The last verse of today’s gospel reading is Luke 17:10, which says, “So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have only done what we ought to have done.’”
The meaning is that we should do more than only what we ought to do.
That’s hard because Jesus gives us a lot to do! In Matthew 25:34-36, we’re told to care and have compassion for the hungry and the thirsty, the homeless, those needing clothing, the ill and those in prison. Later, in 28:19-20, he says to share his teachings, The Good News. And of course, maybe the hardest of all is Matthew 22:37-40 – the great commandment to love God and our neighbors as ourselves.
As many as these are, we are to not only these things, but more. What? How? Perhaps we are to be observance, and when we feel that a task has been completed, instead of saying, “That’s it”, we are to say, “What’s next?” We will be able to do whatever is placed before us, because as it written in Philippians 4:11-13, we can do anything, because we are strengthened by Christ.