How Much More!

Inspired by Bishop Rob Wright’s weekly practice of writing a 150-word reflection on the upcoming Sunday’s lectionary readings, I’m going to try to write a reflection on the readings each week in 250 words or less…

How Much More!
Pentecost 3 – Year A  – Proper 7 (Track 1) – June 21, 2026

Genesis 21:8-21
Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39

Ironically, Jesus’s message for us this Father’s Day is, “I have come to set a man against his father” (Matt 10:35); and if that’s not enough to dampen our enthusiasm for this holiday, we also have a story about a father sending his toddler out into the wilderness with only a canteen of water. These readings are clearly urging us to prioritize our devotion to our heavenly Father over our earthly fathers.

At the same time, we know that God calls us to honor our earthly fathers (Ex 20:12) and Jesus invites us to see the generosity of our earthly fathers as a glimpse into the vastness of divine generosity: If even wicked fathers give good things to their children, then how much more will our heavenly Father give good things to us! (Matt 7:11). Jesus often uses this method of rabbinic argumentation, called kal v’homer, which states that if a principle applies in a minor (light) situation, then it logically must apply even more so in a major (heavy) situation.

This same method is implied in this Sunday’s Gospel in which Jesus teaches that if our heavenly Father oversees the sparrow, then how much more does He surround us lovingly with the utmost care. So, this Father’s Day, we are invited, in the words of the beloved hymn, to “rest on the goodness” of our Abba; and to sing because we’re happy and sing because we’re free, “for His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.”