Ordinary Time
February 6, 2023
Scripture Reading:
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
We may no longer bow down to statues of gods, but we still have idols. Greed and lust for power are two at the top of my list that I have observed. I am seeing more and more instances where we are creating and fostering gods made in our image that fit our desired outcomes for life rather than following the God in whose image we are made and whose foundation for life is love. The prosperity Gospel is a good example of that, as is Christian nationalism. We substitute cultural attributes for how and who we love. The story in Matthew 19:16-26 tells of the rich young man who came to Jesus to find out what more he could do; since he was already following all the commandments, Jesus said ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Somehow our culture has been caught up in the need for individuals to be better than other individuals to be of worth. That did not come from God. God created all people in God’s image and saw that they were good. We tend to cluster with people who are like us and ignore or even discriminate against those who differ from us even though they, too, were created in the same image as the rest of us.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we see you as we want to see you and not as who you are. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.