Week of February 19, 2001
Pastor Dan

"If you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?"
Luke 6:32

There are several ethical systems at work in our daily lives. The first is quite familiar to us, especially in the business world. It goes like this -- do unto others as they have done to you. On the positive side, this ethic means "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." On the negative side, this ethic means every wrong done to us deserves tit for tat retribution. The second system is a little bit better and helpful for reasonable people. It's called the Golden Rule -- do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Where this ethical approach comes up short is when we run up against the question: "Well, how do we always know what is good for us?" The ethics of Jesus even goes beyond the Golden Rule. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do good, expecting nothing in return. Love your enemies. In other words, do unto others as God in Christ has done for you. There's nothing about balance or exact reciprocity here. In this system, the one-sided forgiveness, boundless mercy, and unconditional love of God leads us into a more challenging and purposeful ethic of generous love.

Let us pray. . . Dear God, lead us beyond the ledger-oriented, lowest denominator ethical activity that makes little redemptive difference. Help us to be bold interrupters in the cycles of retaliation and judgmentalism. In Christ's merciful name, we pray.

Contributed by Pastor Dan
Published Monday February 19, 2001
Week 13 of Liturgical Year C