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God doesn’t hear prayer that is addressed to making us look good. If we want to get through to him it has to be on his wavelength–that is, in quiet and in secret.
We are called to love our neighbor not because the neighbor is good, not because we are good, but because God is good and wants everyone to enjoy his goodness.
Jesus urges his followers to forgo the retaliation permitted by the Old Testament and thus interrupt the cycle of revenge. Doing violence to others solves nothing even when the violence is in response to injustice.
The Jerusalem authorities sent Barnabas to Antioch to look into the situation there with Gentiles in the church. Impressed by what he saw there, he undertook a structured ministry among those Gentiles.
Any antipathy to our neighbor is a capital offense Jesus says, a “federal case.” Moreover, love for our neighbor is practically as important as our worship of God, since on occasion our neighbor’s needs are more important than observing the rules of worship.
Jesus and his teaching–far from undermining the law–bring the law and the prophets to a whole new level of meaning and intensity. Jesus has not come to abolish, but to clarify and to enrich.
Salt and light give zest, flavor, joy, and clarity to life. So also believers give good flavor and brightness to the world around them. How am I salt and light for the world?
