Social media is full of opinions about what is fair and unfair. Contributors are passionate about what is fair and unfair. Honestly they say that they are searching for what is right and just.
Honestly, they are searching for what they as humans want and not what God wants. When I was younger, I had a friend who was in love with a married women. He would say that it is just not fair. She should be married to my friend. He eventually came to his senses. He later found a good single women and eventually married. Too many times it is what I want and not God.
One of my favorite Old Testament prophets is Ezekiel . He is blunt and tells it like it is. In the Gospels we all need to pay attention when Jesus says”Amen, amen”! The prophets use repetition. Ezekiel says ” If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him”
When we go to get gas for our cars or buy meat from the butcher we use measures and scales that are regulated by the state. These are standards or laws. God’s laws are also standards.
Jesus in today’s Gospel say that we have to go beyond the standard. Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
What our readings together tell me is that to live in heaven we need to go beyond the laws or standards. We are mandated to go above the standard. In school we should not go for an A but should strive for an A +. That is Jesus’s message to us for today.
Don’t let the Devil say that it is impossible. Philippians 4:13 says that all things are possible through Christ who strengthens me. Our struggle will be rewards by life in Christ.
God Love you Always
Bob Burford
