This week’s Gospel readings are taken from Luke’s Sermon on the Plain, a sort of mirror memory of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount which is more extensive and complete. The Sermon on the Mount or the Plain is a description of a basic plan for Christian living and conversion. It is probably one of the sections of the Gospel that we like to skip over and ignore. We tend to edit out the parts that we don’t like or that seem too extreme to us.
Today Jesus ties together our daily Christian life to our judgement day. Jesus calls his disciples to non-violence to the extreme of encouraging them to renounce even self-defense. He also calls his disciples to live extreme generosity and detachment from material goods. These are probably the two points in the Gospel that cause most debate and controversy. Everyone has their own interpretation, qualifiers and nullifiers for this part of the Gospel. But the truth is we cannot deny, skip, or get around this part of the Gospel and still call ourselves Christian.
Then Jesus goes on the speak about final judgement. Usually, thoughts of our final judgement produce fear and trepidation in us. We are not sure of how we are going to be judged. The pagan gods were whimsical and capricious with unknown criteria for their actions and judgments. The end of live and the final judgement day sparked terror.
Jesus is the living son of God and here he is opening up for us a glimpse into the mind of God the Father and his intentions for human life and judgement. Jesus is the way back to truly human life in communion with the will of God. The criteria for our final judgement are no longer unknown. Jesus has spelled things out very clearly and then went on to live out those criteria in his life, especially on the Cross.
The measure and criteria that we use in our daily life with others is the same measure that will be applied to us on our last day. God has shared with us an abundant overflowing measure in our lives. As Jesus says, we have received an outpouring of grain onto the basket in our laps. If we apply that same measure to our lifestyle with God and others, we will receive an abundant judgment of mercy and generosity in the last day. Traditionally we call that heaven. If our life with God and others is based on abuse, violence, stinginess and self-centeredness, then our judgement will be based on those same values. Traditionally we call that hell.
Each day of our lives we are constructing our own last day of judgement. Little by little each day of our lives we are weaving our own life and our life after death. In life we our weaving our life in heaven united with God or our life separated from God. Our life in haven begins today using the measure of mature, generous love and self-giving shown to us in the Cross.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.
Image: CANVA CJ Dunn 06 September 2026 AI Generated.