"Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall." Our Parent's kindness and mercy is nothing to be taken for granted. Of course, that does not stop us from trying. How often do we treat grace like a bottomless cookie jar or a "get out of jail free" card? But if our brother Moses was denied entry to the Promised Land for his sin, can we really assume that the Landlord will keep giving us one more year indefinitely? No, we need to find a sense of urgency when it comes to repentance. And we should probably devote a few of these forty days to the acquisition of gardening skills.
Showing posts with label Year C: Lent: 3rd Sunday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Year C: Lent: 3rd Sunday. Show all posts
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Third Sunday of Lent
The paradoxes of our God. They are "kind and merciful," but fail to "bear fruit" and it's "cut it down." Should it be any other way? After all, what good are we if we fail to bear fruit? It's certainly a truth we seem fond of, with our "makers vs. takers" ideologies. But is the fruit we value what God desires to eat? Does she have a hankering for our money and power? Or does he prefer something a little more kind and merciful? Is repent or perish a threat to the abused children of a harsh parent, or a warning to the lemmings who stubbornly refuse to see the looming chasm? "Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall." Yes, indeed. But fall we shall, and fail to bear fruit we will. And when we do, whom will God be: the landowner demanding we be cut down or the gardener pleading for one more year? Perhaps it will depend on which one we were when we dealt with our brothers and sisters. If we're lucky, God keeps asking for one more year until the landowner gives up or dies.
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