Pondering for Sunday, October 11, 2020

Part 1 of 2

Daily Office Readings for Sunday of Proper 23: Year 2

 Psalms Am 146, 147; PM 111, 112, 113; Micah 6:1to 8; 1 Cor. 4:9to16; Matthew. 15:21to28

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

So justice, kindness and humility are the requirements of God from us. So for me, justice means being fair and impartial to all people regardless of the so-called race, gender or sexuality, ethnicity, religion, country of origin or anything else.  If they are human they are entitled to justice.  Justice then opens the door to kindness. And kindness can only be accomplished if we humbly put the need of the other ahead of the want for ourselves.

Part 2 of 2

New Testament Readings for Sunday of Proper 23: Year A

Philippians 4:1to9  and Matthew 22:1to14

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless.”  (Matthew 22:11 and 12)

In this parable from our Lord Jesus the king has deemed the original guests as unworthy and has now “scraped the barrel” so to speak, for anybody that could be found to attend the wedding banquet.  Then why be intolerant of one who can’t afford or just doesn’t have a proper robe, unless of course, one was offered but then refused? 

Today, in the midst of our COVID crisis most communities require people gathered to wear masks.  If they don’t have one, quite often the host will offer one.  If the guests still refuses to wear it, they are asks to leave; where there “might” be weeping and gnashing of teeth, (or not). 

The point is, if we look at justice, kindness and humility from the Daily Office Reading in part 1 above, we will see that insisting on our own way of being free of the mask requirement could endanger a vulnerable person thus denying them justice, and not being very kind, which shows arrogance, rather than humility. It is so easy to slip into unintended behavior. 

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do. John