Love Everyone - No Exceptions

Gospel:  Matthew 5: 20-26

It is a temptation of every human heart to find people to exclude from the commandment to love our neighbor.  Some would confine this rule to citizens of one's own country, thereby excluding foreigners and aliens.  Others would limit this love to those who deserve it, i.e. those like them or those they get on with.  Such was true as much in Jesus' days as it is in our own times.

However, the entire Gospel is one long teaching on the fact that loving one's neighbor admits of no exceptions.  In word and deed, Jesus taught this very truth.  He ate meals with people and healed people from all backgrounds, all walks of life, all races, creeds, genders, and sinners of all types.  He forgave all those who did him harm - his betrayer, his denier, his abandoners, his executioners, everyone - even when they did not seek forgiveness.  

To be a follower of the Lord Jesus is to strive for this love each and every day.  It is to attempt to create communities where this love is encouraged and practiced - looking for the beam in our eye and not the mote in our neighbor's, running out to be reconciled with our neighbor and not looking to excommunicate or exclude them from communion, offering bread and fish and not stones and serpents to a world hungry for love and compassion. 

The Rule of the Heart

Gospel: Mark 7: 7-12

If you are part of a system with a myriad of laws and rules one might wonder what is the thread that keeps them together - what is the most important rule that can help us keep all the rest? What is the core value that provides a foundation for all these rules.  Jesus provides that answer in today's reading: the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have them do to you.

This rule is found in every culture of every time and place.  It can be found in China, India, African cultures, indigenous cultures of every continent on earth.  The law of God is found in the heart of every human being; it is not the product of a particular culture.  It is inherent in the fabric of the universe; it is the fundamental element of morality and ethics.  

In a very real sense Jesus is present in every human life through this law, by the very fact of being itself as God's presence is found in every existent thing, and by the fact that human beings are made in God's image and likeness.  Herein lies the Good News that brings together every human being of every culture and place.  It is in the human heart, the field where the struggle lies, the stage for the drama of human existence. 

Signs and Sycophants

Gospel: Luke 11: 29-32

In every age religion is dominated by the seeking of signs and wonders and the following of cults of personality.  From the time of Jesus through early Christianity to our own times we find the creation of these cottage industries of self-interest and self-justification that pass for religion while authentic faith through the following of Jesus is mentioned only in passing.  

Why do we seek signs and rush about to follow particular preachers?  In almost every case it is because we seek a sign to justify ourselves and the decisions we have made.  We follow a particular pastor because he or she confirms our own beliefs and biases in what they say or in what particular brand of worship they employ.  

Only the sign of Jonah is given to us: a message of repentance for our sins that we must take up, and a life of mercy extended outward to others in response to receiving God's mercy.  It is a sign of humility devoid of self-interest and self-justification.  It is the way of the Cross, and to resurrection.