Word to the Wise
Friday, February 15, 2008 - Friday in the First Week of Lent
[Ezekiel 18:21-28 and Matthew 5:20-26]"Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?
Ezekiel and Jesus both urge us to turn from evil ways today. Ezekiel represents a change, however, that is assumed by the time Jesus preached. The change is from a corporate guilt for the individual deeds of a person to one of individual responsibility. Previously, the belief was that the responsibility for the parents' sins were visited by God upon their offspring. (In many ways that still happens, but not because God wills it!) With Ezekiel there is a turn to individual responsibility for individual actions. There is also a warning against the kind of thinking that a person who has lived virtuously might be tempted to do - i.e. I've built up enough "brownie points" that I can afford a sin or two! Ezekiel explicitly rejects that! Jesus speaks directly to the integrity of responsibility for our lives both in action AND in thought! Furthermore, the integrity of our external worship rests on our willingness to be reconciled with our neighbor. External righteousness is not enough. That is why the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees is rejected. The line that speaks to "recalling" that our brother or sister has something against us, means that we must be interiorly aware of the impact of our lives and actions on others. The danger is in denial! Lent is a traditional time for taking responsibility and being reconciled. This restores integrity in mind, body and spirit. It's worth the effort in this season and out! AMEN
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