Collect for Wednesday in the Second Week of Lent
O God, you so loved the world that you gave your only begotten Son to reconcile earth with heaven; Grant that we, loving you above all things, may love our friends in you, and our enemies for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)
So often we hear these great teachings in snippets - one at a time, a reference here and another there, and then it’s not so hard to be told that we should not let our anger fester, that we should give without recognition, that worry will serve no purpose, that money will distract us from God. But today, when these passages are read together, when we take in the whole of this wisdom from our great Rabbi, the demands that Jesus makes upon us begin to seem overwhelming...
Jesus does not waste time beating around the bush. In a fleeting moment The Sermon on the Mount gives us the standards we are to grasp: those of the Ten Commandments laid out and sifted through until the very heart of their meaning is revealed. It’s a tall order. I don’t know about you, but I find it frustrating to know I’m going to fail before I even begin a task. Scarlett O’Hara had the right idea. These things are just too much to deal with today... maybe tomorrow.
But there’s no getting around it. In these teachings, Jesus is quite clear that he means business: we are to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect. Not that crazy sort of perfection that turns mere mortals into obsessive/compulsive/rigid/miserable beings. But perfect as in healthy and whole and consistent. We are to make sense.
To accomplish this, there are two things which matter. The first is the transformation of our inner selves - what we think, what we care about, the state of our hearts. The second flows outward as that new self takes on outward expressions - what we do, how we behave.
Both matter very much, indeed, each proving the other. How we think and feel determine the actions which flow forth from us and, just so, what we do gives the world a window into each of our souls. Do we walk the walk, not just talk the talk? Is there an ever-increasing consistency between our inner self and our outward behavior? Are we becoming more and more healthy and whole, in body, mind, and spirit? Because health and wholeness are the just the sort of perfection Jesus calls us to right in the middle of this sermon.
It is a lifelong process, this discipleship. It means paying attention, every day. Examining our hearts, evaluating our responses. We, like the Apostle Paul, so often do the very thing we want not to do. Jesus knows it is tough - he calls it “entering through the narrow gate.” It is anything but easy, and frankly impossible if we do not begin our work on the foundation of God’s love and grace.
And so, today, knowing how fully loved we are, we choose the narrow gate. We seek to love the one we think is an enemy and to humble ourselves to the one we esteem lower. We seek to give anonymously, to pray without being noticed, to release the worry which distracts us from God’s abundance. We will not judge our sister or belittle our brother. Today, however briefly, we will offer our innermost selves and the works of our hands to God. And catch a just a glimpse of perfection...
So often we hear these great teachings in snippets - one at a time, a reference here and another there, and then it’s not so hard to be told that we should not let our anger fester, that we should give without recognition, that worry will serve no purpose, that money will distract us from God. But today, when these passages are read together, when we take in the whole of this wisdom from our great Rabbi, the demands that Jesus makes upon us begin to seem overwhelming...
Jesus does not waste time beating around the bush. In a fleeting moment The Sermon on the Mount gives us the standards we are to grasp: those of the Ten Commandments laid out and sifted through until the very heart of their meaning is revealed. It’s a tall order. I don’t know about you, but I find it frustrating to know I’m going to fail before I even begin a task. Scarlett O’Hara had the right idea. These things are just too much to deal with today... maybe tomorrow.
But there’s no getting around it. In these teachings, Jesus is quite clear that he means business: we are to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect. Not that crazy sort of perfection that turns mere mortals into obsessive/compulsive/rigid/miserable beings. But perfect as in healthy and whole and consistent. We are to make sense.
To accomplish this, there are two things which matter. The first is the transformation of our inner selves - what we think, what we care about, the state of our hearts. The second flows outward as that new self takes on outward expressions - what we do, how we behave.
Both matter very much, indeed, each proving the other. How we think and feel determine the actions which flow forth from us and, just so, what we do gives the world a window into each of our souls. Do we walk the walk, not just talk the talk? Is there an ever-increasing consistency between our inner self and our outward behavior? Are we becoming more and more healthy and whole, in body, mind, and spirit? Because health and wholeness are the just the sort of perfection Jesus calls us to right in the middle of this sermon.
It is a lifelong process, this discipleship. It means paying attention, every day. Examining our hearts, evaluating our responses. We, like the Apostle Paul, so often do the very thing we want not to do. Jesus knows it is tough - he calls it “entering through the narrow gate.” It is anything but easy, and frankly impossible if we do not begin our work on the foundation of God’s love and grace.
And so, today, knowing how fully loved we are, we choose the narrow gate. We seek to love the one we think is an enemy and to humble ourselves to the one we esteem lower. We seek to give anonymously, to pray without being noticed, to release the worry which distracts us from God’s abundance. We will not judge our sister or belittle our brother. Today, however briefly, we will offer our innermost selves and the works of our hands to God. And catch a just a glimpse of perfection...
The Rev. Martha Berger
No comments:
Post a Comment