9 September 2026 - plainly speaking

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

Today's Gospel reading gives us Jesus's Sermon on the Plain, similar, but not identical to the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew. This suggests to us that the Jesus referred to the same general teachings at multiple times, but in slightly different forms, modified to meet the needs of a specific time and place. Since the content of this sermon is considered to be among the most important of the core teachings of Jesus it should not surprise us if he preached about it more than once.

Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.

The blessings of the beatitudes all refer to people who are blessed now and will attain a better state in the future. The more surprising part of that is the  idea that the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and those hated for the sake of the Son of Man are all already blessed even while the negative conditions continue. We can understand why it is fair to say that people who will be satisfied, laugh, and receive a great reward in heaven, will be blessed when those things come to pass. But it is harder to grasp in what way they are already blessed. Is it based simply on the fact that they have promises to which they can look forward? We can interrogate this idea better if we look at the contrary woes presented next by Luke.

But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.

Those who are rich, filled, laugh, and are well spoken of now would seem to be the ones that are blessed now. But the point is that this is not actually the case. They are like people who are too anesthetized to realize the danger of their condition. They are enjoying the ride on the first half of a collapsed bridge, or appreciating the light from an oncoming train. They are too numbed by what they have to realize how briefly they can hold it. They live as the this world is the final reality, but, as Paul tells us, "the world in its present form is passing away". This will, of course, be bad for them in the future. But it is also bad now. It is actually beneath human dignity to live at the level of appearances, to indulge in a shadow play as though it will never end. When we see no connection between our lives in the present and our eternal destiny, when we forget that, "time is running out", we begin to act in ways that are not only unsustainable, but also pathetic and sad. We begin to treat the sources of our riches, our food, our joy, and our reputation, as idols that can offer us ultimate happiness. Yet all they ever do is string us along. 

By contrast, those who are not rich, or at least not dominated by their riches, have the freedom to live lives of meaning and dignity. They have consolation amidst their current trials of the rewards that will one day be theirs. Not only that, faith makes it possible for them to experience those rewards even here and now. It does this, not through the health and wealth Gospel giving them winning lottery tickets or sports cars, but by helping them to see wealth differently, to recognize the true riches that are theirs in Christ and in his Church. They may still be hungry, but at the same time they receive the food of eternal life that is the end of all hunger. They may still mourn, and that for many valid reasons. But they do so with the deeper underlying joy of the Spirit to sustain them. They may lose our worldly reputation. But they discover their true worth in the eyes of Christ and in his love for them.

They are borne in with gladness and joy;
they enter the palace of the king.

 

 

Matt Maher - Lay It Down

 

8 September 2026 - part to play

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 

We don't celebrate many birthdays on the liturgical calendar. There is John the Baptist, and of course Jesus himself, and today's feast of the Nativity of Mary. And that's it. This ought to lead us to conclude that her birthday is a big deal. However, the emphasis of the celebration is different from the modern cultural institution which, if it has any meaning, is something like affirming the existence and worth of the individual. Fine and good. But biblical birthdays are important because of what the represent in the plan of God for salvation history. 

We can see the emphasis on the divine plan in our first reading, which is a prophetic prediction of the role that the son of Mary was to play as one who would shepherd the flock of Israel "by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God" leading to a time when "his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth". According to Micah what was the watershed moment when things in the world will finally begin to change? He tells us that it was "the time when she who is to give birth has borne". Therefore, if the birth of her Son is so significant, we can by no means underestimate her own birth. It was a sign of the imminence of the coming kingdom of God.

The alternative first reading from Romans also emphasized the divine plan of God that would be realized in his Son. Part of the reality that was to be realized in Jesus was the way that many brothers would be conformed to his image. They would become sons (and daughters) in the Son. But if this primarily implied that they would come to experience the Fatherhood of God in a special way it also alluded to the way in which Mary's role was always meant to be the mother, not only of Jesus, but also "those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (see Revelation 12:17). 

Both readings want us to appreciate the Mary's involvement in the story of Jesus was not incidental, much less accidental. It was an important part of the divine plan. Thus when we celebrate her birth we honor her by recognizing it as among the most important milestones in the story of our salvation. The role played by Mary could not have been filled by just anyone. It had to be the one who God knew would accept his call, cooperate with his grace, and give the full assent of her mind and heart in her fiat. Few births (in fact, only one) changed the world more than hers, and so it is worthy of celebration.

No doubt the reason our Gospel includes the genealogy is also to emphasize the fulfillment of a plan that always existed in the heart of God since before time began. Once Joseph realized that something supernatural was happening in his betrothed, in the moment when she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit, he began to question whether he himself could possibly be a part of that plan without bringing shame as a result of his own imperfection. But, although he was not immaculately conceived as Mary was, he was nevertheless also always meant to be a part of that plan. From him we can learn to not allow our own weakness to overcome us, but to be willing to do whatever part God has assigned for us. Although we are not righteous men and women to the degree that Joseph was, we nevertheless all have a part to play. We too are predestined and called to be brothers and sisters of Jesus, sons and daughters both of the Father and the mother of God. We must not shrink from this calling since in Jesus we have the presence of God in human flesh, "Emmanuel" meaning "God is with us". Therefore the promise of Micah is perfectly realized in him in a way that would be possible for no one else, "he shall be peace".

John Michael Talbot - Holy Is His Name

 Maranatha! Music - He Is Our Peace

 

7 September 2026 - keeping the feast

Today's Readings
(Audio)

  

The scribes and the Pharisees watched him closely
to see if he would cure on the sabbath
so that they might discover a reason to accuse him.

The Pharisees were, in a fashion, working on the sabbath, though not in a way the obviously and explicitly violated that commandment. But they were doing evil, working to destroy life rather than save it, something wrong any day of the week, but especially egregious on the sabbath. 

But he realized their intentions
and said to the man with the withered hand,
"Come up and stand before us."

Jesus was not about to allow the disordered motivations of the Pharisees to set the terms for this particular sabbath. He knew what they were about but refused to allow himself to be controlled by them. He did not compromise his jubilee program merely because of their hostile intentions. Rather, from his own divine abundance he welcomed those willing to receive him into a deeper experience of the sabbath. This was not only true for the one who received healing, but also the crowds who witnessed it. The restoration of the withered hand of the man was a microcosm of the restoration of Israel itself, the antidote to a nation which had not heeded the advice of the psalm, which said "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither!" (see Psalm 137:5). 

 

The use of the word "restored" when Jesus healed this individual signaled more than a particular instance of his healing power. It implied that the larger restoration of Israel, divided, dispersed, and conquered, had begun, though not in the way people had expected. Even after the resurrection they didn't immediately realize everything that was implied, asking "are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (see Acts 1:6). They didn't fully understand until Pentecost. Once the Spirit came in power they began to participate already in a restored Israel, one that was transformed into a transnational, spiritual, and even heavenly reality. But the fullness of restoration, announced by Jesus on that sabbath long ago, still remains. It will not be fully accomplished until the eschaton, when there will be "times of universal restoration" (see Acts 3:21). No doubt this is closely tied to the final sabbath rest that still awaits us, mentioned by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, who wrote "there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" (see Hebrews 4:9).

How do we prepare for this restoration and this final last sabbath rest? Our Christian communities need to open themselves to the healing touch of Jesus in order that we might excise from our midst the kind of "malice and wickedness" of which the Pharisees were guilty. So too do we need to be purified of other kinds of "immorality" that we still tolerate in our midst. We need to be brave enough to practice the sort of fraternal correction about which we read yesterday. We are not going to be the nourishing divine bread that we are meant to be while the old leaven is still present in our midst. It has a frightening ability to disproportionately spoil the larger batch. However, we cannot accomplish the transformation we need through complaining, criticizing, or virtue signaling. In fact, the transformation we need is only possible because "our Paschal Lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed" and in him we already have all we need to "celebrate the feast". All we need, really, is to be true to that original gift. Therefore, Paul writes to us the way with should celebrate: "with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth".

 

 

Matisyahu - Jerusalem

 

6 September 2026 - love is the fulfillment of the law

 

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

It is good to pay our debts as quickly as we are able. This is done out of respect for those to whom we owe such debts and also for the freedom that results when our debts our paid. When we owe money for this or that there are ways in which, not only our money, but our possible life choices are limited until payment is made. A loan or a mortgage requires that we be solicitous to maintain adequate employment to continue making payments. But once it is paid there are all kinds of new options available to us. We could move to a different country, or go on a mission trip, or accept a job that pays less but provides a greater sense of purpose.

However, there is one debt that takes precedence over all others, and that can never be fully or sufficiently paid and that is "to love one another". We can't love long enough or well enough that we can then forget about it and become selfish. We not only owe our neighbors for their own sakes which are finite, but also for the sake of the infinite God who made them. Therefore we can't allow ourselves to be content with weak or wishy-washy love. We certainly must avoid anything that would be harmful to them, as Paul writes, "Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law". But we can see from our other passages that the debt of love carries positive and not only negative demands.

I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.

We are not all appointed watchmen over the house of Israel in the way that those with authority in the Church are so appointed. But even we are required to not remain silent when the spiritual life of a sister or brother is at risk. When a brother sins against us we are not meant to ignore it, much less to use it as fodder for gossip.  We are meant to take it seriously, taking whatever steps are necessary to win him over. We hope to be able to do this between ourselves and him lone. But, if not, objective third parties can be helpful. And when they are inadequate, someone who can speak clearly about the teaching of the Church whatever subject is in view can be invaluable.

If he refuses to listen even to the church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

If our brother refuses to listen even to the church we are not thereby discharged from the debt of love we owe to him. Rather, it takes on a different form, since the terms with which we can communicate with him are different from that of a brother with a common understanding of the faith. The goal of winning over the brother remains. But the way we try to do so is now more in keeping with how we appeal to those who have not yet accepted the Gospel message. It does not mean shunning such a one. Jesus did not avoid table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners. But he did recognize that they were not meant to remain in the condition in which he found them. What they needed, more than correction of individual behavior, was to hear the good news and come to saving faith. One who doubles down on sin to the degree that he will even ignore Church teaching on the matter is in a similar condition.

Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. 

We are not meant to seek and save our lost brothers and sisters merely through our own persistence and cleverness. Rather, it is only the presence of Jesus himself in the midst of us that is capable of changing human hearts. Without him present we really have nowhere to point, nothing to offer, no real meat to the appeal we want to make. He is the center, the goal, the purpose of the law and of our lives. Love fulfills the law especially and particularly when we bring others into contact with the living Christ, present here and now among his people.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.

Leeland - Way Maker

 

5 September 2026 - Lord of the sabbath

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Some Pharisees said,
“Why are you doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

The Pharisees probably convinced themselves that they meant well. They desired to call the nation to a high standard of holiness so that God would hear their prayers and vindicate them against their oppressors. But in pursuit of their plan they lost sight of the personhood of others, seeing them more like cogs that were either functioning properly in their scheme, or else not doing so. From there it wasn't too much of a stretch to see someone like Jesus as a saboteur, throwing a wrench in all of those gears leading to a systemic breakdown of the system they were attempting to build. Thus, without ever meaning to do so in a fully conscious way, they became opposed to the kingdom of Jesus in a way similar to how Saul opposed David. 

Have you not read what David did
when he and those who were with him were hungry?

David and his men were hungry because they were fleeing from King Saul. Since David was the one anointed by the Lord to be the next king the mission he and his men were on had a divine origin. Thus they were permitted to share in the priestly privilege of eating the bread of offering. This may  hint at the unique way that the role of priest and the role of king were united in David, who was "a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek" (see Psalm 110:4). At the least it demonstrated that the demands of fulfilling the divine plan superseded the liturgical norms that protected the sanctity of the bread of offering. That sanctity would have been tarnished if some random people from the road casually ate it to satiate their own hunger. But when David and his men, who had been maintaining their own purity for the sake of the mission, which itself was given by God, ate the bread, its purity was respected and maintained.

Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

The Pharisees fastidious focus on details was problematic because it made them lose sight of the big picture. In the way they taught, criticized, and argued, they trampled over others as collateral damage necessary for their agenda. And when God himself appeared before them with a different plan they not only did not consent to it, but even persecuted the one who revealed it. They were not merely rejecting a different plan, but the anointed of the Lord who made it known. They thus became like Saul who, in his pride, desired to cling to his own authority when God decreed it would pass to another.

Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the sabbath.”

While pretending to respect the sabbath the Pharisees acted in some ways as though they believed themselves to be its lord. But their use of the sabbath regulations were not aligned to the true purpose of rest and relationship with God. After all, they were doing all they could to make it harder for the disciples of Jesus to rest and for the crowds to enjoy their relationship with he who was God in the flesh. They thus became creatures convinced that they knew better how the job of governing the universe should be performed than God himself. It only sounds absurd until we realize that we often do the like ourselves, rejecting what God has revealed in favor of what we think ought to be the case. 

Let us learn to trust God more than ourselves and to welcome the kingdom he came to reveal.

The Lord is near to all who call upon him.

Housefires - Lift You High

4 September 2026 - while the bridegroom is with them

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

“The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink.”

The disciples of Jesus didn't fit the mold of people who took religion seriously in his own day. They didn't do what others did, even though it was considered table stakes. They did what others did not, even though it was superficially somewhat scandalous. So too today, if Christians don't appear to others as they would expect, that is to be expected. Christians follow an internal logic that cannot be discerned merely from the order of the universe, human nature, or previous divine revelations. They live based on their relationship with the bridegroom.

Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
then they will fast in those days.”

When the world mourns Christians may well manifest an annoying aloof sense of joy. Those in the world see this as irresponsible, as though attending to one's duties in the world means treating it as an absolute good, which must be grieved whenever its inherent imperfections manifest. In the face of war, suffering, sickness, and death, Christians maintain an invincible hope and confidence in the Lord. This joy does not make them useless or incompetent to respond to those in material need. Rather, it allows them to be clearheaded enough to do so. But Christians often mourn the things the world celebrates, such as power, violence, sensuality, and celebrity. They are saddened by anything which might compromise the immortal soul for the sake of temporary benefits. This reversal, in which mortal sin is a cause for sadness, but even death, in the final analysis, calls for celebration, is paradoxical to those who do not yet know the bridegroom who stands at the center of it all.

Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God. 

Even Christians can make the mistake of trying to use old wineskins for new wine, or of trying to patch an old cloak with a piece of new cloth. The Corinthians did so when they imported worldly concepts of  celebrity into their relationships with those doing apostolic work, such as Paul, Peter, and Apollos. They chose champions from among them as though these figures were in a popularity contest. In choosing one over another they seemed to assume that they themselves were made better by the strengths of the preferred preacher, as though it implied something about their own value. Paul attempted to put things in their proper context, explaining that he and the others were not celebrities to be celebrated, but servants and stewards working together for the good of all. If there were truly some kind of moral corruption, if any were not "found trustworthy" that would be a separate and potentially serious issue. But the human tribunal which motivated the divisions in Corinth was not competent to judge such matters. It was motivated only by self-interest. In this sense Paul did not even pass judgment on himself, whether he was superior or inferior to others. But he did take morality and having a clean conscience seriously, which is why he was able to say, "I am not conscious of anything against me".

Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time,
until the Lord comes,
for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will manifest the motives of our hearts,
and then everyone will receive praise from God.

Rather than the praise of men, leading to competition, divisions, and even schisms, what matters is praise from God. Not only in the time of Paul but even in our day we can get caught up in concern for what others think when the only thing the really matters is what God thinks. Let's resolve to keep the new wine of the Gospel in new wineskins of renewed hearts and minds, and to keep the new cloak given to us in baptism whole and unstained until his coming.

Elevation Worship Featuring Brandon Lake - There Is A King

 

3 September 2026 - catching on

Today's Readings
(Audio)

 Simon said in reply,
"Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets."

Life apart from Jesus is shallow, frustrating, and unsatisfying. In spite of the hard work we invest we can labor without rest with little or nothing to show for it. When we do manage to catch a few fish it is only a temporary reprieve. It is never such an abundance that we feel as though we can ever take a rest from the endless cycle of working to sustain ourselves in this world. We always have a vague lingering sense that there should be something more, an end toward which we are working, a fullness and a finality that can actually be attained. But at the same time we recognize that this could never be a matter of mere quantity. We are looking for something qualitatively different. Thus, it isn't so much about the miraculous draft of fish as it is about the one who gives us the directions that lead to that abundant catch.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
"Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."

Peter saw Jesus as more than a highly accurate instrument for locating fish, as though it was his spiritual sonar that was valuable. Jesus had shown that he was able to find fulfillment in places where Peter had assumed there was none to be found. But what mattered was not so much the individual instances of miraculous fulfillment as knowing Jesus himself. If Peter had seen Jesus as a tool for increasing the profitability of his fishing business he would not have said "Depart from me, Lord". But he recognized something deeper in Jesus, an individual that stood outside of the cycle of endless work and partial fulfillment. The true abundance was not in the vicinity of Jesus waiting to be identified by him. Jesus himself was the true abundance. Possessing him one possessed all else besides.

So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,
Paul or Apollos or Cephas,
or the world or life or death,
or the present or the future:
all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God.

When we recognize the abundance that is found in Jesus we see our own insufficiency in stark relief. We come to more deeply recognize our own inadequacy, our deeply rooted tendencies that are not merely inefficient, but even selfish and sinful. Yet this does not disqualify us from possessing all things in Christ. Precisely because of his abundance, because he needs nothing from his creatures, he is the one person who can offer us everything. Knowing this we are free to leave our large expensive fishing nets, whatever those represent for us, in order to follow Jesus himself.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

Elevation Worship - Fullness