Some thoughts for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Rebekah, Sin in Romans and Matthew 11

The Sower by Vincent van Gogh

The scripture readings for this Sunday focus on discernment and how we make choices that align with God’s vision for a restored world

In the Genesis reading Rebekah actively chooses generous hospitality by watering both a stranger and his camels. When invited to leave her homeland to marry a man she has never met, she boldly chooses the possibility of a new life.

In Romans Paul continues his discussion around Torah describing it as given to allow God’s people to be righteous – to be faithful to the ever present and eternally faithful (righteous) God working to redeem humanity and restore creation. He examines our inner, warring motivations and how we have turned Torah into a tool for self-righteousness, exclusion, and measuring personal worth, ultimately losing God and forgetting God’s covenant all of which prevents us from embracing a different life.

And in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus offers a hash critique of those who oppose both John and him – the self-important, "worldly-wise" leaders who protect the status quo. He compares them to immature children unable to see God's work. Conversely, Jesus reveals a new, inclusive kingdom to the silenced and invisible held up as blessed in the Beatitudes, who—like Rebekah—have the courage to say yes.

The readings challenge us to examine what truly motivates our daily decision-making:

  • Are we making choices to protect the world as it currently is and preserve our own comfortable place within it?
  • Or do we have the courage to glimpse a different world and actively join God’s work to bring it into being?

 

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