31 December 2013 - the last hour

I write to you not because you do not know the truth 
but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth.

We know the truth. We have the anointing from the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth (cf. Joh. 16:13). He takes from what belongs to Jesus and the Father and declares it to us. We read this. But doesn't it feel different sometimes? We are told we have a map but sometimes we feel as though we are just as lost as anyone.

We are invited to become who we are more completely. We are invited to embrace the anointing and guidance of the Spirit. He is pointing us back to the core of our faith. What the Spirit does in John the Baptist he also does in our hearts. He helps us to look at Jesus and hear the voice of the Father telling us who he is.

When we embrace the Word we hear the Father speaking we are protected from error "because every lie is alien to the truth." When we live in the truth we recognize that lies are alien. There otherness is evident.. The darkness can only pass as light when we take our eyes off the light long enough that they can adjust to the darkness.

Look up, says the Spirit. Jesus is the "true light which enlightens everyone". He is "full of grace and truth" and wants to give them to us. From him we receive "grace in place of grace". Sing a new song, he tells us. Are we singing yet? We have good reason to sing. We "have all knowledge" because the Word who was with God in the beginning has become flesh. We have life and light because the one who is life and light has come to us.

There are plenty of antichrists in our world today. We know this. They promise secular salvation. They promise alternatives to the cross where we can just follow our bliss all the time. They say that we can put ourselves first and the details will work themselves out. They promise alternatives to the grace and truth offered by Jesus. They are liars and the truth is not in them.

We need to stay in the light which shines forth from Jesus. The Holy Spirit testifies to this light in our hearts. When we are tempted to look away because the light is too bright he encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith (cf. Heb. 12:2). We stand in the truth by keeping our eyes on him. When we do this we see not only Jesus but also who we are in him.

But to those who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God, 

We become who we are by clinging to the truth of the Word we receive. We do this when we fix our eyes on the one who is the Word. We hold him before our vision. We see the truth of who he is and in turn the truth of who we are in him. When we see this we are protected from lies and errors. They are revealed as empty before the glory of Jesus. See what? This:

And the Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son,
full of grace and truth.

Are we singing yet?

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the LORD.

30 December 2014 - passing on the passing

Do not love the world or the things of the world. 
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

There is something better than the world. There is something more than "sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life". There is something lasting. The world is passing away.  Like grass it "withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever" (cf. 1 Pet. 1:25). If we're a part of that system we wither and fall with it, but "whoever does the will of God remains forever."

Anna embodies this. She sees the best the world has to offer. Yet even though she experiences the joy of marriage she experiences its briefness "having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage". Instead of becoming bitter at the world for being unable to satisfy her she turns more completely to the one who can.

She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. 

The temporary goods of this world persuade her both by their goodness and their shortness to turn more completely to God for fulfillment. Because of this she is able to recognize him when he is brought into the temple. She tastes a lasting and unconquerable joy.

And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

Her eyes are open because the "word of God remains" in her. The enemy tries to shake it from her with trials but she holds on to it. She clings even more closely to it. She lets the things of the world go but holds on to the lasting word which she has heard from the beginning. She hears that word whispered in the temporary good things. She holds it until the enduring and imperishable seed is revealed.

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God (cf. 1 Pet. 1:23).

So let us learn from her. We need to remember what we know: the LORD is king. When we know that he is king, when we know that our blessings have the source in him, our world is firm and not to be moved. We are able to be glad and rejoice because he rules us with equity. The blessings come and go, perhaps, but the king remains. This the the truth which makes us strong. This is how we conquer the Evil One. When this word remains in us we "remain forever" with our King.

29 December 2014 - true light shining

for the darkness is passing away,
and the true light is already shining. 

Simeon is able to recognize this light.

my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.

Our eyes are privileged to see it too. Do we recognize it? If we look at Simeon we can see how he is prepared to recognize the light when he sees it. What is his secret?

This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 

This sums it up. He is righteous, which means he keeps the commandments. "Whoever says, 'I know him,' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him." If we abandon the commandments we lose the truth. We become less able to tell light from darkness. He gives us his word and if we choose not to keep it our minds grow dark. It is as though we are given an ear to appreciate the highest music but allow ourselves to grow deaf by raucous noise. More base fulfillments cause us to detour from deeper joys.

But whoever keeps his word,
the love of God is truly perfected in him. 

This is how Simeon is righteous.  It is always a possibility for us. The word is given to us. It is spoken to us. We just have to hold on to it. We have to be good soil for it. We cling to it and abide in it. It isn't as though we find ourselves in darkness and silence and need to create light on our own or craft the word with or own cleverness.  Just as a blind man cannot teach himself to see and a deaf man cannot teach himself to hear, so to does a spiritual blind or deaf man have a predicament of which he cannot heal himself. But while the physically ill are not always physically healed the spiritually ill always receive the healing they need if they ask for it.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (cf. Jam. 1:5).

Jesus does not want us to live in darkness. He does not leave us in silence and isolation. He does not leave us abandoned. He speaks the word which opens our ears (cf. Mar. 7:34). He wants to enlightens the eyes of our hearts so that we may see the hope to which he calls us (cf. Eph. 1:18). When he does this, when we allow him to do it and do not reject the word, his Holy Spirit is upon us as it is upon Simeon. The Holy Spirit tells us that God does want to meet us in real life. He tells us where to find him. We just need to cling to the word. But even if we do sin and let the word by taken from us we know that "we have an Advocate with the Father" (cf. 1 Joh. 2:1). He wants to be seen and heard even more than we want to see or hear him.

Mary and Joseph embody the way to cling to this word. They hear the message proclaimed to them and they accept it and embrace it. In turn they embrace the word made flesh. The hold him close. They keep him safe when Herod wants to take him from them and kill him. From her fiat onward Mary embraces the word that is spoken to her by God. She treasures it in her heart. Because the word remains in her she is able to accept it and recognize the light in it even when it is not all sweetness.

Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
(and you yourself a sword will pierce)
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

We are invited to step more fully into the light this morning. We all let our senses be dulled in ways large or small. We rejoice that God wants to bring us his light anew this morning. This is the Christmas promise he makes to us. The light shines and the darkness cannot overcome it. Let us look to the one who is himself the light of mankind. And when we see, when our hearts are enlightened and our ears are opened by his power, we must proclaim!

Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.

28 December 2014 - family is more than familarity

We tend to think about family as something natural and not supernatural. We think of it is just another fixture of creation and not something specifically and specially intended by God himself. We think of honoring our fathers and comforting our mothers as merely natural virtues. But the family is an institution established by God himself.

God sets a father in honor over his children;
a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.

The blessings which accrue to us when we cherish it as such are also supernatural.

kindness to a father will not be forgotten,
firmly planted against the debt of your sins

Only when we live with this supernatural frame of reference can family by what it is meant to be. Mary and Joseph embody this. They know that their family is not their own. That is why their family is the Holy Family and therefore the model for all families. They know that none of their relationships belong to them. They know, especially, that Jesus belongs more to his heavenly Father than his earthly parents.

They took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord, 
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord

Because Mary and Joseph live this truth their eyes are opened to the deeper value of family life. They are given grace to see in their family deep truths which most people in our day miss. Simeon reveals some of these truths to them, but only because they first place their family in God's hands. Family is not merely natural. Because they approach it this way they are told things about their own child which amaze them.

for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and glory for your people Israel.

It is only because Abraham places lives his family life with reference to its supernatural origin and goal that it achieves its full purpose and destiny. He is able to offer Isaac to God not because of any way in which that naturally makes sense. He reasons that God can even raise Isaac from the dead if he wants to, "and he received Isaac back as a symbol." Because of his faith he receives the promise.

The Lord took Abram outside and said,
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.

The secret to a fulfilled family is faith. It teaches us to live a life that sometimes seems all too natural in a supernatural way.

Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,
bearing with one another and forgiving one another, 
if one has a grievance against another; 
as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.
And over all these put on love, 
that is, the bond of perfection.

We know from experience that we do need grace to have compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience even in difficult times. But if we put Jesus first, if we let his peace control our hearts, our families can be holy families too. Our family lives must be marked by prayer. He will dwell richly in us and teach us. Our family lives will be transformed into songs of praise and thanks to the Father.

Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.

27 December 2014 - filled in fullness

Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.

Jesus is the light that dawns for the just. He is the dawn from on high that breaks upon us this morning. He is the light of the world which the darkness has not and indeed cannot overcome.

No one has ever seen God before today. Before the morning when the dawn finally breaks upon us he is not been visible to us. He has been heard, but only in varied and partial ways by our ancestors (cf. Heb. 1:1). Now he speaks to us through Jesus. Jesus is the promise fulfilled (filled in fullness). He is the complete word, everything which the Father has to say to mankind.

He is the word of the Father, the word of life, but he is no ordinary word. He is word, but not merely a word. That's good. We aren't good listeners. God knows we aren't. He knows that we manage to miss and accidentally ignore even the most important things we hear. This is the same word which "was with the Father" "from the beginning". It is the same word the prophets tried to speak partially. But now, spoken in fullness it is at the same to "made visible to us". It is not just an abstraction. It is a word that we not only hear, but also see with our eyes and even touch with our hands.  It is as though we were once using textbooks which were good and contained much truth. But today the author of these great books now teaches the class directly. And he himself is the subject.

He is "the eternal life that was with the Father". Today we see just what that means. It is made visible to us. Eternal means that death cannot win. Darkness cannot win.

he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.

"The heavens proclaim his justice and all peoples see his glory" as this light dawns. In his nativity, in his life, in his death and resurrection Jesus makes the word of GOd concrete and visible to all of our senses. In the mass we hear "Behold the Lamb" and see Jesus himself lifted before us as we are invited to come forward and receive him. We are invited to touch the same savior who John proclaims.

so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

His light shines upon us. All we need to do is come forward and receive him. When we do he shines through us, spreading his light to the entire world.

26 December 2014 - seeing beyond

But he, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven
and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God

This is not what most of us do when people are infuriated and grind their teeth at us. We have difficulty looking at anything but the anger in front of us. We see the crowd and sense the impending danger. We spend so much time worrying about how we are to speak or what we are to say.

Stephen has trust in his Father in heaven that is stronger than his natural fear. He looks up to God for guidance. He is open to the Spirit of his Father speaking through him. How does he do this? How does he remember it in the heat of the moment? We have a fight or flight response that makes us either run or resist. Where does Stephen find this third option?

Stephen says, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." The words sound familiar because they are the psalmist today, "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." They are words which Jesus makes his own on the cross (cf. Luk. 23:46). Where does Stephen find these words when he is surrounded by a crowd seething murderous rage? We can't even find these words when we are cut off in traffic.

Yesterday we celebrated Jesus being born into the world. Today we see what it truly means for him to be born in our hearts and lives.  It is more than most of us are ready to accept.

We allow Jesus to come into us in partial ways. He stands at the door and knocks. We answer, but only invite him in to certain rooms. We have a nice chapel that he can see. We have a nice family room for entertaining. But we have these other rooms which could just as easily belong in a haunted house. What is down in that basement, anyway? Is that a laundry room? The mess is so great and the light so dim that we don't invite Jesus into those places. But Jesus does not simply want to be a guest. He wants to be family. And that means we can share all of this with him. There is a real sense in which this house is supposed to be more his house than ours. We can't hold back any of it. He is in fact that only way we'll ever get it all in order.

He wants to fill us so much that we share his own relationship with the Father. He wants us to cry out "Abba" because we are so filled with his own Spirit. He teaches us to trust in the way that Stephen demonstrates this morning, the trust the the psalmist embodies.

Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
for your name’s sake you will lead and guide me.

Jesus is born to the world. Today he asks us to allow him to be born in our hearts more than ever. He always wants to do more in us than we are willing to accept. The grace of a baptism is a limitless treasure. Jesus wants to fan it into flame today. Even if our hearts are just humble stables he wants to be placed in the mangers within. As long as he is at the center the rest of the details will work themselves out.

When Jesus is the center of our hearts to this degree his relationship with the Father will manifest. It will take us by surprise. It will not be like a skill we practice until we can even do it in hard times. It is a gift we are given. It is a grace that expresses itself even when we think it won't because of our human limitations.

Jesus is within us. Nothing marks the life of Jesus more than his trust in the Father. When the rooms of our house are dark and dirty, when the crowds are angry and frightening, Jesus gives us the gift of this relationship with his Father anew just as he does with Stephen. We are surprised that we are able to turn to him for the words we should say. But Jesus, standing in the center of our hearts, is ready to say in each of us, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."

25 December 2014 - nativity

What came to be through him was life,
and this life was the light of the human race;

Jesus is the light of the world. He is the dawn from on high that shines upon us. He is the LORD restoring Zion. He is the one whom the glad tidings proclaim. He himself is the content of the good news.

Until Jesus is born God seems distant. He seems like a God who is mainly "in the beginning" and not active in the dirty darkness of the present. Sure we hear from him through the prophets occasionally, but never with the directness we desire. It never seems to make the difference we need. There is so much darkness that the world always seems sliding back down into it. It claws toward the light but it seems futile. It seems like darkness is the truth and the light is a fleeting dream.

Today we learn that God is not distant. Today we learn the darkness cannot win. We learn that light is the deeper truth and darkness the passing illusion.

the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus shows us that he is the light. He puts to flight our fears of darkness. And byy the light of his own life and love he reveals the truth about the Father.

No one has ever seen God.
The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, 
has revealed him.

Because Jesus is "the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his being" we can no longer think of the Father as disinterested. We can no longer think of darkness as the deepest truth of reality. The most truly real thing of all is light and life.

Now that we have seen the saving power of our God, his wondrous deeds, and his victory over darkness we are free to embrace him.  We are now free to believe this testimony about the deeper truth of God. If we just put aside our doubts and misgivings and accept him he gives us the power to become "children of God", children of the same Father.

Jesus comes to us this morning. By the light of his coming he reveals the goodness of the Father from whom he comes. He invites us to share in this same relationship. He is cosmic, sustaining all things by his powerful word. But this morning he is revealed to us in the face of an infant. The deepest truths of light and love are revealed in the gaze of a babe.

Distant? Dark? No! Look at these eyes! Dispassionate? Aloof? No! See the gentle hands too small to grasp. See how he presses into the caresses of Mary of his mother. He longs to be so close to us all. This is the grace and truth he brings. This has been the plan from the beginning, when he was God and with God. But this morning the light shines! Bask in it! And then proclaim it!

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings glad tidings,
announcing peace, bearing good news,
announcing salvation, and saying to Zion,
“Your God is King!”

24 December 2014 - maranatha

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us

This is the dawn which breaks tomorrow. The Lord, the God of Israel comes to us. This is not merely a "one and done" historical event. This is the dawn which breaks tomorrow. The Lord not only comes for Israel. He comes for you and me. Israel knows what it is like to be in the power of their enemies. But so do we. Sin and death are our enemies. The Lord, the God of Israel comes to set us free. He frees us not just from the hands of humans who hate us, but from the hands of the Devil. And this is what his promise has always been. Even free from occupying forces like Rome the promise is not fulfilled. We are not free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. Simply being free from Rome still leaves a multitude of risks and causes for fear. But free from the hands of our true enemy we have nothing else to fear. He shines on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. It isn't that he just removes one thing which casts a shadow. He shines so brightly the whole valley is illuminated and all shadows flee.

And so we want him to find a place among us. We want him to have a dwelling place here. But we should learn from all that he does for us that we don't have the power to prepare a suitable place for him.

“Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to dwell in?
“‘It was I who took you from the pasture
and from the care of the flock
to be commander of my people Israel. 

We have not the strength to prepare a dwelling for a God so mighty and full of love as this. He is always with us, destroying the enemies of sin before us. He even destroys death before us. He makes us a place where we can dwell secure. How are we supposed to prepare a place for him? Yet we sense that the tent in which he dwells should be more. We long for him to have a throne suited to his majestic countenance. If this is to be the case he must make this dwelling place for himself.

I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his Kingdom firm.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.

He comes to us as the only begotten Son of the Father. In Mary he finds a new and better dwelling than the tent, and new and better dwelling than the temple. And at the same time he comes to Mary he unites himself to all mankind. God comes to dwell in the human heart. The invitation this morning is for each of us to allow him to dwell more in our hearts as well. We are to let him take on flesh more and more concretely in each of our lives. The conditions for this have been met. We see the place prepared, not by us, but by Jesus himself. To invite him more fully into our hearts we do well to unite ourselves to Mary. For Mary, and only Mary of all mankind, is perfectly united to Jesus from first to last. She knows the secret of being a dwelling place prepared by the LORD. She desires to teach us that secret today.

Indeed, it is as though we hear Mary herself singing "For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord." She invites us to learn the favors of the LORD and to join the song. With the liturgy today we pray:

O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.

23 December 2014 - O Emmanuel

“What, then, will this child be?
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.”

If this is the messenger then what shall be the message? He is like Samson, dedicated to the LORD from birth, announced by an angel, and born to a woman thought barren. He prepares the way of the LORD before him. He comes in the spirit and power of Elijah (cf. Luk. 1:17). Elijah is in many ways the prophet of prophets. At the transfiguration he represents all of the prophets of the Old Testament. But of all born of woman there is no one greater than John (cf. Luk. 7:28). One this great isn't here for his own sake? That should make us pay attention. Yet he must decrease so the one he proclaims can increase (cf. Joh. 3:30). He does not consider himself worthy to untie the sandals of the one whose way he prepares (cf. Mar. 1:7).

And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

This is the one who John proclaims. But there is a real reason we need such preparation. We don't want to be caught off guard by the one who comes. But why not? If he were simply a spiritual Santa Claus we would have no need to fear. But he is not.

But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?

Jesus comes so "that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD".  This is the "pure offering" which will be offered in every place "from the rising of the sun to its setting" (cf. Mal. 1:11). This is Jesus himself. But it is also us. "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (cf. Rom 12:1).


The point is that this isn't just something we passively experience. The child is born unto us. We are called, "Lift up your heads and see" but not simply so that we can look. He is not born just for us to look upon. He becomes a child that we may enter into his childhood and so become children of our heavenly Father. He is born for our redemption which is now "near at hand." It is so near indeed that it can be touched by our hands.  Our redemption has hands with which to embrace us. We are called to repentance. We are called to be so near to him that his obedience to the will of the Father marks our lives as well.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.

Just like Zechariah we all doubt at times. We aren't ready for God to meet us in our daily lives. We get caught up in business as usual. It steals our trust in God's power and our ability to proclaim his praise. The messenger comes to prepare our hearts this morning with new faith and hope. He comes to free our tongues to sing the saviors praises.

Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.

22 December 2014 - power lift

I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. 

When we feel a privation like this we often entreat the LORD about it just as Hannah does. She lacks a son so she asks the LORD for one. When the LORD grants our requests we often respond with thanksgiving and praise just as she does. However, now that the privation is filled we quickly return to our original plan. Our reference to God comes only in our need. Hannah deserves our respect in this regard.

Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.

This is not to be underestimated. She desires this blessing. She seeks it. She receives it. She receives the child Samuel. And now she offers him back to the LORD. In a way she is like Abraham. He seems to receive the fulfillment of God's promise in Isaac. Yet when the LORD asks it of him he is willing to give him back to the LORD. In some ways the offering to the LORD appears to cancel out the original blessing. But it never actually does. It always becomes more than it ever could if it was simply left to us.

We must not receive blessings and then become strong, or proud, or mighty, or rich. We must look at Mary. She is the most blessed of all mankind but she does not become proud. Even though she receives the richest blessing ever received she does not consider herself rich. She does not settle into some sort of self-sufficiency. She remains hungry for God's plan. She continues to live attentively to his will. She remains lowly even as she as lifted up to the most exulted role. Her secret? Her whole life is an offering of praise to God. Where we turn inward upon ourselves she turns out toward God with ever greater fervor and focus.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

We are blessed and run off on our own. Mary is blessed and presses onward toward the source of blessing. Let us learn from her example.

“The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes.”

Let our hearts exult in the Lord our Savior. If we treat the talents and blessings we receive and quantities once given, now limited, to be spent and managed for our own projects, by our own resources, and in our own strength we quickly run out though we once thought ourselves rich. The best part of the good news today is that if we find ourselves poor the LORD is ready to lift us up again.

“He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.”

21 December 2014 - resting place

David is at rest from his enemies round about. He is settled in his palace. And it seems he starts to feel guilty about it. His prosperity now feels separate from God. He has this part of his life that is pleasant and comfortable. He feels the need to reconnect it to God. It seems like a pretty good impulse, except:

Should you build me a house to dwell in?’

David may be forgetting that all that he now enjoys is a gift of God. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (cf. Jam. 1:17). When things become comfortable for us we must not forget the source of our blessings. We turn to the LORD in times of trial. But in times of blessing we must be thankful and remember the one from whom all blessings flow.

My kindness is established forever

His kindness is established forever. It is not just in the times of struggle. It is not just in the times of peace. It is forever. That means that there is no time where we need to reconnect with God by a project we begin in our own strength and by our own effort. The project may need to be done. The LORD indeed deserves more than a tent in which to dwell. But it is not our project. It cannot be our project. It must have its beginning in God and grow toward him as its climax and conclusion.

The LORD also reveals to you
that he will establish a house for you

The LORD doesn't need a temple. In truth, it adds nothing to his glory. It helps us to recognize and appreciate his greatness. It is something he allows us to have because of his love for us. So, even more than a house for himself, he wants to give us a house. We are the ones who live in pain and fear and doubt to which he is immune by definition. He wants to provide us with a place where we can live in peace. He is not content that we have rest from our enemies round about in the moment. He wants to give us a place where there will be no further disturbance.

I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.

The place is a person:

and I will make his kingdom firm.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me
Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.”

When we abide in Jesus and live as citizens of his kingdom we have peace that the world cannot give or take away (cf. Joh. 14:27). This is where he wants us to dwell: the heart of Jesus himself.

He himself prepares a dwelling place in the Virgin Mary which far surpasses any temple human effort can achieve..

He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

He comes first to dwell in our hearts through baptism. Just as with David, he has already taken the initiative in each of us. But also as with David he longs to be even more present within us. We cannot prepare this resting place for him on our own. He will build this house more fully within us if we just ask.

To him who can strengthen you,
according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,

His word in us empowers us to remain in him and he in us. It is grace from beginning to end. Let us join the praise of Paul:

to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ
be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Let our thanksgiving to God be continual. May it mark times of blessing and times of struggle. May glory rise to his throne without ceasing. When it does we need not fear running off to projects which God does not intend. We are open to all he wants to do in us.

Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.”

20 December 2014 - signed, sealed, delivered

God wants us to be ready. He wants to build expectation in our hearts.

Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!

This time he wants us to ask. We do not ask from a place of doubt. Not to ask is to doubt in this case. If we don't ask for this sign it means we don't believe in its possibility.

God wants us to ask for this sign. The fullness of time is at hand. The day of salvation is at hand. This has literally been in the works since the garden. History itself is God preparing for the moment that is now at hand. Ask for the sign! Don't be disinterested! Don't be doubtful! We usually ask for the wrong sorts of signs. We ask for signs that prove our own projects and agendas. God gives signs to prove his projects, not ours. And this is the project of projects.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.

Salvation history is filled with people who desire to ascend the mountain of the LORD and ascend to his holy place. But none have been able to do so. None of us have the sinless hands and clean hearts we need. But now the one who can stand in the holy place is at hand. Once there he offers himself for us all.

He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption (cf. Heb. 9:12).

This is the full meaning God wants to convey. Emmanuel is coming. He brings salvation in his hand. Let us ask for the sign so that our hearts may be open to welcome him.

Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.

Preparation is so important that even Mary needs to have a question answered. Even though she is full of grace God wants her understanding to be more perfect before coming to her.

“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”

This question does not proceed from doubt like when Zechariah asks something which sounds similar. She is consecrated to virginity. She doesn't see how what the angel says can come to true. Should she change her vows? She can't imagine that, either, and so she asks. She finds a ready answer.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.

And she receives still further preparation. There is not only historical precedent for this but there is even a sign in her own family to which she can look.

And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”

She is already full of grace. But now her heart is prepared. She does not fear to ask for the sign she needs and it is given her. God wants to prove his project. And because she is full of grace this is all it takes and she is now ready to play her part.

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

19 December 2014 - angelic messengers

In order that way may be "a people fit for the Lord." We need preparation. In fact, we need a lot of it. We not only need John ...

He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb,
and he will turn many of the children of Israel
to the Lord their God. 

... we need an angel of the LORD to prepare the way for him by announcing his birth to his parents ...

the angel of the Lord appeared to him,
standing at the right of the altar of incense. 

We need even more than this. We need a precedent for the whole thing. We are able to believe the angel that comes to Zechariah and Elizabeth because we know of the angel who appears to Manoah and his wife to announce the birth of Samuel ...

this boy is to be consecrated to God from the womb. 
It is he who will begin the deliverance of Israel
from the power of the Philistines.

God does not want us to miss what he is doing. Zechariah has sufficient preparation when the angel appears before him. He knows of plenty of precedent in which God overcomes old age and barrenness, not just with Manoah, but also Abraham himself. Zechariah should know about this stuff. But as he goes forward to light the incense maybe these are historical events are just stories for him. They aren't concrete enough to shape his own expectations.

We know even more than he does. We see things still greater than the birth of John from aged parents. We see the birth of Jesus from a virgin with no human father. Nothing is impossible for God. We are called to let all that God has done so far prepare our hearts for what he wants to do. This Christmas he wants to do more than we can ask or imagine. Yet we have every reason to believe that he can. Let's try not to be like Zechariah...

But now you will be speechless and unable to talk
until the day these things take place,
because you did not believe my words,
which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

Let us instead be full of trust in God. He wants his life to be even more fully manifested in the world and especially in each of our hearts. May he awaken our hearts by words which, to us, may once have been stories but which are in truth promises of things to come.

O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.

18 December 2014 - i'm stumped

I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;

David seems so promising at first. He is the great king under which God's people are united. For a time they are saved from their enemies and do dwell secure. But it is not to last. Not under David. Sin is still in his heart and in the heart of his people. Human kingdoms cannot withstand the destructive and divisive power of sin. David's kingdom cannot endure. In fact, it is so extreme that Jesse, his father, is said to be a stump. The whole project is dead on the vine before becoming what it is meant to be. This is true even though David is called "a man after my own heart" by God.

Everything seems lifeless now. When the greatest efforts fail they show all of history in stark relief. We look back to great efforts and near successes. But ultimately everything is marred with failure. True peace is never achieved. Wisdom seldom holds sway because tyranny and selfishness dominate. We do not and cannot dwell secure and united. We grow tired of thinking, 'This time, for sure.' We begin to give up. But fear not! God himself will raise up the shoot from this stump because on its own the stump is lifeless.

This life does come. It comes so unexpectedly that even the righteous miss it.

Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly. 

For that we may be forgiven. We aren't used to seeing new plants come from stumps. But the stump itself comes alive. The Spirit rains down like the dew fall upon Mary at her conception. Humanity is now a lifeless stump no longer. A shoot begins to grow. It comes alive within her and grows up and up toward the Father.

she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. 

Where the merely human cannot succeed God himself comes to our rescue. It is so amazing that we can't help but recognize it. Jesus does not have to insist on his own identity. It is evident. We ourselves name him:

This is the name they give him:
“The LORD our justice.”

He is the only one who can do this. He alone can be our justice. He along can be the basis for lasting peace. History proves it. Even the best are not up to the task. But for God nothing is impossible. And now, finally, he is with us:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.” 

Let us learn to call him "The LORD our justice." Let us our learn to call him Emmanuel. He is God with us and he is LORD. He is Adonai as we are taught to call him today. Because he is LORD he can be our justice, our hope, and the basis of true and lasting peace. Because he is Adonai he can also be Jesus, who "will save his people from their sins."

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous deeds.
And blessed forever be his glorious name;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

17 December 2014 - he brings it

"The mountains shall yield peace for the people"

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,

He is a real person with real ancestry just like us. We encounter not a nice ideal this morning but a person of history. But he is of course no ordinary person.

the son of David, the son of Abraham.

All of history leading up to him is prelude. History before him is promise and desire. History itself is literally shaped by God to this end as we might write a book.  Jesus is the fulfillment. Through his anointed leaders and prophets God teaches the people to hope for a messiah. He promises that all nations of the earth will be blessed through the line of Abraham (cf. Gen. 22:28). He promises a king in the line of David whose throne will rule forever (cf. Luk. 1:32-33). He promises:

The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his legs,
While tribute is brought to him,
and he receives the people’s homage.”

And look, the promise to Abraham and the promise of the Davidic king already combine in promise before they combine in fulfillment.

May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness. 

In him the afflicted are finally defended and the children of the poor are saved. He brings just judgment and "profound peace, till the moon be no more." The very "mountains shall yield peace for the people".

This anointed one, this promised one, this desired of nations, is Jesus Christ.

Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Jesus is the one anointed by God to fulfill every promise. However many the promises of God, Jesus is the yes to all of them (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20). We wait for his coming more fully in our lives. We long for him to reign more completely in our world. Do we doubt his power to make truly impactful difference in the world? Do we treat him as something subjective and unmeasurable, to make us feel nice, but lacking in power? Listen to the promises! Hope again!

Do we want justice in the world? He brings it.

Do we want fullness of peace? He brings it.

He brings good things and promises still more:

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (cf. 2 Tim. 4:8).

16 December 2014 -- change your mind

It is no good to be all talk. The second son presents himself as one who does his father's will. But he does not go. The talk amounts to nothing. This son wants the self-image of one who does his father's will but he does not do it. He represents the leaders of Israel who claim to be about the LORD's work but whose hearts remain hardened and who do not repent. He represents each of us every time we worry about looking Christian more than loving. He represents us when we choose appearance over substance. He represents us when we mask a hardened heart with pretty words.

On the other hand, even if our words are wrong right now, even if we are right in the middle of uttering our refusal to serve, it is not too late to change. We are not condemned by the words we are speaking right now. God always offers us the change and repentance. There are ways in which all of us are like this son. We have said to God, "I will not," in response to his invitation. He always wants to come closer to us than we are willing to allow. But the beauty here is in the simplicity of these lines:

The son said in reply, ‘I will not,’
but afterwards he changed his mind and went. 

Let us change our minds, let us repent of the ways in which we have said we will not serve, and let us go out into the vineyard. Let us not just say we will:

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth (cf. 1 Joh. 3:18).

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (cf. Jam. 1:22).

Prostitutes and tax collectors get this. Do we? Or are we too shielded by comfort? Let us recognize our poverty. Even surrounded by comfort we are unable to create peace and joy in our own lives.

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.

We need to realize that this world and the joys it offers are heart-breakers. We need to turn from them to the only one who can truly satisfy.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

When we allow the LORD to remove pride from our hearts, when we come before him in humility and take refuge in him, then we shall know the fullness of his blessing.

They shall pasture and couch their flocks
with none to disturb them.

He is good. He is faithful. His always offers his invitation. So let us bless the LORD at all times! May his praise be ever in our mouths!

15 December 2015 - star power

By what authority are you doing these things? 
And who gave you this authority?

Are we qualified to recognize authority when we see it? The chief priests and elders of the people are not. They are more interested in popular opinion then genuine authority. Jesus tests this by asking them whether or not John's baptism comes from God. Their response is entirely political:

“If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,
for they all regard John as a prophet.”

Rather than considering the truth of the situation they consider the consequences of each possible truth. They analyze them to find one which is best for their own agenda. But in this case neither option works:

So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.” 
He himself said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The crowds that follow Jesus are able to sense this authority of his in an intuitive way. They don't need to ask Jesus to prove himself. They simply hear his teaching and they are astounded, "for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes" (cf. Mat. 7:28).

Jesus does not argue the point with logical demonstrations and syllogisms. What words would suffice? His life must be the evidence. To prove that he has authority to forgive sins he cures the paralytic (cf. Mat. 9:6). He authority is proven when "He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him" (cf. Mar. 1:27). His full vindication comes by his resurrection from the dead. It is an amazing thing to claim that "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (cf. Mat. 28:18) and only the victory over the cross and the grave can truly back it up.

Jesus is a model for us. He is free to speak the truth because he isn't concerned with how it affects popular opinion. We are often so concerned about popular opinion that we can't even speak the truth. This is not to say we should say mean things or reveal that which is not ours to reveal. We try to speak words of encouragement that people need to hear (cf. Eph 4:29). But if we hold back it should not be out of pride, out of trying to maintain our positions in society, but only ever out of love.

If we live with integrity, our lives are better proof than our words can be. The two cannot be separated. We speak about those things which matter to us. If we do not speak about something it probably isn't important to us. We're trying to be like Paul. He certainly proclaims the gospel, and woe to him if he doesn't (cf. 1 Cor. 9:16). But along with that, he says, "my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God" (cf. 1 Cor. 2:4-5). Mere words are not enough, just as the Father's work through Jesus proves him true, the power of God is revealed in his work in the life of Paul.

God wants to be his own vindication and proof. Our cleverness is not essential. Hence the coming of Jesus is prepared by prophecy. It is therefore the very stars of the universe that proclaim him.

A star shall advance from Jacob,
and a staff shall rise from Israel.

When Jesus is coming into our own lives God will make sure we are able to see him. He himself will guide us to the manger. We need not engage the clever and the wise. We just need to look up to the light and follow it. Let us lift our eyes. The staff of the shepherd king is rising. It is this staff which promises comfort to us all. It is a message of "good news of greay joy that will be for all the people" (cf. Luk. 2:10). His authority is not something obscure. It is not available only to the clever. It shines upon the whole world. If we only care about popular opinion we are like the chief priests and elders. Our gaze is earthbound and trapped and we are unable to see the staff vindicating the authority of God, the star revealing the birth of the messiah. Let us lift our eyes to it.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.

If we come close enough to the light of this star it not only shines on us but through us as well. Our lives begin to reveal the truth of God. Our words carry his authority. This Christmas we experience something greater than Balaam.  We behold the Most High not far away but near to us. We behold, in fact, Emmanuel, which means "God is with us." Let us share this great gift of light we receive.

14 December 2014 - rejoice always, start now

Rejoice always.

Wait. Maybe occasionally, but always? Maybe once and a while we get everything so correct with our prayer and thanksgiving, with our discernment and progress in holiness that we can rejoice.

But that isn't actually the order of Paul's instructions to the Philippians. Rejoicing is the starting point. He tells us to rejoice even before he tells us to pray. Joy, then, is meant to be among the deepest characteristics of the Christian life. We hear it first so we don't mistake it for something we earn. We don't mistake it for something we work up in ourselves. We don't mistake it for something which is dependent on the circumstances of life. It is only dependent on one thing. The love of Jesus for us is the source of our joy. All we have to do is remain in that love. "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete" (cf. Joh. 15:11).

We are meant to be like John the Baptist who jumps for joy even in his mother's womb (cf. Luk. 1:44). He does not have this joy because his prayer life is just right or anything like that. He has it simply because of the proximity of Jesus.

I rejoice heartily in the LORD,
in my God is the joy of my soul;
for he has clothed me with a robe of salvation
and wrapped me in a mantle of justice,
like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem,
like a bride bedecked with her jewels.

The gift freely given is enough to give us joy even amidst the changing circumstances of this world. It changes our hearts from ones which are quiet and timid to ones that can't help but cry out to prepare the way of the Lord, just as John does. The joy of Jesus makes his way straight in our hearts. His joy lifts us from our overly self-referential perspectives and frees us to love God and neighbor with abandon.

More reason to rejoice? Just as the Spirit fills John, Mary, and even Jesus himself he also wants to fills us.

he spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and release to the prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the LORD
and a day of vindication by our God.

The year of favor is here. We celebrate it with the coming of Jesus at Christmas. He comes into this world and connects us to eternity. He frees us from the ups and downs that most time-bound creatures experience. He looks with favor on the lowly who can't find our make their own joy. He does great things, not for the great, but for those who fear him.

Let us leap with John, let us rejoice with Mary, for our king comes. We prepare a way for him with the joy he himself gives. And our joy is made full when we receive him.

13 December 2014 - sequelitis

In those days,
like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah
whose words were as a flaming furnace.
Their staff of bread he shattered,
in his zeal he reduced them to straits;
By the Lord’s word he shut up the heavens
and three times brought down fire.

Elijah for the Hebrew people is not just a religious figure. He is almost a comic book level superhero, as if Captain America and Billy Graham merged into one. He is one of the few people which scripture says never die. Instead he is "taken aloft in a whirlwind of fire". The fact that this one is coming back again "before the day of the LORD" seems pretty excited. If we missed the spectacle the first time we will finally get to see it with our own eyes.

But what spectacle do the Hebrews see?

John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

And this should immediately recall Elijah.

He wore a hairy garment with a leather belt around his waist.

But "they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased".

Perhaps the Israelites of the time are much like today's moviegoers. Maybe they have some very specific expectations of what an Elijah sequel is like. What they seem to want is actually just a rehash of the original. Maybe there is a character and a spectacle they want without muddying the waters by going deeper or speaking to our individual lives. Why muddy the waters by trying to mean something? Maybe we need more than special effects.

Yet this is the sequel that they are told to expect from the beginning. Elijah does put an end to wrath when he returns, but here is how:

To turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons,
and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.

John Baptist foregoes all the Elijah style special effects. His baptism is with water and not the fire that Elijah calls down? Why? Not because it is overlooked or forgotten. John has a simple message of repentance, "Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same". His purpose is not to steal the spotlight but to prepare the way for the one who is to come. People expect fire in the Elijah sequel. By talking about one to come who is greater than he, one who will baptize with fire, John elevates the messianic expectation. He decreases so that Jesus can increase (cf. 3:30).

Let us learn to recognize those whom God sends to us. Let us not be so insistent that the way he was working in our lives before is the way he works now. Let us instead remain open to the action of the Living God. John the Baptist appears on the scene to help us to build an even greater expectation for Jesus. If we don't get fire called down with John we hope even more strongly for it with Jesus. But at the same time John teaches us to be prepared to recognize someone who does not meet our expectations. Instead of a military messiah we welcome a shepherd of lost sheep. Instead of immediate victory we are confronted by the cross. But our expectation and hope need not waiver. The victory is coming.

May your help be with the man of your right hand,
with the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Then we will no more withdraw from you;
give us new life, and we will call upon your name.

12 December 2014 - Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today, we are invited to realize the great blessing we have in Mary. She is indeed "the highest honor of our race". As Wordsworth put it, "Our tainted nature's solitary boast".

What difference does one "deed of hope" make? We see that today. Mary trusts in God's word. She hopes in his promise. Even though she has no relations with a man, even though she is not planning on having any, she trusts the angel who tells her that she will somehow have a son. She hears that he will not only be her son but also the Son of God, ruler of the house of Jacob forever and ever. She hears that she herself will be filled with the Holy Spirit in a way that no one ever has before or since. And in response, she makes her deed of hope. In some ways it seems small. She just says yes. She says, "May it be done to me according to your word."

Her deed of hope is not only remembered but continues to bless us to this day. It is Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who takes Juan Diego under her mantle. It is her intercession that converts the Aztecs where missionaries could not.

See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,
and they shall be his people,
and he will dwell among you,
and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.

Mary's openness is enough. Even hundreds of years later God still blesses his people through her yes. He comes as man through her. He brings his presence to the Aztec's through her. It is all because of one small and seemingly insignificant yes.

The Aztecs were once closed and refused to say yes to God. Even the bishop of Mexico was slow to say yes. Mary knows the value of starting small because she considers herself lowly. She knows that it is the power of God that makes all things possible and not her yes. Because she knows, she first draws the yes from Juan Diego. She then works through him to draw a yes to God's plan from the bishop and even the Aztecs.

She wants to draw the yes from us as well. She wants to teach us that our yes is no small thing, that it may well be remembered forever.

Let us watch for her coming to us with anticipation and hope.

The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,
and he will again choose Jerusalem.
Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!
For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.

11 December 2014 - what we don't see

From the days of John the Baptist until now,
the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence,
and the violent are taking it by force. 

The enemies of the Kingdom have power to kill the body. They have power over those "who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (cf. Heb. 2:15). It is a difficult fear to see beyond. Even when we don't think that death is what we are afraid of it still hits us in small ways. Fear of change, of loss, and of failure are all symptoms of the fear of death. Power to kill the body seems almost like absolute power. It is the power to end life in the only form we know it. To transcend this fear and enter the kingdom requires hope because "if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance" (cf. Rom. 8:25). If we can't hope for what we do not see we are quickly turned aside by the sufferings which are all too obvious.

John the Baptist is the greatest person ever to live prior to the Kingdom. Even though he is a prophet and proclaims that which is to come he is still very tied to what he sees. When he is imprisoned and Jesus isn't quickly fulfilling the messianic expectations of the peoples John begins to question. Jesus responds to his disciples in this way: "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor" (cf. Luk. 7:22). In this way, he helps John to trust in what someone else has seen rather than his own limited perspective. He is transitioning from trust in what is seen to hoping for what he does not see. It is ultimately this hope that sustains him when he offers his life as a martyr for God.

There will come a time when we see and know for ourselves:

That all may see and know,
observe and understand,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.

But we to see it we must persevere through the violence of the enemy. We must persist through the hardships of life.

The LORD answers us. He does not forsake us. He opens up the rivers of the water of life on the the bare heights fountains of life in broad valleys for us to drink. His Spirit descends like the dew, turning the desert into a marshland, and his Precious Blood makes dry ground into springs of water. We become trees along this fertile river, growing in the joy of the LORD.

If we look around us and see a desert we should still trust in this promise. We must have a hope in the promise of God which is stronger than any suffering the world can throw at us. "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison" (cf. 2 Cor. 4:17).

This morning the LORD will "grasp your right hand" and says "Fear not, I will help you." As we hear this, don't we feel our hope becoming more and more solid? It is not just a vision in the distance but a reality that gives us strength.

He has been faithful before and he will be faithful again. Even now we give thanks, knowing that he is faithful to every promise he makes. We give thanks to Jesus who is himself the "Yes" to all God's promises (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20).

Let them make known to men your might
and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.
Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

10 December 2014 - all the rest

Our struggles are not hidden from the LORD. He isn't ignoring us. He knows that we labor. He knows that we are burdened. He wants to give us rest. He invites us, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart". Wait. Another yoke? More work? How can this be rest? Maybe he doesn't really know what we're going through after all. Maybe he's too wrapped up in his own projects to really care what we're going through. We start to perceive a God who offloads his job to his creatures because he himself grows tired. Nothing could be further from the truth.

To whom can you liken me as an equal?
says the Holy One.

The world remains in existence. It keeps spinning day to today. Our limits are not his limits. God certainly does not get tired from his effort...

The LORD is the eternal God,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint nor grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.

...so maybe we shouldn't expect him to give us rest in the way the world does, if there is no one like him as an equal. The world can only give rest by laying down yokes, by taking vacations, time-off, and sick days. If we take worldly rest someone else has to pick up the slack.

But God gives us rest by allowing us to share in his yoke which is easy and his burden which is light. Our burdens and loads are heavy and tiresome, tedious, boring, and exhausting. It amazes us to read that there is a yoke and burden which is easy and light. But if we just take Jesus at his word, if we accept the invitation, "Come to me" then we will for rest for our souls. But this rest doesn't look like worldly rest.

They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.

Even under the load of the yoke our strength increases. As we rise even gravity can't hold us down. He has given us wings to fly. Running doesn't wear us out. We are marathoners, ready to run the race with endurance, with the whole cloud of witnesses cheering us on and interceding for us (cf. Heb. 12:1).

Yet even God himself rests on the Sabbath. He commands us to enter into this day when we set all work aside. God has the power to give let us carry any burden indefinitely. So what is the true purpose of this rest? Why doesn't he just have us keep going? We know that if he wills it we won't grow weary. This Sabbath rest is about priority. It says that even though all of the work we do is important, even though it may be the yoke of Jesus himself, our priority must always be our relationship with him. It is just like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus. The yoke of Martha's serving is valid and important. But what Mary chooses is the "better part".

Let's praise God today because he does care about us. He dispels the myth of his indifference with the most amazing excesses of love.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.

Let us come to him and enter the rest of freely offers.

9 December 2014 - cross benefit analysis

What is your opinion? 
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray? 

What is our opinion? Are we willing to take the risk and pursue the one who is lost? It seems dangerous. What if another sheep wanders out the door while we are in pursuit of this lost one? We can see in Jesus that he will tirelessly pursue one then another, then another, until he has accounted for us all.

Maybe this is why there is more joy over the lost one who is found. Maybe there is potential in the ninety-nine to wander off that has now been eliminated in the sheep Jesus carries back. This sheep knows how bad it is to be lost. He knows how good it is to be found. He will not wander off again.

Maybe it is as the Church Father Bede suggests. He says that maybe "By the ninety-nine sheep, which He left on the mountains, are signified the proud to whom a unit is still wanting for perfection." Maybe there are mountains that still need to be leveled. Maybe these sheep have spirits that wander even while their bodies remain with the flock. Thus they are lukewarm and never fully experience the thirst that Jesus wants to satisfy.

But even if the sheep on the mountain are righteous, even if they have never and will never stray, it is still a greater thing to be redeemed by Jesus. Bede has something to shocking to say about this, too. "Wonderfully are the Angels made, but more wonderfully man restored." Even if the ninety-nine are angels they still lack the privilege of the sheep carried on the shoulders of the shepherd. The blessings of the incarnation and of the Eucharist are given in love to the lost and fallen.

We are counseled to throw away regrets today. We are blessed to have been lost so that we may now be found. We recall the words of the Exultet.

O happy fault
that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer!

We rejoice that where sin abounds grace abounds still more (cf. Rom. 5:20). We are made to sing a new song to the LORD, a song which Adam and Eve would never guess from the vantage point in Eden. We sing not to glory in the sins of the past but to marvel at greatness of the love God displays in not only setting things right but in lifting us up higher than when we began.

Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

This Christmas Jesus wants to come closer to us than ever before.

Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.

We are all still lost in ways large or small. He wants to seek us out. He does not lose sight of us amidst the ninety-nine. The sheepfold will never be complete without each of our hearts. Let us prepare the way for his coming in our hearts.

Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!

If our hearts are a wasteland, if they are impassable terrain, we ought not give up. Even if we aren't civil engineers and can't move much dirt we ought not give up. It is not our efforts that raise us from the valleys of despair or lower the mountains of pride. It is our lost hearts that draw the Savior to us and we to him. As we are lost it is the experience of desire and hope that prepares his way to us. Let us fan this hope into flames today!

They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.

8 December 2014 - conception clarity

"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."

Today we celebrate the meaning these words imply. Full of grace. This is something which is so uniquely characteristic of Mary that it is her name as far as the angel is concerned.

This is so striking because man is not full of grace in this way. He eats from the tree of which God had forbidden him to eat. He is compelled by "peer pressure" or "societal pressure" into doing something which he knows he ought not do. He realizes he is naked. He knows now that something is amiss. He has to conceal himself to protect himself from being exploited by others.He must be vigilant to not exploit them himself.

Yet even at this first sin of our first parents the hope of the feast we celebrate today is hinted.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.

However, it is not immediate. God does not delay, as we know, but in his patience and mercy he waits for the fullness of time (cf. Gal. 4:4). Eve is the mother of all the living, but not really. She is the mother of all but until today's feast we are not truly alive. In a real way, Eve is merely the mother of the walking dead. The world waits for the one who is truly the mother of all the living because "her offspring" are "those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus" (cf. Rev. 12:17). This is the one about whom Jesus says, "Behold your mother" (cf. Joh. 19:27).

Mary is the pinnacle. She is the fulfillment of God's plans for man in the most perfect way. We all thank God "who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens". But Mary is "holy and without blemish before him" from the first moment of conception. We hope that this blessing will one day completely fill our own lives. Mary is lifted up today to be our exulted model and pattern. She reveals what is possible for those who trust in God completely. No longer must we wonder, what would it be like if we didn't fail this time or that time. No longer must we look at the failings of even our greatest heroes and wonder what if, what might be possible. In Mary the fullness of possibility for man is attained and displayed.  

The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.

In Mary the woman and her seed finally strike at the head of the serpent. Women typically don't have seed in Hebrew thought but with Mary there is no other way to put it. There is even a hint of the virgin birth in Genesis. Most people confuse this birth for the Immaculate Conception which we actually celebrate today. But the Baltimore Catechism reminds us what the Immaculate Conception truly is:

The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merit of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her Immaculate Conception.

Maybe we can use this common misunderstanding as a small way to proclaim God's marvelous deeds today. This hope that we have in Mary, this vision of human fulfillment should be cause for us to rejoice. It is so wonderful. How can we do anything but share it?

In him we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.