A reflection on the Daily Lectionary readings for March 10. Please see the Daily page for tools to help you make daily prayer and scripture part of your rhythm.
(Psalm 81, Genesis 29:1-14, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4)
What a contrast the story we read today from Genesis is from our gospel story this past Sunday! In Sunday’s story, we have a shunned woman getting water at the well in the heat of the day, after the other women of the village are finished because they do not welcome her. In today’s story of Jacob meeting Rachel, we are told that the shepherds had to cooperate to open the well so those who had already gathered waited, in the heat of the day, for Rachel to come with her family’s flock. They looked out for each other and cared for each other for the good of the whole community.
In today’s reading of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul is making the point (go back and read chapter 9 to better understand these few verses) that regardless of what is allowed by the law, we must always begin with God’s intent of giving us the law. From the time of Moses to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s law is meant to form and shape us into God’s people. It is’t to give us loopholes to look out for ourselves but a framework of how to live in community, learning to love God, our neighbors, and ourselves better each day.
The point of Paul’s lengthy discussion, and what is drawn out in the contrast of the Samaritan woman shunned by her neighbors and the cooperation of the shepherds is to say that just because we can justify our actions by the law doesn’t mean we are actually living God’s law. When we make the law more important than the human beings the law is meant to take care of, the law has become our idol. This is a conversation Jesus has over and over with the leaders of the synagogue and temple. God gave us rules to help us learn to love better. Jesus said he came not to do away with this law but to fulfill it, to show us in flesh and blood what it is to live God’s law of love.
When any of our leaders today, in the church or in politics, use God’s law to exclude others, they are not being Godly leaders, even if they claim they are. God’s law is to enable us to proclaim that all people are God’s beloved, to invite everyone into the Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven, and to help us all be transformed into God’s people.
Keep lovin’ louder than the hate, Y’all!
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