Dai­ly Reflec­tion
June 15, 2001

We have this trea­sure in earth­en ves­sels, to show that the tran­scen­dent pow­er belongs to God and not to us. - 2 Corinthi­ans 4:7

I am your ser­vant, the child of your hand­maid … You have loosed my bonds. - Psalms 116:16

But I say to you that every­one who looks at a woman lust­ful­ly has already com­mit­ted adul­tery with her in his heart. -Matthew 5:28
 

We are now in Ordi­nary Times.  As we read through the very famil­iar fifth chap­ter of Matthew’s Gospel though, Jesus is ask­ing us to be any­thing but ordi­nary.  He tells us He has not come to abol­ish the Law (v. 17), indeed He calls us to go fur­ther than the writ­ten Law, the com­mands giv­en to Moses.  He asks us to go beyond our overt actions and pay atten­tion to our thoughts, our motives, and our inten­tions.  In today’s read­ing He tells us, “Do not com­mit adul­tery, not just in unfaith­ful­ness to your spouse, but in how you deal with every­one!  You are to keep your promise to a spouse in your heart, mind and actions.  And you are to extend this same respect to your friends, to a bank, to God, to any­one, even your enemies!”

Paul gives us a lit­tle dif­fer­ent way to look at it.  He tells us that we are earth­en ves­sels, yet we have been entrust­ed with a trea­sure.  A trea­sure we are asked to share.  The trea­sure inside is the Holy Spir­it, the Spir­it of God, the Light of Christ.  We are asked to shine that light, to live the Gospel, to be Christ to oth­ers (2 Corinthi­ans 4:6).  The world may per­se­cute and strike out at us, yet He will not for­sake us and we will not be destroyed.  We may be afflict­ed and per­plexed, but He will not allow us to be crushed or dri­ven to despair.

Hon­esty and good inten­tions are nev­er old fash­ioned or out-dat­ed.  Peo­ple rec­og­nize them when they encounter them, and may even be pleas­ant­ly sur­prised by them.  “I am the ser­vant of the Lord, the child of your maid­ser­vant; you have loosed my bonds” (Psalms 116:16).  If we make our­selves avail­able to the Lord, if we allow the Lord to work through us, if we remain open to the mur­mur­ing of His Holy Spir­it, if we make our light avail­able to oth­ers we will expe­ri­ence peace, joy, and hap­pi­ness, not just in heav­en, but today, now.

Not the peace the world gives (a peace free from strife or dif­fi­cul­ty), but an inner peace that makes you feel good about your­self and what you are doing.

Not a jump-up-and-down joy that peo­ple think means that they are hap­py, but the joy of con­tent­ment and completeness.

A hap­pi­ness not found through earth­ly things, but a hap­pi­ness found in the free­dom achieved by knowing/understanding “that the tran­scen­dent pow­er belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthi­ans 4:7).

Lord, help us to do the ordi­nary things of our lives in an extra­or­di­nary way, by let­ting Your love shine through us and guide us in all that we say and do.