Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these....
Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” Matthew 19:14, 24-26 (NIV).
This
morning is June 4. We are now into summer. I am much more likely to
have a sense of gratitude in spring rather than summer. After the
cold, dormant season of winter, I am grateful for the warmer days and
fresh new life of spring. After a time my sense of gratitude seems to
inevitably flag and wilt under the heat and stresses of summer. This
reminds me of Jesus's comment about children in their springtime of
life. Children have yet to amass the freight of a jaundiced attitude
brought on by tired familiarity and complicated by stultifying status
accretion or the lack thereof. Wonder has yet to be replaced by
cynicism or despair, or contrarily by solidified ideology and
stultifying entitlements supposedly earned entirely through our own
efforts. As the rich can lack a generous spirit, so can others who
are wealthy in many ways other than money. And the zinger is that the
lack of wealth is certainly no guarantor of righteousness. It is
difficult for the self-righteous, envious, and resentful (however
rich or poor) to enter the kingdom of God. Sometimes I think we need
a fifth season – a season filled with wonderment and anticipation
like spring yet conditioned by the full light and greater heat of
summer. It should also include some joy of the harvests of autumn and
even a glimpse of death inherent in winter. The season since it would
be synoptic would be called synopsis. Synopsis is in fact alive and
well existing within the fellowship of believers.
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