Doing and Not Saying

Gospel: Matthew 7: 21, 24-27

In ancient times when a conquering general and his army entered a city the inhabitants would line the streets and shout, "Lord, have mercy!" in the hopes that they would be spared looting, raping, and other atrocities common to foreign occupation.  This is the context in which Jesus tells us that those who shout "Lord, Lord?" will not find a hearing.  This seems harsh, but consider:

If a person spent their entire life fighting against the coming of God's kingdom, preventing others from having access to that kingdom, repelling people by an unmerciful and self-interested life but then desire entrance into this kingdom as a full citizen - well, that just does not make much sense at all.  The cry for mercy is a self-interested one, desiring the privileges of a kingdom for which one rebelled against their entire life.  The cry for mercy in such a person is not of repentance but of privilege.

But Advent is a time for us to make a cry of repentance.  We have fought against God's kingdom in our lives.  We have not lived merciful, loving lives.  We have deterred people from having access to God's kingdom.  Let our cry of "Lord, Lord!" be a repentant one, one that makes way for God's kingdom to enter our hearts and the hearts of others, one that leads to a life of mercy and love extended to others.