During these summer days, here are a few thoughts worth considering.
--An Arizona farming community gathered to pray for rain, but only one person brought an umbrella. That's faith.
--We go to bed without assurance of tomorrow, but we set the alarm. That's hope.
--We see suffering in many places, but we still raise children. That's love.
--On a man's shirt was printed: “I am not 80; I’m sweet 16 with 64 years of experience.” That's attitude.
--And finally, a Bible study leader asked a woman to open with a prayer. She did, softly. A man in back shouted, “I can’t hear you.” She replied, “I wasn’t talking to you.” That’s prayer.
The word of God reminds us of the so-called law of ancient Israel. “Deuteronomy” in Greek means “second law.” Unlike American law with countless statutes and codes, the law of ancient Israel was simple, easily understood and readily accessible. That law, the author writes, is found within our own hearts: love God and love your fellow human being with all your heart and all your soul.
I’d call this so-called law “conscience.” It’s an almost instinctive judgment about the goodness or badness of our behavior and attitudes. The word of God challenges us to let our informed conscience be our guide in our daily lives.
The passage from the letter of Paul to the Christian community in Colossae (in modern Turkey) is really a hymn about the divinity and activity of Christ: Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God, the revelation of God. Everything God ever wanted to say or do for us he did and said in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Christ, gloriously alive, is the exemplar for what we will become. Yes, our universe is made in and through Christ, the incarnate Word. God entered into the human condition through Jesus Christ, who through his death and resurrection by the power of the Spirit reestablished for us a right relationship with God.
The letter of Paul invites us to give thanks for the gift of a right relationship with God, and to ask for the grace to live a god-like life in our everyday behaviors and attitudes.
The Gospel according to Luke tells the famous story of the Good Samaritan. Now the Samaritan in those days was persona non grata among the Jews, someone you would never be seen with. And that was the shock value of this parable. Who’s our neighbor? Jesus says everybody is our neighbor, even this Samaritan. Every man, woman, child, whatever their ethnic background, their religious tradition, their sexual orientation, is our neighbor, so to speak.
Jesus says very simply and yet very powerfully that we love God to the extent that we love one another. And in this parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus challenges us to make acts of kindness part of our daily routine.
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Today I would like to take up the theme of relationships in light of this parable.
Jesus connects love of God to love for one another. Matthew 25 says this loudly and clearly: When I was hungry, when I was thirsty, you did something. The point is this: We can’t say we love God and yet neglect our fellow human beings. Our love for one another doesn’t depend upon what others can do for us. Who were the beneficiaries of Jesus’ love! By and large, people who apparently couldn’t do much in return. Although people can surprise us!
Jesus makes some radical demands with regard to our relationships. Read carefully Chapter 5 in Matthew. For example, Jesus says: “Give to everyone who asks.” Who can possibly do that, even if you won millions in a lottery. It’s not always possible. But that demand indicates the direction of our lives: to be generous with what we have, with our time, talent and treasure.
Jesus says elsewhere: “To the person who strikes you on one side of the face, offer the other side as well.” That sounds like pacifism. Sometimes we do have to stand up against wrongs; we may even have to take someone’s life in self-defense. Again, Jesus indicates the thrust or direction of our lives, that is, we should do our best to be peacemakers, healers, bridge builders, reconcilers.
Now these radical demands of Jesus of course have to be linked to Jesus’s mission. Jesus proclaims that the kingdom of God is in our midst. Yes, the kingdom is here, but not completely or fully here. You and I are living in between the historical coming of Jesus in Bethlehem and the final coming of Jesus in glory at the end time.
So we live in that tension between the present and the future. Often we fall short of the ethical ideals of Jesus, because we have within ourselves a “pull” or tendency to not always choose right over wrong. In fact, people sometimes choose evil over good. The Catholic tradition calls this “original sin.” This tradition also proclaims that the power of God within us –as our creator, redeemer and sanctifier--can overcome that tendency and enables us to have a genuine relationship with God and with one another.
How? By sharing what we have with others and for others. Sharing our time-especially with our families, being a good listener. Sharing our talents-a smile or a skill that will uplift or help someone else. Sharing our treasure, especially with people in need, if we can.
All of us have the potential to do great things for God. And it begins with small, ordinary everyday things.
I close with this thought: How about…
forgiving those we don’t want to forgive;
being compassionate to those we instinctively want to ignore;
making peace with those who have wronged us;
caring for those we know really need us;
loving those when the last thing we want to do is love them and wish them well;
carrying our inescapable crosses with a positive can-do attitude; and
persevering in doing what we know we should do, even if we want to give up.
The great eighteenth century preacher, John Wesley, summed up our potential to do great things for God with this phrase: do all the good we can. By all the means we can. In all the ways we can. In all the places we can. At all the times we can. To all the people we can. As long as ever we can. Amen.
