Can You Really Hear It?

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Christ, love, love your neighbor as yourself, neighbors, Romans, St. Paul, The Golden Rule, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

St. Paul is very direct in his letter to the Romans today about what is necessary in the following of Christ. (ROM 13: 8-10) He starts right out this morning with a clear imperative saying “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.” A rather shocking statement, I would guess, in that place and time – or even now. Then, as if they may not have understood, or in case they were distracted, he reminds his readers what he means by enumerating the tenets of the Commandments given to Moses on Sinai. After saying what is not allowed by the commandments (killing, stealing, coveting) he sounds like a parent saying “and whatever other commandment there may be…” as he shifts to the affirmative by saying what we must do. It’s the second half of what we know as The Golden Rule: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

I keep thinking of how this message must have been received – and how we ourselves receive it today. Unless we stop and allow it to enter deeply into our consciousness we will certainly miss the depth of meaning. The word “love” has become devalued in our day. We say we love our houses and our cars and our jobs and our new clothes…all possessions. It’s much more difficult sometimes to love our co-workers or our teenagers, or the driver who cuts us off on the highway…or even those who commit unspeakable crimes. Have you ever heard the saying;”Hate the sin but love the sinner?” All of that is included in Paul’s message, also known as the teachings of Jesus…All of it.

Some serious reflection necessary here.

Consider This…

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neighbors, prophets, speaking truth to power, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Here’s a jolting sentence from the Society of St. John the Evangelist. It seems, in one sentence, to place a challenge before us that is something we should all be considering now, especially if we live in the United States of America. It could be a call, however, that resounds throughout the world, judging from news reports and images of how people are being treated by their “neighbors.” I suggest that all of us sit quietly, close our eyes and watch the images that float through our consciousness if our stated intention is to take a virtual trip through the world of this moment. How would we answer? What would we do?

Prophet: To fail to understand that we are called to be prophets who speak truth to power is to fail to understand what it means to be made in the image and likeness of God. (Br. James Koester, SSJE)

New Neighbors?

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beatitudes, boundaries, Leviticus, love, love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew, Moses, neighbors, persecute, politics, pray, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My first thought after reading the lectionary texts for today was that the fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel is worth a whole life of reflection. It isn’t only the part that we know as the Beatitudes that teaches us how to live; the whole chapter is full of deeply meaningful concepts. It is clear from this preaching of Jesus that he did, indeed, come not to destroy the Mosaic Law but to fulfill it. When we read, “You have heard it said…” it’s clear that Jesus is specifying what was right action in earlier times and that he was urging his listeners to more, to go beyond what was an earlier norm to a deeper way of living. The example is clear today.

In the reading from Leviticus, God is speaking to Moses about the way to be holy. God talks about correct behavior toward brothers and sisters, fellow citizens and “any of your people,” concluding with the statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. (LV 19: 1-2, 17-18) In the gospel, Jesus echoes God’s message about the neighbor with the understanding that God’s conversation with Moses was about behaviors among the tribes of Israel only, since the way of living back then was to conquer enemies who threatened others’ way of life. Jesus expanded the concept of neighbor in his day, however, by saying: 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…(MT 5:38-48).

We’re still having trouble with that one, it seems. Sometimes it’s even hard to love those who love us if they disagree with our politics or some other cherished belief. How can we possibly expand our hearts to people who are altogether different from us? Jesus is certainly pushing the boundaries. As I was writing the previous paragraph I had a new thought. If Jesus was talking about an expansion of consciousness from the time of Moses to his era, shouldn’t we – who live as far away from Jesus in time as he did from Moses – be even further along in seeing everyone as a beloved neighbor than Jesus expected the people of his time to be? We could say the world is more complex today and there are more people to admit into our “neighborhood” so we can’t be expected to love them all. Look at all the horrific things that are going on! How can we love “those people?” Going back to the gospel I repeat the one sentence that I see as a beginning answer to it all. (See above) When Jesus tells the people to love their enemies, he adds: Pray for those who persecute you. No one is persecuting me personally but there is a lot of persecution in our world. If I were to pray for those I consider enemies of the USA or of Christianity or of any other way I define myself in the world, how would it change me? I guess there’s only one way to find out!