Who are you Responsible to? - November 6
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 56, 57, [58]; PM Psalm 64, 65; Neh. 6:1-19; Rev. 10:1-11; Matt. 13:36-43
In preparation for an online group I am leading this month (just send me an email if you are interested in joining), I’ve been working through a profound book called Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most. The book is based on the most popular undergraduate class at Yale University, a class taught by theologians and trying to answer the deepest question we should all seek to answer: “What is a life worth living?” As the teachers have tested the class in some unique environments, it might not surprise you to know that some of the most thoughtful engagement has been at the Danbury Federal Correctional Institution where students truly understand the distinction between “what I want” and “what’s truly worth wanting” as the students almost uniformly realize they have wholeheartedly been pursuing a mistaken vision of life for a period of time.
The larger question is broken into smaller questions, one of which was a late addition to their material. In the middle of a semester, a young Jewish woman who would go on to become one of the first women ordained as an orthodox rabbi, listened attentively to the conversation, and then asked the question, “Who are you responsible to?” The class, professors included, were dumbfounded. Undeterred, this student shared that she “considered herself responsible to her whole community and to God who gave the Torah to that community.” She continued, “In principle, her failure to observe Shabbat or keep kosher would be a failure to hold up her responsibility to her community and to God.” For her, responsibility changes everything.
I’ll admit, that I find her argument compelling and considering the question and its implications on my own life. I find much of Matthew’s Gospel challenging, especially passages like today’s where we hear judgmental language such as “Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age,” or “and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” If these passages were taken alone, they would certainly fail to capture what it means for us who believe in the all-loving God who destroys death and cares and loves all of God’s children.
However, the imagery certainly is powerful and maybe worth considering if it at all inspires us to reflect on our own responsibilities and why it is so important to answer the question, “Who are you responsible to?” What are the consequences of failing to love God and to love our neighbor? Maybe the consequences are what we are experiencing with the magnitude of pain and suffering in this world today. This means when we don’t live up to our responsibilities, there are painful consequences that impact us all.
Who are you responsible to? Family, yourself, your community, humanity, or God?
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: Who are you responsible to? How can this question be helpful in your own faith journey?