Measure for Measure March 13

Pray

Lord, you love us, measure for measure, day by day. Help us to do the same for all of your creations. Help us to treat each other with love and respect. Help us treat your great and awesome gifts – the earth we live on, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the fellow travelers with whom we share this space – with your love and respect. Jesus, help us to ignite a fire in our love for you. Make us your “old flame” and we will be yours forever and ever. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/031306.shtml

Measure for measure.

Luke and Matthew spend time on the traditional sermon of “doing unto others” in their Gospels and today’s reading shines some light on that topic.

God will act toward us as we act toward others. Don’t do anything to others that you wouldn’t want God to do to you. I always had trouble with this image. God is love. His love is unrequited. For people like us, we hate our love to be unrequited. I always think of the crush I had on a girl in elementary school. Who did you have a “crush” on when you were younger? I probably had 30 students in every class-year from kindergarten to sixths grade. Half were girls. Out of those 210 classmates, do you think I remember many names except for the name of my first crush?*

Do you remember that famous scene from Citizen Kane? Not the “Rosebud” scene but the scene in which Mr. Bernstein, the manager of Kane’s newspapers, talks about memory? The reporter went to the nursing home to ask Bernstein to help him figure out why Kane’s last word was, “Rosebud.” Here’s the passage:

Bernstein: A fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn't think he'd remember. You take me. One day, back in 1896, I was crossing over to Jersey on the ferry, and as we pulled out, there was another ferry pulling in, and on it there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on. She was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn't see me at all, but I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that girl.

Bernstein has selective memory. He only remembers those things he wants to remember. He doesn’t remember any of the other passengers on the ferry that day. Just that one in the white dress with the parasol (“for the sun”).

We are human. Bernstein was human. But God is not. God doesn’t have selective memory. God, as we are reminded in the passage from Daniel, is a great and awesome God. Our God has a crush on all of us and will remember everything each one of us did.

Not only that, God also will treat us as we treat others. Measure for measure. The Good News hypocrite becomes the person who, in arrogance, forgets one’s own faults while remembering and criticizing the faults of others. So Luke reminds us to keep our humility close and leave our arrogance at the gate.

Action:

Who can you remind of your love today? Who have you forgotten to appreciate? Do you know the names of the people who come into your office each night and clean up? Do they know how much you appreciate their efforts?

Thank someone today who is not expecting to be thanked.