Monday 09 March 2009

Background

First He Looked Confused

I could not lie any more so I startedto call my dog, "God".
First he looked
confused,

then he started smiling, then heeven 
danced.

I kept at it: now he doesn'teven 
bite.

I am wondering if this
 might work on 
people?

Tukaram  (an IndianHindu poet of the early 17th century)

Jesus was addressing a culture that rushed to take sides,and wanted God to take sides too. As people then, and as peoplenow, we are obsessed to a degree with who is in and who is out; whois right and who is wrong; who is acceptable orunacceptable.

Jesus was also deeply aware of the danger of rushing tojudgement, and the danger of setting up systems of judgement thatdecided which acts or thoughts or lifestyles or character traitswere better or worse than others. He addressed these concerns bychallenging a system of values and beliefs with a life centred inrelationship.

Jesus called on those who heard these words to be merciful,and to be merciful in keeping with God's mercy. In effect, Jesusoverturned all of the neat categorisations of 'sin', and madejudgement a mirror to look into, rather than a pattern to fit ontoothers.

Jesus challenges a philosophy of 'You get what you deserve'with 'You get what you are willing to offer'.

To Ponder

When have you felt unfairly judged, or judged toohastily? When have you rushed to judgement, and then found thatyour judgement was inaccurate?

When have you been forgiven? How did thatfeel?

When have you forgiven someone for some real hurtor disappointment? How did that feel?