Matthew 12:33-37 — “Speaking”

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34, NRSV)

Going to dinner with new friends is always a telling experience for me, because how these potential friends treat the wait staff is a telling experience. If these people treat the wait staff as people and as valuable, I know they are good people with good hearts. If these people treat the wait staff poorly and barely acknowledging them, then I know we will never be friends.

I truly believe that how we treat the people with little power is how we are with the world and how we really feel about humanity. If we speak down to the wait staff we may feel we are better than everyone else. If we ask questions and engage the wait staff, we probably enjoy most people in the world.

Treating all people with respect is what Jesus reminds us to do throughout the Gospels, including the people we might not like.

Great and loving God, help me remember that everyone needs love and respect, even the people whom I don’t like.  Amen.

– Pastor Nancy Tuma, First Presbyterian Church, Falls City, and First Presbyterian Church, Hiawatha, KS