19 April 2014 - live with him
God blessed them, saying:
“Be fertile and multiply;
fill the earth and subdue it.
Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air,
and all the living things that move on the earth.”
We are unique amongst the whole creation in that we are made for our own sakes. Creation is good and we must guard it precisely as the gift to us that it is. Only after the sixth day when we are made is the creation not just good but very good.
Yet we treat created things as our masters. Rather than beholding the fruit which we aren't meant to eat we allow ourselves to be coerced to wickedly reach out and take it. This is the pattern for all sin. Lesser things begin to dominate the higher. Rational beings are subservient "according to the elemental powers of the world and not according to Christ."
When we relinquish our role as steward-rulers of creation the connection of the world to God, the connection which we are meant to mediate, is lost. This is how "creation was made subject to futility". This is the source of all disease, sickness, and sorrow. But the structure of creation is such that all of these unfortunate consequences can point the way back to God. They are waiting in hope to be transformed. They are waiting for the Lord to send out his Spirit to renew the face of the earth.
In order for this to work we can't rely on ourselves. Our hearts are enslaved to things which are not only not God but which are not even persons. They are enslaved to drives and pulls of irrational matter. In Eden we walk so closely with God that we can use all of these things as he intends. We have the freedom to name them. But sin creates distance from God. With that distance between us we are unable to understand the meaning that these things are supposed to have. We abuse them and are abused by them.
We are called to lay down this selfish and prideful part of our lives. We are called to lay down our own plans, our own understanding, and even our right to our own inheritance, just as Abraham is called. God has promised us all an Isaac in whom the blessing of creation can be restored. But we need to be willing to surrender this blessing into God's hands. Left to our own we pervert the blessings he wants to give. Left to our own such gifts will never quite bear the fruit which he intends for them to bear. But it isn't sufficient to lay them down. God must act. Hence Isaac is spared and the ram is offered.
“Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God,
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”
As Abraham looked about,
he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
So he went and took the ram
and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.
His blessings take many forms but if we do not understand that he himself is our "inheritance" we will not fully know "the path of life, the fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever."
We find ourselves enslaved in Egypt. We try to run but the immovable waters of the sea are before us. God is not content to leave us in our sins. He says to us now, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again" (cf. Exo. 14:13). "The LORD is a warrior" and his arm is strong enough to save us.
The consequences of our sin sometimes make us doubt that God loves us. But it is because he loves us that he doesn't let us abide in the wretchedness and misery of sin.
Though the mountains leave their place
and the hills be shaken,
my love shall never leave you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says the LORD, who has mercy on you.
He is preparing today to take pity on us "with enduring love". We realize that "his anger lasts but a moment" when compared to amazing love he shows us. We may weep on Good Friday. We may weep on the morning of Holy Saturday. But this coming dawn, more than any other, brings rejoicing. And we do nothing to earn it, can do nothing to earn it. The water of life that flows from the side of Christ is given freely. This water, the Holy Spirit hovers over the tomb of Christ waiting impatiently to fill him with life. He hovers over the dead parts of our own lives ready to give us life.
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
Let us raise our hopes to him because he tells us that we "will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation."
Finally when we drink from this water we have the wisdom that we are meant to have. We are finally able to please God. Our existence, ordered by this wisdom of the Spirit, becomes like that of the "stars at their posts" who "shine and rejoice" before God. And where is this wisdom? Where is this water of life? This Spirit of God?
Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.
Let us heed his words as they call us to drink deeply of the Holy Spirit. In particular at Easter we are called to drink deeply of the sacramental grace of the Church.
For I will take you away from among the nations,
gather you from all the foreign lands,
and bring you back to your own land.
I will sprinkle clean water upon you
to cleanse you from all your impurities,
and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
We are called to long for this "Like a deer that longs for running streams". Let us raise up our hope. We settle for too little in the face of the kingdom God wants to give us. He wants to impress the truth of this hope on us tonight.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
Tonight he wants us to know life like we have never known it before.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.
As the stone begins to roll away from the tomb may our hearts run and soar to meet the risen King of kings in praise and hope and adoration.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
18 April 2014 - friday called good
18 April 2014 - friday called good
Pilate is on the fence about Jesus. His wife suffers on account of him in a dream. He has the sense that there is something wrong with the way in which the people seek to have him crucified. He says "I find no guilt in him" and yet he hears shouts of "Crucify him, crucify him!" Why would they want to crucify this one? Why does his wife suffer on his account? Something is amiss. And Jesus tries to help him realize what it is when Pilate tries to ask.
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
But Jesus is not concerned now with what others say about him. He is concerned with what Pilate says about him. He is concerned with what you and I say about him.
“Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?”
Pilate answered,
“I am not a Jew, am I?
Jesus is actually pleased with this response. Pilate moves from on from what the Jews say about him. He continues to try to figure out just what this one has done to be handed over to him. Jesus gives him a hint, a kingdom is involved, but it is not a kingdom in the way Pilate or the Jews imagine it.
“My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
And Pilate begins to understand a little more.
“Then you are a king?”
But the problem for Pilate is that Jesus demands faith. Faith is the "the evidence of things not seen" (cf. Heb. 11:1). The kingdom which does not belong to this world can only be apprehended by faith. Pilate isn't ready to take that leap. Sure, it is odd that Jesus creates such a strong reaction in the Jews who bring him to Pilate. Sure, his wife has a weirdly prophetic dream suffering on his account. Even Pilate himself no doubt has the sense that something is different about this one.
Jesus explains the leap that must be made, the leap of faith:
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Jesus calls Pilate to trust in his voice more than what Pilate's own eyes can behold. Pilate is a practical man. He doesn't want to punish an innocent unnecessarily. But he is concerned about order in the area he governs. He is concerned about his obligations to Caesar. Worldly powers and circumstances all suggest that the truth which Jesus speaks be ignored. If he trusts this voice what will happen to his kingdom, to the areas of the world he governs, and even to his governance of his own heart? Riots? Will anything be left? Practically, there is much to worry about. But if he can just listen to the voice of Jesus he will hear him "speak of peace to his people and to his faithful" (cf. Psa. 85:9). But Pilate isn't ready for this leap.
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
Even so, it is the leap we are all called to make. We are called to believe that the death of this one who lived so long ago is the most important fact of every moment even though nothing our eyes behold will prove this to us. This is why this story is told at all. It is not told to stir up pious feelings of love and devotion, though those may be good. We behold the lamb led to the slaughter, who bears our infirmities, who endures our sufferings, who is pierced for our offenses and crushed for our sins that we may believe in him, first and foremost. This is vital, because only when we believe can we receive all the blessings it entails. Only when we believe can we have life in his name (cf. Joh. 20:31).
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
We struggle with this, but we "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses". So even when we struggle and doubt let us turn to him.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
He enables us to have the belief he requires. We cannot even believe on our own. But he is happy to have us depend on him for strength and salvation. This has always been his plan for us.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
Take courage and be stouthearted,
all you who hope in the LORD.
Pilate is on the fence about Jesus. His wife suffers on account of him in a dream. He has the sense that there is something wrong with the way in which the people seek to have him crucified. He says "I find no guilt in him" and yet he hears shouts of "Crucify him, crucify him!" Why would they want to crucify this one? Why does his wife suffer on his account? Something is amiss. And Jesus tries to help him realize what it is when Pilate tries to ask.
“Are you the King of the Jews?”
But Jesus is not concerned now with what others say about him. He is concerned with what Pilate says about him. He is concerned with what you and I say about him.
“Do you say this on your own
or have others told you about me?”
Pilate answered,
“I am not a Jew, am I?
Jesus is actually pleased with this response. Pilate moves from on from what the Jews say about him. He continues to try to figure out just what this one has done to be handed over to him. Jesus gives him a hint, a kingdom is involved, but it is not a kingdom in the way Pilate or the Jews imagine it.
“My kingdom does not belong to this world.
If my kingdom did belong to this world,
my attendants would be fighting
to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not here.”
And Pilate begins to understand a little more.
“Then you are a king?”
But the problem for Pilate is that Jesus demands faith. Faith is the "the evidence of things not seen" (cf. Heb. 11:1). The kingdom which does not belong to this world can only be apprehended by faith. Pilate isn't ready to take that leap. Sure, it is odd that Jesus creates such a strong reaction in the Jews who bring him to Pilate. Sure, his wife has a weirdly prophetic dream suffering on his account. Even Pilate himself no doubt has the sense that something is different about this one.
Jesus explains the leap that must be made, the leap of faith:
For this I was born and for this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Jesus calls Pilate to trust in his voice more than what Pilate's own eyes can behold. Pilate is a practical man. He doesn't want to punish an innocent unnecessarily. But he is concerned about order in the area he governs. He is concerned about his obligations to Caesar. Worldly powers and circumstances all suggest that the truth which Jesus speaks be ignored. If he trusts this voice what will happen to his kingdom, to the areas of the world he governs, and even to his governance of his own heart? Riots? Will anything be left? Practically, there is much to worry about. But if he can just listen to the voice of Jesus he will hear him "speak of peace to his people and to his faithful" (cf. Psa. 85:9). But Pilate isn't ready for this leap.
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
Even so, it is the leap we are all called to make. We are called to believe that the death of this one who lived so long ago is the most important fact of every moment even though nothing our eyes behold will prove this to us. This is why this story is told at all. It is not told to stir up pious feelings of love and devotion, though those may be good. We behold the lamb led to the slaughter, who bears our infirmities, who endures our sufferings, who is pierced for our offenses and crushed for our sins that we may believe in him, first and foremost. This is vital, because only when we believe can we receive all the blessings it entails. Only when we believe can we have life in his name (cf. Joh. 20:31).
An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true;
has testified, and his testimony is true;
he knows that he is speaking the truth,
so that you also may come to believe.
We struggle with this, but we "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses". So even when we struggle and doubt let us turn to him.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
He enables us to have the belief he requires. We cannot even believe on our own. But he is happy to have us depend on him for strength and salvation. This has always been his plan for us.
Let your face shine upon your servant;
save me in your kindness.
Take courage and be stouthearted,
all you who hope in the LORD.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
17 April 2014 - loved us to the end
17 April 2014 - loved us to the end
Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
What does Jesus do as a result of this love? He washes the feet of his disciples. It is, to be sure, a profound act of humility. Though in the form of God he once again does not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped (cf. Phi. 2) and empties himself even of the "outer garments" he wears, even of his own life in the flesh.
Yet when we hear that he "loved them to the end" don't we expect something with more lasting significance than a purification from dirt and dust? If we look, we will find it. John the Evangelist knows that when we read the story of Jesus we expect at this point to hear the institution narrative:
“This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
To omit it now is a conscience decision for the purpose of calling it to mind and setting it parallel to the washing of the feet.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
In loving his disciples to the end the Cross and the Eucharist are inseparable. The Eucharist reveals the Cross to be a saving sacrifice, not just an unfortunate execution. And this symbolic act of humility reveals the meaning of both. It reveals the Cross as Jesus laying down his life for us, not having it taken from him. It reveals the fruit of this offering to be purification, cleansing from sin.
In the face of such overwhelming humility we see why we can't try to figure out for ourselves how Jesus ought to save us. We either insist of too little...
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later.”
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
...or demand more than we need...
Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”
Simon Peter said to him,
“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”
Jesus said to him,
“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
We do need cleansing. Our feet inevitably grow dirty as we walk, even when we follow Jesus. Blood and water flow together from his wounded side on the Cross. The one cleanses us and the other marks us as his own. They are two aspects of the same gift of life. He wants his blood to "mark the houses where" we are. We are cleansed from our sins and marked off as his own people, marked by the precious blood which protects our souls from every threat.
That Jesus should do this for us reveals his love for us. How are we to respond? By embracing the gift with thankful hearts:
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
As he washes our feet we are cleansed by the water which initially washes us in baptism and we are again (since this washing is also the Eucharist) marked as his own by his blood, the blood we receive in the "cup of salvation".
Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
What does Jesus do as a result of this love? He washes the feet of his disciples. It is, to be sure, a profound act of humility. Though in the form of God he once again does not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped (cf. Phi. 2) and empties himself even of the "outer garments" he wears, even of his own life in the flesh.
Yet when we hear that he "loved them to the end" don't we expect something with more lasting significance than a purification from dirt and dust? If we look, we will find it. John the Evangelist knows that when we read the story of Jesus we expect at this point to hear the institution narrative:
“This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
To omit it now is a conscience decision for the purpose of calling it to mind and setting it parallel to the washing of the feet.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
In loving his disciples to the end the Cross and the Eucharist are inseparable. The Eucharist reveals the Cross to be a saving sacrifice, not just an unfortunate execution. And this symbolic act of humility reveals the meaning of both. It reveals the Cross as Jesus laying down his life for us, not having it taken from him. It reveals the fruit of this offering to be purification, cleansing from sin.
In the face of such overwhelming humility we see why we can't try to figure out for ourselves how Jesus ought to save us. We either insist of too little...
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later.”
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
...or demand more than we need...
Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”
Simon Peter said to him,
“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”
Jesus said to him,
“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
We do need cleansing. Our feet inevitably grow dirty as we walk, even when we follow Jesus. Blood and water flow together from his wounded side on the Cross. The one cleanses us and the other marks us as his own. They are two aspects of the same gift of life. He wants his blood to "mark the houses where" we are. We are cleansed from our sins and marked off as his own people, marked by the precious blood which protects our souls from every threat.
That Jesus should do this for us reveals his love for us. How are we to respond? By embracing the gift with thankful hearts:
How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
As he washes our feet we are cleansed by the water which initially washes us in baptism and we are again (since this washing is also the Eucharist) marked as his own by his blood, the blood we receive in the "cup of salvation".
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
16 April 2014 - should have guest it
16 April 2014 - should have guest it
‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”`
We are preparing to celebrate the Passover of the LORD, when he passes from death to life. We celebrate the Passover from our own sinfulness to freedom and grace. So let's not let the disciples at our door take us by surprise as we get ready for the Mass which starts tomorrow and ends on Easter. How do these modern disciples we find in the Church call us to prepare? They call us to show them the "guest room" which we have open for Jesus. In other words, we need to have the space within our hearts to welcome Jesus. How do we ensure this?
There is a reason that a week of penance services precedes Holy Week. We need to examine our consciences. We need to make sure there is nothing taking the throne of our hearts which Jesus should occupy. We need to make sure our guest room is not filled with other concerns, with no room for Jesus. We ought not just assume he is first in our hearts without examining our lives to see how that theory actually plays out day to day. We ought to recognize our own weakness, our own tendency to self-deception. We should ask Jesus himself if he holds the position he wants to hold.
And while they were eating, he said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
Let us join with the Church in searching our own hearts to see if there is anything in them which might betray Jesus. Hopefully we hear from him that it is not us. But even Paul tells us to, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (cf. Phi. 2:12). Knowing his own weakness he even says that, "I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession" (cf. Phi. 3:12).
We need to recognize that we all have the potential to turn traitor. At one point Judas was a sincere follower. We read that he "became a traitor" (cf. Luk. 6:16) not that he always was one. What pushes Judas over the edge? We can guess. It seems like Jesus isn't fulfilling his role of Messiah in the way that Judas prefers. Judas ultimately wants Jesus to be a proxy to his own will and plans even though these plans aren't necessarily bad at the beginning. By time Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with the aromatic nard Judas is already pretty far gone. He "used to help himself" to what was in the money bag. He objects to the anointing, not really because it doesn't go to the poor, but because it doesn't go through him to it's destination. Perhaps he still imagines that he might do some good with it. But the drive to have these resources in his own control may be the reason he accepts the price of thirty pieces of silver for the life of the man who was once his friend.
Let's keep our guestroom open for Jesus. We might be able to get thirty silver coins for it, but they are so infinitely much less than the Passover he wants to celebrate in us.
Who disputes his right to this guestroom? At times we all do. At times we are the ones who pluck his beard, beat him, and spit on him. But even so morning after morning he does not rebel from the mission to save us. The glory of Easter vindicates his claim on the guestroom of our souls. Let us examine ourselves so that we may be witnesses to the resurrection and avoid the fate of Judas. Even though we all deny him at times as Peter does yet we may still hope to witness the resurrection like he does, forgiven and new.
‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”`
We are preparing to celebrate the Passover of the LORD, when he passes from death to life. We celebrate the Passover from our own sinfulness to freedom and grace. So let's not let the disciples at our door take us by surprise as we get ready for the Mass which starts tomorrow and ends on Easter. How do these modern disciples we find in the Church call us to prepare? They call us to show them the "guest room" which we have open for Jesus. In other words, we need to have the space within our hearts to welcome Jesus. How do we ensure this?
There is a reason that a week of penance services precedes Holy Week. We need to examine our consciences. We need to make sure there is nothing taking the throne of our hearts which Jesus should occupy. We need to make sure our guest room is not filled with other concerns, with no room for Jesus. We ought not just assume he is first in our hearts without examining our lives to see how that theory actually plays out day to day. We ought to recognize our own weakness, our own tendency to self-deception. We should ask Jesus himself if he holds the position he wants to hold.
And while they were eating, he said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
Let us join with the Church in searching our own hearts to see if there is anything in them which might betray Jesus. Hopefully we hear from him that it is not us. But even Paul tells us to, "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (cf. Phi. 2:12). Knowing his own weakness he even says that, "I for my part do not consider myself to have taken possession" (cf. Phi. 3:12).
We need to recognize that we all have the potential to turn traitor. At one point Judas was a sincere follower. We read that he "became a traitor" (cf. Luk. 6:16) not that he always was one. What pushes Judas over the edge? We can guess. It seems like Jesus isn't fulfilling his role of Messiah in the way that Judas prefers. Judas ultimately wants Jesus to be a proxy to his own will and plans even though these plans aren't necessarily bad at the beginning. By time Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with the aromatic nard Judas is already pretty far gone. He "used to help himself" to what was in the money bag. He objects to the anointing, not really because it doesn't go to the poor, but because it doesn't go through him to it's destination. Perhaps he still imagines that he might do some good with it. But the drive to have these resources in his own control may be the reason he accepts the price of thirty pieces of silver for the life of the man who was once his friend.
Let's keep our guestroom open for Jesus. We might be able to get thirty silver coins for it, but they are so infinitely much less than the Passover he wants to celebrate in us.
Who disputes his right to this guestroom? At times we all do. At times we are the ones who pluck his beard, beat him, and spit on him. But even so morning after morning he does not rebel from the mission to save us. The glory of Easter vindicates his claim on the guestroom of our souls. Let us examine ourselves so that we may be witnesses to the resurrection and avoid the fate of Judas. Even though we all deny him at times as Peter does yet we may still hope to witness the resurrection like he does, forgiven and new.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
15 April 2014 - one way
15 April 2014 - one way
The death and resurrection of Jesus save us from futility:
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
Yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
The wages of sin is death (cf. Rom. 6:23) and our world seems to be on a constant collision course with it. We try to do some good but the darkness seems inescapable, the good we manage so very temporary. Everything we try seems tainted because we know that nothing lasts here. Fear of this inescapable reality actually keeps us enslaved (cf. Heb 2:15) and we can't break free on our own. We are strapped into a "world in its present form" which "is passing away" (cf 1 Cor. 7:31) and we don't know how to get off.
There is, in fact, no way out...
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
...until Jesus makes a way for us...
though you will follow later"
...by becoming the way for us...
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus creates a way through the futility of death to the superabundance of life eternal. He creates a way where there is no way. By his death our own toil can now find reward and recompense in God. Provided, that is, that we get on board with this new world. We know that we still have the same weakness that consumes Judas and which causes even Peter to deny Jesus. We "should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds" (cf. Eph. 4:22-23). This is where the transformation which will one day renew even our physical bodies begins.
This is the renewal we find only in Jesus. Only the way through death he opens has the power we need to free us from futility. So let us take refuge from this dying world in him. He is our refuge from death itself. Let him be our rock when everything seems to be falling apart. Let him be our refuge when this world seems full of danger. Most profoundly, let him be our hope. If our hearts our fixed on him in this way he will certainly deliver us and incline his ear to us until we finally sing of his salvation. And when we choose to seek him in this way, to take refuge in him, we do not abandon those around us. We are not, in fact, in a coccoon of isolationist salvation. We reveal his saving power to the ends of the earth.
And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
The death and resurrection of Jesus save us from futility:
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
Yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
The wages of sin is death (cf. Rom. 6:23) and our world seems to be on a constant collision course with it. We try to do some good but the darkness seems inescapable, the good we manage so very temporary. Everything we try seems tainted because we know that nothing lasts here. Fear of this inescapable reality actually keeps us enslaved (cf. Heb 2:15) and we can't break free on our own. We are strapped into a "world in its present form" which "is passing away" (cf 1 Cor. 7:31) and we don't know how to get off.
There is, in fact, no way out...
“Where I am going, you cannot follow me now,
...until Jesus makes a way for us...
though you will follow later"
...by becoming the way for us...
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Jesus creates a way through the futility of death to the superabundance of life eternal. He creates a way where there is no way. By his death our own toil can now find reward and recompense in God. Provided, that is, that we get on board with this new world. We know that we still have the same weakness that consumes Judas and which causes even Peter to deny Jesus. We "should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds" (cf. Eph. 4:22-23). This is where the transformation which will one day renew even our physical bodies begins.
This is the renewal we find only in Jesus. Only the way through death he opens has the power we need to free us from futility. So let us take refuge from this dying world in him. He is our refuge from death itself. Let him be our rock when everything seems to be falling apart. Let him be our refuge when this world seems full of danger. Most profoundly, let him be our hope. If our hearts our fixed on him in this way he will certainly deliver us and incline his ear to us until we finally sing of his salvation. And when we choose to seek him in this way, to take refuge in him, we do not abandon those around us. We are not, in fact, in a coccoon of isolationist salvation. We reveal his saving power to the ends of the earth.
And I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Monday, April 14, 2014
14 April 2014 - #winning - the victory of justice
14 April 2014 - #winning - the victory of justice
So Holy Week. How do we do it right? Committed Catholics are, at this point in the liturgical year, concerned about best practices, worried about missing opportunities for growth. We are looking for the formula to get closer to God. We want to know, with all that we have to do out in the world, what is the best use of the time we have to give God.
But of course, there is no formula. Or if there is, it is this: love recklessly! Love as Mary loves:
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Jesus does not primarily approach our use of time from a perspective of resource management. Resource management lacks the heart. It is an important aspect of prudence but, when isolated, it conceals evil intentions.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages
and given to the poor?”
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
Jesus is meek and humble in heart (cf. Mat. 11:28). He brings justice to the nations but the way he does so is not violent, it is not self-insistent. When our love is fragile and vulnerable like a "bruised reed" and "a smolder wick" he will not break or us our quench or flame. We can come to him with intense devotion without the fear that he will reject us if we don't get things just right.
So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
We must be on guard that we don't let our desire to control our situation be our main motivation. Our use of resources and our accounting often sounds as noble as that of Judas but simply conceals our sinful desires. On the other hand, acts of love that might seem imperfect, imprudent, or overly extravagant, are yet borne of a more perfect desire to love.
We gather around a table with those who were dead but now live again. The very witness of this banquet is hard for those who insist on control to bear. To the degree that we insist on control we run the risk of becoming violent toward any threats to that control, even if they come from God. We can't accept this perfuming of Jesus even if the whole "house was filled with the fragrance of the oil" lifting the minds and hearts of all who smell it. We can't even accept the presence of Lazarus who was dead but lives again.
So let us give up that false sense of control. Let us enter fully into this banquet. When we let God take control we can trust him no matter the circumstances.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust.
This is what we need. Without it, we have no recourse "When evildoers come at me to devour my flesh". But with it we "shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living" no matter what circumstances bring. And it is meant for everyone. May the whole world see this trust transforming lives from within until, with "the coastlands", everyone "will wait for his teaching."
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
So Holy Week. How do we do it right? Committed Catholics are, at this point in the liturgical year, concerned about best practices, worried about missing opportunities for growth. We are looking for the formula to get closer to God. We want to know, with all that we have to do out in the world, what is the best use of the time we have to give God.
But of course, there is no formula. Or if there is, it is this: love recklessly! Love as Mary loves:
Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
Jesus does not primarily approach our use of time from a perspective of resource management. Resource management lacks the heart. It is an important aspect of prudence but, when isolated, it conceals evil intentions.
Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples,
and the one who would betray him, said,
“Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages
and given to the poor?”
He said this not because he cared about the poor
but because he was a thief and held the money bag
and used to steal the contributions.
Jesus is meek and humble in heart (cf. Mat. 11:28). He brings justice to the nations but the way he does so is not violent, it is not self-insistent. When our love is fragile and vulnerable like a "bruised reed" and "a smolder wick" he will not break or us our quench or flame. We can come to him with intense devotion without the fear that he will reject us if we don't get things just right.
So Jesus said, “Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
We must be on guard that we don't let our desire to control our situation be our main motivation. Our use of resources and our accounting often sounds as noble as that of Judas but simply conceals our sinful desires. On the other hand, acts of love that might seem imperfect, imprudent, or overly extravagant, are yet borne of a more perfect desire to love.
We gather around a table with those who were dead but now live again. The very witness of this banquet is hard for those who insist on control to bear. To the degree that we insist on control we run the risk of becoming violent toward any threats to that control, even if they come from God. We can't accept this perfuming of Jesus even if the whole "house was filled with the fragrance of the oil" lifting the minds and hearts of all who smell it. We can't even accept the presence of Lazarus who was dead but lives again.
So let us give up that false sense of control. Let us enter fully into this banquet. When we let God take control we can trust him no matter the circumstances.
Though an army encamp against me,
my heart will not fear;
Though war be waged upon me,
even then will I trust.
This is what we need. Without it, we have no recourse "When evildoers come at me to devour my flesh". But with it we "shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living" no matter what circumstances bring. And it is meant for everyone. May the whole world see this trust transforming lives from within until, with "the coastlands", everyone "will wait for his teaching."
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
To open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
13 April 2014 - home stretch
13 April 2014 - home stretch
The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Lent is drawing to a close. We enter Holy Week. Many of us feel weary. Many of us sympathize with the disciples, with Peter, James and John who "could not keep watch" with Jesus. We feel this failure all the more deeply in light of the magnitude of the events which are about to transpire.
But Jesus knows how to speak a word that will rouse us. Have we not done much this Lent? Have we started off well but become complacent? And even if we have been faithful to know, don't we need him to call us onward? Listen, then: "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners." Let him speak this word to us, "Get up, let us go."
Jesus rouses us from our complacence by his own example of obedience.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
It isn't just that he sets a good example. This obedience to the Father is the deepest truth of who he is.
he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
We are fickle. We praise him with "Hosanna" cries when he enters Jerusalem. We lay our palms before him. Yet before long we shout "Crucify him!" Before long we deny him "in front of everyone" like Peter. Jesus himself has every reason to be weary. We do plenty to weary him. When he does not manifest the kingdom in the way we want we taunt him. We hear our own voices say "come down from the cross" and "let him deliver him now if he wants him." When God seems silent, when "darkness came over the whole land", we condemn him as loudly as we can.
But in spite of our rebellion Jesus lets the Father open his ears in obedience time and again. He does not rebel or turn back from the plan. For Jesus, this turning to the Father is constant. It is not a one time only thing. More than once he asks, "let this cup pass from me" but he never insists. He stays, he listens, and ultimately says "yet not as I will, but as you will." This reckless abandonment to his will is something which the Father cannot overlook.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
His obedience is more than obedience. It is love, love for his Father and for us. And because of this love and obedience the name of Jesus itself is the word that can rouse us now to walk fearlessly into Holy Week, to walk fearlessly with Jesus to Jerusalem, and to the Cross. Roused by the name above every name we too can obey and not turn back. Buffets and spitting won't stop us this week. Our faces are set like flint because of the strength we receive from Jesus.
We are empowered to obedience by the name of Jesus. Because of this new power within us, this power by which we will live this Holy Week, God can't help but respond to Jesus within us. He can't help but fill us with life at Easter. Feelings of abandonment give way to praise.
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
that I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Lent is drawing to a close. We enter Holy Week. Many of us feel weary. Many of us sympathize with the disciples, with Peter, James and John who "could not keep watch" with Jesus. We feel this failure all the more deeply in light of the magnitude of the events which are about to transpire.
But Jesus knows how to speak a word that will rouse us. Have we not done much this Lent? Have we started off well but become complacent? And even if we have been faithful to know, don't we need him to call us onward? Listen, then: "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners." Let him speak this word to us, "Get up, let us go."
Jesus rouses us from our complacence by his own example of obedience.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
It isn't just that he sets a good example. This obedience to the Father is the deepest truth of who he is.
he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
We are fickle. We praise him with "Hosanna" cries when he enters Jerusalem. We lay our palms before him. Yet before long we shout "Crucify him!" Before long we deny him "in front of everyone" like Peter. Jesus himself has every reason to be weary. We do plenty to weary him. When he does not manifest the kingdom in the way we want we taunt him. We hear our own voices say "come down from the cross" and "let him deliver him now if he wants him." When God seems silent, when "darkness came over the whole land", we condemn him as loudly as we can.
But in spite of our rebellion Jesus lets the Father open his ears in obedience time and again. He does not rebel or turn back from the plan. For Jesus, this turning to the Father is constant. It is not a one time only thing. More than once he asks, "let this cup pass from me" but he never insists. He stays, he listens, and ultimately says "yet not as I will, but as you will." This reckless abandonment to his will is something which the Father cannot overlook.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
His obedience is more than obedience. It is love, love for his Father and for us. And because of this love and obedience the name of Jesus itself is the word that can rouse us now to walk fearlessly into Holy Week, to walk fearlessly with Jesus to Jerusalem, and to the Cross. Roused by the name above every name we too can obey and not turn back. Buffets and spitting won't stop us this week. Our faces are set like flint because of the strength we receive from Jesus.
We are empowered to obedience by the name of Jesus. Because of this new power within us, this power by which we will live this Holy Week, God can't help but respond to Jesus within us. He can't help but fill us with life at Easter. Feelings of abandonment give way to praise.
I will proclaim your name to my brethren;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you:
“You who fear the LORD, praise him;
all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him;
revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
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