Today’s Reflection comes from Mark Gates. Thanks Mark for pinch hitting…pinch running and coming in from the Bullpen. The only baseball references I could think of.
Hello and Happy Saturday!! All 3 of today’s scriptures have a common theme.
That is: Laws, Rules and Commandments. While these instructions were meant to
keep the Hebrew people set apart, or special, to be God’s own children, because of
the fracturing of the human condition, keeping the laws was difficult. Moses is
imploring the Israelites to follow The Lord.
Reading 1, Deuteronomy 26:16-19, *Moses spoke to the people, saying: “This day
the LORD, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees. Be
careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you are
making this agreement with the LORD! HE is to be your God, and you are to walk in his
ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his
voice. *And today the LORD is making this agreement with you!! You are to be a
people, specifically his own, as he has promised you; and provided you keep all his
commandments, he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all
other nations he has made!! *You will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God, as he
promised.”
*** There are 2 items that sparkled in my brain reading Deuteronomy…
First is that much later in Jewish history, Jesus actually refers back to this
specific event. The giving of The Law! When the scholars were trying to trap
Jesus, they asked him if it was lawful to divorce. Jesus asked them in return
what did Moses say? Just a little coincidental cross-referencing, historical
confirmation! Second, is that God is promising to keep the Israelites separate
and precious to Him, if only they would obey. Obey is a strong word, but Loyalty
is a strong commitment!!
God brought an 80 year old Moses out of no where to free His people. God
used Moses to predict the plagues and stand firm against Pharoah. God keeps
on using Moses to bring the Hebrews all of the way to this point in time and all
that God asks in return is: Listen, Obey my servant. It seems simple enough.
AND, if they obey, Tah-Dah! We roll right into today’s Psalm where the people
will be Blessed and will Happily be God’s people! <See Below>
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8 *Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the
law of the LORD. Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their
heart. You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. *Oh, that I might be
firm in the ways of keeping your statutes! I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
when I have learned your just ordinances. I will keep your statutes, do not utterly
forsake me. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Then after 1500 years of believing that they were being ‘good enough’ and
obeying ‘good enough’ the Israelites must have felt comfortable and ‘Blessed
Enough,’ because here comes the Romans and Roman rule! More brutality, again!!
Terribly more mistreatment of woman and children, occupation of the promised land
again! BUT wait, here comes Jesus!!
Gospel, Matthew 5:43-48, *Jesus said to his disciples: ‘’’You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy!!” But I say to you, love
your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your
heavenly Father! For he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good and causes rain to
fall on the just and the unjust.” *“For if you love those who love you, what recompense
will you have? Do the tax collectors not do the same? And if you greet your brothers and
sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do the pagans not do the same? *So be
perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
“WHAT?? You want me to forgive who? Bless who? Pray for who??” Now I
have no personal idea of what it’s like to be persecuted or prosecuted or even
punished for my religious beliefs. Also, I cannot understand or sympathize with
some who has been separated out and declared to be weak, weird or just plain
easily enslaved.
My point is that I feel sorry for the Jews of Jesus’ day! As a nation, they
couldn’t get a moment’s rest! I want to cut them enough slack as to allow them
to say, “Hey we’re doing our best, here!!” or “Cut me some slack here.” I want to
feel that Jesus isn’t ‘critisizing’ the path that the Israelites were on as much as
he wanted to ‘Enhance’ their faith experience. He wants to Supersize their
spirituality. First, Jesus needs to teach them how easy God’s way, actually is.
The Jews need to focus and keep being good and doing good to each other.
They just need to be more inclusive of marginalized and unwanted fellow
humans… See, it’s E-Z!!
What about our Gospel today? For sinners, change your ways and Be
Blessed! For folks that believe that they’re doing good enough… Add more
Love, Add more Caring!! Quite simply, put more thought of Jesus and God the
Father into all that you do. Reach down deep and pull up your Joy!!
Our 2025 years of hindsight may be 20/20 enough, through reflections like
this one, but the lessons return to us refreshed with each sunrise! �� Have a
Joy-filled Lent! Mark
