Reflection by: Mark Gates.
The centerpiece for all three of our readings today is God’s commandments, laws, and statutes… and our subsequent “Buy-in”. This specific collection is not ‘all fire and brimstone.’ There are rewards for good behavior. 🙂
Sirach 15:15-20, states that “If you choose, you CAN keep the commandments, they will save you. If you trust in God, you too shall live.” **As I stated last week, God did not create us to be robots. He wants us to choose to love Him. Even though from the beginning of time… Yes, before Adam & Eve and the Torah, humanity can’t seem to function without guidance… Or with it.
We’re all familiar with the Ten Commandments. Whether you know it or not, there are 613 other laws (mostly for purity and cleanliness) for our Jewish brothers and sisters. **Well, Starting with the big Ten, do any of these Commandments feel like anything less than, being for & in the best interest of all? Remember Sirach’s word ‘choose’, it is crucial to understanding everything about God. He wants us to choose to love Him. He wants us to choose to obey His statutes and decrees. Once we choose to follow the words of God, they become less of a stumbling block. They become less of a law, or commandment and more of a lifestyle choice. As Sirach said, oh that everyone would choose God, His Word, His way.
Sirach finishes up with, “The eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, He understands man’s every deed! NO One, does He command to act unjustly, to no one does He give license to sin.” **God did not create sin!! Disobedience created sin.
Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, 1Cor 2:6-10, begins “We speak a wisdom to those who are mature, NOT a wisdom of this age. Rather we speak God’s Wisdom, mysterious and hidden, which God predetermined, before the ages, for our glory. It is also written ‘What eye has not seen or ear have heard, what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.'” ***Let’s just use our imagination for a second. Imagine the very best that God has to offer, is ours, just ready and waiting!! All we have to do is freely choose to love God, obey God. Because it’s the right thing to do!!
In our Gospel, Matthew 5:17-37, he writes, Jesus is trying to pull everyone along, forward!! “Do you think that I have come to abolish the law? NO, I have come to fulfill the law.” **Jesus does not want the Israelites live in a place of robotic obedience. Jesus wants us to find the laws that are written on our hearts/souls already. We need to act uprightly, compassionately and in more of a communal sense. One for all, and all for one. I’ve heard it said that scholars can judge how any successful society succeeds, by examining how their poorest citizens are treated. I feel there are far too many paths to poverty and yet only one golden path to God and Christ, the laws of the narrow gate. Let us Joyfully CHOOSE the golden path for ourselves and try to convince our brothers and sisters to let us hold their hands. **JOY-JOY-JOY. MARK “G”
