Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Matthew 5:43-48
Today Moses calls Israel to obedience to its covenant with God and the importance of following God's laws. Matthew continues to report Jesus' Sermon on the Mount and challenges us regarding our relationships with problem people, especially our enemies.
These have been the common themes in our readings.
Repent and follow God's commandments -- which is to say: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned, pray for your enemies, do good to your enemies, be reconciled with your neighbor.
Ignoring God's laws seems to have no good long-term outcomes for individuals or societies.
These readings for Lent teach us that our relationship with God is greatly affected by our relationships with our neighbors. Those relationships should be framed with justice, peace, and reconciliation.
There is no getting away from this. The Word of God is clear. That these are not easy sayings to hear is obvious, that we are constantly falling short of these standards is reality. What's the bottom line for Jesus?
"So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Not much room to maneuver on that one.
Dorothy Sayers has written,
“'The Kingdom of Heaven,' said the Lord God, 'is among you.' But what, precisely, is the Kingdom of Heaven? You cannot point to existing specimens, saying, 'Lo, here!' or 'Lo, there!' You can only experience it.
“But what is it like, so that when we experience it we may recognize it? Well, it is a change, like being born again and re-learning everything from the start. It is secret, living power—like yeast. It is something that grows, like seed. It is precious like buried treasure, like a rich pearl, and you have to pay for it.
“It is a sharp cleavage through the rich jumble of things which life presents: like fish and rubbish in a draw-net, like wheat and tares, like wisdom and folly; and it carries with it a kind of menacing finality.
“It is new, yet in a sense it was always there—like turning out a cupboard and finding there your own childhood as well as your present self; it makes demands.
“It is like an invitation to a royal banquet—gratifying, but not to be disregarded, and you have to live up to it; where it is equal, it seems unjust.
“Where it is just, it is clearly not equal—as with the single pound, the diverse talents, the laborers in the vineyard, you have what you bargained for.
“It knows no compromise between an uncalculating mercy and a terrible justice—like the unmerciful servant, you get what you give; it is helpless in your hands like the King's Son, but if you slay it, it will judge you; it was from the foundations of the world; it is to come; it is here and now; it is within you.
“It is recorded that the multitude sometimes failed to understand.”
Posted by John
at 12:01 AM CST
