The Outsiders

It is amazing how the readings set by a Lectionary cycle for a particular day can sometimes resonate so well with the news that day.

Today's news is dominated by a bloody conflict between the Jerusalem-based Jewish government and Syrian-backed forces based in Lebanon.

In today's first reading (Isaiah 7:1-9), the Jerusalem-based Jewish government is being attacked by Syria ("Aram" in some translations) and its allies.

In today's Gospel (Matthew 11:20-24), our Lord compares the Lebanese cities of Tyre and Sidon favorably to the Galilean towns of Chorazin and Bethsaida.

Woe unto thee, Chorazin!
woe unto thee, Bethsaida!
for if the mighty works, which were done in you,
had been done in Tyre and Sidon,
they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes.
But I say unto you,
It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
at the day of judgment,
than for you.

These readings, of course, provide much more than just coincidences of history and geography, they also offer us opportunities for reflection about ourselves and "outsiders."

First, we can sometimes be quite fearful of outsiders. In the passage from Isaiah, news of the alliance against them disturbs the leaders and people of Jerusalem "as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind."

The word of the Lord in response to this threat is comforting:

Take heed, and be quiet;
fear not, neither be fainthearted...

But the word of the Lord is also challenging:

If ye will not believe,
surely ye shall not be established.

We must be prudent and careful in this dangerous world, but ultimately nothing can save us if we are not firm in our faith. Threats from outside are ultimately not as dangerous as weaknesses in our relationship with God.

(Sidebar: The matter of external versus internal threats was famously addressed by a young Abraham Lincoln: "At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a Trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us." Address to the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois - January 27, 1838)

Again, we must be prudent and careful in this dangerous world, but ultimately nothing can save us if we are not firm in God.

Second, we as Christians dare not be haughty when it comes to outsiders.

We may have been chosen in Christ and given the gift of the Holy Spirit, but we can easily take for granted what God in his grace has given us. Moreover, as our Lord says in Luke 12:28, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."

I say unto you,
It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon
at the day of judgment,
than for you.

No matter what happens, within our lives or in the world outside, we should be neither haughty nor fearful, but rather we must be always repentant and always drawing nearer to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.