by Carol Conway

Psalm 25:3-10
The Prayer of Azariah 2-4, 11-20a
Matthew 18:21-35

Psalm 25:3-10
The Hindus believe we are all three persons: the person other people think we are, the person we think we are, and the person God knows us to be. In Psalm 25, I hear a call for the revelation of the self God knows us to be, the person who wants to follow God's ways and paths. We ask our merciful God who has steadfast love for us to remember who we are now, not who we were before, when we were not following His paths. But we will have to be humble in order to become that person, since becoming requires change and change requires humility in the recognition of our own imperfections.

The Prayer of Azariah 2-4, 11-20a
"Then Azariah stood still in the fire and prayed aloud." In the fire of our everyday lives, do we simply stand still confirming that God is just in all he does? Even worse for me than the thought of standing still in the fire is the thought of God drawing back from me, of separating Himself from me. "For we … are brought low this day in all the world because of our sins." This is as true of us now with the war in Iraq as it was of the Israelites then. I feel that I have "no ruler, or prophet, or leader … or oblation," so I can make an offering before God and find mercy. I cannot win the war in Iraq, stop prejudice, poverty, hunger, global warming, the issues are all too great. But if I stand still in the fire of my life and listen with my heart, I can win the war in myself and begin to be the person God knows I am and act accordingly with the people I meet day to day. And again, there is the need for humility, to have "a contrite heart and a humble spirit" and our contrite hearts and humble spirits will be our "burnt offering" so we can "unreservedly follow God, for no shame will come to those who trust in Him."

Matthew 18:21-35
In Matthew's gospel about the slave who had no mercy on his fellow slave after his lord forgave him, we must confront the difficulty we have in forgiving others. It is stated very clearly for us. We must forgive our brothers and sisters from our hearts if we want God to forgive us or we will "be tortured until (we) pay (our) entire debt." Once again we must stand still in the fire, humble our hearts, and move beyond perceiving the world through only our knowledge and experience, imperfect information, imperfectly remembered. We must become the person God knows us to be. For me this means I must not just forgive those who sinned against me, but also "forgive" people for being different from me, allow their knowledge and experience to fill out more completely who I am and the reality of God's world. This is not an easy task. It's easier for me to blame some one else, or some event, for what has happened to me. It's not my fault that this or that happened to me but it's your fault for being who you are. Instead, I must stand still in the fire and learn who I am in God's eyes and humbly let Him teach me His way.

"When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he cured them there." And He will cure us too. Like Azariah, we can pray, "Do not put us to shame, but deal with us in your patience and in your abundant mercy." And His love and mercy are boundless, He who gave His life for our salvation.