Saturday of the First Week of Lent
My dad is a dentist and has always been my dentist. One day I was sitting in his office getting a check-up when he said something along the lines of, “If you got a dental license you could probably just take over the business.” This sounded like a strange concept to me, to inherit the family business, but in a different time it would have been completely normal. Farmers raised farmers. Blacksmiths raised blacksmiths. Carpenters raised carpenters, which was likely true even as Joseph raised Jesus. This idea of the family business put a verse in today’s gospel into perspective.
Matthew recorded Jesus saying these words, “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” I was immediately struck by how conditional these words were. This seemed inconsistent with the prodigal son and Paul’s words regarding our adoption as coheirs of Christ. That is when the anecdote of my dad’s business proposition popped in my head.
I suspect that Jesus’ words are calling us to take up the family business. He isn’t telling us that our adoption as children of the Father is fickle or constantly in flux. Rather, I think He is reminding us that God, our Dad, Abba, is in the business of loving even those who curse Him. The Father loves us, even when we become enemies through our sin. Jesus died for everyone, even for those who persecuted Him. I guess you could say, “Like Father, like Son.”
This is a good reminder for two reasons. We have a Father who is in the business of forgiving so we can go to God with our sins and wounds. Also, we are called to follow the Son and become His brothers and sisters. In essence, we are called to join the family business.
This whole motif further shapes the end of the gospel. Christ tell us, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” I want to rephrase the way that I’m hearing those words now. I hear Christ, in the most encouraging tone, saying, “Listen, you bear the name of the Father. It’s time to act like it.”
- - Spencer Hargadon