Force Multiplier
Monday of the Second Week of Lent
Luke 6:36-38
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030226.cfm
We all have a way in which we see the world. For a judgmental person, the world is judgmental. For a generous person, they will most likely see the world as being more generous than one who is not. The more we act in a certain way, the more we’ll observe that way around us. Before I was a runner, I didn’t notice all the runners. Once I became a runner, I was more likely to see runners around me. I became more cognizant of races happening in the area and even things like shoes, other running gear, and running resources. By acting in a certain way, we pick up on those things more in the world. In a similar way, I’m involved in a community theater so I’m more likely to pick up on plays and musicals within my area than sporting events. Even the algorithms on social media have picked up on and been designed around this concept of human experience. We’ll see the world more through the lens of what we put into the world.
If a person takes an action expecting something in return, they’re focused more on getting that something in return. If I am only generous because I want someone to be generous with something to me, I’m not truly being generous, I’m being transactional. I don’t see Jesus’s gospel as being transactional even if it may appear that way on the surface. We shouldn’t forgive in order to be forgiven, we should forgive because it’s the right thing to do. It’s what Jesus said in the first part of today’s gospel. Jesus calls us to be merciful as God is merciful. This concept precedes Jesus’ use of cause and effect within the passage. Our motivation should be to act a certain way because it is the right way to act. Even within the prayer Jesus taught us, we ask God to forgive us as we forgive others. We don’t demand it of God.
As we individually put less judgment and condemnation into the world, there will be less judgement and condemnation in the world. Our actions have a tendency of multiplying themselves. Hate begets hate as love begets love. As we are more forgiving and more giving, the world becomes more forgiving and more giving. Which, in turn, makes it more likely that we’ll be a recipient of forgiveness and gifts from others.
Our actions are force multipliers. Our actions make us become more observant of those actions, increase those actions in the world, and make it more likely that others will treat us in a similar way. While Jesus doesn’t mention it in this passage, I believe this passage is about the kingdom, or reign, of God and our role in it. We are called to act as God acts. The reign of God is through God’s activities being fully alive in the world through us. Through our activity, the world will eventually hit a tipping point where God’s reign becomes actualized and truly relevant. Making God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven is achieved by us opening ourselves to God’s work through us. May we take on the call and increase God’s presence in the world.
