WATCHWORD:
Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man…Matthew 15:11,15-20
And again he denied it with an oath: I don’t know that man! After a little while those standing there approached and said to Peter, you really are one of them, since even your accent gives you away. Then he started to curse and to swear, I don’t know that man! And immediately the rooster crowed. Matthew 26:72-74
Meditation:
I Don’t Know That Man!
Consider this: Are we intentionally blind? Do we look away from need and pass by on the other side? Do we think that if we don’t see it, it never happened? Do we then chalk up our not seeing to ignorance. Then we trust our ignorance and tell ourselves it’s innocence. We trust our innocence and pride ourselves in our purity. Then, maybe, when we are called out by God, or circumstance, or our own conscience, we resent the implication. Maybe the truth is, we don’t resent it so much as we resemble the implication.
Do you ever have your conscience taking a little bite out of your pride, out of your self-satisfaction, out of your innocence? A little nagging from within? Maybe guilt nibbling away, just a tiny sting like a little splinter or maybe even something less, a tiny stone in your shoe. Bothersome, but it doesn’t change anything, or does it?
Not washing your hands before eating? Why that’s a sin, that’s more than a sin. To the Pharisees it will get you the death penalty, a stoning in the Gehenna Valley. The law was worshiped in all aspects of life, and not to conform would make you an enemy of the state.
Is that judgment still in place in our lives? Do I hear “No way!” Really? No way? Have you heard the phrase, if looks could kill. Ever been subjected to such a look? Painful! When we were children it was “sticks and stones may break our bones but words will never harm us”. And yet, we become harmed by the spoken word or the word not spoken.
We go through our everyday lives and turn away from injustice, homelessness, and our neighbors who have have no food to nourish soul or body. Yet, we allow our blindness to give us ignorance and our ignorance to get us beyond the pain of what we have seen, and what we should have done still nag at us.
What do you think of Peter? Three times he denied our Lord. Ever have this thought as you read that scripture: That could never happen to me! I would never deny him. So, you think you’re like the good Samaritan who did not pass by on the other side, but saw the need right there in the road before him, and acted? Did you respond to the knock at the door, the cry for help? How would you respond to the call from a friend at midnight or 1 o’clock, saying they need your help and they keep asking? You say, of course, until your resolve is tested.
I believe the truth is that we do deny our Lord, with greater frequency than we could ever admit. Step by little step, we drift from the way of the Lord. Every time we look away from need, every time we do not speak up, every time in so many little and large ways we say, in effect, I don’t know that man! Turning our back to what the Lord has shown us to do, to go and do likewise, and too often our answer is, Who, me?
That was heavy. I don’t apologize if I’ve caused consciences to nibble away. Frankly, it was on my heart because too often I have looked away, too often I have passed by on the other side, too often I have measured the need in front of me with how to protect my own comfort. It’s a hard thought, but worth thinking about it. So be it.
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, please keep nagging at us, keep bringing us back to your Word and to understanding. Bring us back, Lord, to the path that You have laid out for us, the one You died to give us. Help us Lord to be worthy of your sacrifice. Forgive us our trespasses and the multiple times one we have trespassed against our neighbors and people we have chosen not to associate with. Take from us Lord the biases, realign our pride with being proud of following Your in all that we do. W offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
