Different Strokes

Learning how God the Father loves us all

08/25/2021

Mt 23:27-32 Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

All parents love their children equally but that does not mean they love all their children in exactly the same way. Like the old proverb teaches: “Different strokes for different folks.” So, for example, parents may be a little tougher and more demanding from their firstborns. Have you noticed that? Why? Well, they expect them to set a good example for their younger siblings to follow. Most firstborns, therefore, turn out to be super responsible persons later in life.

At the other end of the spectrum of siblings, parents tend to be gentler, milder and more lenient with the littlest child. Why? Well, parents may feel they could not give their full time and attention, love and energy to the youngest of the tribe (and because they’re exhausted), so they let them get away with more. Sadly, therefore, the youngest sibling sometimes turns out somewhat spoiled. Regardless of the results, though, there is no question about a parent’s love for all their children: they would lay down their life for their children.

In the gospel today, we hear Jesus using some very “different strokes for different folks,” namely, the Pharisees. Some of the toughest talk to come from our Lord’s lips is aimed at the Pharisees in Mt 23, when he says scathingly: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.”

Do you remember how different Jesus’ demeanor was in Jn 8 to the woman caught in adultery, whom the scribes and Pharisees wanted to stone? He was merciful and forgiving. Why, then, did Jesus not show the same mercy and forgiveness for the Pharisees? Well, for the same reason that parents tend to be tougher on their firstborns and a little more lenient to their last borns. They love all their children equally, but they do not love all their children the same. Why? Simple: different strokes for different folks, and some strokes are tough, while other strokes are tender.

My friends, this parenting prerogative may also provide a little window into why God seems to treat us, his children, so differently. Of course, the oldest question haunting humanity is why do the innocent suffer? The entire Old Testament book of Job was written to try and answer that question. And the answer we hear is: God is God and you are not, so stop asking such questions. Or, put plainly, it is like some frustrated fathers and mothers who say sharply, “Because I said so!”

But with the dawn of the New Testament, and the coming of Christ, we begin to see the face of the loving Father. Jesus answered Philip in Jn 14:9, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” And what human parents do imperfectly in loving their children, God the Father does perfectly. In other words, if human mothers and fathers apply different strokes for different folks, so, too, does God, but he does it flawlessly.

So, if you feel God is being tough and demanding of you and calling you to carry a heavy cross, then realize he loves you and has high hopes for you, like a father does for his firstborn child. After all, isn’t that exactly how God the Father treated his firstborn Son, Jesus? The different strokes of the Roman soldiers’ lashes were not tender.

On the other hand, if you feel overly blessed by God, that things keep going your way and turning up roses, that Someone is watching over every one of your steps and not letting you stumble, then thank God for the tender strokes of his gentle love. But also be careful you do not get spoiled. That is, do not take God’s grace for granted. You do not want those strokes to go from being tender to becoming tough.

The point in all this is simple: all parents love their children equally, but they do not love them the same. When we hear Jesus being so tough on the Pharisees – and maybe feel God is being tough on us – it does not mean he loves us any less, it just means he loves like like all his other children.

Praised be Jesus Christ!