John 5:19-29. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

 

You can't honor the Father if you don't honor the Son. You can't say, "I love God," and then not do what the Son commanded you to do, to love God and love your neighbors.

  

It is hard to figure out here how to honor the Son when hatred pervades the land. How can we love our neighbors when they are attacking us, stealing from us, hurting us, killing us? But if we don't love them--if we don't figure out a way to overcome the hatred that seems ingrained in our lives--how can we love God?

 

The Son is not honored when we say, "Oh, yes, we love the Lord, but not that creep down the street." The Father is not honored when we turn our backs on what the Son teaches just because our community tells us it is OK to hate, to hurt, to kill.

  

Everything here comes down to us vs. them. Race, ethnicity, language, tribe, religion, and gender separate us. But in God's very good creation, there are no separations, no divisions. The only way to honor the Father is to live out, as fully as possible, the Son's command to us: Love God. Love your neighbor.

PRAY for the Diocese of Argentina (Iglesia Anglicana del Cono Sur de America)

 

Ps 119:49-72 * 49 [53]; Genesis 16:1-14; Hebrews 9:15-28

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