes, sir,” says the crewman.

“Have you got two fives?”

“Oh, yes, sir,” replies the crewman, obviously delighted.

“Then you won’t need the 10 cents I was going to give you.”

Tipping, once reserved for certain industries, is now an expectation in places we would never imagine, like coffee shops, fast food joints, self-service checkouts, and even retail stores. People are tired of dishing out a gratuity for a grande latte decorated with a leaf in the foam.

But what if tipping was just a reflection of something deeper? What if it pointed to a spiritual truth?

In Revelation 22, we see a different type of reward. As Jesus promises in verse 12, “See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work.”

Tips are cash bonuses bestowed on someone for service or performance. Jesus has a similar idea when he says his reward is based on “everyone’s work.”

The text suggests we can expect a reward — a tip, if you will — if we serve the Lord faithfully. Clearly, the question is not whether the pearly gates are going to swing open — the assumption is that they will — but, rather, in what manner and what currency will we be rewarded or tipped “according to our works”? (v. 12).

There are positive and negative aspects to heavenly rewards. Naturally, it’s easy to think of all the good things we have done that might be on the divine “tipping” schedule. But, if we really believe this, we must also agree that our tips might be diminished by the bad things we might have done, like reducing our waitress to tears last week, routinely texting on our phones during social situations, being chronically late, monopolizing conversations, jumping the queue when boarding a plane, or, unburdened by humility, talking about ourselves incessantly.

Good to know when queuing at the pearly gates: our tip revenue might be paltry. The takeaway here is that “faith without works is dead.” Christian praxis must match Christian profession.

So, Jesus is coming, and he has tip money!

As followers of Jesus, we are not the consumers irritated by rising tip expectations. We are the wait staff in an industry known as the kingdom of God. We are the worker bees.

We’re in a service industry, a sharing economy, a care-giving institution known specifically as the church. We don’t expect to get tipped for donating to the food bank, helping someone in the checkout line with their groceries, or paying a harried store cashier a compliment.

As Christians, it’s what we do. It’s how we roll. Yes, our charitable work might be appreciated by others, but it is not “them” or “others” we’re trying to please, is it? Quite the opposite. It is God we’re keeping an eye on. The apostle Paul says, “Whatever task you must do, work as if your soul depends on it, as for the Lord and not for humans, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24).

We’re just like the waiters who take our orders and bring us our food, the maids who make our beds in the hotel, the Uber drivers who get us to the airport. As Jesus people, we are servants. And often underappreciated and certainly underpaid.

Revelation 22 reminds us that we must undergo a dreaded “performance review” before moving into our heavenly abode. What we do on this earth matters. Jesus says in verse 12, “I will give to each person according to what they have done” (NIV). Our works — how we live, serve others and reflect Christ’s love — are significant. But there is a difference. While tipping in this world might fluctuate based on how people feel in the moment, the reward that Jesus gives is based on scrupulous and impartial record keeping.

God knows all, sees all, and hears all. There’s an old story confirmed firsthand by some Princeton Theological Seminary students about the school cafeteria where a sign was posted by a large bowl of Red Delicious apples. It said, “Take only one apple. Remember, Jesus is watching.” At the other end of the line was a stack of cookies to which a handwritten note was posted, “Take as many cookies as you want. Jesus is back there guarding the apples!”

Jesus’ reward is fair and on the up-and-up. It might be an inconvenient truth, but sinners are not the only ones who will get what is coming to them! Jesus’ followers will as well.

Now the fact that we’re laboring for future compensation doesn’t mean we are earning our way into heaven, but it does mean that our faith should bear fruit. As James 2:17 says, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” We preach, not so much with our words, as Saint Francis of Assisi reportedly noted, but by our deeds. Our practice matters. Actions matter. Interactions matter.

It seems odd that we should be applauded for committing what are just simple acts of decency. But the apostle James says that such acts constitute what he calls “pure religion.” Our acts of kindness, random or targeted, will not go unnoticed by the Judge before whom we shall someday stand.

 Verse 17 from today’s reading from Revelation says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.”

If we seek him, we get an invitation to the party. Jesus’ reward is not reserved for a select few, and it’s not based on social status. All those who seek him, all those who thirst for God, are invited to come and receive. This invitation stands in stark contrast to the world’s system of reward and merit. In the kingdom of God, no one is excluded from the opportunity to receive eternal life. You don’t have to “earn” your way in. Instead, you’re invited by the grace of God, and your reward comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

So we hear from the mouth of Jesus words that should allay our fears of rejection. And fear is a nemesis for many of us. We think we’re not good enough. We have secrets that lie like hidden bodies in a bog of wrongdoing. We have regrets. And we know that we can’t even tell our spouses or friends some of our secrets because if we did, they’d leave us in a New York minute.

God doesn’t operate that way. In fact, God offers us the one thing without which we cannot live: water. “And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyonewho wishes take the water of life as a gift” (22:17).

Jesus, after all, knew us while we were sinners, but he still loved us and died for us. That is good news. On Judgment Day, we need not fear that we’re about to reap the consequences of a wasted and meaningless life. In fact, we need not fear that possibility even now, today. If we seek him, if we thirst for him, we will find him, and we will drink the water of eternal life.

We live not for the reward, but for the One who rewards. Our mission is to love, have mercy and be fair. As we love others and share the gospel, we participate in the work of God’s kingdom, knowing that the reward he offers is far greater than anything this world can provide.

The tipping culture is temporary and transactional. But the reward that Jesus promises is eternal and rooted in his deep love for us. As Jesus himself reminds us, he is coming again, and he will be tipping.