Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 6: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 119:97 to 120; Evening, Psalms 81 and 82;
Numbers 11:24 to 33 (34-35); Romans 1:28 to 2:11; Matthew 18:1 to 9:
“For he will repay according to each one’s deeds: to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2: 6 – 11)
To this New Testament reading I have some critiques and some “Amen’s.” I believe that God will take into account what we do and what we say over what we just think about doing or saying. We might think many things that are not noble or divine. But as we use the discipline not to speak or act on them, we are pardoned. Thank You Lord Jesus for helping us overcome the demons in our minds.
Twice Paul says “the Jew first and also the Greek.” And yet follows up with “for God shows no partiality.” This seems partial to me however on the part of Paul. Full disclosure, I don’t care if I am second or even last, as long as I get there. As I have studied various cultures I have learned that some cultures use different ways to separate themselves from everybody else. The Japanese have two different alphabets. One is used for original native Japanese society; Hiragana; and they have an alphabet used for words foreign to Japanese speaking; Katakana. The Amish also say that all persons outside the Amish community are called “the English,” regardless of where they live or originate from. So I understand Paul and his “Jew first” attitude. I also fully understand that with God there really is no partiality.
I think what I really like here is the fact that we are held more accountable for what we do and say rather than what randomly crosses our minds, or what our ethnicity is. Our minds are free and sometimes wild, but left to be regulated by our sense of a moral plumb line. Giving in to the temptations of saying or doing wickedness is ungodly. Self seeking and self-serving is ungodly. By patiently doing good works and seeking glory and honor for God, we will have immortality, and God will give us eternal life. Thank You Lord Jesus.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools including St. Augustine in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
O holy Spirit of the living God, please help us all with our patience and discernment regarding the things we say and do. And dear Lord, even as we devise ways to designate those who are different than ourselves, enable us to see your holy presence in them and love them accordingly. Amen.
onewhoponders 