12 March 2026 - bad influences?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."

It should have been obvious that Jesus driving out a demon is not something that the prince of demons would appreciate, nor something to which he would give the assistance of his power. But people in the crowd were looking for reasons to undermine Jesus, to impugn his ever growing reputation. They insinuated that he was too good to be true. This was in keeping with people's normal experience of the world. There really was no comparison. There was no one as selfless as Jesus, and none with such power. Because it was not normal they had some level of justification being a little defensive. But they went too far when they refused to recognize the finger of God at work in their midst. To discount that power they made implicit one of their assumptions, which was that real power was more likely to originate from the forces of darkness than elsewhere. Jesus rightly pointed out that their own people drove out demons by means of the same power at work in him. But clearly there was something different about what was happening through Jesus compared to those other exorcists, something that demanded explanation.

Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself, 
how will his kingdom stand?

Jesus was entirely united within himself in his mission to seek the will of the Father and the salvation of humanity. Satan was completely opposed to this plan, and desired to prevent Jesus from his mission of gathering the human race together into his Kingdom. It was the crowds who were lingering between the two ultimate alternatives. Jesus thus reminded them, or tried to, that they were in fact on the same side, or should be, when he asked, "by whom do your own people drive them out?" He tried to demonstrate that the fact that they were scattering what he was trying to gather meant that they and not he were the ones succumbing to the influence of the evil one.

When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.

The reason Jesus was able to bring freedom was not because he was in league with the prince of darkness, but rather, because he was, at last, one stronger than the prince of darkness. This implied that apart from him the possessions of the evil one were relatively safe. Without him, it wasn't possible to get free on one's own or to make much of a dent in the armor of the powers of darkness. That implied that the only good way forward was not one of dividing people against Jesus, which would only play into the plan of the enemy. The only way was to join him in his mission of gathering. But this meant that Jesus must ultimately be the head, the center, and the cornerstone of the people who were gathered. This implied the need to break free, not only from the devil, but even from one's own ego which would not readily relinquish the leading role in one's life. The stories we make up and tell ourselves are shallow and unfulfilling. The story that can truly captivate and satisfy us is the Theo-drama that God is telling. May we set aside our insistence on creating our own private stories so that we may find our place in the larger meta-narrative of God's good plan.

Hillsong Worship - Stronger

 

11 March 2026 - fulfilled

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Not fulfill in the sense of finishing and setting aside. Jesus took upon himself the curses that were invoked by the way the law that had been violated in the past. He himself lived in perfect obedience to the law. He did this, not merely for our sakes, so that we wouldn't have to worry about obedience ourselves, but so that "the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (see Romans 8:4). John summarized the difference Jesus made when he wrote that "the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (see John 1:17). The law was fulfilled by Jesus as though it were waiting on him to finally achieve the purpose for which it was given. 

Circumcision was never meant to be a merely external reality but point to the need of an inner transformation. Yet the law had to content itself with merely external obedience until Jesus came to change our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. People set one aspect of the law against another in order to justify themselves and their behavior until Jesus made it possible for his followers to seek first the Kingdom, which meant taking up their own crosses and following him. We need faith to please God (see Hebrews 11:6) since we know that "to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace" (see Romans 8:6). Our fallen flesh fends for itself. We need access to a higher mode of reality, and a better way of being, to which faith is the doorway. It allows us to share what Jesus did for us, but especially what he now wants to do in and through us.

Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus deepened and internalized many aspects of the law, from the prohibition against killing, to that against committing adultery, to that against swearing falsely. This helped to illustrate that the point of the law was not merely to regulate external behavior, but to point to the sort of people we should want to become. It contained not only prohibited behaviors. When analyzed, it revealed genuine goods those prohibitions were designed to protect. Yet the condition of the people at the time required that exceptions sometimes be made for the hardness of their hearts (see Matthew 19:8). And these, not the law proper, were set aside by Jesus, as no longer necessary in the new economy of grace.

For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?

The law was meant to be received as a blessing, and the people did in fact receive it that way. However, preoccupation with the letter of the law allowed individuals to use it to insulate themselves from God's true plan and intention for them. Jesus incinerated that insulation in the fire of truth so that the law could achieve what Moses had so long ago said that it could: helping to draw near to God. Therefore may we too obey and teach it.

Maranatha! Music - I Will Delight (In The Law Of The Lord)

 

10 March 2026 - attitude adjusment

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”

We may think we're being generous when we suggest seven times as a limit to our forgiveness. But we are actually looking for an upward bound, a maximum that we need never exceed, a final degree after which we are free to cut others off from our mercy.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’

The servant had some degree of self-interested, imperfect contrition. He had regret because of the order of punishment that was given. Yet even this imperfect plea was enough to move his master with compassion. He was not forgiven because he managed to manifest some kind of perfect attitude or complete conversion of heart. Up to and including the point that he begged for mercy it would not have been unthinkable for him to treat his fellow servants without it. It was once the master had shown mercy, once he had been forgiven, that change was not only possible, but expected. The mercy of the master ought to have been enough to drive his partial conversion to completion, to move him from self-interested mercy to share in his master's unlimited mercy. At that point he himself had been forgiven an unpayable debt. This experience of mercy that was not limited by the amount of the debt, nor based on performance, nor dependent on anything particularly good or noble about himself as a person, ought to have been transformative. It ought to have been an existential lesson that allowed him to show mercy to others. Indeed, we may speculate that part of the reason the master showed this servant mercy was partly so that he would in turn show mercy to the fellow servants of his who owed him much less than he himself had owed the master. It ought to have seemed easy by comparison, and something clearly expected of him.

His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’

When we begin our journey in our own experience of God's forgiveness we often do so with some measure of selfishness mixed in with our contrition. Our initial motivation is not often our inability to show mercy, but our immediate need to receive it. If we try to persist as Christians using only the resources and attitude with which we begin there is a real possibility that we will eventually come up short. We'll hit our seven forgiveness maximum beyond which we will feel free and justified in our selfishness. Even Peter posited such a limit until his own heart was healed by the Lord to go beyond it. We too, if we wish to live as the Lord's disciples, must be healed of the artificial limits on mercy we try to impose. It isn't automatic. In fact, we are sometimes frightened enough by our existential vulnerability to try to assuage our anxiety by getting what we can from this world, and from others. The better way to overcome such anxiety is to experience the abundance of God, beyond all limits, flowing through us into the world. A great example of one who knew this was Daniel could have pleaded for special protection for himself, as one who was genuinely not himself guilty, but who rather took the part of his people, knowing that it was not enough for he himself to be spared if others were lost. 

But with contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be received;
As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,
or thousands of fat lambs,
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.

Vineyard - Help Us Our God

 

9 March 2026 - something extraordinary?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.

People in the native place of Jesus might have assumed that they would have received some kind of special treatment in the positive sense. If he he did mighty deeds in Capernaum surely he would do still more in Nazareth. But although he found such expectations placed on him in Nazareth, he didn't find commensurate faith. In Nazareth the people seemed to think Jesus ought to prove himself. He was simply one from among their number, and they knew, or thought they knew his father. Their assumptions made it impossible for them to come before Jesus with receptive humility, which is the only appropriate attitude in his presence.

It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.

In the same fashion that the people of Nazareth assumed their own worthiness so too did they reject the idea that the Gentiles would be included in God's the blessings of God's covenant. Jesus sensed this in the hearts. But since it was an important part of his plan, accepting Jesus meant a willingness to let him work how and where he willed. Jesus, therefore, didn't avoid the issue. He provoked them by reminding them of an existing pattern in which God blessed the Gentiles rather than those in Israel through Elijah and Elisha, prophets like himself.

It was often the case that it was often the Gentiles who didn't take Jesus for granted, who did not assume they were deserving, and who were able to manifest an attitude of humility in his presence. The Gentiles did not presume they deserved access to the power that was at work in the Lord Jesus. They didn't write him off because they assumed they already knew everything about him. They were thus able to receive more of what Jesus had to offer.

Yet the inclusion of the Gentiles was not merely for their own sake (for our own sake) but also for that of the Jewish people. By showing that he could work where he was welcomed he hoped to provoke a holy jealousy in his covenant people, drawing them beyond their preconceptions and presumptions, inviting them to empty their cups so as to receive all that he did in fact desire to give them.

"My father," they said,
"if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary,
would you not have done it?
All the more now, since he said to you,
'Wash and be clean,' should you do as he said."

Our expectations are often are our enemies in the spiritual life. We assume that there is one way which in which God works, or that he only works through certain people, or in certain places or situations. And we thus tend to miss all the unexpected places where he is often active, where he often seems to prefer to work. It is very much as if he is challenging us to be open, pushing back against our tendency to slide into familiarity and routine. Sometimes we'd be willing to put up with this if it was accompanied by some extraordinary and miraculous manifestations. But often the unexpected places are simple ones. We don't, for example, often expect great power to work through the Sacraments. They are familiar to us and we think we know the full spectrum of their possibility. But that is exactly the place where, when we are open, we are the most likely to find the transformative and miraculous power of Jesus at work in our midst.

Kutless - Word Of God Speak

 

8 March 2026 - well enough

Today's Readings
(Audio)

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
“Give me a drink.”

Jesus often acts to bless us by first asking something of us. What he asks may test our assumptions, as when he spoke to one who was both a woman and a Samaritan. And the response he desires may not be literal or straightforward. Yes, he ultimately did want a drink. In his thirst for souls he sought to be quenched by the faith of the Samaritan woman. But for this to happen she first had realize that there was something more and better, something that her life had not provided to that point. Even a rumor of living water was worth pursuing over the unsatisfactory water, water for which she had to expend much effort, but which never truly satisfied her. She had, it seemed, sought to quench her thirst in addictive patterns of behavior demonstrated by her unstable relationships. This was absolutely a well of water that was never going to satisfy her.

for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water (see Jeremiah 2:13).

We can't seek both the broken cisterns and the source of living water. A lesser thirst must give way to a higher one. Trying to satisfy ourselves at the same old wells is going to produce the same results, and leave us too tired and distracted for anything else. But this implies that we must change our patterns of behavior. We tend to push back at this point. We may suddenly become deeply interested in theological disputes that previously seemed abstract, as misdirection away from the inner work we need. It isn't that there is nothing to what we say. We might be implying something to the effect that the hope Jesus offers doesn't apply to us. We worship and must worship on a different mountain. Or so we think.

But the hour is coming, and is now here, 
when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; 
and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him.

Whatever limits we place on God are entirely self-imposed and imaginary. He is inviting us to leave behind stale and static worship, worship that is merely performative, or merely unreflective habit, to enter into something that is real, something defined by God rather than ourselves. We are being called, led by the hope enkindled in us by the invitation of Jesus, into true worship. And in this worship in Spirit and truth we even now taste the reality that will one day satisfy us for eternity.

And hope does not disappoint, 
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts 
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Songs In His Presence - Isaiah 12: You Will Draw Water

 

7 March 2026 - gifts without the giver

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.'

We want the good gifts of the Father but without him nearby to see how we use them. The gifts are our priority. The giver represents a hassle and an obligation. It seems to us that he would limit our fun, impair our ability to indulge ourselves. We believe that we can get more out of his gifts if we take them to a distant country in which we imagine ourselves to be far from his concern. It is a subset of the temptation that made Adam and Eve wish to be like God. We believe that God is holding out on us, and that they only way to get everything we desire is to put distance between him and us, to vainly attempt to hide from his gaze. Yet, fearfully, he often allows us to get what we want. He will let us try our hand it using his gifts apart from him. He will allow us to become spiritually distant, not as though he no longer sees or cares about us, but such that he is no longer impinging on our conscience. But he allows us to get what we think we want only as discipline, in order that we might learn what we truly need to satisfy us.

When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.

Without proximity to the Father we quickly exhaust the ability of mere created things to satisfy us. We can spend everything without him and finally discover that we even that was not enough. Nor is there anyone around us aside from God to whom we can turn. It is not just that no one offers us anything. It is that they do not possess what we truly need. When we hit rock bottom in that way it is then that we are most likely to remember the abundance that we left behind in the Father's house. We realize that by every human measure we have disqualified ourselves from being in the house and enjoying it. But we know that the Father has so much that even his hired workers have enough food to eat. We thus return, not expecting the way things to be as the were before we betrayed him, but still hoping for better than the famine of the distant land.

While he was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion.

The son didn't even finish has act of contrition before the father had embraced him, restored him, and even elevated him. He had his own finest robe placed on him and had a ring put on his finger. Sandals that the son had no doubt worn through were replaced with new ones, a fresh start. The father was not waiting to punish him, did not hold him to account for his every mistake. He had clearly been hoping and longing for his return. He not only went out to meet him, but ran to him. This was what he had desired all along.

He became angry,
and when he refused to enter the house,
his father came out and pleaded with him.

We tend to have a little of the aspect of the older brother in us as well. We don't easily accept a lack of strict justice in the case of the mistakes of others. We tend to think that if they aren't properly punished that they can't really learn. We don't always recognize the ways in which life apart from God is its own punishment and lesson. On top of that we prefer to see ourselves as innocent, not having sinned in the egregious fashion of the younger son. Yet there is something of his own misshapen desire within us, the same desire to have the fathers gifts without the father. As the older brother complained, "you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends". We ourselves have rejected the abundance of the father, failing to earn it through our effort and service, too scandalized to receive it as freely given gift. The return of the younger son represents a challenge on multiple levels. It shows us how good it is to celebrate in the father's house, rather than apart from him. It reveals that this is never something we earn, but is always a gift. It's hard, because we must acknowledge all the wasted time when we failed to hear the Father saying, "My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours". Yet it is so good to finally hear that, to finally allow ourselves to be won over, and to enter the feast, to join the celebration, and to share in the rejoicing. This joy reaches its apex when we share the Father's heart, his concern for the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Jesus himself summarized his mission thus: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (see Luke 19:10).

Josiah Queen - The Prodigal

 

6 March 2026 - problematic tenancies

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.

The parable spoke in a particular way to those in leadership positions in Israel. They had begun to use their position for selfish ends, forgetting that they were meant to provide the fruit, spiritually nourished women and men, to the landowner at harvest time. But instead they used the produce to satisfy their own egos. When God sent warnings against lack of fidelity, the people of Israel often responded by persecuting the prophets he sent to them, much as the brothers persecuted Joseph in today's first reading. But it was something else again with Jesus. He summarized in himself the law and the prophets. As a result he would be the target, even more than the prior prophets. He was the culmination of all that the prophets were and all that they taught. And the suffering and persecution he would face was the full reality of what the lives of the prophets merely foreshadowed. But this was not the end. Though the son of the landowner would be killed, the landowner would ultimately be vindicated. Though Jesus would be put to death, the landowner would give the vineyard to new tenants through his resurrection, ascension, and gift of the Spirit. And what of those who remained steadfast in their opposition to him even after the resurrection? He would "put those wretched men to a wretched death".

At first at may seem that a parable directed to religious leaders doesn't have much to say to most of us. Yet like them we have been entrusted with a stewardship. As with those in the parable of the talents we too will be accountable for how we have used the gifts we have received. Do we remember the reason that our own vineyards exist? As in the parable, they do have defensive features. But these are not to be turned against the Lord from whom we have them. Yes, we must defend what we have been given from our spiritual opponents, the powers of darkness. But we must not come to think of the vineyards as our own even after we exert ourselves to protect them. The produce is meant to serve some larger purpose than gratifying our egos. We need to identify that purpose and honor it. We should be ready, when the son visits us, to respect him, and to give him what is his due. Neither can we shirk responsibility, burying our gifts, as though the vineyard means anything without fruit to show for it. What we have been given is not a trap, and only secondarily a test. It is primarily a gift. The landowner shares his own job and responsibility with the tenants. He does this both for their sake and the sakes of those who can then be blessed thereby. 

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Part of the reason we have problems cooperating with God is that he tends to work through unlikely means. He chooses the weak to shame the strong, the foolish to shame the wise. We tend to assume that the only value of others is their ability, and thus their utility. But what makes others valuable, what makes us valuable, is ultimately the fact that God values us. He can, as it were, raise up children of Abraham from the very dust (see Luke 3:8). It's provocative when the Lord chooses in ways that don't seem strategic. The only way we can get onboard with what he is doing is by faith. Rather than taking offense or being scandalized, and perhaps eventually radicalized, we must give our full and free assent to what he is doing, how and when he is doing it. It may seem constantly on the verge of collapse, ready to fail at any moment. But the word of the Lord always proves true in the end, as it did with Joseph.

They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.