Somewhere along the way I saw a cartoon which showed a man kneeling beside his bed saying his prayers. "God," he says, "is there any way you can help me and make it look like I did it myself?"

We chuckle at that. Maybe the reason we don't laugh out loud is that it strikes close home. We are always playing tug of war with ourselves, our identity and worthiness. Assessing who we are and what is important to us is an operational need of all of us.

Our scripture lesson tells the story of how people understand worthiness -- how they look at what it is that makes a person worthy. It is the story of a people's perception of a man and his own perception of himself.

That's where I want us to center our reflection. What makes a person worthy? Or, how do you judge a person's worthiness?

I.

The f…