Others had said: “Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.” That is perhaps the basic “law” of manners and politeness. Jesus, characteristically, goes beyond this: “Do to others….” His message and His life go beyond “Thou shalt not…” to “Do …. ” Can we appreciate how this is both encouraging and demanding at the same time?
Jesus asks us to go the extra mile, He asks for more than the minimum that justice requires. He told His first-followers and He tells us, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” And He says, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Yet with those who try and fail He is always full of sympathy and compassion. He always invites us to get back up and take advantage of a “second chance.” He promises that He will not reject anyone who has failed – and comes back to Him.
Jesus taught us one simple prayer, which we call the Our Father or the Lord’s Prayer. It is a simple prayer, and it is quite short. As we pray it today, let’s be sure to take adequate time to ponder the words we use to ask God to “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We can rattle off this prayer with ease, but if we were to take an extra moment today we might find that it is pretty demanding, too.
