Beatitudes: Going from night to day - part 2

Before I go on to consider the rest of the Beatitudes, I want to write a little bit more about grace, faith and doing good.

I see two extreme positions:

• I need to do enough good things to be accepted by God, to pay my debt to him. 
• I don't need to do anything - God's grace is it, all I have to do is say "yes, I accept it".  Nothing good from me is part of the equation. 

I find both of these positions ludicrous. God has given us infinite amounts of his grace, and he requires finite responses. I can't bargain with him, as I have very little to offer - and I also can't sit there self-satisfied that I have no obligations in my relationship with him. 

The best quote I've read on this is from St. Isaac the Syrian (700 A.D.): Be a herald of God’s goodness, for God rules over you, unworthy though you are; for although your debt to Him is so great, yet He is not seen exacting payment from you, and from the small works you do, He bestows great rewards upon you.

Do I need to respond to God's goodness to me by doing good? Of course I do...

Jesus said: For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Later on, Jesus elaborated on his teaching in the parable of the unmerciful servant:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

If I truly believe in God's love and forgiveness toward me, I will show love and forgiveness towards others.

I don't think by any means I have all this figured out. The point for me is to wrestle with it. I will always take the direct words of Jesus - God himself - as my main input, above anything else.

The next three Beatitudes are about doing those good things God desires.