Sunday, October 25th, Pentecost XXI, great God
Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 22:34-46
The beginning of this passage is famously linked to one of the most popular parables, the Good Samaritan. This means the focus is on who is the good neighbour?
This passage goes on with the Pharisees saying that the Messiah is the son of David. This seems to be another attempt to discredit or diminish Jesus. This would seem to suggest his humanity and not his divinity. Jesus is quick to correct them.
But what does this say for us today? Do we worship a God who is big enough or do we make him smaller to either control and domesticate God or control others?
One main way we do this is with the use of language and doctrine. We need as humans to put into words the concepts and understanding we have about God and life, but we need to realize that the words we use are at least incomplete of not wrong when we describe God. So we need to use language but we need to understand the limitations of language and not fall into the trap of thinking concepts we use are the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
A number of years ago, I was asked if it was a problem that there were so many Christian churches. My answer was; no as long as they don’t think they are the only ones with the right answer. I have come to realize that the reason there are so many churches is because they think they are the only ones with the right answer.
Maybe that’s the problem. We tend to focus on answers not the questions. James Carse in the Silence of God says that answers divide and questions bring us together.
And back to the law itself: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
Maybe this means that even if you do this, God is beyond all your heart and soul and mind. The good news, this then can keep us coming back for more.
It has been said that an intelligent person knows what they know and a wise person knows what they don’t know. Or is this what Jesus is saying in Matthew 11:25 at that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;
Amen