[ Today's Readings ]
What is it within us that tends toward jealousy? We envy the blessings given to others.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.
We believe that God is holding out on us. We cling desperately to what we have because we are unable to entrust it to God.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Whatever it is that we're trusting in rather than God and clinging to for security can really get us upset if there is even the slightest suggestion that it might be taken from us. In fact, this is how we can figure out where we cling too tightly. What are we unwilling to lose? What will we cling to almost violently in our own lives?
This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.
This is the jealousy that makes Adam and Eve suspect God is holding out on them in the garden. It is the same jealousy that condemns Jesus to the cross. We all are party to it at times. The call this morning is to fully entrust the fruit of our own harvests to God, holding nothing back, trusting him completely, and not comparing ourselves to anyone. Comparison is the beginning of a trap wherein we assume we know what each person needs more than God knows. Let's surrender that. Let's trust that God knows best. Let's hold nothing back from the one who did not spare his only Son but gave him for us all. We surrender ourselves into God's hands with great confidence knowing that our vindication is sure.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
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