Lord, may our observance of Lent help to renew us and prepare us to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever. Amen.
Matthew 5:20-26
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I tell you,
unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother
will be liable to judgment,
and whoever says to his brother, Raqa,
will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,
and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.
Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard,
and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you,
you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”
God wants us – loves us – anyway. There is no way we can demonstrate our worthiness. God imputes worthiness to us – as a free gift, undeserved, impossible for us of ourselves. There is nothing we can do to change God’s mind about this. But just knowing and believing that unconditional love, guides us to want to be “more like” Christ. Oh, we fall short ..over and over, but Christ picks us up, again and again. And he wishes us to understand and return that love of his to everyone! In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus points out that forgiveness…love of one another… is the way to righteousness.
Almighty God, renew me: bring me to new life in you. Touch me and make me feel whole again. Help me to see your love in the passion, death and resurrection of your son. Amen.
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