Juxtaposition

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beatitudes, heart of God, justice, Matthew, mercy, obfuscation, reconciled, reconciliation, responsibility, right relationship, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love

Chapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel is so full of teaching that it provides a lifetime of material for reflection. The Beatitudes alone are enough! In today’s lectionary selection, however, there is a very important section on how we ought to treat those persons closest to us. (Jesus calls them our brothers, but we know he meant our sisters too.) It’s about the fact that we must be in right relationship with our neighbors before we approach God in our worship services. The very familiar text (vs. 20-26) tells us that if there is something separating us from another person we need to leave our gift at the altar to go and be reconciled. It’s that important. The interesting thing about this passage for me, however, is a simple twist in the way the recognition of our duty is expressed by Jesus. He doesn’t say, “If you recall that you have anything against your brother, go first and reconcile…” Instead, Jesus makes the job of reconciliation ours even though it is “if your brother has anything against you…”

It would seem unfair to say it is our responsibility to take the first step in such a case. It’s much easier to blame others for their misunderstanding of us or their unwillingness to come to us when we have nothing (maybe) against them. I think that Jesus is looking for two things from us here: 1. a willingness to look in a mirror to be sure that there is no obfuscation going on from our part and 2. a willingness to practice unconditional love in any situation – whether or not we share responsibility for the breach in relationship. Letting go of justice for mercy is a large-hearted step. Taking it goes a long way in moving toward the heart of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reconciliation

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charism, consciousness, consecrated religious, reconciled, Sisters of St. Joseph, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unifying love, unity and reconciliation, world peace

Each congregation of “consecrated religious” (nuns, brothers, and some priests) has a dedicated charism by which their life and their ministry choices are guided. A charism is defined as a gift to the Church and from it we get the words charisma and charismatic – which can be definitive of individuals as well as organizations or institutions in any sphere of society. In the religious sphere, for example, the charism of Franciscans is their service to the poor, as a reflection of St. Francis, their founder. For the Sisters of St. Joseph (my congregation as one of a world-wide federation) the charism is unity and reconciliation, or in modern parlance, unifying love. I actually prefer the traditional iteration because of the stress that the word reconciliation puts on the process by which we approach the unity of love.

The gospel this morning puts it well and makes it personal. Matthew writes, “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (5:23-24) There are two important notions here on which to reflect today: 1. It doesn’t say “If you have anything against your brother [or sister or anyone else] go and be reconciled,” but rather if they have something against you. That means that we have to take the initiative in the process, even if we aren’t the cause of the distress, so that never is there anything that we know of that has the potential to cause a rift in relationship. We must be willing to open the conversation so things can come back together – so we can be reconciled. 2. It is so important to “stay current” with others in our lives that we need to take care of anything that has burdened or fractured a relationship even before we approach God to give praise. That means that (obviously) God will wait for us but also that our relationship with each other is reflective of and intimately bound up with our relationship with God. If we are not “right” with each other it’s hard to even talk about, never mind to feel, in union with God.

This is a big order. Looking at it more globally, one could even say it is necessary for the achievement of world peace. Perhaps if we start on the personal level to make sure we are living by this rule of life each day, the consciousness will grow until it affects those around us (or they affect us!) and eventually, some fine day in the future, we will recognize the kingdom of God already present in our world.

Turn Around

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a new heart, a new spirit, change the world, commited, Ezekiel, God, Lenten practice, Matthew, reconciled, relationships, restore, right relationship, self-surrender, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, turn around

The word conversion comes from the Latin and calls us to turn in another direction. This morning’s gospel verse (EZ 18:31) urges us to “turn away from all the crimes you have committed and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” I was interested in the responsibility for those actions whose agent in the Scriptures is often God; in this case it is we ourselves who do the creating of something new. In the same manner, the gospel puts responsibility on us this morning in our relationships with others and adds a twist that calls for even more self-surrender than we might expect. Jesus does not say, “If you have something against your brother [or sister] go and be reconciled.” Rather the text reads, “If you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (MT 5:23) So whether or not we think we have been wronged, there is no pouting allowed here. It doesn’t tell us to go and ask for an apology, nor to apologize for something that is not our fault just to get it over with. The command is to go and be reconciled which means to restore to relationship and it clearly says it’s up to us to figure out how to do that.

Both Ezekiel and Matthew this morning speak to something that we might care to work on if we’re looking for a Lenten practice, but it is really something that belongs in our daily intentions throughout the year. Each day we ought to be committed to right relationship with God, with other people and with the whole of creation. We can’t wait for others to take the first step. Make for yourselves a new heart and spirit, Ezekiel says. Don’t wait for the other to come to you, Jesus urges. Turn around and see what can be done to change yourself, to change the world. It starts today.