10 November 2026 - not entitled

Today's Readings
(Audio)

“Who among you would say to your servant

who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?

Jesus wanted those entrusted with authority to be on guard against attitudes of entitlement. The situation that he wanted to avoid was one where the Apostles spread the Good News of the Kingdom, but then saw those to whom they made the proclamation as in their debt, to then be used and exploited. They were to serve Jesus both in the field and at the table. They were never meant to graduate from servants to masters. This actually seems reasonable when we consider how Jesus never ceased to be a servant to them. The whole purpose of his coming was not to be served but to serve. His disciples would need to share this attitude. What they had to give was not their own. The talents and graces that they used to do it were not from themselves. Even their willing hearts were gifts that were not of their own making. If they began to believe that they had in fact earned something, that they were entitled to some return, the risk was that they would cease to recognize the needs of others and to see them, at least sometimes, as resources to be consumed.

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ (see First Corinthians 9:12).

Paul knew about the attitude Jesus taught his Apostles. He understood that it was permissible to earn a living as an evangelist. But he refused to do even that lest it become an obstacle to the reception of his message. He didn't want people to even think he did it for the money. But we can imagine that with the difficulties faced by those who work in the service of the Gospel that some people might easily have in fact tried to do it for the money, or at least, whatever they could get, whether titles or places of honor, all also things against which Jesus warned.

We're so eager to protect what we imagine to be our rights that we often have a hard time reading Paul's advice to Titus about relationships without chaffing a little. Our flesh screams, 'What about me?'. For Paul, however, it was no longer all about him. He had tried that life. It hadn't worked as planned. Jesus had shown him a still more excellent way. He did not think of relationships primarily in terms of rights. Of course the vulnerable and abused did need to be protected. But when things were mostly functioning as they should the focus should be on noncompetitive service, and mutual subjugation, rather than entitlement and demands.

And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (see Galatians 2:2).

he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised (see Second Corinthians 5:15).

Jesus will one day surprise us by waiting on us at table, not because we ourselves have earned it through our labors, but because of who he is. If we insist on what is strictly ours, on what we have earned, we will not be open to receive the gift. But if we pursue the path of service to which we are called we will discover the much greater free gift of grace given to us by Jesus Christ. Just as we think we are in the midst of serving him we will find that it has been him serving us all along, and it is that which has made our own efforts possible.

Jars Of Clay -  They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love

9 November 2026 - not a free market

Today's Readings

(Audio)

  

He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area

Was it really worth getting so upset about the sellers and money-changers in the temple? It was clearly an abuse. But was it that much worse than having a bake sale in a Church on Sunday? We might have thought that simply giving a prophetic verbal critique would have been sufficient. We know Jesus was able to make his criticism sufficiently barbed to make people take notice. But it seems there was more at stake here, and that solving the problem could not be allowed to wait on the guilty parties to reconsider their ways. 

 

The temple was prevented from being all that it was meant to be because it was filled with business and noise and greed. And it was meant to be something very great indeed. It was meant to be the place of communion between God and humanity. It was this very communion that was being impaired. It was only when God's presence was truly honored that living water would flow out from the temple for the world. Thus, even though the physical temple was only a foreshadowing of the true temple, it was the closest people in the era were able to approach to God. Thus, the fact that people who desired that communion hit an immediate roadblock was a big problem. It was especially problematic that it was the court of the Gentiles were this practice took place. Jesus did not want to see anyone excluded that God, in giving the Jewish people the blueprint for the temple, had obviously intended to include.

"Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."

Even though the physical temple in Israel would give way to the spiritual temple of the Body of Christ, Jesus took its purity and purpose with utmost severity. He did not see it as merely a building, nor the prayers that took place within as mere rituals. He saw them in connection to the intention of his Father. The building was meant to be the place on earth where people approached nearest to him, and there prayers were genuinely meant to be heard. It was in a sense true that Jesus did not see a complete separation between this temple and the thing it foreshadowed. His cleansing of it was a prophetic act of purification that extended beyond that time and place. It was directly connected with the cross, which was the ultimate purification of the true temple. It was destroyed when his body was crucified, and then raised up in three days so that, at last, its true purpose could be fulfilled. The merchants, it is true, were the first ones who tasted to whip of cords. But Jesus himself bore our stripes from a whip in order to cleanse our own hearts that we could truly love, serve, and abide with God. 

This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah,
and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh.

Without the water flowing from the temple, when it is stopped up by greed or other idolatry, the world is dead and lifeless. Without the water, the fruit of the Spirit does not abound, and the healing power of the Sacraments is stifled, and does not achieve its maximal effect. Clearly Jesus has already done his part to cleanse the temple, both historically, and as is now present in his Church. However, we are a part of that temple. And to the degree that we fill our hearts with other things that are less than God we are the ones who are still in need of being cleansed. We see from what Jesus did in today's Gospel how seriously he takes the matter. We hear it again, this time with the context shifted, from a building to our own hearts, from Paul:

If anyone destroys God's temple,
God will destroy that person;
for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.

God takes our hearts so seriously because they too are meant to be his dwelling place, where we abide with him in communion. When we do we bring living water, abundant fruit, and healing medicine to the world. When we fail, it remains a salty waste. Let's invite Jesus to do his work in us so that we can be all he intends for us to be.

 

 

Hillsong - To Be Like You

 

8 November 2026 - preppers

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Is it a problem to conclude a parable where everyone fell asleep by summarizing the lesson with a command to stay awake? Not really, since what mattered to Jesus was not that the virgins kept their eyes open until the bridegroom came, but rather that they remained spiritually aware, alert, and awake. Because five of them did this they were ready to meet the bridegroom when he came. The five of them who failed to manifest this spiritual attention where not prepared. The wisdom that aided the five who were prepared was a vision of the bigger picture. They didn't get lost in the moment but saw their whole lives in the context of being ready for the coming of the bridegroom. This wisdom led them to ask what if questions that helped them to take practical steps in the face of possible challenges. It occurred that they might need a surplus of oil just in case. 

The five foolish virgins naively assumed they could make do without any extra. It is as though they hoped that their condition was good enough, while the wise five recognized that the coming of the Lord might require more from them if they were to give him a fitting reception. The wisdom of the five wise virgins allowed them to be prepared even in spite of natural human weakness, whereas natural human weakness become the final straw that prevented the necessary preparation for those who were foolish. The problem wasn't their human weakness in itself. It was their lack of awareness and failure to take it into account that was their undoing. It was as if the foolish virgins didn't realize they were the sort of people who could fall asleep, but believed they could be ready for anything at a moments notice. But the wise virgins knew the limits of their own abilities and so took appropriate precautions to be ready even if weakness overtook them.

The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. 

It has been said that our lamps are our faith and the oil makes that faith visible through good works. Jesus wants to find us faithful at his coming. But perhaps there is a way in which keeping our lamps alight goes even further in making us recognizable to him when he does. If the light is the result of faith working in love then it illumines both our own face and that of our neighbor, revealing the presence of Jesus in us both. Therefore, when we serve the lowest and the least of his brethren, in whom Jesus himself his present, he comes more and more to recognize our face. He takes our gestures as done not only for our neighbors but for him. And so we become unforgettable to him, by virtue of our response to the grace of his call.

When we have wisdom like the wise virgins we can have peace even amidst the hardest times in our lives. We may grieve, but not "like the rest, who have no hope". Instead, we see the big picture recognizing that "God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep".

We are reminded that it isn't really so much that we are chasing this wisdom so much as that it, or she, is chasing us.

because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her,
and graciously appears to them in the ways,
and meets them with all solicitude.

Ike Ndolo - Awake, O Sleeper

 

7 November 2026 - the secret

Today's Readings
(Audio)

I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances;
I know also how to live with abundance.

We probably do much better with an abundance, or at least we seem to. Having more than enough seems easy, while having even a bit less than we would like sometimes feels impossible. But how does it go with our spiritual lives? When we do in fact have enough, are we thankful? Do we actually remember the source of our blessings? Or do we instead fail to be trustworthy with the wealth of this world, which is dishonest wealth insofar as we forget its temporary nature? If we trust in our wealth we cannot be trustworthy with our wealth. By contrast, when we struggle to get by, when life is difficult, when illness or other unfortunate circumstances occur, are we not sometimes more likely to turn to God? Have not some of our most difficult times contained some of the moments during which we were the closest to God in sincerity and truth? In good times we may be able to content ourselves with pretense and facade in matters of religion, but not when we are truly in need. There is a lesson our circumstances are trying to teach us, a lesson which Paul already learned and passed on to the Philippians.

I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.

Paul didn't try to manage the bad times on his own. Neither did he allow the good times to make him forget about his constant need for Jesus. Sometimes an abundance could cause one to end in the flesh, relying on the things of this world, after having begun in the Spirit. But not Paul. Paul was absolutely trustworthy with the wealth that was not his own because he looked forward to true treasure in heaven, a reward better than anything the world could offer.

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing (see Second Timothy 4:7-9).

The Pharisees love for money made them antagonistic to anyone who might lay claim on it. It ultimately made them antagonistic to God himself, as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, who laid claim, not so much on their wealth, but on their hearts. They weren't interested, were in fact scandalized by this, since their hearts were already slaves of their wealth. Had their wealth still been serving them this might not have been such a problem. But it was clear that they were willing to ignore the joy, freedom, and healing present in the person of Jesus in order to continue to pursue the false promises of mammon. It hadn't yet provided them true happiness. And we can see that it could not do so in the future. Perhaps on some level they even realized this themselves. But they weren't free to acknowledge it. They responded to external claims on their abundance, to their right to their excess, as though they were existential threats, threats to their own survival. They sneered in response to Jesus as though he were impossibly foolish and naive, in order to signal to others that they were intelligent and wise. And to many they may have appeared so. But they could not fool God.

“You justify yourselves in the sight of others,
but God knows your hearts;
for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”

Are we slaves of the things we claim to own? Or do we use them in the service of God? Are we slaves to the opinions of others, to what is of human esteem? Or do we care what God thinks above else? Many of us are still on a constant rollercoaster of highers of abundance and lows of privation. But we can get off the rollercoaster when have we learned the secret taught by Paul, the secret that allows us the sufficiency to face anything life might throw our way. Let's read it again.

I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.

Without him we can do nothing. But with him there is nothing we cannot do. Amen and amen.

Owl City - In Christ Alone

 

6 November 2026 - using things for people, not using people for things

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.

The steward recognized that, apart from his stewardship, he didn't really have anything else. There was nothing that was purely his with which he could pay his debt, neither strength nor wealth. 

I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.’

The steward also recognized that the debts owed by his master's debtors were not ultimately his own. It would have been foolish to cling to such things even in the face of impending judgment from the master. He resolved to let go of such debts, even though they may have been the only things that gave him a sense of wealth and power, in order to try to earn the favor of those who owed them. Then he would have something truly valuable, the friendship of others. Thus when his own work came up short and he was found wanting there would be something on which he could fall back, that being the charity of his friends.

We too are supposed to recognize that nothing we have is truly our own in the strict sense. We have it all on loan, as stewards. Since we can't cling to it indefinitely, in the face of death and impending judgment, we ought to use it for the sake of bringing others into the Kingdom, making friends whose prayers can benefit us in this life and beyond. But, unlike the deceitful but prudent steward, we are often foolish in that we fail to recognize the urgency of our situation and ignore the fact that our privilege, power, and possessions, and abilities, are insufficient to save us. We can't use them as though they were are own, over and against the master, to escape our obligation to him, since they were his gifts to begin with. But if we put them to use so as to make spiritual friends he will commend our prudence. Obviously we must not cheat our fellow servants on earth. But when we freely use the gifts of God he is not cheated and cannot be. He has an infinite abundance, and supplies us with all we need for every good work (see Second Corinthians 9:8). 

We are meant to announce to our fellow servants that their debts are forgiven and that the true year of Jubilee has begun. This is in fact what God desires. He is not overly eager to collect. But those things to which we cling as though they were absolute goods will inevitably be torn from us. When we instead seek first the Kingdom it is then that we receive all else besides. This will keep us safe from the fate Paul describes for those others whose "minds are occupied with earthly things":

Their end is destruction.
Their God is their stomach; 
their glory is in their “shame.”

Rather, we are meant to remember that the source of our value and strength is not from earthly things, but from heaven.

But our citizenship is in heaven, 
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Christians we have the privileges and protection accorded to citizens of heaven. This world, its power, and its judgments, have no ultimate say over us and our destinies. Therefore let us be prudent with the things of earth and "stand firm" in the way of Christ.

 

Matt Maher - Lay It Down

 

5 November 2026 - priority one

Today's Readings
(Audio)

What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?

Why does it almost seem that Jesus loves the one lost sheep more than the ninety-nine? It strikes us as somewhat unfair that those sheep who did not stray were deprived of the shepherd so that one who had could benefit. But the Pharisees also felt this way. Jesus did not lavish praise or attention on them but instead went to seek those who knew they needed him. He constantly directed his attention to those who did not yet know him, and those who shared his heart followed in his footsteps. It was not just the Pharisees, but all those who were not lost, or who perhaps did not realize they were in fact actually also lost, were not as open to receiving the love of Jesus as were those who were lost and who knew they were lost. It was precisely these later who were capable of making the most profound response to Jesus, the ones who could most experience having been loved much and then, in turn, love much themselves.

And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy

In bringing back the lost sheep Jesus fulfills his mission to seek and to save the lost (see Luke 19:10). What is it about this that fills him with such joy? It is doubtlessly the love he is able to lavish on the sheep, open as they are to receive it, and his assurance of the way that love will transform them. 

We may be among the ninety-nine safely home. We may not be at immediate risk of predation. But we may still be at risk of complacency and a lukewarm response to the shepherd in our midst. Jesus, no doubt, is happy we aren't being consumed by wolves. But he would probably prefer if we learned to value his presence just as much as the one who was lost valued it. Honestly, we need him no less than the lost one. For we remain in the sheepfold only because he has taken care for the sheepfold to abide in safety. The only reason we don't stray ourselves is not from our innate goodness, but rather a gift of divine providential protection. The trick for us is to be grateful for every sin we avoid and virtue we pursue as gifts from the shepherd to his sheep. Then we can in some measure share the appreciation of the lost sheep for Jesus and never entirely lose the zeal of new converts.

The more we recognize our need for Jesus the more he delights to fill that need. Nothing gives him greater joy. Nothing has more potential to transform our lives. This is why, for us, as for Paul, it should be our number one priority.

But whatever gains I had,
these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.
More than that, I even consider everything as a loss
because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Britt Nicole - The Lost Get Found

 

4 November 2026 - cost of discipleship

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion? 

We are called to consider realistically the difficulty of what we are being asked to undertake for the sake of Jesus and for his Kingdom. We are being told, as Paul puts it, to work out our "salvation with fear and trembling". This is probably almost enough to make us want to give up. In terms of our human resources we are definitely outmatched in the battle. If we start this tower with only what our abilities and possessions it is probably going to end up just like it did at Babel. What we want to do, rather than fighting for ourselves and our egos independently of Jesus, is to find out what are his terms for peace. We must remember that the construction of the tower and the victorious life are not things we can accomplish. They are only possible for us to share through participation. To do so we must keep in mind that "God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work".

When we recognize the limits of our own efforts and abilities we will more frequently resist the temptation to fall back into operating at the level of the flesh rather than the Spirit, of settling for the merely human, when what we need is the assistance of divine grace.

In the same way,
everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.

It is not merely our own possessions that we must renounce but even our claim to our own lives. There must be nothing, not wealth, not even family, that we would choose over and against Jesus himself. No matter how necessary preferring the things of this world sometimes seems to us, doing so is to participate in the losing side of a battle, whose ending is already written and known to us. Family that does not have its foundations in Christ is destined to dissolve. Anything we strive to build, any legacy we hope to leave, apart from Christ, will ultimately prove to be an unfinished tower. This explains the why it is necessary to carry our own cross. It is not about self-hatred. Rather, it means that we must find our true place and discover our true purpose in Jesus himself, and nothing less. It requires us to share in the same attitude that was in Christ Jesus who humbled and emptied himself for our sakes. Put simply, it means consciously deciding to give God himself the first place in our lives and in our hearts.

The upshot is that, when we count the cost, and realize we can't pay, we can understand that we were never meant to do so. Jesus paid it all. We can't win the fight. But Jesus already has the victory. We must now put our pride aside so that he can manifest that victory in our own lives and make us "shine like lights in the world".

Matt Maher - Shine Like The Sun