December 13, 2023

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE READING:

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1.27)

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7.9-12)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Matthew 22.40: All the Law and the Prophets hinge on these two words- Love God and love your neighbor.

Galatians 5.14: The whole of the Law can be summed up in this word- Love your neighbor as you would be loved yourself.

Matthew 7.12: This sums up the Law and the Prophets- do to others as you would have them do to you.

John 13.35: By this the whole world will know that you are My disciples- that you love one another.

Deuteronomy 5.16: Honor your father and mother, as Yahweh Elohim has commanded you. Then you will know a long and full life in the land the He is giving you.

You know one of the problems which comes to my mind in this particular teaching of Jesus is this: there are fathers [parents] who would and do give their children bad gifts. I am not speaking of gifts which the children think do not live up to their expectation. I am speaking of those individuals who are terribly disrupted in their own heart, mind and spirit. If a child asked for bread, they would be given a stone and taunted “Here turn this into bread.” Wait, what did Satan first tempt Jesus with but that very thing! Or if they asked for a fish, they would be given a snake and sent away saying “See how much good this will do you.” Wait, the Father of Lies and the perpetrator of evil appears throughout scripture as that very serpent. And it is significant that in this particular teaching Jesus holds up elements which will be used in the Feeding of the 5000, in the Upper Room as he appeared to the disciples post-Resurrection and again at the seaside forty days later with the intention of affirming and reconciling Peter as the rock of faith upon which Jesus was building His Church. Loaves and fish are the symbols of fellowship and communion in the houses of Galilee as a part of their normal everyday life. It represented the staples of subsistence for the population of the Northern Kingdom. And it allows Jesus to once again draw in the Temple leadership who were so filled with self-righteousness that they had eschewed the true righteousness of God which endures forever.

But, as we know it happens today and happened in Jesus’ day and all days before, after and in between, Jesus spoke with the intention of introspection for all of those who were in attendance. He maintained the high road of moral, ethical and theological decency. By doing so, each person could hold themselves accredited for doing a good thing and accountable for doing the right thing. Moreover, it allowed Jesus to make the greatest point of all: no matter how good you may consider yourself, promote yourself as being and are seen by others as generous and worthy…GOD IS BETTER than we would ever hope to be. We are called to strive diligently in pursuing all righteousness and establishing ourselves in the midst of the faith community where God is the central and defining focal point of all life. Why do you give “good gifts”? Jesus didn’t ask that question literally but by assumption. It was silently rhetorical which only two real answers. First, it would fulfill the Law and the Prophets based on the two Great Commandments. Second, it established the continuity of generational blessing as modeling the hope of a blessed future when we grow older which fulfilled the “first commandment which included a promise.” That verse from Deuteronomy 5 is listed above and states specifically as it did in the teachings of Paul “…honor your parents and know it will go well with you in the future.” Within this rhetorical argument Jesus positions every hearer of the Word into the cycle of life which we call “The Golden Rule.” It does not stand above nor in place of the Great Commandments, the Ten Commandments or in common sense thinking of rational and caring people. It does, however, represent the essence and spirit of the application of the Law and the Prophets. God’s purpose for His people is to fulfill the charge given to Adam and Eve when they were called into being and set in motion as His beloved on earth. They were to be shepherds, caretakers, cultivators, investors in daily life and living to promote each day as a step closer to complete fulfillment. Heady stuff! The care of the world was in their hands. They were given all the resources necessary to complete the task and foster God’s shalom. It was intended to be generational. God had no intention of Adam and Eve to be the first and only people of God on earth. He envisioned a myriad of children on earth as He had angels in Heaven. He was, is and will always be the God of Heaven and Earth and all parts in between. And so, God invested His word of calling, entrusting His word of purpose and empowering His desire for self-will to become manifest from generation to generation for the good of all. In the midst of that comes an experience with “a bad father” who casts stones at God and offered serpents as friends of God’s people.

Bad things happen to good and bad people alike. In a broken world, they happen all too often and oh so naturally as if that is the way it was always meant to be. Left in the hands of broken people who are without guidance, as sheep without a shepherd, it would sadly become the evil DNA which would consume the world. But, God, the Good Father, continues to be the light of life and reason which the darkness cannot consume nor overcome. He gives good gifts, good promises and good hope because God is pure love. We can never hope to match His endless mercy and grace. We can, however, strive to be perfect as God Himself is perfect. Jesus actually calls us to it. And how can we do that? By loving God, loving self as God loves us, love others as we ourselves know how to be loved as God loves us and to share the good gifts of life and love with the next generation…knowing it will go well with us when we do.

Embrace those good gifts which God has given. Let them be the legacy of faith, hope and love which God has intended for us to share from the beginning of time.

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 this 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.