31 July 2014 - works in progress
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was,
working at the wheel.
Whenever the object of clay which he was making
turned out badly in his hand,
he tried again,
making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.
When we see the potter making things that turn out badly we might think, is he even good at this? Maybe he should have been a farmer or something. But maybe the problem isn't with the potter. Maybe the clay is sub-par. Maybe the potter is showing it great favor by even using it to make his objects. Perhaps this material takes a longer time than good clay would take. Perhaps it needs to be fashioned and refashioned in order to become malleable enough to truly serve the end for which he intends it.
One upshot to this is that if we don't immediately find ourselves as paragons exemplifying the life of grace that is OK. That can be a part of God's plan. After all ,"does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for a noble purpose and another for an ignoble one?" (cf. Rom. 9:21) Even the first revision, the broken one, the one which will eventually be revised, is something shaped by God's hand. We are permitted to not only accept the process of our lives but to embrace it, to delight in it as the tender care of God for us. It is a good way to take some of the difficult passages from Paul's letter to the Romans. He asks, "What if God, wishing to show his wrath and make known his power, has endured with much patience the vessels of wrath made for destruction?" He shows his power, patience, and mercy by working with us every step of the process. The vessels intended for destruction are not souls headed for hell. They are the old versions of ourselves which are cast off as God makes us newer and better.
We are the earthen vessels he is shaping into more and more fitting containers for the treasure in the field, the pearl of great price. He is the treasure and he himself shapes the vessels that contain it "that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us" (cf. 2 Cor. 4:7).
The LORD does not create anyone for destruction. He casts a wide net to collect "fish of every kind" which he hauls ashore with his own strength. He does not delight to throw any fish away. What fisherman does, really? Who is wants a catch he can't use? Why would he even be fishing? God is an artist who wants to make good use of all the clay he has. We can even imagine that he likes the challenge of working with materials that challenge him. He is patient, to be sure, but we can even imagine a playful spirit with which he meets these challenges.
Can I not do to you, house of Israel,
as this potter has done? says the LORD.
Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter,
so are you in my hand, house of Israel.
The lesson, then? Insofar as we can, of course, be maleable to the touch of the potter. But trust God and his process for us. There are going to be multiple revisions. Embrace even the broken as a gift. But don't get too attached to it because it is ultimately a vessel for destruction. After all, "what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (cf. 1 Joh. 3:2). In the cross and resurrection of Jesus we see the final revision of the masterwork of the potter. It is a preview of the great art show of God when one day we will all be completely incorporated into the work. Let us wait in great hope with docile hearts for that day.
Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD, his God.
Who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
30 July 2014 - more precious than silver
30 July 2014 - more precious than silver
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Jeremiah experiences the joy of finding this treasure.
When I found your words, I devoured them;
they became my joy and the happiness of my heart,
Because I bore your name,
O LORD, God of hosts.
And he experiences the necessity of selling all that he has to possess it. He can't join in the merrymaking of the world any longer. Just as the LORD told him he is now set apart in order to be the prophet he is meant to be.
Under the weight of your hand I sat alone
because you filled me with indignation.
Selfishness in Jeremiah results in him bringing forth "the vile" when he ought to speak for God. He must repent and be emptied of selfishness in order to be truly filled with God's word. Then he can be God's mouthpiece.
Thus the LORD answered me:
If you repent, so that I restore you,
in my presence you shall stand;
If you bring forth the precious without the vile,
you shall be my mouthpiece.
Is it even worth it? Trading everything to fulfill a role that isn't even his idea? Absolutely it is. The LORD knows Jeremiah before he even forms him in the womb. His plans for Jeremiah mean more than Jeremiah's plans for himself. When he lives in accord with this purpose he finds fulfillment.
And I will make you toward this people
a solid wall of brass.
Though they fight against you,
they shall not prevail,
For I am with you,
to deliver and rescue you, says the LORD.
I will free you from the hand of the wicked,
and rescue you from the grasp of the violent.
When our treasure is really in God, when he is our pearl of greatest price, we find that we are invincible. He is our refuge on the day of distress. When he is not our treasure we find ourselves out in the storms, swept away, as we try to protect the houses we build on sand. But with our treasure in him the world can no longer take our treasure from us. This is why we shouldn't get too distracted storing up treasures for ourselves on earth. They are subject to moth, decay, and thieves. Let us store treasure in heaven. Let our treasure be in God himself. Is our treasure in the world? Let's be honest. Of course it is, to some degree. Let's look at ourselves. To what treasure besides God himself do we cling? The power of his word today is to supplant those empty treasures and false idols of the world. Let's pray: "LORD, as I find your words I devour them. They are my joy, and the happiness of my heart." This grace isn't just for Jeremiah. It is for us. When we experience it we sing with the psalmist:
But I will sing of your strength
and revel at dawn in your mercy;
You have been my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of distress.
“The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Jeremiah experiences the joy of finding this treasure.
When I found your words, I devoured them;
they became my joy and the happiness of my heart,
Because I bore your name,
O LORD, God of hosts.
And he experiences the necessity of selling all that he has to possess it. He can't join in the merrymaking of the world any longer. Just as the LORD told him he is now set apart in order to be the prophet he is meant to be.
Under the weight of your hand I sat alone
because you filled me with indignation.
Selfishness in Jeremiah results in him bringing forth "the vile" when he ought to speak for God. He must repent and be emptied of selfishness in order to be truly filled with God's word. Then he can be God's mouthpiece.
Thus the LORD answered me:
If you repent, so that I restore you,
in my presence you shall stand;
If you bring forth the precious without the vile,
you shall be my mouthpiece.
Is it even worth it? Trading everything to fulfill a role that isn't even his idea? Absolutely it is. The LORD knows Jeremiah before he even forms him in the womb. His plans for Jeremiah mean more than Jeremiah's plans for himself. When he lives in accord with this purpose he finds fulfillment.
And I will make you toward this people
a solid wall of brass.
Though they fight against you,
they shall not prevail,
For I am with you,
to deliver and rescue you, says the LORD.
I will free you from the hand of the wicked,
and rescue you from the grasp of the violent.
When our treasure is really in God, when he is our pearl of greatest price, we find that we are invincible. He is our refuge on the day of distress. When he is not our treasure we find ourselves out in the storms, swept away, as we try to protect the houses we build on sand. But with our treasure in him the world can no longer take our treasure from us. This is why we shouldn't get too distracted storing up treasures for ourselves on earth. They are subject to moth, decay, and thieves. Let us store treasure in heaven. Let our treasure be in God himself. Is our treasure in the world? Let's be honest. Of course it is, to some degree. Let's look at ourselves. To what treasure besides God himself do we cling? The power of his word today is to supplant those empty treasures and false idols of the world. Let's pray: "LORD, as I find your words I devour them. They are my joy, and the happiness of my heart." This grace isn't just for Jeremiah. It is for us. When we experience it we sing with the psalmist:
But I will sing of your strength
and revel at dawn in your mercy;
You have been my stronghold,
my refuge in the day of distress.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
29 July 2014 - yes lord, i believe
29 July 2014 - yes lord, i believe
Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
We all experience things like this. We experience suffering that God allows. He does not delight in it. His presence would mean it would be absence. Yet sometimes he is distant. Sometimes he has timing that is other than we would wish. Hopefully, like Martha, this doesn't diminish our faith. When we suffer, let us say, "even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
Jesus may surprise us. We don't always have to wait until "the resurrection at the last day" for the blessings he wants to give. Suffering is not an absolute. He incorporates it into his plan. Of our suffering he says, "And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him."
Jesus withdraws and draws near so that we might realize that the resurrection is not something that happens near him. He himself is the life we need.
"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Do we believe this? The grace on the readings today is able to strengthen our confession of faith. This is vital because "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." May we bless the LORD at all times with his praise continually in our mouths. Let our souls make their boast in the LORD. May the Spirit empower us to respond with Saint Martha, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world." No one can say that Jesus is LORD except by the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). And "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (cf. Rom. 10:9).
"This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles." Martha experiences exactly this. The goal of Jesus from the beginning is to draw the deeper profession of faith from her heart. It isn't the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus that causes it. It is the presence of Jesus himself, the resurrection and the life, and his words which empower Martha to make the good confession (cf. 1 Tim. 6:12).
The goodness of the LORD which brings about and empowers faith is not just for Martha. It is for all of us. The psalmist can't help but invite, "O taste and see that the LORD is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!"
Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
We all experience things like this. We experience suffering that God allows. He does not delight in it. His presence would mean it would be absence. Yet sometimes he is distant. Sometimes he has timing that is other than we would wish. Hopefully, like Martha, this doesn't diminish our faith. When we suffer, let us say, "even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."
Jesus may surprise us. We don't always have to wait until "the resurrection at the last day" for the blessings he wants to give. Suffering is not an absolute. He incorporates it into his plan. Of our suffering he says, "And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him."
Jesus withdraws and draws near so that we might realize that the resurrection is not something that happens near him. He himself is the life we need.
"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
Do we believe this? The grace on the readings today is able to strengthen our confession of faith. This is vital because "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God." May we bless the LORD at all times with his praise continually in our mouths. Let our souls make their boast in the LORD. May the Spirit empower us to respond with Saint Martha, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world." No one can say that Jesus is LORD except by the Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 12:3). And "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (cf. Rom. 10:9).
"This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles." Martha experiences exactly this. The goal of Jesus from the beginning is to draw the deeper profession of faith from her heart. It isn't the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus that causes it. It is the presence of Jesus himself, the resurrection and the life, and his words which empower Martha to make the good confession (cf. 1 Tim. 6:12).
The goodness of the LORD which brings about and empowers faith is not just for Martha. It is for all of us. The psalmist can't help but invite, "O taste and see that the LORD is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!"
Monday, July 28, 2014
28 July 2014 - humble simple greatness
28 July 2014 - humble simple greatness
For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins,
so had I made the whole house of Israel
and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD;
to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty.
We are made to be intimately close to God. Our lives are supposed to glorify him. We are made to live "for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us" in Jesus (cf. Eph 1:6). We are chosen by him, individually, intentionally chosen by God himself, "so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ" (cf. Eph 1:12).
We fail to do this when we "refuse to obey" his words and "walk in the stubbornness" of our hearts and "follow strange gods to serve and adore them". When we do these things we harm ourselves. We become "rotted, good for nothing" when we don't live for the purpose for which we are made. When we hide "in a cleft of the rock" from the purpose for which we are made we place distance between ourselves and God. He wants our lives to shine with his own glory. But when we opt out of this offer we experience his absence.
“I will hide my face from them,” he said,
“and see what will then become of them.
What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!”
We all suffer the effects of concupiscence. At times we all hear that we "were unmindful of the Rock" which begot us and. We all hear that we have forgotten God. Maybe we haven't entirely forgotten him. But there are areas of all of our lives where we forget him. There are areas which we keep to ourselves. We don't see how that these areas can be for God's renown, his praise, and his beauty. These parts of our lives seem too ordinary, too personal, or perhaps too broken. Yet every aspect of our life is meant to reveal the power and the glory of God.
Even things that seem too small, even mustard seeds can reveal his glory. Even when it seems like what we do is so insignificant that it will be lost in the vast world that surrounds us it can have the effect of yeast leavening everything that surrounds it.
The Kingdom of heaven is not a call to mediocrity. Even though our lives may be humble, even though our contributions may seem insignificant, in the kingdom they are not at all trivial. Let us remember God so that he doesn't have to allow our pride to rot. His purpose for us is more than we can ask or imagine.
For, as close as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins,
so had I made the whole house of Israel
and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the LORD;
to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty.
We are made to be intimately close to God. Our lives are supposed to glorify him. We are made to live "for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us" in Jesus (cf. Eph 1:6). We are chosen by him, individually, intentionally chosen by God himself, "so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ" (cf. Eph 1:12).
We fail to do this when we "refuse to obey" his words and "walk in the stubbornness" of our hearts and "follow strange gods to serve and adore them". When we do these things we harm ourselves. We become "rotted, good for nothing" when we don't live for the purpose for which we are made. When we hide "in a cleft of the rock" from the purpose for which we are made we place distance between ourselves and God. He wants our lives to shine with his own glory. But when we opt out of this offer we experience his absence.
“I will hide my face from them,” he said,
“and see what will then become of them.
What a fickle race they are,
sons with no loyalty in them!”
We all suffer the effects of concupiscence. At times we all hear that we "were unmindful of the Rock" which begot us and. We all hear that we have forgotten God. Maybe we haven't entirely forgotten him. But there are areas of all of our lives where we forget him. There are areas which we keep to ourselves. We don't see how that these areas can be for God's renown, his praise, and his beauty. These parts of our lives seem too ordinary, too personal, or perhaps too broken. Yet every aspect of our life is meant to reveal the power and the glory of God.
Even things that seem too small, even mustard seeds can reveal his glory. Even when it seems like what we do is so insignificant that it will be lost in the vast world that surrounds us it can have the effect of yeast leavening everything that surrounds it.
The Kingdom of heaven is not a call to mediocrity. Even though our lives may be humble, even though our contributions may seem insignificant, in the kingdom they are not at all trivial. Let us remember God so that he doesn't have to allow our pride to rot. His purpose for us is more than we can ask or imagine.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
27 July 2014 - great price.pl
27 July 2014 - great price.pl
Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
When we really know this, we can leave aside all the other concerns that rule us. We can seek first the kingdom, we can love God, and let the rest take care of itself.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
We see that every other treasure is less valuable than relationship with the LORD of the universe. In the fields of creation we find something beyond any created thing. All things are from him, through him, and for him. He is the alpha and the omega. All times and seasons obey his laws. He holds all of creation together in himself. When he is with us nothing else can stand against us. Nothing can truly work against our good. There is nothing in the world with the buying power that this pearl has. Let us not cling to our old rags and refuse. Let us consider them rubbish that we may gain Christ. Solomon puts the LORD first, and because he asks for this, because he seeks first the kingdom, the other things are also added unto him.
In addition, I give you what you have not asked for: I give you such riches and glory that among kings there will be no one like you all your days.
Solomon in his youth has the humility to realize that what he needs most is God. He asks for discernment, for wisdom, for a heart that can truly say "Lord, I love your commands" because by those commands he can live according to the purpose for which he is made.
The Word of God, including his laws and commands, is manifest in Jesus, the pearl of great price. This Word reveals not just mechanics for living but God himself. This is the God who created the world and the world's laws. He is the starting place for how we ought to interact with it because he holds the destiny of the world in his hands. When we know this we begin to love his law. When we don't know it nothing makes sense.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
Of course we aren't good at putting God first. But even so, Jesus seeks us as if we were the pearl of great price. He sells all he has, gives all he can, to buy us. He purchases the field of death so that from it he might snatch the pearl of our hearts. We should be confident in him, therefore, as is Paul:
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.
The Son gives us his very self. Will he not also give us all things (cf. Rom 8:32)? Let us cast off the works of darkness. In the dark the pearl remains hidden. And once we find it, let us share it. Let us cast the net wider and wider. This blessing is meant for all.
Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
When we really know this, we can leave aside all the other concerns that rule us. We can seek first the kingdom, we can love God, and let the rest take care of itself.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
We see that every other treasure is less valuable than relationship with the LORD of the universe. In the fields of creation we find something beyond any created thing. All things are from him, through him, and for him. He is the alpha and the omega. All times and seasons obey his laws. He holds all of creation together in himself. When he is with us nothing else can stand against us. Nothing can truly work against our good. There is nothing in the world with the buying power that this pearl has. Let us not cling to our old rags and refuse. Let us consider them rubbish that we may gain Christ. Solomon puts the LORD first, and because he asks for this, because he seeks first the kingdom, the other things are also added unto him.
In addition, I give you what you have not asked for: I give you such riches and glory that among kings there will be no one like you all your days.
Solomon in his youth has the humility to realize that what he needs most is God. He asks for discernment, for wisdom, for a heart that can truly say "Lord, I love your commands" because by those commands he can live according to the purpose for which he is made.
The Word of God, including his laws and commands, is manifest in Jesus, the pearl of great price. This Word reveals not just mechanics for living but God himself. This is the God who created the world and the world's laws. He is the starting place for how we ought to interact with it because he holds the destiny of the world in his hands. When we know this we begin to love his law. When we don't know it nothing makes sense.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
giving understanding to the simple.
Of course we aren't good at putting God first. But even so, Jesus seeks us as if we were the pearl of great price. He sells all he has, gives all he can, to buy us. He purchases the field of death so that from it he might snatch the pearl of our hearts. We should be confident in him, therefore, as is Paul:
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.
The Son gives us his very self. Will he not also give us all things (cf. Rom 8:32)? Let us cast off the works of darkness. In the dark the pearl remains hidden. And once we find it, let us share it. Let us cast the net wider and wider. This blessing is meant for all.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
26 July 2014 - greenhouse
26 July 2014 - greenhouse
But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss!
What do these deceitful words tell us? They say to trust in the things that are made rather than in the one who makes all things. The deceit tells us that we will be fine to trust in the temple of the LORD without trusting in God. We think we can give God an hour in his temple and then go out and sin boldly, burning incense to Baal, or consumerism, or entertainment, or sex, money, or power. We are too wrapped up in ourselves to give God more than an hour in his temple and yet we imagine that he will remain with us.
He wants to remain with us. That is the whole of his temple and the various church buildings in which it manifests itself to us. These churches are meant to be beautiful. They are meant to make us say "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!" We are meant to desire them, not use them as leverage to go out and sin. Our soul should yearn and pine for these courts precisely because it is where God is found.
The LORD tells us to reform "so that I may remain with you in this place." He does want to meet us in the Church he establishes for us. But to do so we must be there in heart and not just in body. We must bring all that we are and not just check off a box on a list. We need to recognize as the early Christians do "Sine dominico non possumus" without the LORD's day we cannot live. For them it is a worthy reason to be martyred, more important than their physical lives. We need to begin to see it this way, too. Without Sunday, without Mass, without the LORD in his temple, our lives begin to fall apart. On the other hand:
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.
His temple can be a place where we can spend time in good soil. We can expend less effort competing for the nutrients we need because they are so abundant. We can grow in the light from the Son who dwells in these courts. No wonder the psalmist would rather have one day here than elsewhere. We all bring weeds and wheat in our souls when we step through this threshold. But when we choose to enter intentionally, trusting in God, we do find that the weeds are unable to steal from us the water of life or to take our share of the good soil. When we come before God with all that we are and trust in him we find ourselves gathered into his barn. He will use us to feed the world!
But here you are, putting your trust in deceitful words to your own loss!
What do these deceitful words tell us? They say to trust in the things that are made rather than in the one who makes all things. The deceit tells us that we will be fine to trust in the temple of the LORD without trusting in God. We think we can give God an hour in his temple and then go out and sin boldly, burning incense to Baal, or consumerism, or entertainment, or sex, money, or power. We are too wrapped up in ourselves to give God more than an hour in his temple and yet we imagine that he will remain with us.
He wants to remain with us. That is the whole of his temple and the various church buildings in which it manifests itself to us. These churches are meant to be beautiful. They are meant to make us say "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!" We are meant to desire them, not use them as leverage to go out and sin. Our soul should yearn and pine for these courts precisely because it is where God is found.
The LORD tells us to reform "so that I may remain with you in this place." He does want to meet us in the Church he establishes for us. But to do so we must be there in heart and not just in body. We must bring all that we are and not just check off a box on a list. We need to recognize as the early Christians do "Sine dominico non possumus" without the LORD's day we cannot live. For them it is a worthy reason to be martyred, more important than their physical lives. We need to begin to see it this way, too. Without Sunday, without Mass, without the LORD in his temple, our lives begin to fall apart. On the other hand:
Blessed they who dwell in your house!
continually they praise you.
Blessed the men whose strength you are!
They go from strength to strength.
His temple can be a place where we can spend time in good soil. We can expend less effort competing for the nutrients we need because they are so abundant. We can grow in the light from the Son who dwells in these courts. No wonder the psalmist would rather have one day here than elsewhere. We all bring weeds and wheat in our souls when we step through this threshold. But when we choose to enter intentionally, trusting in God, we do find that the weeds are unable to steal from us the water of life or to take our share of the good soil. When we come before God with all that we are and trust in him we find ourselves gathered into his barn. He will use us to feed the world!
Friday, July 25, 2014
25 July 2014 - ad majorem dei gloriam
25 July 2014 - ad majorem dei gloriam
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus calls us all to take up our crosses and follow him. As Bonhoeffer says, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Do we know what we are asking? Not entirely. In trying to hold this idea in our imagination we try to create some measure of control over it. But to die implies that the knower will no longer even be able to know. We can recognize that, but not experience it in advance. And yet there is no need to fear. It is only by grace that any of this is possible.
Brothers and sisters:
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
Because it is by grace, we can all hear Jesus tell us, "My chalice you will indeed drink". We recognize that it will be difficult, not because the yoke is difficult of the burden heavy, but because we have a hard time letting go and surrendering.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
We lay our own lives down and in their place we discover the treasure that they contain. We come back rejoicing, carrying our sheaves, the surpassing power of God.
It is in this sweet exchange of our lives and our sins and for the Spirit-filled life of God, wherein we become able to be servants to others. We begin to manifest that life which we receive, the life of the Son of Man who "did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." We do this because as Jesus gives us his Spirit he enables us to trust his Father instead of relying ourselves.
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and place us with you in his presence.
Let us lay down our own lives and be filled with the surpassing power of God. Then, when we experience suffering it becomes, not just our own suffering, but the dying of Jesus in our body. Then, by his surpassing power, suffering is thereby transformed so that it always and inexorably leads to the manifestation of his risen life in us. Then "the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God." May he indeed be glorified.
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus calls us all to take up our crosses and follow him. As Bonhoeffer says, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Do we know what we are asking? Not entirely. In trying to hold this idea in our imagination we try to create some measure of control over it. But to die implies that the knower will no longer even be able to know. We can recognize that, but not experience it in advance. And yet there is no need to fear. It is only by grace that any of this is possible.
Brothers and sisters:
We hold this treasure in earthen vessels,
that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.
We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
Because it is by grace, we can all hear Jesus tell us, "My chalice you will indeed drink". We recognize that it will be difficult, not because the yoke is difficult of the burden heavy, but because we have a hard time letting go and surrendering.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
We lay our own lives down and in their place we discover the treasure that they contain. We come back rejoicing, carrying our sheaves, the surpassing power of God.
It is in this sweet exchange of our lives and our sins and for the Spirit-filled life of God, wherein we become able to be servants to others. We begin to manifest that life which we receive, the life of the Son of Man who "did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." We do this because as Jesus gives us his Spirit he enables us to trust his Father instead of relying ourselves.
knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also with Jesus
and place us with you in his presence.
Let us lay down our own lives and be filled with the surpassing power of God. Then, when we experience suffering it becomes, not just our own suffering, but the dying of Jesus in our body. Then, by his surpassing power, suffering is thereby transformed so that it always and inexorably leads to the manifestation of his risen life in us. Then "the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God." May he indeed be glorified.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
24 July 2014 - get rich gradually scheme
24 July 2014 - get rich gradually scheme
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
We all have this tendency within us. The truth invariably includes a call to repentance. It is always a call to surrender, to let go a little more of our control of our lives. And this is hard to hear. The truth of the call is clear. Yet we are reluctant to change. We have ears but don't hear and we close our eyes. Even so, Jesus desires his people to "understand with their hearts and be converted" so that he can heal us.
When we do not have, when what we do have is being taken, it is because we do not ask (cf. Jam. 4:2) not because God is reluctant to give. He wants everyone to have so that he can give still more that we might become rich. After all, that is why he became poor for our sake (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9).
The parables allow us to take in the truth gradually. They allow eyes accustomed to darkness to gradually see the light. When we see the light too quickly we do tend to close our eyes. When the truth is shouted too loudly we do tend to close our ears. The parables contain what Jesus wants to tell us, but let us grow in it over time, as our hearts mature.
On the other hand, as time passes and we don't change we do tend to close our eyes and ears so that we don't have to deal with that fact of our lack of progress. We are OK with miraculous change, but this gradual growth is hard to accept. It feels as though nothing is happening. We question whether change is even possible. We begin to rely on ourselves when the LORD doesn't work fast enough for our liking. And the parts of us that we just can't fix we begin to ignore. Yet the LORD himself is the source of living water. If we look elsewhere, to the partial truths that the world offers, to the partial truths we manufacture, we only find broken cisterns. We will never be satisfied. We will never be sated. Like the woman at the well we will always thirst again (cf. Joh. 4:13). Only the words of Jesus are Spirit and life (cf. Joh. 6:63).
Jesus wants us to have the devotion of our youth, the devotion we have before time makes us grow cold. He wants us to love him like a bride even now. He has delivered us from deserts in the past. Let us not mistake the even the goodly fruits of the garden land as substitutes for our relationship with him. As time passes, let us continue to keep our eyes and ears open to the living waters we find in his words.
For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.
Keep up your mercy toward your friends,
your just defense of the upright of heart.
Gross is the heart of this people,
they will hardly hear with their ears,
they have closed their eyes,
lest they see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
We all have this tendency within us. The truth invariably includes a call to repentance. It is always a call to surrender, to let go a little more of our control of our lives. And this is hard to hear. The truth of the call is clear. Yet we are reluctant to change. We have ears but don't hear and we close our eyes. Even so, Jesus desires his people to "understand with their hearts and be converted" so that he can heal us.
When we do not have, when what we do have is being taken, it is because we do not ask (cf. Jam. 4:2) not because God is reluctant to give. He wants everyone to have so that he can give still more that we might become rich. After all, that is why he became poor for our sake (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9).
The parables allow us to take in the truth gradually. They allow eyes accustomed to darkness to gradually see the light. When we see the light too quickly we do tend to close our eyes. When the truth is shouted too loudly we do tend to close our ears. The parables contain what Jesus wants to tell us, but let us grow in it over time, as our hearts mature.
On the other hand, as time passes and we don't change we do tend to close our eyes and ears so that we don't have to deal with that fact of our lack of progress. We are OK with miraculous change, but this gradual growth is hard to accept. It feels as though nothing is happening. We question whether change is even possible. We begin to rely on ourselves when the LORD doesn't work fast enough for our liking. And the parts of us that we just can't fix we begin to ignore. Yet the LORD himself is the source of living water. If we look elsewhere, to the partial truths that the world offers, to the partial truths we manufacture, we only find broken cisterns. We will never be satisfied. We will never be sated. Like the woman at the well we will always thirst again (cf. Joh. 4:13). Only the words of Jesus are Spirit and life (cf. Joh. 6:63).
Jesus wants us to have the devotion of our youth, the devotion we have before time makes us grow cold. He wants us to love him like a bride even now. He has delivered us from deserts in the past. Let us not mistake the even the goodly fruits of the garden land as substitutes for our relationship with him. As time passes, let us continue to keep our eyes and ears open to the living waters we find in his words.
For with you is the fountain of life,
and in your light we see light.
Keep up your mercy toward your friends,
your just defense of the upright of heart.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
23 July 2014 - moving for word
23 July 2014 - moving for word
Jesus wants us to tell the world about him. It isn't just a job for the clergy. We all share in this mission. Vatican II's Decree of the Apostalate of the Laity tells us "the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers to draw them towards the faith, or to the faithful to instruct them, strengthen them, and incite them to a more fervent life" (AA, 6). Yes, we witness with our lives, but we are reminded that revealing "Christ by word" is of prime importance even for laity because "It is a fact that many men cannot hear the Gospel and come to acknowledge Christ except through the laymen they associate with" (AA, 13).
Jesus himself wants us to go and make disciples of all nations (cf Mat. 28:19, to proclaim the gospel to every creature (cf. Mar. 16:15). The Holy Spirit makes us want to do this. In fact, as he changes our hearts he makes it hard to shut up about Jesus. With Paul, we begin to say "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel" (cf. 1 Cor 9:16). Since Jesus himself desires it and the Holy Spirit himself empowers it we need to stop making excuses. Jeremiah is not too young, nor are we. Neither are we too old, too uneducated, or too poor at speaking.
But the LORD answered me,
Say not, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Have no fear before them,
because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Like the sower in the gospel we can be reckless with the seed. There is no shortage. If we spend a lot of time and effort trying to avoid spreading seed on the path, on rocky grounds, or amid thorns we will not get as much seed on good soil. The peripheries of the good soil that brush up against the other terrain will be missed as well. The difference is a gradient and isn't even always clear to us. The important thing is to sow and give the seed a chance. As long as we sow, some seed will find rich soil.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Why are we reluctant? We do have ears, but we aren't really using them. The LORD himself says "See, I place my words in your mouth!" But we're afraid of discomfort. We're afraid of being embarassed. We don't even face any really significant consequences for talking about Jesus and yet we're reluctant to do it. But the LORD will be a rock of refuge even from these little martyrdoms that we fear.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
We may experience negative reactions but they won't be able to bring us down if our hope and our joy is in the LORD.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
The more we proclaim him, the more we experience his saving hand helping us, the more want want to proclaim him. For example, we proclaim him to someone who is not receptive. They insult us, but it doesn't affect our spirit in the way we would expect. We maintain our joy and compassion because the LORD is our hope and our trust, not how we appear in the eyes of this person. We recognize this is made possible by God's supernatural help. And the person who is initially not receptive might see it, too. With the psalmist we begin to say, "I will sing of your salvation" as he helps us in situations like this. We can trust him and we must proclaim him. The world needs to hear!
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
If we feel like we don't know where to start let us come back to his words, the words he wants to place in our mouths. Hopefully, "you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers." This word is the "sword the the Spirit" (cf. Eph. 6:17), "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword" (cf. Heb 4:12). To be able to proclaim Jesus, and indeed to be able to live the Christian life at all, we must head Paul's instructions: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God." Let us be filled with this word until we can no longer contain it and it overflows outward.
Jesus wants us to tell the world about him. It isn't just a job for the clergy. We all share in this mission. Vatican II's Decree of the Apostalate of the Laity tells us "the true apostle is on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers to draw them towards the faith, or to the faithful to instruct them, strengthen them, and incite them to a more fervent life" (AA, 6). Yes, we witness with our lives, but we are reminded that revealing "Christ by word" is of prime importance even for laity because "It is a fact that many men cannot hear the Gospel and come to acknowledge Christ except through the laymen they associate with" (AA, 13).
Jesus himself wants us to go and make disciples of all nations (cf Mat. 28:19, to proclaim the gospel to every creature (cf. Mar. 16:15). The Holy Spirit makes us want to do this. In fact, as he changes our hearts he makes it hard to shut up about Jesus. With Paul, we begin to say "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel" (cf. 1 Cor 9:16). Since Jesus himself desires it and the Holy Spirit himself empowers it we need to stop making excuses. Jeremiah is not too young, nor are we. Neither are we too old, too uneducated, or too poor at speaking.
But the LORD answered me,
Say not, “I am too young.”
To whomever I send you, you shall go;
whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Have no fear before them,
because I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
Like the sower in the gospel we can be reckless with the seed. There is no shortage. If we spend a lot of time and effort trying to avoid spreading seed on the path, on rocky grounds, or amid thorns we will not get as much seed on good soil. The peripheries of the good soil that brush up against the other terrain will be missed as well. The difference is a gradient and isn't even always clear to us. The important thing is to sow and give the seed a chance. As long as we sow, some seed will find rich soil.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”
Why are we reluctant? We do have ears, but we aren't really using them. The LORD himself says "See, I place my words in your mouth!" But we're afraid of discomfort. We're afraid of being embarassed. We don't even face any really significant consequences for talking about Jesus and yet we're reluctant to do it. But the LORD will be a rock of refuge even from these little martyrdoms that we fear.
Be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to give me safety,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
O my God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked.
We may experience negative reactions but they won't be able to bring us down if our hope and our joy is in the LORD.
For you are my hope, O Lord;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength.
The more we proclaim him, the more we experience his saving hand helping us, the more want want to proclaim him. For example, we proclaim him to someone who is not receptive. They insult us, but it doesn't affect our spirit in the way we would expect. We maintain our joy and compassion because the LORD is our hope and our trust, not how we appear in the eyes of this person. We recognize this is made possible by God's supernatural help. And the person who is initially not receptive might see it, too. With the psalmist we begin to say, "I will sing of your salvation" as he helps us in situations like this. We can trust him and we must proclaim him. The world needs to hear!
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
If we feel like we don't know where to start let us come back to his words, the words he wants to place in our mouths. Hopefully, "you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers." This word is the "sword the the Spirit" (cf. Eph. 6:17), "living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword" (cf. Heb 4:12). To be able to proclaim Jesus, and indeed to be able to live the Christian life at all, we must head Paul's instructions: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God." Let us be filled with this word until we can no longer contain it and it overflows outward.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
22 July 2014 - naming names
22 July 2014 - naming names
Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
It is important that the LORD allows our desire for the one whom we love to be challenged in this way. He tests it to see how it sustains us "by night". It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. And while that can seem trite there is nevertheless a certain truth here. Our desire for him is refined and purified. Only when we experience it in this way does it become so compelling as to be more worthwhile to us than desire for the things of this world. By occasionally withdrawing from us Jesus teaches us to fix our eyes on heaven. It helps us to untangle our desire from him from all of the other desires we have which taint and twist it. Although that certainly doesn't make it feel pleasant for us at such times. To feel alone in the night is not pleasant.
Mary Magdalene experiences this profoundly. Jesus cast from her seven demons (cf. Luk. 8:2). Because of this profound healing she loves much. She is torn apart to see her beloved separated from her by his death on the cross. Yet she does not look away. And for this she is rewarded.
But Mary stands weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
Her desire for Jesus is purified by enduring his passion with him. Her com-passion refines her desire for him. This is why she doesn't immediately recognize him. He appears different than before, when she saw him through the lens of more earthly desires.
Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
But then she hears him call her name, "Mary." She knows. She is known. She knows that she is known. She recognizes this voice. This voice completely reawakens and renews the deepest parts of her truest desire for God. She is now like the woman in Song of Songs who refuses to let go of her beloved:
I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
Her love for the bridegroom is now refined. It is not in the world, but in her mother's house, the Church. It is not merely external, not merely selfish. The nuptial union and mystical marriage is beginning even now. But even so, this isn't yet the eternal embrace of the beatific vision.
Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
But this does not crush her. She is closer to Jesus than ever. Her whole life is different now. Encountering the risen One on the far side of our selfishness, on the far side of sin, and on the far side of death, changes her forever.
Mary Mag'dalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
So let us never be content with God's absence. Let us learn to desire him with holy desire. Like the psalmist let us say "O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is." We can be confident. It is not just Mary, he longs to call all of his sheep by name (cf. Joh. 10:3).
Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not; I called him, but he gave no answer.
It is important that the LORD allows our desire for the one whom we love to be challenged in this way. He tests it to see how it sustains us "by night". It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. And while that can seem trite there is nevertheless a certain truth here. Our desire for him is refined and purified. Only when we experience it in this way does it become so compelling as to be more worthwhile to us than desire for the things of this world. By occasionally withdrawing from us Jesus teaches us to fix our eyes on heaven. It helps us to untangle our desire from him from all of the other desires we have which taint and twist it. Although that certainly doesn't make it feel pleasant for us at such times. To feel alone in the night is not pleasant.
Mary Magdalene experiences this profoundly. Jesus cast from her seven demons (cf. Luk. 8:2). Because of this profound healing she loves much. She is torn apart to see her beloved separated from her by his death on the cross. Yet she does not look away. And for this she is rewarded.
But Mary stands weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
Her desire for Jesus is purified by enduring his passion with him. Her com-passion refines her desire for him. This is why she doesn't immediately recognize him. He appears different than before, when she saw him through the lens of more earthly desires.
Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."
But then she hears him call her name, "Mary." She knows. She is known. She knows that she is known. She recognizes this voice. This voice completely reawakens and renews the deepest parts of her truest desire for God. She is now like the woman in Song of Songs who refuses to let go of her beloved:
I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
Her love for the bridegroom is now refined. It is not in the world, but in her mother's house, the Church. It is not merely external, not merely selfish. The nuptial union and mystical marriage is beginning even now. But even so, this isn't yet the eternal embrace of the beatific vision.
Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
But this does not crush her. She is closer to Jesus than ever. Her whole life is different now. Encountering the risen One on the far side of our selfishness, on the far side of sin, and on the far side of death, changes her forever.
Mary Mag'dalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
So let us never be content with God's absence. Let us learn to desire him with holy desire. Like the psalmist let us say "O God, thou art my God, I seek thee, my soul thirsts for thee; my flesh faints for thee, as in a dry and weary land where no water is." We can be confident. It is not just Mary, he longs to call all of his sheep by name (cf. Joh. 10:3).
Monday, July 21, 2014
21 July 2014 - sign me up
21 July 2014 - sign me up
“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
The good and faithful among the generation have already seen a sign.
This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (cf. Luk. 2:12)
Whether or not a sign has value is determined by the heart that sees it. That is why Simeon says that Jesus is "a sign that will be opposed" (cf. Luk. 2:34). Jesus does do a number of signs to validate his claims (cf. Joh. 2:11, 4:54, 5:1, 6:5, 6:16, 9:1, and 11:1) and tells us to believe his works even when we can't just trust him and take him at his word (cf. Joh. 10:38). Yet he refuses to humor the scribes and Pharisees. He won't entertain them just as he won't entertain Herod who was "hoping to see him perform some sign" (cf Luk. 23:8). In cases like these signs would only damage hearts which, Jesus knows, will remain closed. Why add even more guilt to their rejection?
The desire for a sign can be an expression of a desire to know God or it can be an expression of doubt. In many cases, God has already given us all we need to know him. In many cases we do know him on some level already. What are we really asking for, then, when we demand a sign? If we know him already then it follows that we do recognize that he has the power to do all things. But we ask for a sign anyway, testing him as if to say, can you use your power in this way which I think best? Can't you let my will come first, at least now and again?
For those of us who ask for signs from doubt Jesus may deny us the superficial signs we seek. But he does want to establish and increase our faith. But in these cases, instead of looking around him at his effects in the world, we need to look directly at him. We need to see the one who is greater than Jonah, the one who slept three days in death in the belly of the earth but who now lives. We need to see the one who is greater than Solomon, who establishes the new temple and brings us God's wisdom. We say, "I believe LORD, help my unbelief" (cf. Mar. 9:24). He reminds us that he loves us. He reminds us of all he does to save us. By his death and resurrection he brings us out from our own places of slavery and frees us.
O my people, what have I done to you,
or how have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
from the place of slavery I released you;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
It is important that we trust in his love for us. We can't be distracted by demands that Jesus adapt himself to our ideas about how he should work in the world, nor by a desire to be entertained or distracted by signs. We must let him work in us and in the world as he wants to work. When we surrender to his lordship we finally see that "signs will accompany those who believe" as well. When Jesus is the focus the signs are free to flow.
We might be worried that they are somehow up to us. We might be worried that we need to figure out if there enough signs accompanying us, to figure out if we measure up. And if not, what do we do? But it isn't that complicated. What he asks of us is very simple. Simply, we must put him first in our hearts, seek his kingdom first, and to walk humbly with him.
You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
He wants to show his saving power to the whole world, as the psalmist says. He wants to reveal himself. Let us fix our hearts on him by praising him so that we might see that saving power. And seeing it, may we become signs of it to the entire world.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
“An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign,
but no sign will be given it
except the sign of Jonah the prophet.
The good and faithful among the generation have already seen a sign.
This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger” (cf. Luk. 2:12)
Whether or not a sign has value is determined by the heart that sees it. That is why Simeon says that Jesus is "a sign that will be opposed" (cf. Luk. 2:34). Jesus does do a number of signs to validate his claims (cf. Joh. 2:11, 4:54, 5:1, 6:5, 6:16, 9:1, and 11:1) and tells us to believe his works even when we can't just trust him and take him at his word (cf. Joh. 10:38). Yet he refuses to humor the scribes and Pharisees. He won't entertain them just as he won't entertain Herod who was "hoping to see him perform some sign" (cf Luk. 23:8). In cases like these signs would only damage hearts which, Jesus knows, will remain closed. Why add even more guilt to their rejection?
The desire for a sign can be an expression of a desire to know God or it can be an expression of doubt. In many cases, God has already given us all we need to know him. In many cases we do know him on some level already. What are we really asking for, then, when we demand a sign? If we know him already then it follows that we do recognize that he has the power to do all things. But we ask for a sign anyway, testing him as if to say, can you use your power in this way which I think best? Can't you let my will come first, at least now and again?
For those of us who ask for signs from doubt Jesus may deny us the superficial signs we seek. But he does want to establish and increase our faith. But in these cases, instead of looking around him at his effects in the world, we need to look directly at him. We need to see the one who is greater than Jonah, the one who slept three days in death in the belly of the earth but who now lives. We need to see the one who is greater than Solomon, who establishes the new temple and brings us God's wisdom. We say, "I believe LORD, help my unbelief" (cf. Mar. 9:24). He reminds us that he loves us. He reminds us of all he does to save us. By his death and resurrection he brings us out from our own places of slavery and frees us.
O my people, what have I done to you,
or how have I wearied you? Answer me!
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
from the place of slavery I released you;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.
It is important that we trust in his love for us. We can't be distracted by demands that Jesus adapt himself to our ideas about how he should work in the world, nor by a desire to be entertained or distracted by signs. We must let him work in us and in the world as he wants to work. When we surrender to his lordship we finally see that "signs will accompany those who believe" as well. When Jesus is the focus the signs are free to flow.
We might be worried that they are somehow up to us. We might be worried that we need to figure out if there enough signs accompanying us, to figure out if we measure up. And if not, what do we do? But it isn't that complicated. What he asks of us is very simple. Simply, we must put him first in our hearts, seek his kingdom first, and to walk humbly with him.
You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.
He wants to show his saving power to the whole world, as the psalmist says. He wants to reveal himself. Let us fix our hearts on him by praising him so that we might see that saving power. And seeing it, may we become signs of it to the entire world.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
Sunday, July 20, 2014
20 July 2014 - community garden
20 July 2014 - community garden
For your might is the source of justice;
your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
This is easy to forget when the enemy sows weeds in the master's field.
For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;
and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
How does he do this, when his enemy sows weeds in his field?
But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,
and with much lenience you govern us;
for power, whenever you will, attends you.
And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
Rather the an abrupt and violent justice that ends in the death of the sinner God displays mercy and patience. He does not delight in the death of the sinner. The good and the bad are always intermixed down here. Ripping up the bad would often take away the good along with it, not least because the bad may one day become the good. God loves us while we are yet sinners (cf. Rom. 5:8). A lesser gardener would destroy us by pulling the weeds from us then. He gives us the nutritious soil, fertilizer, sun, and water that we need to grow in spite of the weeds, and to ultimately overwhelm them. Even now our hearts have weeds and wheat in them. He does not destroy us to get the weeds out.
He is patient. He knows that the seed starts small but that eventually it becomes the largest of all plants, like the mustard seed. It not only outlasts the weeds but it grows into something able to exist not only for itself but for "the birds of the sky" who "come and dwell in its branches." In spite of the weeds, enough wheat can grow to fill the master's barn.
One day the weeds will be tossed in a fire furnace. Let us pray for a harvest with few weeds and much wheat. Our prayers are the yeast that helps this to happen. They seem trivial and the good seeds seem small and yet their effect is of immeasurable importance. Without leaven the wheat flour into which we are made is unable to rise. It is unable to fulfill its purpose as bread for the world. Fortunately, it only takes a little leaven to leaven the whole batch. The effect of our prayers is completely disproportionate to our efforts. We don't even have to be good at it.
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God’s will.
We serve a God who is good and forgiving. He wants all nations to come to him and to glorify him. And he wants us to be involved by our prayers. Even the soil in which weeds seem to dominate may one day, because of the mercy and graciousness of God, bear much fruit.
You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity.
Turn toward me, and have pity on me;
give your strength to your servant.
For your might is the source of justice;
your mastery over all things makes you lenient to all.
This is easy to forget when the enemy sows weeds in the master's field.
For you show your might when the perfection of your power is disbelieved;
and in those who know you, you rebuke temerity.
How does he do this, when his enemy sows weeds in his field?
But though you are master of might, you judge with clemency,
and with much lenience you govern us;
for power, whenever you will, attends you.
And you taught your people, by these deeds,
that those who are just must be kind;
Rather the an abrupt and violent justice that ends in the death of the sinner God displays mercy and patience. He does not delight in the death of the sinner. The good and the bad are always intermixed down here. Ripping up the bad would often take away the good along with it, not least because the bad may one day become the good. God loves us while we are yet sinners (cf. Rom. 5:8). A lesser gardener would destroy us by pulling the weeds from us then. He gives us the nutritious soil, fertilizer, sun, and water that we need to grow in spite of the weeds, and to ultimately overwhelm them. Even now our hearts have weeds and wheat in them. He does not destroy us to get the weeds out.
He is patient. He knows that the seed starts small but that eventually it becomes the largest of all plants, like the mustard seed. It not only outlasts the weeds but it grows into something able to exist not only for itself but for "the birds of the sky" who "come and dwell in its branches." In spite of the weeds, enough wheat can grow to fill the master's barn.
One day the weeds will be tossed in a fire furnace. Let us pray for a harvest with few weeds and much wheat. Our prayers are the yeast that helps this to happen. They seem trivial and the good seeds seem small and yet their effect is of immeasurable importance. Without leaven the wheat flour into which we are made is unable to rise. It is unable to fulfill its purpose as bread for the world. Fortunately, it only takes a little leaven to leaven the whole batch. The effect of our prayers is completely disproportionate to our efforts. We don't even have to be good at it.
The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness;
for we do not know how to pray as we ought,
but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.
And the one who searches hearts
knows what is the intention of the Spirit,
because he intercedes for the holy ones
according to God’s will.
We serve a God who is good and forgiving. He wants all nations to come to him and to glorify him. And he wants us to be involved by our prayers. Even the soil in which weeds seem to dominate may one day, because of the mercy and graciousness of God, bear much fruit.
You, O LORD, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in kindness and fidelity.
Turn toward me, and have pity on me;
give your strength to your servant.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
19 July 2014 - never beyond hope
19 July 2014 - never beyond hope
but he warned them not to make him known.
People follow Jesus and he cures them all. But he doesn't use this to get in the face of the Pharisees who are now plotting his death. He could make his identity inescapably obvious but he does the opposite and withdraws from the place where they are.
He will not contend or cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
But, we think, there are people who aren't listening. Why won't he speak up? The Pharisees plot against him. They "plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches; In the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power." Surely it'd be better to snap reeds that have been so bruised by the enemy as that. They are almost broken anyway. Surely it'd be better to extinguish the wicks that smolder with such iniquity.
Yet he brings "justice to victory" and he does so without force. His gentleness is a sharper weapon than those of his enemies. And thank goodness. We aren't always on the side of justice ourselves. We ourselves sometimes "covet fields" and even take them. Sometimes we greedily assert ourselves over others, depriving them of what they rightly deserve. At one time all of us "were enemies" of God (cf. Rom. 5:10). Thank goodness he is willing to endure this. He is willing to wait in mercy, to even endure our hatred, if it means saving some of us. We ought not be "unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance" (cf. Rom. 2:4).
We have to remember this when we experience suffering ourselves. We have to remember it when we see it in the world. God is waiting patiently, not striking down the unjust, because he desires mercy for all. He wants all to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4) and he is able to make everything, even the pain of the world, work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose (cf. Rom. 8:28). Indeed, suffering can even be cause to rejoice (cf. Col. 1:24, Rom 5:3, and 1 Pet 4:13) when we realize that we are not forgotten, that he is using all the pain of the world to bring his kingdom. When we realize that this misery and sorrow is held in the gentle hand of a merciful God we are able to depend on him in spite of suffering.
You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow,
taking them in your hands.
On you the unfortunate man depends;
of the fatherless you are the helper.
Jesus is God's chosen one, his beloved in whom he delights. He is anointed with the Holy Spirit. Yes, he is gentle. But the victory of justice is inexorable. The cross eventually reveals the resurrection. Let us hope in his name now, while he waits in patience, knowing that he longs for each one of us. And let us not give up on anyone, no matter how bruised they seem. No one is beyond hope!
but he warned them not to make him known.
People follow Jesus and he cures them all. But he doesn't use this to get in the face of the Pharisees who are now plotting his death. He could make his identity inescapably obvious but he does the opposite and withdraws from the place where they are.
He will not contend or cry out,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
a smoldering wick he will not quench,
But, we think, there are people who aren't listening. Why won't he speak up? The Pharisees plot against him. They "plan iniquity, and work out evil on their couches; In the morning light they accomplish it when it lies within their power." Surely it'd be better to snap reeds that have been so bruised by the enemy as that. They are almost broken anyway. Surely it'd be better to extinguish the wicks that smolder with such iniquity.
Yet he brings "justice to victory" and he does so without force. His gentleness is a sharper weapon than those of his enemies. And thank goodness. We aren't always on the side of justice ourselves. We ourselves sometimes "covet fields" and even take them. Sometimes we greedily assert ourselves over others, depriving them of what they rightly deserve. At one time all of us "were enemies" of God (cf. Rom. 5:10). Thank goodness he is willing to endure this. He is willing to wait in mercy, to even endure our hatred, if it means saving some of us. We ought not be "unaware that the kindness of God would lead you to repentance" (cf. Rom. 2:4).
We have to remember this when we experience suffering ourselves. We have to remember it when we see it in the world. God is waiting patiently, not striking down the unjust, because he desires mercy for all. He wants all to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 2:4) and he is able to make everything, even the pain of the world, work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose (cf. Rom. 8:28). Indeed, suffering can even be cause to rejoice (cf. Col. 1:24, Rom 5:3, and 1 Pet 4:13) when we realize that we are not forgotten, that he is using all the pain of the world to bring his kingdom. When we realize that this misery and sorrow is held in the gentle hand of a merciful God we are able to depend on him in spite of suffering.
You do see, for you behold misery and sorrow,
taking them in your hands.
On you the unfortunate man depends;
of the fatherless you are the helper.
Jesus is God's chosen one, his beloved in whom he delights. He is anointed with the Holy Spirit. Yes, he is gentle. But the victory of justice is inexorable. The cross eventually reveals the resurrection. Let us hope in his name now, while he waits in patience, knowing that he longs for each one of us. And let us not give up on anyone, no matter how bruised they seem. No one is beyond hope!
Friday, July 18, 2014
18 July 2014 - hungry i come
18 July 2014 - hungry i come
His disciples were hungry
The Pharisees say they ought not be eating this food they find in the field of grain. But they are following Jesus through this field. Finding grain here right when they are hungry is providential. They experience the providence on which the birds of the air rely, "they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them" (cf. Mat. 6:26). The Pharisees don't want to see this. The want to keep God at a safe ritual distance.
The disciples eat regularly and yet they continue to hunger. As they come to recognize the providential care of Jesus they begin to trust him to not only satisfy their physical hunger but also their spiritual hunger. They are enabled to look beyond the images that surround them to deeper truths.
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath
the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath
and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
The care of Jesus in small ways opens their minds. Their whole symbolic frame of reference, all of the rituals and laws of their time, point to something beyond themselves. The temple points to something even greater where the presence of God dwells. The bread of offering points to an even greater bread, given by God himself. There are many ways in which our expectations are wrong or partial as well. The tender care of Jesus for us will help us to trust him as he asks us to look beyond what we know to what he wants to reveal to us.
Even death itself is not final. God helps Hezekiah to see this in a partial way.
Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David:
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD’s temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
Perhaps Hezekiah is not yet ready to know about God's plan that all the dead will rise one day. Perhaps eternity is too big of a concept for him to take seriously. The LORD still wants to reveal to him that life and death are entirely in his hands. He reveals this in a way that Hezekiah can appreciate and understand. Maybe the idea of eternity is too big for us too. Maybe we have trouble fixing our hearts on heaven because it seems to abstract. Maybe we can't connect with that idea. If so, let us approach the temple of the LORD to experience his providence. As he cares for us our longing for him will grow until eternity becomes a necessity of our desire for him.
Those live whom the LORD protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life.
The LORD really is all powerful. Time itself is in his hands. And we, his people, are in his heart. He wants to save, not just our lives, but our souls, that we may not die eternally. As we see him work we become confident that "the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ" (cf. Phi. 1:6). We begun to realize that even time, which seems inexorable, is really subject to the LORD of all creation.
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun
on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz
go back the ten steps it has advanced.”
Let us go to Jesus, the true temple. Let us find in him the true bread from heaven. If we just open ourselves to him, if we don't let the Pharisees get us down, he will feed us with the bread of heaven, the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to death.
His disciples were hungry
The Pharisees say they ought not be eating this food they find in the field of grain. But they are following Jesus through this field. Finding grain here right when they are hungry is providential. They experience the providence on which the birds of the air rely, "they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them" (cf. Mat. 6:26). The Pharisees don't want to see this. The want to keep God at a safe ritual distance.
The disciples eat regularly and yet they continue to hunger. As they come to recognize the providential care of Jesus they begin to trust him to not only satisfy their physical hunger but also their spiritual hunger. They are enabled to look beyond the images that surround them to deeper truths.
Or have you not read in the law that on the sabbath
the priests serving in the temple violate the sabbath
and are innocent?
I say to you, something greater than the temple is here.
The care of Jesus in small ways opens their minds. Their whole symbolic frame of reference, all of the rituals and laws of their time, point to something beyond themselves. The temple points to something even greater where the presence of God dwells. The bread of offering points to an even greater bread, given by God himself. There are many ways in which our expectations are wrong or partial as well. The tender care of Jesus for us will help us to trust him as he asks us to look beyond what we know to what he wants to reveal to us.
Even death itself is not final. God helps Hezekiah to see this in a partial way.
Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David:
I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.
I will heal you: in three days you shall go up to the LORD’s temple;
I will add fifteen years to your life.
Perhaps Hezekiah is not yet ready to know about God's plan that all the dead will rise one day. Perhaps eternity is too big of a concept for him to take seriously. The LORD still wants to reveal to him that life and death are entirely in his hands. He reveals this in a way that Hezekiah can appreciate and understand. Maybe the idea of eternity is too big for us too. Maybe we have trouble fixing our hearts on heaven because it seems to abstract. Maybe we can't connect with that idea. If so, let us approach the temple of the LORD to experience his providence. As he cares for us our longing for him will grow until eternity becomes a necessity of our desire for him.
Those live whom the LORD protects;
yours is the life of my spirit.
You have given me health and life.
The LORD really is all powerful. Time itself is in his hands. And we, his people, are in his heart. He wants to save, not just our lives, but our souls, that we may not die eternally. As we see him work we become confident that "the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ" (cf. Phi. 1:6). We begun to realize that even time, which seems inexorable, is really subject to the LORD of all creation.
See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun
on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz
go back the ten steps it has advanced.”
Let us go to Jesus, the true temple. Let us find in him the true bread from heaven. If we just open ourselves to him, if we don't let the Pharisees get us down, he will feed us with the bread of heaven, the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to death.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
17 July 2014 - labor and rest
17 July 2014 - labor and rest
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.
We don't achieve salvation on our own. And this isn't just in the spiritual realm. We can't have lives that are smooth and level without God's saving power. We can't have relationships built on justice and peace through our own strength. It is the LORD who accomplishes all of these things in our relationships.
Jesus tells us that we are bearing burdens that we aren't meant to bear.
Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
We are often believe that, if things are this hard, we must ultimately be able to get something from them. In life we develop this natural sense of connection between how much we suffer, indeed how much we punish ourselves, and the benefit we receive. It becomes less about the medicine, more about how bitter, less about the exercise, more about how exhausted we become. Yet we give birth to the wind. Our efforts prove futile.
As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,
so were we in your presence, O LORD.
We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth to wind;
We are allowed by the LORD to experience the futility of our efforts. This can be a great blessing if, once exhausted, we finally turn to Jesus. When we are so used to punishing ourselves his yoke can seem too easy. But it is only here, only when we stop trying on our own and take his yoke instead, that we find rest. We are meant to cast our cares on him because he cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7).
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
We still experience suffering. But it is no longer something with which we punish ourselves, something which produces no lasting value. Now, apart from our striving, God is able to do mighty things in and around us through the suffering we experience. "We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies" (cf. Rom. 8:22-23).
We don't achieve this ourselves. It isn't about beating ourselves up. It is all about following Jesus. We take the crosses that come, the ones which God has chosen for each of us, just as Jesus does. We do so in the strength that he gives, not on our own. We do so in peace and justice for we know that we don't achieve the results of the crosses on our own. We receive the new life from the deaths we experience, we do not achieve it.
But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise;
awake and sing, you who lie in the dust.
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the land of shades gives birth.
The LORD cares for us. He does not delight in our suffering. He wants to bring about new birth from the labor pains of the world. He does not delight in our adding to those pains. There is a specific yoke he intends for us, only one. When we choose anything else we become weary and heavily burdened. When we choose his yoke we find that it is easy and light. We finally find the rest for which we long. Let us trust in his compassion!
You will arise and have mercy on Zion,
for it is time to pity her.
For her stones are dear to your servants,
and her dust moves them to pity.
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.
We don't achieve salvation on our own. And this isn't just in the spiritual realm. We can't have lives that are smooth and level without God's saving power. We can't have relationships built on justice and peace through our own strength. It is the LORD who accomplishes all of these things in our relationships.
Jesus tells us that we are bearing burdens that we aren't meant to bear.
Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
We are often believe that, if things are this hard, we must ultimately be able to get something from them. In life we develop this natural sense of connection between how much we suffer, indeed how much we punish ourselves, and the benefit we receive. It becomes less about the medicine, more about how bitter, less about the exercise, more about how exhausted we become. Yet we give birth to the wind. Our efforts prove futile.
As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,
so were we in your presence, O LORD.
We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth to wind;
We are allowed by the LORD to experience the futility of our efforts. This can be a great blessing if, once exhausted, we finally turn to Jesus. When we are so used to punishing ourselves his yoke can seem too easy. But it is only here, only when we stop trying on our own and take his yoke instead, that we find rest. We are meant to cast our cares on him because he cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7).
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
We still experience suffering. But it is no longer something with which we punish ourselves, something which produces no lasting value. Now, apart from our striving, God is able to do mighty things in and around us through the suffering we experience. "We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies" (cf. Rom. 8:22-23).
We don't achieve this ourselves. It isn't about beating ourselves up. It is all about following Jesus. We take the crosses that come, the ones which God has chosen for each of us, just as Jesus does. We do so in the strength that he gives, not on our own. We do so in peace and justice for we know that we don't achieve the results of the crosses on our own. We receive the new life from the deaths we experience, we do not achieve it.
But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise;
awake and sing, you who lie in the dust.
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the land of shades gives birth.
The LORD cares for us. He does not delight in our suffering. He wants to bring about new birth from the labor pains of the world. He does not delight in our adding to those pains. There is a specific yoke he intends for us, only one. When we choose anything else we become weary and heavily burdened. When we choose his yoke we find that it is easy and light. We finally find the rest for which we long. Let us trust in his compassion!
You will arise and have mercy on Zion,
for it is time to pity her.
For her stones are dear to your servants,
and her dust moves them to pity.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
16 July 2014 - hidden wisdom
16 July 2014 - hidden wisdom
For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
We begin to have problems when we forget to acknowledge that every blessing we have is from God. When we experience great successes we are still an axe or a saw made and wielded by God. We are a rod or staff in his hand. When he uses us to do great things we should still say "We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do" (cf. Luk. 17:10). When we forgot this, when we think we're succeeding by our own strength, we become increasingly likely to ignore the purpose of the one from whom all strength and blessing truly comes. We become more and more likely to run beyond his purposes, to transgress, and to sin.
And they say, “The LORD sees not;
the God of Jacob perceives not.”
Understand, you senseless ones among the people;
and, you fools, when will you be wise?
We think that it is our wisdom that plots out our successes. This in turn causes us to trust ourselves more. This is why God says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart" (cf. 1 Cor. 1:19). It is good that he does this because "Claiming to be wise, they became fools" (cf. Rom. 1:22).
"Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom" (cf. 1 Cor. 2:6) and we should seek this true wisdom as the antidote to empty human wisdom. It is hidden, but Jesus tells us how to find it.
I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
We must become like children. Children trust their Father. They trust their eldest brother. Children are seldom smug and self-confident in their own wisdom, but hold fast to the wisdom they receive from their family. Only when we surrender our own claims on wisdom are we open to be filled by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. This is wisdom like that which Stephen has, which is so great that his opponents "could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke" (cf. Act. 6:10) It is a wisdom of childlike innocence which is why "his face was like the face of an angel" (cf. Act. 6:15).
The wisdom of Jesus is hidden from the wise and the learned. Where is it hidden that the wise and the learned miss it but children find it? It is in "Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (cf. Col. 2:2-3). Why do the wise not see the wisdom revealed in Jesus? The world can't accept the wisdom of the cross. Christ crucified is a stumbling block and foolishness to the world "but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength" (cf. 1 Cor 1:24-25).
Let us lay down the wisdom of the world and embrace the wisdom of the children of God. This wisdom comes through the Holy Spirit. He cannot fill a cup that is already full. But that of which we are filled is, at best, insipid. May we be emptied, that we might be filled. We've been dealing in worldly wisdom for so long that we might wonder if we can find our way back to such a pure and innocent wisdom. But it is the LORD that brings us back. We are his people and he will not abandon us.
For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it.
So let us fix our eyes on the Son, even upon the cross. He is the only one who knows the Father. But he delights to reveal him to us when we simply just look to him to do so. When we truly see him, we do see the Father as well (cf. Joh. 14:9). The vision is the only true wisdom. It is a wisdom that Mary is privileged to reveal. Her gaze upon her infant song unlocks this treasures. From her post at the cross her gaze continues. She is vindicated to see his rising. And she delights to share them with us as well.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us!
For he says:
“By my own power I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I am shrewd.
I have moved the boundaries of peoples,
their treasures I have pillaged,
and, like a giant, I have put down the enthroned.
We begin to have problems when we forget to acknowledge that every blessing we have is from God. When we experience great successes we are still an axe or a saw made and wielded by God. We are a rod or staff in his hand. When he uses us to do great things we should still say "We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do" (cf. Luk. 17:10). When we forgot this, when we think we're succeeding by our own strength, we become increasingly likely to ignore the purpose of the one from whom all strength and blessing truly comes. We become more and more likely to run beyond his purposes, to transgress, and to sin.
And they say, “The LORD sees not;
the God of Jacob perceives not.”
Understand, you senseless ones among the people;
and, you fools, when will you be wise?
We think that it is our wisdom that plots out our successes. This in turn causes us to trust ourselves more. This is why God says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart" (cf. 1 Cor. 1:19). It is good that he does this because "Claiming to be wise, they became fools" (cf. Rom. 1:22).
"Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom" (cf. 1 Cor. 2:6) and we should seek this true wisdom as the antidote to empty human wisdom. It is hidden, but Jesus tells us how to find it.
I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
We must become like children. Children trust their Father. They trust their eldest brother. Children are seldom smug and self-confident in their own wisdom, but hold fast to the wisdom they receive from their family. Only when we surrender our own claims on wisdom are we open to be filled by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. This is wisdom like that which Stephen has, which is so great that his opponents "could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke" (cf. Act. 6:10) It is a wisdom of childlike innocence which is why "his face was like the face of an angel" (cf. Act. 6:15).
The wisdom of Jesus is hidden from the wise and the learned. Where is it hidden that the wise and the learned miss it but children find it? It is in "Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (cf. Col. 2:2-3). Why do the wise not see the wisdom revealed in Jesus? The world can't accept the wisdom of the cross. Christ crucified is a stumbling block and foolishness to the world "but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength" (cf. 1 Cor 1:24-25).
Let us lay down the wisdom of the world and embrace the wisdom of the children of God. This wisdom comes through the Holy Spirit. He cannot fill a cup that is already full. But that of which we are filled is, at best, insipid. May we be emptied, that we might be filled. We've been dealing in worldly wisdom for so long that we might wonder if we can find our way back to such a pure and innocent wisdom. But it is the LORD that brings us back. We are his people and he will not abandon us.
For the LORD will not cast off his people,
nor abandon his inheritance;
But judgment shall again be with justice,
and all the upright of heart shall follow it.
So let us fix our eyes on the Son, even upon the cross. He is the only one who knows the Father. But he delights to reveal him to us when we simply just look to him to do so. When we truly see him, we do see the Father as well (cf. Joh. 14:9). The vision is the only true wisdom. It is a wisdom that Mary is privileged to reveal. Her gaze upon her infant song unlocks this treasures. From her post at the cross her gaze continues. She is vindicated to see his rising. And she delights to share them with us as well.
Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, pray for us!
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
15 July 2014 - standing firm
15 July 2014 - standing firm
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!
To fear the strength of the world is a temptation we all face. Especially when it comes at us from several different directions it is difficult to ignore. When Rezin and Pekah come at us at once we need to remember that "God upholds his city for ever." These words can become a prayer that guards us. Perhaps work, relationships, and health all seem allied against us. We need to remember, "God upholds his city for ever" and we are the living stones of which that city is built (cf. 1 Pet 2:5).
When the world wants to "tear Judah asunder" and appoint a new king we need to hear the LORD say, "This shall not stand, it shall not be!" These words can become a prayer of protection. The world has a sphere of power. But our hearts need not yield to the world. It cannot overthrow us, cannot appoint a king within, cannot exercise power over us, and cannot cause us to sin unless we don't trust in God's protection. If our faith is firm we shall stand firm. When we ask God's protection from the world's incursion we experience his mighty deeds of deliverance. The world may surround us, but they are turned away at the borders of our hearts.
For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed.
We are meant to experience profound freedom and peace under God's protection. We must remember to seek this protection constantly, with deep faith. We must "ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways" (cf. Jam. 1:6-8) If our faith is firm we shall be firm.
The reason Jesus does mighty deeds is to help us to trust him more. Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida continue to trust in themselves in spite of seeing Jesus work in them. Jesus invites them to the faith that will let them stand firm but they continue to trust in themselves instead. Because they do, they cannot stand firm:
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the nether world.
Jesus wants us to trust him more. He helps us to do so. He tells us that if we aren't ready to believe him we can begin to believe his works. We can begin to believe his power at work. We begin to see that his presence in Christians is stronger than the power of the one who is in the world (cf. 1 Joh. 4:4). He doesn't show this to us so that we can be entertained and then go on with life as usual.
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
He does mighty deeds to increase our faith so that we may stand firm. Whether those deeds are flashy, like healings, or less flashy, like unchanging joy and peace amidst a world of sorrow and fear, like the unchanging truth of the Church in the face of a world that demands it change, we need to be grateful for them. We need to be built up by them until we move from trusting the works to the one who does them. We need to cherish them within our hearts so that our faith in Jesus may be strong and increase and we may stand firm in him.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (cf. Gal 5:1).
Unless your faith is firm
you shall not be firm!
To fear the strength of the world is a temptation we all face. Especially when it comes at us from several different directions it is difficult to ignore. When Rezin and Pekah come at us at once we need to remember that "God upholds his city for ever." These words can become a prayer that guards us. Perhaps work, relationships, and health all seem allied against us. We need to remember, "God upholds his city for ever" and we are the living stones of which that city is built (cf. 1 Pet 2:5).
When the world wants to "tear Judah asunder" and appoint a new king we need to hear the LORD say, "This shall not stand, it shall not be!" These words can become a prayer of protection. The world has a sphere of power. But our hearts need not yield to the world. It cannot overthrow us, cannot appoint a king within, cannot exercise power over us, and cannot cause us to sin unless we don't trust in God's protection. If our faith is firm we shall stand firm. When we ask God's protection from the world's incursion we experience his mighty deeds of deliverance. The world may surround us, but they are turned away at the borders of our hearts.
For lo! the kings assemble,
they come on together;
They also see, and at once are stunned,
terrified, routed.
We are meant to experience profound freedom and peace under God's protection. We must remember to seek this protection constantly, with deep faith. We must "ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways" (cf. Jam. 1:6-8) If our faith is firm we shall be firm.
The reason Jesus does mighty deeds is to help us to trust him more. Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida continue to trust in themselves in spite of seeing Jesus work in them. Jesus invites them to the faith that will let them stand firm but they continue to trust in themselves instead. Because they do, they cannot stand firm:
Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will go down to the nether world.
Jesus wants us to trust him more. He helps us to do so. He tells us that if we aren't ready to believe him we can begin to believe his works. We can begin to believe his power at work. We begin to see that his presence in Christians is stronger than the power of the one who is in the world (cf. 1 Joh. 4:4). He doesn't show this to us so that we can be entertained and then go on with life as usual.
For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom,
it would have remained until this day.
He does mighty deeds to increase our faith so that we may stand firm. Whether those deeds are flashy, like healings, or less flashy, like unchanging joy and peace amidst a world of sorrow and fear, like the unchanging truth of the Church in the face of a world that demands it change, we need to be grateful for them. We need to be built up by them until we move from trusting the works to the one who does them. We need to cherish them within our hearts so that our faith in Jesus may be strong and increase and we may stand firm in him.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (cf. Gal 5:1).
Monday, July 14, 2014
14 July 2014 - hypocrisy isn't hip, it's hype
14 July 2014 - hypocrisy isn't hip, it's hype
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Jesus cannot just be an add-on to our lives. If we are trying to find our own life but just add Jesus on where he "fits" conveniently it won't work. We can get a lot of the externals in place without truly changing our hearts. We can be sacramentalized without being evangelized. We can be present in the Church and our hearts can be elsewhere.
Bring no more worthless offerings;
your incense is loathsome to me.
New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies,
octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.
Your new moons and festivals I detest;
they weigh me down, I tire of the load.
When we live on this superficial level we become the people Paul warns us about, people who "make a pretense of religion but deny its power" (cf. 2 Tim 3:5). We do not experience the blessings and the power of the Christian life because we are not open to it. In Christ we are blessed with "every spiritual blessing in the heavens" (cf. Eph 1:3) but we only experience this when we actually live for him. When we have the externals of religion squared away we are tempted to use those achievements to bargain with God. We are tempted to try pay him for his grace by showing him that we have checked off all of the boxes on our Good Catholic list. He will have none of this.
When you spread out your hands,
I close my eyes to you;
Though you pray the more,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood!
We can't be Christians in name only. Peter tells us that "the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears turned to their prayer" (cf. 1 Pet. 3:12). We need to let his word change us if we want it to bear fruit.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
We are not wrong to check the boxes of mass attendance, sacramental life, and the other things we do. These are indeed necessary. But they can't be merely boxes. They must be part of a broader laying down of our lives for the sake of Jesus. He tells us that "whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
When we truly make him the center of our lives we don't risk hypocracy. We don't risk the scandal of being in the pews on Sundays but living like the world for the rest of the week. When he is truly first his word changes us. His priorities change us.
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
Love for others begins to mark our own lives because his love for them is manifested in us. This is what happens automatically when we put Jesus first. The first step in putting him first is praise. In praise our hearts acknowledge the truth of who he is. Our hearts build the habit of living under his lordship when we use ours wills to praise him.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
So let's start living for the kingdom! Jesus wants to give us his own heart. Let's receive his prophets, his righteous, and his little ones generously. If we are indifferent to them, if we are indifferent to orphans and widows, it can only mean that Jesus hasn't changed us as deeply as he wants to change us. Praise is the first step. It will sustain us as he makes his own heart present within us.
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Jesus cannot just be an add-on to our lives. If we are trying to find our own life but just add Jesus on where he "fits" conveniently it won't work. We can get a lot of the externals in place without truly changing our hearts. We can be sacramentalized without being evangelized. We can be present in the Church and our hearts can be elsewhere.
Bring no more worthless offerings;
your incense is loathsome to me.
New moon and sabbath, calling of assemblies,
octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear.
Your new moons and festivals I detest;
they weigh me down, I tire of the load.
When we live on this superficial level we become the people Paul warns us about, people who "make a pretense of religion but deny its power" (cf. 2 Tim 3:5). We do not experience the blessings and the power of the Christian life because we are not open to it. In Christ we are blessed with "every spiritual blessing in the heavens" (cf. Eph 1:3) but we only experience this when we actually live for him. When we have the externals of religion squared away we are tempted to use those achievements to bargain with God. We are tempted to try pay him for his grace by showing him that we have checked off all of the boxes on our Good Catholic list. He will have none of this.
When you spread out your hands,
I close my eyes to you;
Though you pray the more,
I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood!
We can't be Christians in name only. Peter tells us that "the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears turned to their prayer" (cf. 1 Pet. 3:12). We need to let his word change us if we want it to bear fruit.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
We are not wrong to check the boxes of mass attendance, sacramental life, and the other things we do. These are indeed necessary. But they can't be merely boxes. They must be part of a broader laying down of our lives for the sake of Jesus. He tells us that "whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
When we truly make him the center of our lives we don't risk hypocracy. We don't risk the scandal of being in the pews on Sundays but living like the world for the rest of the week. When he is truly first his word changes us. His priorities change us.
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
Love for others begins to mark our own lives because his love for them is manifested in us. This is what happens automatically when we put Jesus first. The first step in putting him first is praise. In praise our hearts acknowledge the truth of who he is. Our hearts build the habit of living under his lordship when we use ours wills to praise him.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
So let's start living for the kingdom! Jesus wants to give us his own heart. Let's receive his prophets, his righteous, and his little ones generously. If we are indifferent to them, if we are indifferent to orphans and widows, it can only mean that Jesus hasn't changed us as deeply as he wants to change us. Praise is the first step. It will sustain us as he makes his own heart present within us.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
13 July 2014 - game of thorns
13 July 2014 - game of thorns
so shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
The Word of God will accomplish that for which it comes. He himself is the one who makes the earth fertile and fruitful. So why do read about paths, rocky ground, and thorns, places where seeds cannot grow?
Seeds that are sown on the path represent a lack of understanding. Paths are transitions, they are temporary. There is no depth in which we can grow. We should be grateful for the deep soil of the Church. We should be weary of novelty, lest it prove shallow. As we spread the word, we spread it not on paths of argument and superficial curiosity, but instead into the deep need of every soul. In this need true understanding can blossom.
Seeds that are sown on rocky ground represent a falling away in the midst of trial and persecution. We do this because we only engage the word in a superficial way. If we don't let it break up the rocks in our hearts it will not have the roots it needs. God wants to take away our stony hearts and give us hearts of flesh. But this means being more open to compassion and love. It means being opened to the world beyond ourselves. We can heed Paul's admonition to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." It is safer to stay within ourselves. The stakes are low. And so when we are persecuted and the time comes to choose whether we put the kingdom first we find that we are reluctant. We find that we rather than living the commandment of love for God and neighbor we are instead trying to use the kingdom as a vehicle for self-help. We fall away.
Seeds that are sown among thorns represent choosing the empty promises and concerns of the world instead of the kingdom. In this case, we hear the word, we acknowledge it, but we don't actually allow it deep inside. It is just one among many aspects of our lives. In this context the word will not grow. It feels itself to be insufficient, to be choked, because it should not be growing alongside these worldly concerns. It bears no fruit.
The thing to realize is that God is generous. He scatters the word everywhere. He knows that in some of us it won't bear fruit. But he offers his invitation nonetheless. He is willing to do all that is necessary to make the seeds grow. He is willing to make our soil fertile. He is willing to give us places of deep soil. He will break up the rocks and pull up the thorns. He will send his word to water us in our aridity and to give us life again.
In the beginning God put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (cf. Gen. 2:15). Adam fails and now the ground bears thistles and thorns (cf. Gen 3:17). But God is planting the garden of a new paradise in the Church. And Jesus himself is the gardener (cf. 20:15), just as Mary Magdalene supposed. The fruit toward which this garden grows is the true tree of life, blossoming from the cross in the sweetness of the Eucharist.
His word really won't return to him void. It will achieve the end for which it is sent. All we have to do is welcome it.
Paul knows "that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us." Thorns and thistles can't touch someone who knows this. Why is his soil so fertile?
but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
we also groan within ourselves
as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
It is the Holy Spirit that transforms dry and barren deserts in fertile soil for the kingdom. We receive the Holy Spirit through a word which is always effective, a word spoken in baptism and confirmation. But to really be transformed, we have to welcome him every day. We have to fan into flames the gift we have received. When we do welcome him he rains down on us, breaking up clods, softening us, and blessing us to yield fruit "a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." Fruit not only nourishes but brings the sweetness for which we long. The world has been hungry long enough! Come Holy Spirit! Rain down on us!
What the psalmist imagines of the natural order is even better when the seed is the Word of God.
You have crowned the year with your bounty,
and your paths overflow with a rich harvest;
The untilled meadows overflow with it,
and rejoicing clothes the hills.
so shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.
The Word of God will accomplish that for which it comes. He himself is the one who makes the earth fertile and fruitful. So why do read about paths, rocky ground, and thorns, places where seeds cannot grow?
Seeds that are sown on the path represent a lack of understanding. Paths are transitions, they are temporary. There is no depth in which we can grow. We should be grateful for the deep soil of the Church. We should be weary of novelty, lest it prove shallow. As we spread the word, we spread it not on paths of argument and superficial curiosity, but instead into the deep need of every soul. In this need true understanding can blossom.
Seeds that are sown on rocky ground represent a falling away in the midst of trial and persecution. We do this because we only engage the word in a superficial way. If we don't let it break up the rocks in our hearts it will not have the roots it needs. God wants to take away our stony hearts and give us hearts of flesh. But this means being more open to compassion and love. It means being opened to the world beyond ourselves. We can heed Paul's admonition to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." It is safer to stay within ourselves. The stakes are low. And so when we are persecuted and the time comes to choose whether we put the kingdom first we find that we are reluctant. We find that we rather than living the commandment of love for God and neighbor we are instead trying to use the kingdom as a vehicle for self-help. We fall away.
Seeds that are sown among thorns represent choosing the empty promises and concerns of the world instead of the kingdom. In this case, we hear the word, we acknowledge it, but we don't actually allow it deep inside. It is just one among many aspects of our lives. In this context the word will not grow. It feels itself to be insufficient, to be choked, because it should not be growing alongside these worldly concerns. It bears no fruit.
The thing to realize is that God is generous. He scatters the word everywhere. He knows that in some of us it won't bear fruit. But he offers his invitation nonetheless. He is willing to do all that is necessary to make the seeds grow. He is willing to make our soil fertile. He is willing to give us places of deep soil. He will break up the rocks and pull up the thorns. He will send his word to water us in our aridity and to give us life again.
In the beginning God put Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (cf. Gen. 2:15). Adam fails and now the ground bears thistles and thorns (cf. Gen 3:17). But God is planting the garden of a new paradise in the Church. And Jesus himself is the gardener (cf. 20:15), just as Mary Magdalene supposed. The fruit toward which this garden grows is the true tree of life, blossoming from the cross in the sweetness of the Eucharist.
His word really won't return to him void. It will achieve the end for which it is sent. All we have to do is welcome it.
Paul knows "that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us." Thorns and thistles can't touch someone who knows this. Why is his soil so fertile?
but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
we also groan within ourselves
as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
It is the Holy Spirit that transforms dry and barren deserts in fertile soil for the kingdom. We receive the Holy Spirit through a word which is always effective, a word spoken in baptism and confirmation. But to really be transformed, we have to welcome him every day. We have to fan into flames the gift we have received. When we do welcome him he rains down on us, breaking up clods, softening us, and blessing us to yield fruit "a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold." Fruit not only nourishes but brings the sweetness for which we long. The world has been hungry long enough! Come Holy Spirit! Rain down on us!
What the psalmist imagines of the natural order is even better when the seed is the Word of God.
You have crowned the year with your bounty,
and your paths overflow with a rich harvest;
The untilled meadows overflow with it,
and rejoicing clothes the hills.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
12 July 2014 - from the rooftops
12 July 2014 - from the rooftops
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
If we are going out into a world under the dominion of darkness we must become more like our teacher. If their master is Beelzebub we absolutely have to become like our master, Jesus Christ. The devil holds the world as slaves through fear. Jesus comes to "free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life" (cf. Heb. 2:15). Those enslaved in this way invariably contribute to keeping the system in place. As slaves, we fight for the temporary against the certainty of time and the inevitability of loss. There is always collateral damage. And so Jesus reminds us:
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
We need a change of perspective. We need a kingdom perspective. We need an eternal perspective, one which considers the things that last forever over and above temporary things, good though they may be. We aren't there yet, are we? We build houses on sand all the time. If we look at how we spend our time and how we use our words we realize that we are men of unclean lips among people of unclean lips.
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
We need this purification, even though it can be terrifying. It implies that all the temporary things for which we fight so hard might be gone in an instant. But it also implies the one thing necessary (cf. Luk. 10:42), that which endures forever. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith (cf. Heb 12:2). We need to remember that "our citizenship is in heaven" (cf. Phi. 3:20) and start to live like that is true.
Ultimately, the LORD wants to loose our tongues to proclaim what the kingdom in the light and from the housetops. He sends a seraphim to us with a hot ember that removes the wickedness from our lips. He himself removes the servitude to the temporary which enslaves our tongues to idols of money, of health, or whatever else. But it is a hot ember. It is very hot. Part of the heat is purification, which can be painful. Yet if we remember that it is the Holy Spirit himself who purifies we will welcome him. And he does not just burn away the old words of idolatry. He himself empowers us to speak new words for the kingdom. In the languages of men and angels we say:
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
Do these words not yet spring to our lips? First, we need to look to the LORD.
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
We need to realize who he is in order to give everything else proper context. And then we need his strength to fix this revelation in our hearts so that all our thoughts, words, and deeds are shaped by his decrees.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed:
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light;
what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
If we are going out into a world under the dominion of darkness we must become more like our teacher. If their master is Beelzebub we absolutely have to become like our master, Jesus Christ. The devil holds the world as slaves through fear. Jesus comes to "free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life" (cf. Heb. 2:15). Those enslaved in this way invariably contribute to keeping the system in place. As slaves, we fight for the temporary against the certainty of time and the inevitability of loss. There is always collateral damage. And so Jesus reminds us:
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
We need a change of perspective. We need a kingdom perspective. We need an eternal perspective, one which considers the things that last forever over and above temporary things, good though they may be. We aren't there yet, are we? We build houses on sand all the time. If we look at how we spend our time and how we use our words we realize that we are men of unclean lips among people of unclean lips.
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”
We need this purification, even though it can be terrifying. It implies that all the temporary things for which we fight so hard might be gone in an instant. But it also implies the one thing necessary (cf. Luk. 10:42), that which endures forever. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith (cf. Heb 12:2). We need to remember that "our citizenship is in heaven" (cf. Phi. 3:20) and start to live like that is true.
Ultimately, the LORD wants to loose our tongues to proclaim what the kingdom in the light and from the housetops. He sends a seraphim to us with a hot ember that removes the wickedness from our lips. He himself removes the servitude to the temporary which enslaves our tongues to idols of money, of health, or whatever else. But it is a hot ember. It is very hot. Part of the heat is purification, which can be painful. Yet if we remember that it is the Holy Spirit himself who purifies we will welcome him. And he does not just burn away the old words of idolatry. He himself empowers us to speak new words for the kingdom. In the languages of men and angels we say:
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”
Do these words not yet spring to our lips? First, we need to look to the LORD.
The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
We need to realize who he is in order to give everything else proper context. And then we need his strength to fix this revelation in our hearts so that all our thoughts, words, and deeds are shaped by his decrees.
Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed:
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, for length of days.
Friday, July 11, 2014
11 July 2014 - new hearts
11 July 2014 - new hearts
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
Right at the moment when we would want to be the most prepared we are called to rely on God even more. But it makes sense. There is no part of this that we can do on our own. God is "pleased with sincerity of heart" but to get it we need him to create it in us. We ask:
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
After all we are not just going out as sheep in the midst of wolves. We are going out as sheep for the sake of wolves. In a certain sense, we are even willing to be their food, just as Jesus is willing to be ours. We are called to love our enemies. But on our own we have trouble loving even those we love consistently, "with a steadfast spirit".
We need God to create a clean heart in us, a heart that can witness before governors and kings and pagans for the sake of Jesus.
The gospel is divisive precisely because it insists on our freedom to receive or to reject it. We see in our own time just how divisive it can be. We do see brother handing over brother and father handing over child. We do see Christians hated and persecuted for the sake of Jesus. He tells us that "whoever endures to the end will be saved." But what does it mean to endure? Among other things, it means to keep a "steadfast spirit" that continues to love our enemies. It endures the crosses they send, praying all the while for their forgiveness. It is much easier to try to plan this sort of thing ahead of time, to worry about how we are to speak and what we are to say. If we plan it all we can attempt it without engaging our hearts. We can keep a safe distance from truly loving our enemies. But the LORD insists on more. He wants to open our lips in those hardest of moments so that we can proclaim his praise.
We were once enemies of God too. We were all defectors. It is only by grace that anyone comes into his presence. We still cling to idols, too. We ought to have the greatest of sympathy for the wolves to whom we are sent. They are ravenous because they do not have the bread from heaven. We know that Jesus wants to bless them in the same way he blesses us. It is not earned. It is a gift of mercy.
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
Right at the moment when we would want to be the most prepared we are called to rely on God even more. But it makes sense. There is no part of this that we can do on our own. God is "pleased with sincerity of heart" but to get it we need him to create it in us. We ask:
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
After all we are not just going out as sheep in the midst of wolves. We are going out as sheep for the sake of wolves. In a certain sense, we are even willing to be their food, just as Jesus is willing to be ours. We are called to love our enemies. But on our own we have trouble loving even those we love consistently, "with a steadfast spirit".
We need God to create a clean heart in us, a heart that can witness before governors and kings and pagans for the sake of Jesus.
The gospel is divisive precisely because it insists on our freedom to receive or to reject it. We see in our own time just how divisive it can be. We do see brother handing over brother and father handing over child. We do see Christians hated and persecuted for the sake of Jesus. He tells us that "whoever endures to the end will be saved." But what does it mean to endure? Among other things, it means to keep a "steadfast spirit" that continues to love our enemies. It endures the crosses they send, praying all the while for their forgiveness. It is much easier to try to plan this sort of thing ahead of time, to worry about how we are to speak and what we are to say. If we plan it all we can attempt it without engaging our hearts. We can keep a safe distance from truly loving our enemies. But the LORD insists on more. He wants to open our lips in those hardest of moments so that we can proclaim his praise.
We were once enemies of God too. We were all defectors. It is only by grace that anyone comes into his presence. We still cling to idols, too. We ought to have the greatest of sympathy for the wolves to whom we are sent. They are ravenous because they do not have the bread from heaven. We know that Jesus wants to bless them in the same way he blesses us. It is not earned. It is a gift of mercy.
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
10 July 2014 - through the grapevine
10 July 2014 - through the grapevine
God loves us and there is nothing we can do about it.
The more I called them,
the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals
and burning incense to idols.
Even so, even when we were chasing after our own idols, when we were dead in our sins and enemies of God Jesus died for us (cf. Rom. 5:8). We not only have no way to earn God's love, no way to pay the debt we owe, but at first we don't even want to do so. But he keeps on loving us anyway.
My heart is overwhelmed,
my pity is stirred.
I will not give vent to my blazing anger,
I will not destroy Ephraim again;
For I am God and not man,
the Holy One present among you;
I will not let the flames consume you.
He is the vinedresser. We are often more trouble than we imagine ourselves to be worth. God sees us differently. Even though we are "a wild olive shoot" we are grafted onto the the tree and allowed to "share in the rich root of the olive tree" (cf. Rom 11:17). We are made to be branches of the vine which is Jesus himself (cf. Joh. 15:1). We all require pruning to bear fruit. But we can see that God is committed to this project, to this new Garden he wants to grow. So with the psalmist we are not afraid to ask:
Take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted,
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Amazingly, no matter how much he wants this Kingdom to grow, how much he wants this vine to spread and bear fruit, he will not force it. The proclamation is made:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
But the choice is still left to individuals. Do we want to be grafted onto the vine or not?
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words --
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
It is only with profound dependence on the vine from whom we have life that can go out, with none of our own resources, no gold or silver or copper for our belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick, can propose the invitation to the Kingdom of heaven. It is great intimacy that can be so exposed. It is great intimacy that can put oneself out in spite of inevitable rejection. Jesus is able to offer all he has to mankind in spite of the rejection he receives so often because he trusts in his Father. And if our life comes from the vine are able to offer ourselves fearlessly as well.
Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.
God loves us and there is nothing we can do about it.
The more I called them,
the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals
and burning incense to idols.
Even so, even when we were chasing after our own idols, when we were dead in our sins and enemies of God Jesus died for us (cf. Rom. 5:8). We not only have no way to earn God's love, no way to pay the debt we owe, but at first we don't even want to do so. But he keeps on loving us anyway.
My heart is overwhelmed,
my pity is stirred.
I will not give vent to my blazing anger,
I will not destroy Ephraim again;
For I am God and not man,
the Holy One present among you;
I will not let the flames consume you.
He is the vinedresser. We are often more trouble than we imagine ourselves to be worth. God sees us differently. Even though we are "a wild olive shoot" we are grafted onto the the tree and allowed to "share in the rich root of the olive tree" (cf. Rom 11:17). We are made to be branches of the vine which is Jesus himself (cf. Joh. 15:1). We all require pruning to bear fruit. But we can see that God is committed to this project, to this new Garden he wants to grow. So with the psalmist we are not afraid to ask:
Take care of this vine,
and protect what your right hand has planted,
the son of man whom you yourself made strong.
Amazingly, no matter how much he wants this Kingdom to grow, how much he wants this vine to spread and bear fruit, he will not force it. The proclamation is made:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
But the choice is still left to individuals. Do we want to be grafted onto the vine or not?
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words --
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
It is only with profound dependence on the vine from whom we have life that can go out, with none of our own resources, no gold or silver or copper for our belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick, can propose the invitation to the Kingdom of heaven. It is great intimacy that can be so exposed. It is great intimacy that can put oneself out in spite of inevitable rejection. Jesus is able to offer all he has to mankind in spite of the rejection he receives so often because he trusts in his Father. And if our life comes from the vine are able to offer ourselves fearlessly as well.
Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
July 2014 - feeling sheepish?
July 2014 - feeling sheepish?
Yesterday we saw Jesus moved with pity for the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He was curing every disease and illness but the crowds still felt troubled and abandoned because his plan for them involved more laborers than just himself. The first stage of this plan was to call the Twelve. But before even this he prayed. And he not only prayed, but he asked his disciples to pray as well. He not only set an example for the future wherein disciples should always pray to discern the building of the kingdom by praying himself. He also allowed the disciples to begin to have agency in the building of that kingdom by inviting them to pray.
Building the kingdom is the priority of the heart of Jesus. He doesn't want his people to feel troubled and abandoned. His heart is moved with pity when he sees it. But the very fact of his localized physical presence as the Incarnate Word means that he is not, in that sense, everywhere at once. From the moment Jesus takes on flesh his plan for the Church is also implied. He needs a body that can embrace the whole world. And now "we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others" (cf. Rom 12:5). And as "a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ" (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12).
The body shares the priority of Jesus himself. His body seeks first his kingdom so that no sheep need ever feel lost as if they have no shepherd. He has finally given us shepherds after his own heart (cf. Jer. 3:15). He has given us Peter and his successors to feed his sheep (cf. Joh. 21:17). No one need feel abandoned. No one need feel forsaken.
But Jesus means for us to do our part. If we are part of this body we must move in unison with its purpose. We must not be atrophied and paralyzed. We must let him use us. We pray to the master of the harvest that the laborers be sufficient to the task at hand. And then we go forth to proclaim, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand." Where once there was only Jesus proclaiming the good news and healing now we all summoned to participate. We all move as one for the kingdom.
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
The fields of the world are overgrown with selfishness and idolatry. This isn't going to be easy. But we are part of something bigger than us. As a part of his body we do not fear the task at hand.
“Sow for yourselves justice,
reap the fruit of piety;
break up for yourselves a new field,
for it is time to seek the LORD,
till he come and rain down justice upon you.”
If we trust in the resources of the world we will not be able to build the kingdom. "Since they do not fear the LORD, what can the king do for them?" But as long as we remember to "Seek always the face of the Lord" there is nothing that can stand between us and the mission of Jesus.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Why do we go first to Israel and not to pagan territory or Samaritan towns? These are the hearts that feel the most lost and abandoned. These are the people who have been prepared. They are waiting. We go first to them because they need us to do so. And from there, together with the sheep who have now been found, we go to the ends of the earth (cf. Mat. 28:19).
Yesterday we saw Jesus moved with pity for the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He was curing every disease and illness but the crowds still felt troubled and abandoned because his plan for them involved more laborers than just himself. The first stage of this plan was to call the Twelve. But before even this he prayed. And he not only prayed, but he asked his disciples to pray as well. He not only set an example for the future wherein disciples should always pray to discern the building of the kingdom by praying himself. He also allowed the disciples to begin to have agency in the building of that kingdom by inviting them to pray.
Building the kingdom is the priority of the heart of Jesus. He doesn't want his people to feel troubled and abandoned. His heart is moved with pity when he sees it. But the very fact of his localized physical presence as the Incarnate Word means that he is not, in that sense, everywhere at once. From the moment Jesus takes on flesh his plan for the Church is also implied. He needs a body that can embrace the whole world. And now "we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others" (cf. Rom 12:5). And as "a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ" (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12).
The body shares the priority of Jesus himself. His body seeks first his kingdom so that no sheep need ever feel lost as if they have no shepherd. He has finally given us shepherds after his own heart (cf. Jer. 3:15). He has given us Peter and his successors to feed his sheep (cf. Joh. 21:17). No one need feel abandoned. No one need feel forsaken.
But Jesus means for us to do our part. If we are part of this body we must move in unison with its purpose. We must not be atrophied and paralyzed. We must let him use us. We pray to the master of the harvest that the laborers be sufficient to the task at hand. And then we go forth to proclaim, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand." Where once there was only Jesus proclaiming the good news and healing now we all summoned to participate. We all move as one for the kingdom.
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
The fields of the world are overgrown with selfishness and idolatry. This isn't going to be easy. But we are part of something bigger than us. As a part of his body we do not fear the task at hand.
“Sow for yourselves justice,
reap the fruit of piety;
break up for yourselves a new field,
for it is time to seek the LORD,
till he come and rain down justice upon you.”
If we trust in the resources of the world we will not be able to build the kingdom. "Since they do not fear the LORD, what can the king do for them?" But as long as we remember to "Seek always the face of the Lord" there is nothing that can stand between us and the mission of Jesus.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Why do we go first to Israel and not to pagan territory or Samaritan towns? These are the hearts that feel the most lost and abandoned. These are the people who have been prepared. They are waiting. We go first to them because they need us to do so. And from there, together with the sheep who have now been found, we go to the ends of the earth (cf. Mat. 28:19).
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
8 July 2014 - find your voice
8 July 2014 - find your voice
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
They have mouths but speak not;
Idols have no voice. This is in stark contrast to our God. Our God speaks. He does not even speak in secret. In days past his words were partial, leading us to long for more. But now he speaks to us the incarnate word, Jesus Christ. The Father speaks to us through the Son (cf. Heb 1:2). He speaks Jesus, a living message of love. He speaks Jesus, a living offer of repentance unto life eternal.
Even ignoring those partial words before Jesus was perilous. Now the stakes are even higher.
For if the word announced through angels proved firm, and every transgression and disobedience received its just recompense, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? Announced originally through the Lord, it was confirmed for us by those who had heard.
Today we read about one of the perils of ignoring this word.
Their makers shall be like them,
everyone that trusts in them.
At this we perk up. We notice that the demoniac in the gospel has fallen under this condemnation. He has become like the idols of this world. Scripture does not say how he become mute but we might imagine that his voice was in the service of the idols of the world. We imagine him using his voice to say things that seem to promise life but actually promise nothing, words which mean less and less until he is saying nothing at all.
With their silver and gold they made
idols for themselves, to their own destruction.
Cast away your calf, O Samaria!
my wrath is kindled against them;
The demoniac is mute. Things have reached the point where he can't escape the symptoms of his idolatry. But even so he cannot free himself. As Zechariah needs God to loose his tongue so too does this man.
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
He is brought to Jesus, the word of God. God's "many ordinances" are given form in Jesus. They are lived perfectly. And because Jesus loves this man the ordinances of God can no longer be "considered as a stranger's." Finally, a real word. Finally, something worth saying. The tongue of the demoniac is loosed.
The crowds are amazed. They are so used to the words of the world, almost void of meaning. But now in the presence of Jesus they see tongues being loosed and truth being spoken. Idols are being cast off and hearts are being set free.
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
Except, of course, the Pharisees, who are still quite attached to their own words. Their words are powerless and empty, but without them, how will they stand out and assert themselves over the rest?
There are many diseases and illnesses in the world and Jesus wants to cure them all at their fundamental level. He wants to cure the hearts that are troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. He wants to tell them that they are not abandoned, that their shepherd is here, and that he wants to speak to them individually. They need not run off to idols. Their God, Emmanuel, is right here with them. But to do this, he insists on our help:
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Their idols are silver and gold,
the handiwork of men.
They have mouths but speak not;
Idols have no voice. This is in stark contrast to our God. Our God speaks. He does not even speak in secret. In days past his words were partial, leading us to long for more. But now he speaks to us the incarnate word, Jesus Christ. The Father speaks to us through the Son (cf. Heb 1:2). He speaks Jesus, a living message of love. He speaks Jesus, a living offer of repentance unto life eternal.
Even ignoring those partial words before Jesus was perilous. Now the stakes are even higher.
For if the word announced through angels proved firm, and every transgression and disobedience received its just recompense, how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? Announced originally through the Lord, it was confirmed for us by those who had heard.
Today we read about one of the perils of ignoring this word.
Their makers shall be like them,
everyone that trusts in them.
At this we perk up. We notice that the demoniac in the gospel has fallen under this condemnation. He has become like the idols of this world. Scripture does not say how he become mute but we might imagine that his voice was in the service of the idols of the world. We imagine him using his voice to say things that seem to promise life but actually promise nothing, words which mean less and less until he is saying nothing at all.
With their silver and gold they made
idols for themselves, to their own destruction.
Cast away your calf, O Samaria!
my wrath is kindled against them;
The demoniac is mute. Things have reached the point where he can't escape the symptoms of his idolatry. But even so he cannot free himself. As Zechariah needs God to loose his tongue so too does this man.
A demoniac who could not speak was brought to Jesus,
and when the demon was driven out the mute man spoke.
He is brought to Jesus, the word of God. God's "many ordinances" are given form in Jesus. They are lived perfectly. And because Jesus loves this man the ordinances of God can no longer be "considered as a stranger's." Finally, a real word. Finally, something worth saying. The tongue of the demoniac is loosed.
The crowds are amazed. They are so used to the words of the world, almost void of meaning. But now in the presence of Jesus they see tongues being loosed and truth being spoken. Idols are being cast off and hearts are being set free.
“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
Except, of course, the Pharisees, who are still quite attached to their own words. Their words are powerless and empty, but without them, how will they stand out and assert themselves over the rest?
There are many diseases and illnesses in the world and Jesus wants to cure them all at their fundamental level. He wants to cure the hearts that are troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. He wants to tell them that they are not abandoned, that their shepherd is here, and that he wants to speak to them individually. They need not run off to idols. Their God, Emmanuel, is right here with them. But to do this, he insists on our help:
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Monday, July 7, 2014
7 July 2014 - reconnect
7 July 2014 - reconnect
We are accustomed to feeling a disconnect from bible times. We read of amazing things happening.
She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
“Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”
And from that hour the woman was cured.
And perhaps we do not see those same things happening around us. But why? Jesus tells his disciples that they will do greater works than even his own (cf. 14:12). He tells us that his disciples will be known by the miraculous signs that accompany those who believe (cf. Mar. 16:17). Paul puts this into practice with proclamations which "were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God."
These works are not just for a past generation. They are for ours as well.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
So why do we stop discoursing about the power of his terrible deeds in our own time? Why does his greatness become something abstract and lifeless? When we try to spread his fame and sing of his justice, why does it sound like it has so little to do with our own times? The LORD is not different. He is the same LORD in whom there is no shadow of change (cf. Jam. 1:17).
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
We are afraid of the Holy Spirit. Welcoming the Holy Spirit is playing with fire. It is to welcome a force entirely beyond our ability to control. He may choose to do things that make us uncomfortable. He may reach out to people that we would neglect. And at other times he might not reach out when we would.
“Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.”
And they ridiculed him.
Even with the Holy Spirit we encounter situations where the world looks like it is proceeding as it did before Jesus, as it has gone on in many places since then. It ridicules the apparent powerlessness of God. But if God allows this girl to experience that which the world considers death it is only so that the Holy Spirit can demonstrate that the game has changed.
When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand,
and the little girl arose.
And news of this spread throughout all that land.
But we have to be willing to accept the ridicule. We have to be willing to seem powerless even while we believe that God's power is absolute. We have to be able to see the appearance of a world that goes on as it has, to see suffering, dying, and death, and to not let this change our expectations of Jesus. We must not let it change the expectations we have for the power of his Holy Spirit in us.
But our expectations have been muddled. So let us listen to the LORD as he draws us back.
I will allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart.
She shall respond there as in the days of her youth,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Here in the desert God has more direct access to our hearts. Here the world's insistence on its own finality begins to fade. Here we no longer look to the world and its solutions, its "baal" but we begin to trust in the LORD as our "husband". Our bond to him is revealed to be forever, our bond to the world transitory and passing.
I will espouse you in fidelity,
and you shall know the LORD.
We are accustomed to feeling a disconnect from bible times. We read of amazing things happening.
She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
“Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”
And from that hour the woman was cured.
And perhaps we do not see those same things happening around us. But why? Jesus tells his disciples that they will do greater works than even his own (cf. 14:12). He tells us that his disciples will be known by the miraculous signs that accompany those who believe (cf. Mar. 16:17). Paul puts this into practice with proclamations which "were not with persuasive (words of) wisdom, but with a demonstration of spirit and power so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God."
These works are not just for a past generation. They are for ours as well.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works.
So why do we stop discoursing about the power of his terrible deeds in our own time? Why does his greatness become something abstract and lifeless? When we try to spread his fame and sing of his justice, why does it sound like it has so little to do with our own times? The LORD is not different. He is the same LORD in whom there is no shadow of change (cf. Jam. 1:17).
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
We are afraid of the Holy Spirit. Welcoming the Holy Spirit is playing with fire. It is to welcome a force entirely beyond our ability to control. He may choose to do things that make us uncomfortable. He may reach out to people that we would neglect. And at other times he might not reach out when we would.
“Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.”
And they ridiculed him.
Even with the Holy Spirit we encounter situations where the world looks like it is proceeding as it did before Jesus, as it has gone on in many places since then. It ridicules the apparent powerlessness of God. But if God allows this girl to experience that which the world considers death it is only so that the Holy Spirit can demonstrate that the game has changed.
When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand,
and the little girl arose.
And news of this spread throughout all that land.
But we have to be willing to accept the ridicule. We have to be willing to seem powerless even while we believe that God's power is absolute. We have to be able to see the appearance of a world that goes on as it has, to see suffering, dying, and death, and to not let this change our expectations of Jesus. We must not let it change the expectations we have for the power of his Holy Spirit in us.
But our expectations have been muddled. So let us listen to the LORD as he draws us back.
I will allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak to her heart.
She shall respond there as in the days of her youth,
when she came up from the land of Egypt.
Here in the desert God has more direct access to our hearts. Here the world's insistence on its own finality begins to fade. Here we no longer look to the world and its solutions, its "baal" but we begin to trust in the LORD as our "husband". Our bond to him is revealed to be forever, our bond to the world transitory and passing.
I will espouse you in fidelity,
and you shall know the LORD.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
6 July 2014 - little ones
6 July 2014 - little ones
Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion,
shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king shall come to you;
a just savior is he,
meek, and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the foal of an ass.
King Jesus comes to us. He does not come as one who conquers, but as one who is welcomed. He does not force his way into our hearts. He asks us to welcome him. If we realize how good his presence is, how much we need what he does in us, we will join the crowds in shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David" when he comes.
He is the king of heaven yet he stoops down to meet us where we are. He is in the form of God but doesn't grasp equality with God if it means that he is thereby able to reveal the Father to us. He allows himself to become poor that we might become rich. Jesus has this meekness because, in a sense, he is the little one of the Father. He is able to trust the Father entirely and therefore to offer himself completely. He doesn't have to insist on his own rights because he knows the Father protects him.
By becoming a little one Jesus reveals the greatness of the Father. But it is not only indirectly that he reveals this. He invites us to share in his own relationship with the Father. He invites us to embrace his littleness and his trust. Only if we do will the Father truly be revealed to us. Only when he is thus revealed will we find rest.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
When we do come to Jesus, when we welcome him with shouts of Hosanna, his Spirit begins to dwell in us. We can truly embrace what it means to be little ones. Obedience, even obedience unto death, is possible if we walk in the yoke of Jesus, the yoke from his loving Father. This is true because we know that no matter what we face, we can trust the Father to get us through it. Even death doesn't have the last word.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
We once lived according to the flesh. But that way of life leads to death. And if we face death on our own apart from the Spirit we cannot make it through to the other side. Fortunately, God delights to give us his Spirit, so that we can embrace his yoke, and receive life even to our mortal bodies through his Spirit in us.
We are not consistently faithful or holy. We are constantly falling. We are constantly bowed down in failure. But we have the ever greater Father in heaven to support us. And he is all we need.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion,
shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king shall come to you;
a just savior is he,
meek, and riding on an ass,
on a colt, the foal of an ass.
King Jesus comes to us. He does not come as one who conquers, but as one who is welcomed. He does not force his way into our hearts. He asks us to welcome him. If we realize how good his presence is, how much we need what he does in us, we will join the crowds in shouting "Hosanna to the Son of David" when he comes.
He is the king of heaven yet he stoops down to meet us where we are. He is in the form of God but doesn't grasp equality with God if it means that he is thereby able to reveal the Father to us. He allows himself to become poor that we might become rich. Jesus has this meekness because, in a sense, he is the little one of the Father. He is able to trust the Father entirely and therefore to offer himself completely. He doesn't have to insist on his own rights because he knows the Father protects him.
By becoming a little one Jesus reveals the greatness of the Father. But it is not only indirectly that he reveals this. He invites us to share in his own relationship with the Father. He invites us to embrace his littleness and his trust. Only if we do will the Father truly be revealed to us. Only when he is thus revealed will we find rest.
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
When we do come to Jesus, when we welcome him with shouts of Hosanna, his Spirit begins to dwell in us. We can truly embrace what it means to be little ones. Obedience, even obedience unto death, is possible if we walk in the yoke of Jesus, the yoke from his loving Father. This is true because we know that no matter what we face, we can trust the Father to get us through it. Even death doesn't have the last word.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
We once lived according to the flesh. But that way of life leads to death. And if we face death on our own apart from the Spirit we cannot make it through to the other side. Fortunately, God delights to give us his Spirit, so that we can embrace his yoke, and receive life even to our mortal bodies through his Spirit in us.
We are not consistently faithful or holy. We are constantly falling. We are constantly bowed down in failure. But we have the ever greater Father in heaven to support us. And he is all we need.
The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
5 July 2014 - bridegroom with us
5 July 2014 - bridegroom with us
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
This makes sense when we hear it. But Jesus is claiming a centrality that might be shocking to his listeners. The metric for whether or not it is time to fast doesn't have anything to do with old cloaks or old wineskins anymore. It only has to do with how close he is.
Before Jesus there may have been any number of reasons to fast. People might fast in order to try to grow in holiness, to acknowledge God, to move toward the various aspects of virtue. Each reason implicitly chose some greater good over lesser ones. But now, with Jesus, the greatest good of all has come.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
He himself brings our joy. The rhythms of fasting cannot make sense without reference to him. Indeed we read yesterday about a famine of the word of God. So when the word of God is present in all of his abundance we obviously need to take advantage of that and feast. Yet he does provide that there is a place for fasting in the Christian life. In our lives and in the liturgical life of the Church we live out a rhythm of greater and lesser distance from him. And it is appropriate to acknowledge his supreme good by fasting from lesser goods at those times when he is distant. We don't try to partially assuage the gap his distance creates with lesser goods. We let ourselves hunger for him, knowing that he will fill us.
Without him at the center no other goods we choose will restore us in the way that we need to be restored. Only Jesus sees that full blueprint for creation. Only he sees the entire plan. He knows just where to store the new wine he brings. He doesn't clothe us in patched robes of the Old Covenant. He clothes us in new baptismal garments. We are clothed with Christ himself (cf. Gal. 3:27).
I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.
The LORD is speaking to us of peace. It isn't a peace we can create in ourselves, no matter how well we practice asceticism. Let us listen so that we can receive all he wants to give us.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn
as long as the bridegroom is with them?
This makes sense when we hear it. But Jesus is claiming a centrality that might be shocking to his listeners. The metric for whether or not it is time to fast doesn't have anything to do with old cloaks or old wineskins anymore. It only has to do with how close he is.
Before Jesus there may have been any number of reasons to fast. People might fast in order to try to grow in holiness, to acknowledge God, to move toward the various aspects of virtue. Each reason implicitly chose some greater good over lesser ones. But now, with Jesus, the greatest good of all has come.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
He himself brings our joy. The rhythms of fasting cannot make sense without reference to him. Indeed we read yesterday about a famine of the word of God. So when the word of God is present in all of his abundance we obviously need to take advantage of that and feast. Yet he does provide that there is a place for fasting in the Christian life. In our lives and in the liturgical life of the Church we live out a rhythm of greater and lesser distance from him. And it is appropriate to acknowledge his supreme good by fasting from lesser goods at those times when he is distant. We don't try to partially assuage the gap his distance creates with lesser goods. We let ourselves hunger for him, knowing that he will fill us.
Without him at the center no other goods we choose will restore us in the way that we need to be restored. Only Jesus sees that full blueprint for creation. Only he sees the entire plan. He knows just where to store the new wine he brings. He doesn't clothe us in patched robes of the Old Covenant. He clothes us in new baptismal garments. We are clothed with Christ himself (cf. Gal. 3:27).
I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.
The LORD is speaking to us of peace. It isn't a peace we can create in ourselves, no matter how well we practice asceticism. Let us listen so that we can receive all he wants to give us.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD–for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)