Word to the Wise
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - Tuesday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Isa 7:1-9 and Matt 11:20-24]Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm.
The "promised land" did not come free of troubles! There were many different groups, some of them large like the Assyrians and Babylonians, and some of them smaller like the Arameans and others, who were interested in the same territory. Both the "northern kingdom" [Israel] and the "southern kingdom" [Judah] found it convenient to occasionally form alliances with these competing interests. Isaiah and Jeremiah and other prophets warned against these alliances because they represented a reliance that was dangerous to the faith in God that should be the true alliance. That is the meaning of the line quoted above, which comes at the end of the first scripture today from Isaiah! "Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!"
Alliance-making is a common feature in our world of geo-political interests, but we probably see little importance in it for our everyday lives. We leave such things to the U.S. State Department. However, we might find it useful to ask about our personal "alliances!" On what, or on whom do we rely? Would God be at the top of the list? Would the name of Jesus be on the list? Holy Spirit? Which persons? Which possessions? We have probably heard the statement, "He made a pact with the devil!" With whom have we made a "pact?" Isaiah's words can come back to haunt and challenge us! "Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm." AMEN
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