Word to the Wise
Monday, March 9, 2020 - 2nd Week of Lent - Mon
[Dan 9:4b-10 and Luke 6:36-38]"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." [Luke]
What we know as the "Sermon on the Mount" in the Gospel According to Matthew is known as the "Sermon on the Plain" in the Gospel According to Luke. It is no less challenging on the plain than it is on the mount. The evangelist Luke, however, is writing for a community that is undergoing considerable persecution and perhaps wondering if Jesus' message of the kingdom will ever take hold. This may be a continuing concern right on up to our own day!
The passage above is taken from the Sermon on the Plain and it could be a great Lenten agenda which could become a year-round one. We could put it in a series of questions to ourselves or even to a community to which we belong. How merciful am I (are we)? How judgmental am I (are we)? How forgiving am I (are we)? How generous am I (are we)?
Many folks, with the best of intentions, celebrate what I would call a "surface Lent." They "give up" something like a favorite food or activity. This is a form of asceticism that focuses on the season but not the reason for the season. When the season is over, the favorite "whatever" resumes. The real challenge of Lent goes deeper to the level of change and conversion. It is not easy to change a long lasting attitude or habit of judging. It is hard to forgive someone who has hurt us deeply and gives rise to grudges. Will my generosity really be repaid?
The reason for the season is readily visible to us on a crucifix and the empty tomb.. The questions to be asked can be motivated by those. We can actually die to ourselves and rise anew. AMEN