"Meditation – 60 Days of Prayer" for Wednesday, 04 May 2016 The Upper Room in Nashville, Tennessee, United States

"Meditation – 60 Days of Prayer" for Wednesday, 04 May 2016 The Upper Room in Nashville, Tennessee, United States

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4
READ MATTHEW 5:17-20
MATTHEW 5:17 “Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. 18 Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. 19 So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
To fulfill the law and the prophets is to choose life wholeheartedly; it involves both doing and teaching. Anyone who has taught others recognizes that we learn more when teaching a subject than we ever thought possible. How much truer would this be in the doing and teaching of the righteous commandments found in the law and prophets?
But Jesus requires something else of those who would be “called great in the kingdom of heaven.” He directs his followers to righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. He moves us back behind the legal commandments and their interpretation to God’s fundamental intentions for humanity. The righteousness Christ calls for is based on the divine will of love and justice for all.
What does this new statement of a very ancient experience mean for our lives?

• It means not necessarily doing more but being more in touch with the will of God.
• It means reflecting on one’s own sin before speaking a judgmental, hurtful word to another.
• It means strengthening, not diminishing, the community of God’s people.
• It means choosing life through a series of little deaths to selfishness.

The paramount righteousness does not result in conformity to a norm but continuing commitment to a covenant relationship with God and with human companions on the journey. It is to take into ourselves the pain and joy, the burdens and blessings of the commandments to love God and neighbor.
You show me, O God, what is required to follow in the way of Jesus. Help me live that way of love today. Amen.[Barbara B. Troxell]

Our mailing address is:
The Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007

Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
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