The Lowly Path to Community

Romans 5:1-11

Matthew 20:17-28

The word of God is incessant in its demand for unity through servanthood. Take today’s gospel reading for example. “But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many’" (Matthew 20:25-28). Reading these words I am aware of the human tendency to impute to others the guilt that we are unwilling to recognize in ourselves. The truth is that no one is immune from “lording it over” others, from insisting on his or her own way. And at precisely the moment we turn to point to someone we deem iniquitous we have committed the same transgression ourselves. After all, let the one without sin feel free to cast the first stone.

God shows us another way. According to Paul, “rarely will anyone die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). Only when we are willing to die for one another—just the way that God suffered death on our behalf—will we know the true worth of all humanity. Only when we are willing to be servants to one another, to meet the needs of the world even at our own expense, will we discover the wonder of community. What can we do for one another today? How can we soothe the pain of those who are suffering? What can we let go of so that others may find fulfillment? These are the questions that should drive our decisions, our conversations, even our prayers. The gospel of Jesus Christ begins in weakness and builds toward godly strength. May we all know the love of God and embrace it even as we embrace one another.

Prayer: Lord, when we feel most victorious, most powerful, most vindicated may we also see and to share the pain of others so that the love of your kingdom may abound in the world. In the name of the one who died for us all. Amen.

Getting Ahead of Ourselves

Matthew 13:24-30

When I read the parable from Matthew’s gospel for today I usually worry about where I stand between the weeds and the wheat. But what if I’m really one of the slaves who is in a rush to get rid of bad plants?

We know the story. A farmer sows good seed in his field, but later an enemy comes and sows weeds as well. “The slaves said to (the farmer), ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them” (Matthew 13:28b-29). That’s the part that grabbed my attention today. Pulling up the weeds is not the prerogative of the slaves. That job belongs to someone else. We may feel qualified to make the distinction, to rid the field of undesirable types, but the farmer says, “No.”

I often find myself ready to “pull weeds,” to decide which of the folks around me are unworthy of God’s love. I may feel qualified to make the distinction (I am a minister), but the truth is that it doesn’t matter. That is God’s call, and has been all along. When I judge others I risk harming the community as a whole. And what if I’m wrong? What if God, the Creator of weeds and wheat alike, decides on a transformative act, shaping “good” plants out of “bad” ones? What if I’ve got it all wrong and what I thought were weeds really are the wheat? God says “no” to our judgment. God tells us to care for the field, to prepare for the harvest, and to let God decide who is in and who is out. And since it is God’s field, I guess we’d better listen.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I judge others based on my own ideas and my own prejudices. In Jesus’ name. Amen.