There will be no reflection on Saturday.
I’ve been reading a treatise by Isaac of Nineveh (a 7th century Syrian monk), who taught that God is not just. Follow his line of reasoning, if you will:
I’ve been reading a treatise by Isaac of Nineveh (a 7th century Syrian monk), who taught that God is not just. Follow his line of reasoning, if you will:
Just is simply not enough. If God were just, then
most of us would be doomed because of our sins and failings. No. God is more
than just. God is love, and his live overcomes any demands that justice
might make, particularly when it comes to our salvation and redemption.
Isaac points to two examples in the Gospels of God’s love
triumphing over justice:
·
The keeper of the vineyard who pays the last
group of workers an entire day’s wage even though they had not earned it.
·
The parable of the prodigal son, who doesn’t get
what he deserved, but was treated with prodigal love and compassion. (Some have
suggested that a better name for this parable would be “the prodigal father.”
By looking at our own lives, perhaps, we can see Isaac’s
point:
·
Can you recall a time in your life when you have
been given a far greater blessing than you thought you deserved?
·
Can you recall a time in your life when your
sins were cast aside and overlooked while, again, you have been blessed beyond
anything you could have expected?
God is not merely just. He is so much more than that.
Thank God.
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