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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

September 25, 2023

Invitatory

Lord, open our lips.

And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Matthew 5:21-26

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder,’ and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment, and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council, and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

Meditation – Peter Vanderveen

I often find it difficult to read a Biblical text closely all the way to the end. It doesn’t matter how long it is. After only a couple of verses my mind can begin to wander and my eyes skip over the lines on the page. Very few passages from Scripture have the power to be an exception to this rule. So I’m often tempted to settle quickly on some early phrase or line that’s easily digestible, just so that I can move on.

I blame this on my iPhone (now officially the root of all evil). For surely – my thoughts flit – there is already some text there, some message announced with the notifying sound of my choice, some forwarded photograph that will prove more captivating, more pertinent, or more worthy of my attention. I like the instant gratification of imagining that someone is always trying to reach out to me, even if it’s purely impersonally driven by means of a blind algorithm. Diversion beats discipline almost every time.

Too bad. Because the real point of this short text from Matthew doesn’t hit home until the very last line. There is, of course, an inherent risk to judging others, exacting from them what you think is due. For turn around is fair game, and with breathtaking suddenness, you might find that you are being judged no less and no less harshly. Nonetheless, we persist, girded in some measure of our own sense of self-righteousness. This is the drama that plays out among us every single day.

But Jesus chose to mark one more thing – the most essential thing to know about judgment: it never comes to an end. It never brings us to a point where all the debts are settled and the path is clear for us to rebuild in a fresh, clean, and just way. It is a trap that lures us in, so enticingly, without forewarning us that, once begun, there will be no exit. We will “never get out” because there is no “last penny” to be paid. We wouldn’t know it if there were.

We are living in an era of agitation; around every corner there seems to be another newly cited issue that demands judgment and justice. And, as is so often said, if there is no justice, there will be no peace. It’s easy to understand both the passion and the sentiment here. But there are few who are asking effectively what lasting resolutions for any of our problems actually look like. Would we know them if we saw them? Instead, we are left with the resignation that there will simply be no peace, because there will always be more pennies to be demanded and reclaimed. Ad infinitum.

“Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

What might change if we put this line to use, holding our agitations up against it?

Maybe, finally, it might move us away from judgment toward what Jesus briefly alluded to, which is, in a completely different way, the gifting nature of God, through whom judgment is superseded by redemption. And there peace is found.

Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name,

thy kingdom come,

thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

         as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

         but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,

         forever and ever. Amen.