We have recently put our house in the Chicago area up for sale. We will be spending most of our time living in Pennsylvania but will continue visiting friends and family in Illinois. It is very difficult pulling up roots when they have been growing for over 30 years. We moved to the Chicago area back in 1988. Our oldest daughter was 1 year old and we had our youngest in 1990. We went through a lot here. Church, temple, kids in sports and clubs. And the school system. Carol Stream, the town we lived in, has a great elementary and secondary education system. It was one of the things that attracted us to the area and choose to buy a home here.
For around 20 years we took advantage of the school system. Our property taxes were relatively high but we received value for a money in the education our children received. But this also meant that, once they both graduated high school, we would continue to pay into the tax system for a another 10 years while not having children at an age where they were taking advantage of the system. Not fair, right? Not so fast. There were childless families, or families who likewise no longer had children in the schools, who continued to pay property tax. These funds supported the system that improved the neighborhoods. We all did our share, whether we took advantage of the benefits or not, to grow the community. I realize that there is a whole other discussion about whether the schools are being good stewards of our property tax dollars but that is another discussion for another day. The point here I am trying to make is that we all do our part regardless of whether we benefit directly or not.
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus tells His disciples during the Sermon on the Mount to love your enemy as well as your neighbor. That the rain and the sun fall equally on the good and the bad. The just and the unjust. And then He tells them, and us, that we are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. The Greek word for “Perfect” means: complete, whole, or fully developed, having reached an end-goal
In other words Jesus is telling all of us that this act of salvation is a movie, not a snapshot. We are developing and should be moving towards completion, wholeness and, eventually, perfection. And how does God model this for us in light of Jesus’ command to love our enemies?
We all realize that there are many in the world who do not believe in God. Or who believe but actively reject Him. Have no use for Him. In a sense do not buy into the whole faith “thing”. While believers study scripture, pray, attend mass, receive the sacraments those who do not believe do none of these things. In a sense, they fail to build any “equity” with God. They don’t pay their share of property taxes. And how does God respond to failure to, in a sense, pay their fair share? He cares for them. Unbelievers enjoy the benefits of a sun that rises every morning, the rain the feeds the crops and which feed us, the gravity that our solar system provides, air that we breathe and the life we were given. No matter what we think of Him.
So, like paying property taxes even though we may not enjoy direct benefit of the investment, God’s investment benefits the saint and sinner alike. And shouldn’t we model that very same behavior? In today’s first reading from Deuteronomy God tells the Israelites, thru Moses, to hold up their end of the bargain (the covenant) by observing the statutes and decrees that He has given them. And for His part He will make each of us one of His own and bring us to glory with Him for eternity. And we are each responsible to bring that message to EVERYONE. To be a modern day Moses to all God’s people.
