Thought for Today
Genesis 1:8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
Mark 12:31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
John 4:53 The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Greta was the second child born to her parents. I was the second child born to my parents. Coincidently, we are both middle children. The word ‘second’ appears more than 160 times in the Bible. Yet in our culture, being second in anything is usually valued lower than being first and is often disparaged. We have adages like, “In a 2-person race, finishing second is finishing last,” and “In a 3-person race, finishing second is being next to last.” The second-place finish in a Presidential race ensures that one’s name quickly disappears from the news.
It is easy to forget that the sky was created on the second day. Where would we be without the sky? Today is the first day of the second month. For Noah and every other human in existence on the first day of that second month, that day set the countdown for the Flood at 17. For that father, ὁ βασιλικός in Greek or ‘official’ in English, Jesus’ second sign had more meaning than Jesus’ first sign.
I thought about this today, because our son came by for coffee. Greta and I have two children. Our daughter was born first and our son second. They were both wonderful children to raise and both have been successful in their careers. They were both good students and have both been good parents to our grandchildren. Other than birth order, I cannot truthfully say that being first or second has been of any particular significance.
Why are we so dismissive of being second in anything? There are certainly financial implications to being second in bringing a new product to market. There are financial implications to being second on a company’s organization chart. There are also power implications to being second on that organization chart. Obviously, as mentioned above, being second in a Presidential race or any other political contest is a less than desirable outcome.
Do we devalue and disrespect second place because we use different metrics and measurements than God? When asked about the most important Commandment, Jesus did offer as first, "Matthew 22:37 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the greatest and first commandment.” He followed that, however, with “39 And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'” In the metrics of our faith and our relationship with God, second place is “like” first place.
Maybe (!?!) there is a lesson for us all in Jesus’ words. Maybe we should stop trying to value people or events in terms of winners and losers. Jesus tells us that loving our neighbors is “like” loving God. And, Jesus qualifies and quantifies that love as “with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Not, ‘love the winners,’ not ‘love the first,’ just love. And, love with all you have and are. Love each other as much as you love God and as much as you love yourself. Greta and I find it easy to love our children equally, to value each one of them for who and what each one is. That is, or should be, the goal of all parents. We just all need to extend that attitude to all of God’s children, all the members of God’s family . . . all our neighbors.
Stay safe, love, trust God,
Pastor Ray