Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Today’s readings have a common theme – God’s words and commandments for God’s people. God’s love undergirds all of God’s instructions and counsel. God desires the very best for each one of us, God’s beloved daughters and sons. Because God desires that we thrive and enjoy abundant life, God reaches out to us in love and teaches us how to live. I can’t help but draw some parallels between today’s texts and the current global health crisis. As we respond personally and collectively to the current situation, let us consider how today’s readings help to guide us.
In the first reading, Moses declares, “hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live . . . Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations . . .” Faithfulness to God springs from wise and intelligent hearts. As we yield to God in obedience, our lives are full of life – abundant life. Holistic wellbeing flows out of obedience. This is not a “prosperity Gospel,” a false promise that if a person is obedient then material blessings will surely flow. It is a promise that as we yield and submit to God that our collective wellbeing will be more abundant. Sometimes we read texts like today’s readings and limit them to ourselves as individuals. If I am obedient to God, then I will receive God’s benefits. Receiving the scripture this way we miss the mark. God speaks through Moses to the nation of Israel – God’s words are intended for the whole community, not only for each individual, personally. Certainly, I do have personal responsibility, but it’s not merely to my own obedience and personal relationship with God. I am responsible to God and to neighbor. We, the human family, are on this journey of life and faith together.
I draw a parallel between this scripture and our current crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our governmental and medical authorities continue to issue strict directives designed for the collective wellbeing. As I follow these directives, I hope that my obedience keeps me healthy and safe, and moreover I pray that my compliance ensures that I don’t put others at risk. My personal responsibility within this health crisis is to God, my relationship with God, and my relationship with my neighbor and the entire global community. In the words of Moses, may our collective concern for one another give evidence of [our] wisdom and intelligence to the nations.
In our Psalm today, God’s words are personified, “He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs his word!” God’s Word spreads by the Holy Spirit more swiftly and broadly than any pathogen! May we each be carriers of God’s Word this day, demonstrating its truth by our example and showering the abundance of God’s love upon each person we meet. As we consider our personal response to the current crisis, may we do so motivated by a true desire to share the Gospel through our words and our charitable actions. The psalmist reminds us that God “proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.” God’s Word is for the people of God. God intends that the people of God bear that Word, bringing hope and comfort to one another, and proclaiming truth and love to the lost, hurting, and broken. As the Body of Christ, we are responsible to be doers of the Word and not merely hearers (James 1:22.) During this global health crisis, how might you and I be doers of God’s Word in deeply loving, tangible, and practical ways?
Jesus speaks to us in today’s Gospel as he declares, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” What does fulfillment of the Law mean? It means love. Jesus perfectly fulfilled all of the Mosaic Law’s requirements by loving perfectly. As the Body of Christ, we show the world this perfect love as we think like Jesus, talk like Jesus and act like Jesus. Our reaction to this crisis can be fear and anxiety, and certainly it’s natural to feel some of that. Our response, however, to the crisis must be love. Today let us ask ourselves, how can I more perfectly love God today? How can I more perfectly love my neighbor (the ones next door, the ones throughout my community, and the ones throughout our nation and the world) as myself? Come, Lord Jesus! Help us to show ourselves to be wise and intelligent as we demonstrate the law of love to the world.
- Elizabeth Wourms