The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Our passages today are full of practical wisdom that is easy to read and overlook as general platitudes but is, in fact, very important when we consider why we are called to do these things. Through our readings today, God reminds us that He has given us statutes and ordinances to follow, most significantly but not limited to the Ten Commandments. We are called to live blameless lives, speak the truth, and be slow to anger. We are also instructed to rid ourselves of unrighteousness, among other things. But why? Are these just better ways to live? Is it simply nicer?

I think it’s too easy to write these things off as optional, as suggestions for living a better life instead of mandates from God. But these passages are clear about why we are called to live in these ways. “So that you may enter and occupy the land.” So that you “shall not be overthrown.” So that God’s righteousness can be cultivated in our lives. These statutes and deeds are how God’s promises are realized in our lives; these first fruits indicate the work of God in us, and their absence signifies an emptiness in any religiosity. The Ephesians passage sums it up nicely as it warns us of the significance of apathy toward these things, contrasting doers vs. hearers of the word and warning those who are religious but do not obey.

It’s easy enough to be religious. But without the fruit of the Spirit and obedience to what God has called us to, it’s just cheap talk.

- Evan Bassler