20 November 2024 - faithful in small things

Today's Readings

(Audio)

they thought that the Kingdom of God

The people misunderstood the fact that the Kingdom of God was among them to mean that its final and complete realization was imminent. But before Jesus would reign on earth he would first depart, as it would seem, to a distant country. He would ascend to right hand of the Father with his resurrected human nature and take his seat on the heavenly throne.

He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins

and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’

The context of the parable about the gold coins was to serve as instructions for how those who awaited the second coming of Jesus were to live in the interim. It was not only a matter of waiting and looking up at the sky after him. There was work to be done. However, it was not work that the Church did primarily with its own resources. Rather it was the coins entrusted to it by Jesus himself that chiefly defined the principal task of the followers of Jesus. This task would indeed be carried out in a world in which they would be surrounded by people who did not want Jesus to be their king. No doubt this made such antagonistic individuals skeptical of any investments that smelled of originating from Jesus's gifts or which were apparently motivated by his purposes.

Then the second came and reported,

‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.

The only real failure when it came to the gifts with which Jesus has entrusted his people was a failure to use them. Even doing next to nothing, putting the money in a bank to gain interest, would still have produced a pleasing result. As it was, the cities that the stewards received did not represent their own skills or abilities so much as the level of trust they were able to place in Jesus himself. Their own reign resulted from their willingness to listen and to obey rather than from any profound investment strategy they devised on their own. By contrast the one who failed to invest seemed to take an opinion of the nobleman that was shaped by the surrounding culture that did not wish him to become king. Choosing not to trust the nobleman proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. His fear was not a helpful fear but rather projected a negative image on the nobleman which only became true because of he the degree that he continued to insist on seeing him that way.

I tell you,

to everyone who has, more will be given,

but from the one who has not,

even what he has will be taken away.

We are among those to whom much have been given. But if we don't take Jesus at his word and trust him we may render ourselves among those who have not. We have as much as we could ever need precisely to the degree that we trust Jesus. But if we fall back on ourselves or let our view of ourselves be shaped by people who do not want Jesus to be king we will quickly encounter our own insufficiency. It is not too late to believe in the abundance with which Jesus has gifted us, to take him at his word and set about putting it to work.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (see Second Corinthians 9:8)

Elevation Worship - Here As In Heaven

19 November 2024 - to seek and save the lost

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Now a man there named Zacchaeus,

who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, 

was seeking to see who Jesus was;

but he could not see him because of the crowd,

for he was short in stature.

Maybe those in the crowd took the fact that they were able to see Jesus for granted. They need not have been highly motivated in order to do so. Mere curiosity would have sufficed. But not so for Zacchaeus. He was not able to casually stroll up to him to see if whatever it was that he had heard about him was true. He attempted normal means first but found the crowd too thick, and he too short to see over them. Perhaps someone less motivated would have given up. But Zacchaeus seemed rather to be provoked by the initial difficulty into taking extreme measures, going as far as to climb a tree to get a decent vantage point. 

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,

who was about to pass that way.

When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, 

“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,

for today I must stay at your house.” 

To Zacchaeus it seemed that Zacchaeus was the one who was seeking Jesus. But it was actually the opposite. Even the will with which Zacchaeus did not give up, the humility and persistence that made him climb the tree, were things God was causing to happen in his heart since "it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (see Philippians 2:13). What seemed like a barrier to the presence of Jesus and a hardship was actually something that God made work for Zacchaeus's good. Jesus demonstrated this by stopping and speaking to him as though it was always his plan. He knew Zacchaeus would be there waiting for him because he was already drawing Zacchaeus to himself. It was for this reason that Jesus said, "today I must stay at your house" demonstrating that it was always part of his eternal plan. 

And he came down quickly and received him with joy. 

Had Zacchaeus been able to walk up to Jesus and catch a glimpse like anyone else it seems unlikely he would have had such a pronounced response as he did. But it wasn't as though the vigorous response of Zacchaeus somehow earned the favor of Jesus. Rather even this vigorous response represented a more complete reception of grace compared to that of the complacent crowd. All of us are meant to be like Zacchaeus, extreme in our willingness to seek Jesus, all the more since we know that to do so is a desire he first inspires within us. 

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,

“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,

and if I have extorted anything from anyone

I shall repay it four times over.”

What might we take away from this story? For one thing, we should grow in our resolute desire to be undeterred by obstacles. They may seem like a hassle at first. We may even have to grow in humility to surmount them. But they may well have the effect of making the eventual encounter with Jesus all the sweeter. He is able to make all such things work together for the good of those who love him (see Romans 8:28). A second thing we might take away is the comfort of knowing that even when we are having difficulty, struggling, and unable to see God's will clearly, Jesus is seeking us even then. When we are lost like one seemingly insignificant sheep or coin he does not rest until we are found.

For the Son of Man has come to seek

and to save what was lost.

MBL Worship Featuring Brennan Joseph - One Look

18 November 2024 - unseen and seen

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As Jesus approached Jericho

a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,

and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.

The man may have been blind but he was spiritually perceptive. He demonstrated that "faith comes from hearing" (see Romans 10:17) and serves as "the evidence of things not seen" (see Hebrews 11:1). The crowd following Jesus who rebuked the man could see Jesus but did not understand the mission of Jesus who came to give "recovering of sight to the blind" (see Luke 4:18). The man was blind but he proved that he saw better than most by recognizing that Jesus was the Son of David, the messianic king promised to Israel. Moreover, he recognized that the authority of this king was such that he could even heal his blindness by his power. The blind man's faith was such that he was undeterred even when others tried to rebuke and to silence him. He persisted, continuing to ask until he received.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”

Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.”

He immediately received his sight

and followed him, giving glory to God.

This man did not wish to use his newfound sight merely to off and gratify his curiosity about the shapes of the elements of the world. Rather he desired to put his sight to good use by following Jesus himself. Sight was designed to help humanity seek the good, though most used it more selfishly. But the formerly blind man would ensure that he would not fall into spiritual blindness by using his sight to focus on the highest good, fixing his gaze on Jesus.

let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

As we see in the reading from Revelation it is possible to begin well with fervent love illuminated by the lampstand of faith. But we must not only begin well but persist in our response of love to Jesus. We must continue to act in a manner worthy of the grace of his illumination. We can't take for granted that this light will always be with us if we take it cheaply and account it as of little value by the way we act. Let us remember a time when Jesus gave us new light to illuminate our lives. Let us try to stir the desire within us to respond to him in love today, just as we did in those initial peak experiences. Let us show him by our actions that we value the light of faith he has given us to save us from spiritual blindness.

For King And Country - Fix My Eyes

17 November 2024 - endgame

Today's Readings

(Audio)

In those days after that tribulation

the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will be falling from the sky,

and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

History was not merely an arbitrary accumulation of unrelated events. It was rather something that God had foreseen, that was happening according to a divine plan, and permitted by divine providence. It was not primarily defined, as historians may asserted, by the technologies in plan (such as in the Bronze or Iron Age), nor by the empires that were dominant in a given era (whether the Persians, Greeks, Romans, or anyone else). History was rather marked by successive stages which progressed closer and closer to a climax and a conclusion. And this meant that at the very center was Jesus himself. As Saint John Paul the Great wrote in the first sentence of the first paragraph of his first encyclical: "Jesus Christ, is the centre of the universe and of history" (see Redemptor Hominis 1).

Thus it was that history was fundamentally divided, as is even reflected by our calendar, into that which came before Jesus and that which would follow (regardless of the acronyms we choose in order to mark those periods). The calendar attempted to base itself on the birth of Jesus but the most fundamental dividing line between the old world and the new was actually the death and resurrection of Jesus himself, when the old covenant gave way to the new, in his own Body and Blood. This was reflected by the darkening of the sun (see Luke 23:44) and by the falling from the sky like lightning of the angel (see Luke 10:18) who was once considered the morning star (see Isaiah 14:12) and the rest of the fallen angels that followed him (see Revelation 12:4).

The spiritual reality that began at the passion of Jesus was confirmed in the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD and by the end of the system of temple sacrifice. What Jesus did was not merely symbolic or subjective but changed the fundamental course of history forever. Of course the way history had changed was still something one would need eyes of faith to properly understand. But for those with such faith it would now be evident that the world had reached its final age, the last stage of progress before the end. And those who saw this would be able to live lives directed toward that end. Others would look at the darkness and disasters that continued to overspread the earth and see on futility. Christians would see something more. They would see that with each tribulation the final summer was increasingly near and that Jesus was ever closer to the gates. If the world was heading only toward meaningless destruction, what could be done? Or why bother to do anything at all? But if all things were indeed awaiting the coming of the savior on clouds of glory then there was indeed a clear course of much to be done, with an ever growing urgency. The more Christians were faithful in response to this reality the more it would be true that when the angels were sent to gather the elect none who were intended to be in that number would be missed.

Elevation Worship Featuring Brandon Lake - There Is A King

Brian Doerksen Featuring Wendy Whitehead - Come Now Is The Time To Worship

16 November 2024 - without losing heart

Today's Readings

(Audio)

There was a judge in a certain town

who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 

This judge may have been an unintentional parody of the modern political scene. But while we can see multiple parallels in our own day we may wonder why Jesus would use such a judge as an analogy for God himself. 

For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,

‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, 

because this widow keeps bothering me

I shall deliver a just decision for her

lest she finally come and strike me.’” 

The widow also seemed like an unlike analog for those who pray for justice. It was not as though those who prayed to God could bother him or persuade him to do anything that he did not intend from the beginning. Even though the unjust judge was probably not actually significantly threatened by the possibility of violence from the widow he was motivated to minimize his own hassle. But God himself had no such need.

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones

who call out to him day and night? 

Jesus used the humorous example of the widow and the unjust judge to reason from a lesser to a greater. If even a terrible judge, one who did not care about justice, might be motivated be persistence, how much more would God himself respond to those who learned to pray always without becoming weary. The similarity was not in the way that the persistence affected God and the judge. Absolutely speaking, persistence didn't affect God it all. Rather it affected those who petitioned him for justice. And in this it was vastly superior to the situation with the unjust judge. People who persisted in prayer would find there hearts more and more transformed by God's priorities. There was apparently some real risk that the widow might eventually become violent in her demands. So too would the insistence of the saints becoming increasing strong and even aggressive. Perhaps this was one interpretation of "the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force" (see Matthew 11:12). But it was not the obvious result when there was not an immediate answer to prayer. It might seem rather that unanswered prayers would eventually peter out. And certainly that was also a possibility. But God was looking for any apparent delay in his response to be exactly the length necessary to transform the hearts of those who sought his favor. And for this reason his response, however it would seem to us, would always be on time.

Will he be slow to answer them? 

I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. 

But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

Shane and Shane - Psalm 34 (Taste And See)

15 November 2024 - ready to go

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As it was in the days of Noah,

so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;

they were eating and drinking,

marrying and giving in marriage up to the day

that Noah entered the ark,

and the flood came and destroyed them all.

The end times will be similar to the days of Noah, which are in a way also similar to our own day. Just as there were then and will be in the future there are presently those who are so hypnotized by the world around them and intoxicated by the routine of daily life that they don't pay attention to the word of God and do not heed the call to repentance. They are the ones who excuse themselves from attendance at the banquet of the king because they have better things to do (see Matthew 22), even if those better things are the drudgery of daily work. But by contrast there are also those who are in the world but not of it (see John 17:14), and who use it as not using it fully (see First Corinthians 7:31). 

God has provided in ark for his people in the form of his Church. He desires to lead all people away from the fire and brimstone that will ultimately destroy sin and death and those who cling to them. But at least two things are necessary for us to ensure we are in this company. First we need to listen to the word of God when he calls us to come out and stand away from the society around us. We must not be embarrassed by our ark even when the rain isn't yet falling. We must follow Jesus where he leads us even before the fire of destruction begins. Second, we must not be too attached to lesser goods. If we are so attached to the things of this world the risk is that when we are asked to forego them for the sake of the Kingdom that we will not be able to do so. If we find ourselves clinging to this world in ways that hinder our ability to follow Christ we should try to address those attachments now when we still have the relative safety to do so.

I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;

one will be taken, the other left.

And there will be two women grinding meal together;

one will be taken, the other left.

The Lord intends to lead his faithful remnant to safety. For a while this remnant may look much like those around them, engaging faithfully in daily work, living as good citizens of the countries and nations to which they belong even as they remember that their primary citizenship is in heaven (see Philippians 3:20). But the end, either of our lives, or of the world itself, will inevitably come. And with it will come judgment when the spiritual disposition of our souls is revealed. If we ultimately choose to shun the rescue mission that Jesus' incarnation and Passion represented he will not force it on us. But he will certainly save those who have longed for his appearance (see Second Timothy 4:7-9).

Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for

but may receive a full recompense.

Relient K - Be My Escape

14 November 2024 - Kingdom among us

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,

Jesus said in reply,

“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,

It was apparent that the Pharisees were expecting some visible manifestation of the Kingdom, something concrete and empirical which would indicate that what Jesus said had come to pass. But this was not quite right. The Kingdom was not going to manifest in the way that an earthly empire might arise and spread. It was not going to be evident primarily by external political structures. Because the Pharisees were expecting something the observation of which would make obvious Jesus had to clear up their misconception about what the Kingdom was before he would more vaguely the question of when.

and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’

For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

The Kingdom of God was principally wherever Jesus reigned in the hearts of women and men. These were the people in whom the seed found good soil, the leaven raising up the communities and societies of which they were a part, and the mustard seed that started off small and hidden before becoming a tree capable of transforming the world around it. The Kingdom was not, therefore, something that could be imposed from without. One could not point to a law or a political program and say, 'That is the Kingdom'. The religious milieu of Judaism at the time of Jesus tended to emphasize external ritual and legalistic conformity while treating the inner life as secondary. The Kingdom, by contrast, focused on the internal, requiring faith to perceive, and only secondarily sought to create external forms and structures and methods of enforcement. It tried to change people before it tried to change laws, as we saw with Paul and Philemon in today's first reading. It was obviously also the case that the Church would be instrumental in the legal abolition of slavery. But this was all predicated on transformation of the hearts of those who pursued that noble goal. Of course pursuing the external and the internal was not an either/or choice. But conversion of heart was the emphasis of the Kingdom because only that would lead to lasting and sustainable change.

There will be those who will say to you,

‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’

The desire to see some visible manifestation of the Son of Man or his Kingdom contained the risk that one would expose oneself to deception. We are supposed to desire the coming of the Kingdom. But the desire for visible concrete results is not guaranteed. For now we should focus on the expansion of the reign of Jesus in our hearts and those of others rather than on any climactic transformations of the world. Those changes are worth desiring, and they will come. But the desire to be in control of those changes tends to be unhelpful and destructive because it is typically driven by pride or vanity. 

For just as lightning flashes

and lights up the sky from one side to the other,

so will the Son of Man be in his day.

Jesus assured his followers that the final manifestation of his coming wouldn't be subtle or hidden or indeed possible to miss. Therefore those claiming it already happened were frauds and charlatans. This was how Jesus obliquely addressed the question of when the Kingdom would come in fullness. It was as though he said it would be sufficiently obvious that recognizing it was not something on which they needed to waste time. Instead they should focus on the fact that for anyone who allowed Jesus to rule in her heart, the Kingdom was already present. This was not merely a nice idea to tide them over through a long dark history before the second coming. It was a reality which was evident in all of the lives it changed, all of the saints that bore witness to its transformative power.

Newsboys - Secret Kingdom