10/16/2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly [that they can do so as well] will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5.19)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I don’t know about any of your teachers, but when it came to test taking with true/false questions, I was instructed that “if one part of the statement is false, the whole statement is false.” Hear how the world presents itself: “if one part of the statement is true, the whole statement is true.” Do you see the difference? Can you imagine the impact? Well, we don’t have to imagine it, we are living in it. Not only are we living in it, but we are living in the throes of exponential expanse of it. We are surrounded on all sides by half-truths and total lies. More and more, even the gospel and all scripture and God’s presentation of His will through mercy and grace are being cast aside because of that simply unruly and unhealthy paradigm. No, it doesn’t mean that the gospel, all scripture and God’s presentation of His will through mercy and grace are half-truths and whole lies. It means that because it doesn’t fully agree with, enable and promote “the ways of the world centered on self,” it must be a lie. Mighty ones of God, are we doing the world and/or God a disservice with our half-hearted attempts to “do good” in the biblical sense? Is the contradistinction in our own lives, ministry and teaching by example creating more of a fog than a clear day? Are we allowing the difference between light and dark, hot and cold, right and wrong as most of all good and evil to become so negligible that we exist at dusk, in tepidity, in subjectivity as well as in the valley of the shadow of death. Not only do we exist while the world operates in extreme measures (take the conflict between Israel and Hamas, for example) but we encourage it by not being consistently improving until we reach the full measure of the stature of Christ who is the head of the Church, the body of faith and the community of the righteous.

This is what Jesus is addressing as He transitions from describing the desired “attitude of righteousness” to defining the “righteous works.” He begins with the baseline of the beatitudes as a solid foundation. He then builds upon that foundation, of which He is the Chief Cornerstone and Coverstone, that which is intended to be the new focus of living faithfully in the world so as to not be of the world. In verse 19, we read His admonition concerning the decision to promote the attitude of edited righteousness. He says it is wrong. He said that He did not come to do away with the Law, not one jot or tittle. Rather, He purpose was to live out that which fulfills the Law and the Prophets. He goes on to commend the promotional efforts of believers to do the same. What he speaks against is the assertion that being of a double-mind and committed to double-speak is okay. In fact, He sees the danger of the “I’m OK, you’re OK” mentality and draws it out into the open so that those who say it are exposed to “I’m OK, you’re OK, when you are OK like me.” Hmmmm, I wonder if He could have added, as was the case in much of Israel’s history, “…or pay me to look the other way or exchange the truth for a lie and say ‘good enough.’” And I do not single out Israel in this mentality. It was not original to Israel. It was practiced long before Israel became a people descended physically and spiritually from Abraham. It existed in the Garden of Eden with the very statement of the Serpent to Eve, “God didn’t really mean you would die, did He?”

The call and challenge of discipleship is to be “all in” as our spiritual intention. It is also to always be improving so that we are more and more all in until we are truly “all in.” I am speaking of the personal level here so that each person knows they have an individual accountability before God. They cannot rest on their laurels but must continue to sow the seed of the Spirit in order to harvest the fruit of the Spirit and thus inspire others to do the same. In Israel of old, it had been said “The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the childrens’ teeth are set on edge.” It spoke to generational curses and the excuses derived for why good people can be bad people. Strange, isn’t it, like the true/false scenario mentioned at the beginning, it never does explain then why bad people can be good people. A common mindset of today’s generation is the full blown expression of “I can and you must because I say so.” It is rampant in our society from the individual level to the global level. But, Jesus urges His followers to “be perfect as our Father in Heaven in perfect.” Impossible? Yes, impossible for us on our own except when we begin to change the rules and the perceptions of success and failure. But, changing it doesn’t make it truly so. Thus, “with human beings it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” What is the “possibility”? It is nothing more and nothing less than living with the intent to be righteous in our heart, mind, body and spirit. In this we are able to fulfill the Great Commands. Because that is the result of authentic love then we are able to fulfill all the Law and the Prophets. We may not get a 100% on the test. We may sin and fall short. But, the purpose of the Law and the Prophets was to set the sight of the people on God. As some have paraphrased the Apostle Paul, it is to “keep your eyes on the prize.” What is that prize? It is being in relationship with God without fear and dread, dwelling with Him forever and ever. Jesus makes it possible. We have to stop making it seem impossible. Be of one mind, one heart, one body and one Spirit!

PRAYER IN LIGHT OF GOD’S WORD:

Father, You have revealed to us best in Jesus the Christ. By Him and Him alone shall we gain the eternal life and our place in eternal rest, living for You always. Show us more and by Your Holy Spirit instruct us in the way we should go, the truth we should reveal and the life we shall live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.