30 June 2015 - face forward toward mercy

We are sometimes surrounded by wind and waves. Violent storms rock our boats. Our cities face the threat of sulfurous fire as God allows the consequences of our actions and our indifference.

Yet God does not want to destroy us. He does no want to swamp our boats with waves. He wants us to call out to him in confidence. Even amidst the chaos he wants us to trust him with peace in our hearts.

“Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea,
and there was great calm.

This is true of the storms we face on a national level. It is true of storms we face in our individual lives. And who of us has a life which is marked only by "great calm" and not by wind and waves? Who of us has a life so pure that we never face the sulfurous consequences of ill conceived decisions and ill chosen pursuits?

Jesus wants to calm these storms. He wants his angels to lead us "to safety outside the city."

He wants our eyes on the path ahead of us...

O Lord, your mercy is before my eyes.

...not on the path behind...

But Lot’s wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

We are not permitted to even desire the comforts that our lives and nations may have once enjoyed if this comforts rested on illusion. If we were comfortable while sin seethed beneath the surface we cannot look back toward that. If our nation seemed to be doing fine while all of the conditions that made for the trials which we now face were already in place we cannot look back toward that time with longing.

Instead we look forward to face the Lord, putting his mercy before our eyes.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (cf. Heb. 12:1).

We look to Jesus. With our eyes fixed on him we do not sink back into the waters of chaos (cf. Mat. 14:28-32). We are not gathered with sinners but instead walk in integrity on level ground. We make it to safety outside the city.

But I walk in integrity;
redeem me, and have mercy on me.
My foot stands on level ground;
in the assemblies I will bless the LORD.

Our hearts are moved to praise as and amazement as we wonder, "What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?" Jesus is the one who hushes the storms of our lives and nations to silence and stills the waves of the sea (cf. Psa. 107:29). He is the LORD!

29 June 2015 - who do you say i am?

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

This is the question for us this morning. Everything hinges on our answer. Is Jesus merely one among others, one of the prophets? Is he one of the greatest prophets, John the Baptist or Elijah, but still one among others?

Everything changes for Paul when he learns the answer to this question.

And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

Let us recognize that Jesus is not one among others. There is no one like him. We need to be able to say with Peter, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

When we know who Jesus is we are built on the rock against which the gates of Hell shall not prevail. Even if we are taken into custody and put into prison for his name we are unshaken. When we know who Jesus is we know that he is for us. It no longer matters who else is against us. Circumstances can't stop us. We are more than conquerors in all of these things (cf. Rom. 8:31). If we are in prison it doesn't matter because God will use us right where we are to proclaim his name to the guards. Paul is able to remain in prison to preach to the guards when that is God's will for him. If God does not want to use us from prison he will send an angel to set us free just as he does for Peter.

Suddenly the angel of the Lord stood by him
and a light shone in the cell.
He tapped Peter on the side and awakened him, saying,
“Get up quickly.”
The chains fell from his wrists.

When we know who Jesus is we compete well, finish the race, and keep the faith. We long for his appearance so much that he sustains us in all of our trials. With Paul we see that the "Lord stood by my and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed".

We now trust in him to rescue us from every evil threat. Built on the rock we have both the motivation and the strength to pursue him wherever he leads.

The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Taste and see how good the LORD is;
blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

28 June 2015 - that they might have being

God did not make death,
nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.

God created us that we might have life and being. How is it that the history of our world is so marred by death and destruction? Why are there so many women who suffer for years at the hands of doctors, unable to find a cure for what ails them? Why are children taken from their parents before their time has come?

We see that the devil is the source of death. But why did God permit it if he really wanted us to be imperishable? This isn't some dualistic universe where God and the devil are on equal footing. Even if God doesn't directly cause death it can only exist if he allows for the possibility.

Can it be that he doesn't care that much? Perhaps he is happy to love those who serve him but is quick to abandon those who don't and leaves the devil to handle the dirty work. Emphatically, no!

For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, 
so that by his poverty you might become rich.

God proves his love when he himself enters our story to reverse the consequences of death.

He took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum,”
which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise!”

His own death and resurrection transform the world  and undo the devil's work. Look at the tenderness with which he raises this girl from death. We cannot think Jesus indifferent to suffering.

Yet he still allows people to choose to belong to the devil's company and experience death. If it is not out of indifference it must be because only with such freedom can we truly love. He did not wish us to be automatons programmed to go through the motions of loving. He wanted us to genuinely love no matter the potential cost.

Jesus loves us each too much to leave the consequences of that cost in our own hands even though we have each done much to deserve it. He wants to reverse death and destruction in our own lives. We aren't merely lost in the crowd as part of some bulk rate redemption.

"You see how the crowd is pressing upon you,
and yet you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

If it seems like nothing can change because we have been suffering for so long there is still hope. If it seems too late, as it does for the girl who dies, it is never too late. In a way, the whole human race is summarized by the hemorrhaging woman and the dead little girl. Death and destruction have been a part of our story for so long that it is hard to hope. Jesus wants to renew our hope this morning. Death need not have the final word. Jesus becomes poor, subject to weakness and death, in order to raise us to the riches of his own immortality. May this love overflow in us so that our hope can enrich others as well.

I will extol you, O LORD, for you drew me clear
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD, you brought me up from the netherworld;
you preserved me from among those going down into the pit.

27 June 2015 - under my roof

"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully." 
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."

The LORD wants to visit us. Let us not make light of his coming. Let us not underestimate what he can do and indeed wants to do in us.

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?" The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

Nothing is too hard for him. We need to trust his promises for us. Even those promises which seem unlikely because they are thus far unfilled and because we have lived life so long without them are not too great for him. If he says he will come and do it we must take him at his word.

He said to him, "I will come and cure him."

We need to respond to his promise in the way the centurion does. We need to believe that what he wills he can do, even for us, even in our own lives. Jesus wants us to believe in his authority and power.

Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority, 
with soldiers subject to me.

It is true, of course, that we are not worthy to receive him. But he chooses to come to us anyway. He chooses to enter under our roofs. He wills to heal our servants, our mother-in-laws, those possessed by demons, and all the sick.

He took away our infirmities 
and bore our diseases.

In this we see the promise fulfilled:

“For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.”

The invitation this morning is to stop doubting his power no matter what circumstances look like. We are called to believe that his authority is not limited by time or place or other human condition. And we are invited to welcome him into our hearts. We pray:

Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;

But he does enter, if we let him.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (cf. Rev. 3:20).

Let us trust his power! Let us open to him!

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy

26 June 2015 - wait training

"Lord, if you will, you can make me clean."  

But I'm not clean now. It is so hard to believe that Jesus wills it. Why not sooner? Why this life of leprosy, unclean, separate, and isolated? On the one hand I believe in the power of Jesus. On the other hand it doesn't seem to apply to me. My life has been like this for so long. Yet Jesus can do all things. I have seen it. I believe it. It is just that I don't think he wants to do this for me.

But this, just maybe, is what I've been waiting for.

And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, 

Finally. Jesus is no longer just an abstract power at work everywhere but Here. Finally, encounter! In this moment my life and the life of Jesus intersect. It was impossible to experience being made clean through some abstract sense of the power of God. It has to be this. It had to be encounter. Here and now I learn that God is a person. I come to know him. He reaches out to me and touches me.

"I will; be clean."

This, specifically, is the sort of relationship which God desires with his people.

I will maintain my covenant with him as an everlasting pact,
to be his God and the God of his descendants after him.

It is never simply knowledge or a concept. From generation to generation it is a relationship. It isn't enough to know about him. We have to know HIM. He has many blessings for us. But his blessings aren't simply to fix our problems. They are a way which he says, 'I love you' to his people. We sometimes have to wait on his blessings so that he can more perfectly reveal his love for us. The most perfect example of this is the cross of Christ. History was waiting for this. Everyone and all creation needed it. But it didn't happen until the fullness of time (cf. Gal.4:4). Only then did he come and bear the cross for us. Yet can we imagine a more perfect 'I love you'? Let us trust in this love!

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.

25 June 2015 - sand plans

Abram shows us an example of pursuing God's plan the wrong way. The right way is for him to have a child through Sarai. But this seems to Abram to be increasingly unlikely so he and Sarai resort to involving Hagar. This does not lead to the LORD's plan being fulfilled and instead results in increasing violence and mistrust. Yet even with these results we might imagine Abram saying, 'Lord, Lord'. He may well assert that he is doing the LORD's work and trying to carry out his plans.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Abram and Sarai might well say, 'Lord, did we not try to carry out your plan for us?' But at this stage of their faith journey Jesus might well reply solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'

How easy it is to substitute the LORD's plans with our own. These plans are built on sand. We hear the words of Jesus but do not act on them. Perhaps we have the same goals but go about them in the wrong way. Perhaps we are trying to use the gifts we have been given (e.g. prophesy, driving out demons, and mighty deeds) for our own purposes rather than the LORD's. We see in the person of Ishmael that plans built on this sort of sand will never fulfill God's plans for us. The results are partial and imperfect. They do not survive the rains of floods of this life.

Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people.

We need to listen to the words of Jesus and act upon them. We need to build on rock, acting for his purposes with his methods and gifts. When we listen and act we unleash the blessings which the LORD intends for the world. These blessings are unshakable built on the rock of Christ.

Visit me with your saving help,
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your people,
and glory with your inheritance.

Let us listen so intently that we find ourselves astonished, "for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." May this astonishment drive us to act and to build our whole lives on rock secure in the plans of God.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.

24 June 2015 - speech unleashed

Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.

Are our tongues free? In our mind and heart we long to bless God. But in our daily lives the words do not come out. Fear predominates. Perhaps, like Zechariah, aren't ready for this abrupt intrusion into our lives. Perhaps we need to spend some time in silence. When we are silent the words of the angel can echo in our hearts. We are not filling space with our words and the meanings we impose on those words. We aren't giving things the names we think they should have according to our purposes for them. We are allowing God's word to have its effect in us. If we do spend some time in silence we internalize the angel's words. God's purposes become ours.

No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name

John's own lips are fully open. His tongue is free. He is not made silent by fear even though there is much to fear in a worldly sense. We know how John's earthly journey ends in prison and eventual execution. There is indeed much which could have made him keep quiet. But he remains bold because he knows that it isn't about him or his words or his plans. The LORD has a plan for him that precedes any of that.

It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

He keeps his own pride quiet enough to hear the LORD's plan for him. He lets this transform and motivate him. John's life is defined by his desire that "He must increase, but I must decrease" (cf. Joh. 3:30). But the more he tries to decrease the more he is taken up into the LORD's purpose for him. He does not find himself abandoned. Instead he realizes more and more the loving plan God has for him.

Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.

Because he knows that he is loved, treasured, and part of God's plan fear is unable to silence him:

'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.'

Let us follow John to the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire. Let our tongues be freed to praise the one who is to come!

23 June 2015 - don't swine about it

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, or throw your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them underfoot, and turn and tear you to pieces.

This is something which we simply would not do. Or at least we wouldn't do it if we knew that those things we have are pearls. If we truly realize the holiness of the one whom we know we will not treat his name lightly. Why give pearls to swine? Maybe to play with them and entertain them? Swine can't appreciate the value of pearls. Dogs can't appreciate the value of what is holy. It isn't that we are selfish or condescending. But we are reverent. We do not let the name of God to be taken lightly insofar as it is up to us. We don't encourage the name of Jesus in parody just so that his name might be said more often. More isn't always better. Quality matters. We don't just argue for the sake of argument. We aren't given salvation through Jesus so that we can win more arguments and be right more of the time. This approach parades his name around, to be sure, but not in a way that is meant for others to appreciate. Instead we must approach others the same way we would want to be approached. We don't go just to distract and entertain them or to amuse ourselves or build or pride. We go to them that they may genuinely learn to recognize the name of Jesus. When we don't see them as swine or dogs they will not act and respond like them. 

Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the Law and the Prophets.

This is how Abram deals with Lot. He gives Lot the first choice of lands when they grow to large to live together.

Please separate from me.
If you prefer the left, I will go to the right;
if you prefer the right, I will go to the left.”
Lot looked about and saw how well watered
the whole Jordan Plain was as far as Zoar,
like the LORD’s own garden, or like Egypt.

This is the attitude with which we should approach others. There are riches enough for all. Our God is big enough to take care of us when we put others before ourselves. We do not see others as swine or dogs but brothers and sisters for whom we want only the best. We will have more than mere leftovers (cf. Mat. 14:20).

“Look about you, and from where you are,
gaze to the north and south, east and west;
all the land that you see I will give to you
and your descendants forever.

When we love of brothers and sisters we do justice. God promises that those who do will live in his presence. He who does these things "shall never be disturbed."

Why is the road to destruction so wide? Why is the road to life so narrow? It is because we put ourselves first. We see others as swine and dogs. We are never called to keep our pearls for ourselves. We are called instead to recognize the full value of what we have. We are called to recognize that they are unearned blessings. We are called to share them just as we would want them shared with us. When we share our pearls in this way, with brothers and sisters rather than swine and dogs, we do find the road to life. To others it may seem narrow. But there is room enough for all who want to find it.

22 June 2015 - how to bless all nations

We are the people who inherit the promise of Abraham.

I will bless those who bless you
and curse those who curse you.
All the communities of the earth
shall find blessing in you.”

We think of the promise of Abraham as something physical. The promised land refers proximately to the Holy Land. The promise seems to be guaranteed only to those related to Abraham by blood. But the promise comes in an even more real way through faith because "those of faith who are the sons of Abraham" (cf. Gal. 3:7) This means that "the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (cf. Rom. 4:16).

That we are the ones who receive this inheritance should not cause any pride or arrogance in us. Instead, it should remind us that we are called to be blessings to all the communities of the earth. We are called to be lights of the world and salt of the earth (cf. Mat. 5:13-14).

As we build our alters an invoke the LORD's name we must be sure that we let his light shine through us. It is important to represent him faithfully and not let dirt on the glass of our hearts dim his light. We are in fact called to be our brother's keeper. We are called to teach and admonish one another in all wisdom (cf. Col. 3:16). We are called to engage our brother about his fault, even taking it to the others or the whole Church as necessary.  But we must do all of this in a way which does not diminish the light of the LORD shining through us. We see how this works in the life of Jesus. Jesus does not come into the world to condemn or judge us (cf. Joh. 3:16). He comes with mercy! Condemnation and judgment are real dangers from which Jesus longs to save us. When we correct, teach, and admonish, mercy must be the overriding priority.

We must begin with the mercy which Jesus shows us. This mercy enables us to remove the beams from our own eyes and sets us free to share his mercy with others. Only when we start from the mercy which we receive are we empowered to be useful to remove the splinter from the eye of our brother. If we don't begin from here we find ourselves judging and condemning. We are like the man forgiven a massive debt who holds the debt of our fellow servants against them. And since "the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you" this is extremely dangerous.

There is a secret to ensure that our hearts are in the right place. We must do what Paul suggests and let the Word of Christ dwell richly in our hearts. God's Word convicts us of our own sin and brings us to repentance. It helps us to recognize and rejoice in the mercy we ourselves receive. It makes the desire to share this mercy with others grow within us. This Word has the power to transform our lives. It gives us the power to go forth from the land of our kinsfolk and from our father's house to the places where the LORD wants to use us to be a blessing to all the nations. 

Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.

21 June 2015 - the haven they desired

The LORD is in charge no matter how dire circumstances appear. 

Even if the squall is so violent that "waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up" the LORD still reigns. Jesus is still on the throne.

We have a hard time with this. We see God choosing to be God in a way different than we'd prefer. We start to think of better ways he could do the job. We risk trying to take over when things like this happen.  These storms are unpleasant after all, even dangerous.

Job sees some of the worst storms of circumstance that anyone ever has to see. It is natural that he'd prefer those storms to cease. The boat that the disciples are in is basically sinking. It isn't unreasonable that they wish the winds would abate.

In both cases, though, God allows the storms to reveal something about who he is and who they are. Jesus wants his disciples to trust him enough that they believe that it is sufficient for him to be in their boat. The disciples are moved to terror and cry out when they should instead be able to approach Jesus with a patient trust.

When I set limits for it
and fastened the bar of its door,
and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stilled!

He is the one whom even the winds and the sees obey. The storms are hard to understand when our boats are taking on water. But they serve to help us to trust in God more than ourselves. They teach us to recognize more deeply the one "whom even wind and sea obey."

Realizing who Jesus is we live as a part of the "new creation" where the old things have passed away. In storms we often attempt to live according to the flesh, to the old paradigms, to simply survive and get by. But we are new creations. These boats bear the Kings and he will not let us parish. The winds, ultimately, have done there worst already to him already. They may toss our boat. We may take on water. But with Jesus in our boats we are ultimately unsinkable even if our lives in the flesh are cut short. He has overcome the world including every storm and circumstance (cf. Joh. 16:33).

They rejoiced that they were calmed,
and he brought them to their desired haven.

20 June 2015 - worth more

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life

Easier said than done. But it is important. It isn't just a nice option so that we feel better and have more comfort. Jesus is concerned that when we worry we ultimately "serve two masters." Our worry has the potential to compromise our ability to wholeheartedly serve God. We've got to figure this out.

We can have peace but it is not because we ourselves are strong. Even Paul experiences weakness, suffering, and "a thorn in the flesh". Yet he is not compromised by any of this. It never becomes a worry which distracts him from his wholehearted service of God. Indeed, it becomes part of that service, a part of his boast.

Worrying isn't strategy or planning. It never helps. It merely distracts and burdens. It cannot add a single moment to our lives. It is the vague and ambiguous fear that we have when we don't fully place our lives in the hands of God. We need to realize how much he loves us. When we know that we are more valuable to him than the flowers and the birds fear will have no place in us. Even all the beauty of the natural world is not as important to him as we are. He knows our needs. We don't need to have a vague fear that we forgot something undefined because of which everything will fall apart. Our lives are in the Father's hands. We do plan responsibly, but we do not worry.

This is not peace like the world gives peace because the world does not in fact give peace. On our own we are left to manage every variable known and unknown. So no wonder we worry! This is peace that only God can give when we finally surrender of lives into his hands.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (cf. Joh. 14:27).

We experience that nothing is lacking when we fear the LORD. We experience his angels encamping around us to guard us. What have we to fear? Are we at peace right now? We are meant to be!

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

19 June 2015 - weakness stronger than strength

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

We aren't proud of our weaknesses, usually. We probably try to hide them and appear strong and confident. And we can see why in the readings today. It is easy to be misunderstood when other people know that we are weak. They might have trouble trusting us and turn to people who appear more strong. Yet the Corinthians would be impoverished if they turned from Paul to the so-called "super-apostles" who were at odds with him. We are called to present the world with something real. We are called to be like Paul, weak, yet sustained by God. We do not make false promises. We cannot say that if people follow our way they will experience no weakness. Instead we reveal how God is present within such weakness. We display God's strength at work in our weakness. We realize the truth of the LORD's words, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9).

This can seem a little too real. But the world is fed up with false promises. The world needs this. The reality of suffering is omnipresent. But the power of God is greater. He can transform even the weakness of our suffering and use them to bring about greater goods that we can't even imagine. This is what the world really longs to see.

Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.

The lowly and the poor are all to aware of suffering in the world. For it to just, poof, disappear, would be too simple. It would not explain why it was ever permitted. But God allows suffering that greater goods may come. He allows the sin and fall of Adam so that we might receive the love and redemption of the new Adam, Jesus Christ. He allows suffering because in the suffering of the cross he is able to reveal his love for us in the most perfect way. When we allow ourselves to be weak we allow God to make this truth evident even in our own lives. Do we trust him enough to do it? When we experience "the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety" are we able to trust that God is doing something good even here and now, something so good, in fact, that it will all be worth it?

If we store up treasures on earth we tend to insist on the earthly strength of super apostles who promise and guarantee that our prizes will not be subject to moth, decay, or thieves. But earthly treasures are subject to these things. If the eye is fixed on treasures like these our weaknesses will always assault us. They will always reveal the shifting sands on which all things are built, all things save God alone.

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. Let us make him our treasure. Then our hearts will be with him, free from the threat of moth, decay, and thieves. Then we will gladly offer our weaknesses to him.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (cf. Col. 1:24)

18 June 2015 - meant words, not many

Jesus said to his disciples:
"In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.

This is one way we can be sure that the motives of our prayer need work. If we approach prayer like people just trying to check a box on a to do list this is how we will pray. It is meant to be a response to God's love, a conversation, intimate and profound. Instead, when we do it only because we think we should we begin to act like there is some sort of direct cause whereby our prayer obligates God to act. Rather, our prayer is a humble request to which God responds, not because he must, but because he loves us. We should pray. And knowing that we should is a good reason to do so. But this should is not content with mere obligation. It points the way to all that prayer can be. To tell a significant other that we love them is vital, no doubt, and we should do it even if it is out of mere obligation. But this should reminds us of all such a statement can communicate. Prayer is the door to union with God. It is how we become partakers of his very divine nature (cf. 2 Pet. 1:4).

There are certainly options for spending our time which seem more exciting on the surface. Paul is not content to let us go off in these ways. He says, "I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God". He is jealous of the other, flashier gospels that larger than life personalities (superapostles) offer us. He can't stand to see us taken from "a sincere and pure commitment to Christ". It is as if we have said 'I love you' so many times that now we either say it without meaning it or look for something new to say. Instead of either of these, let us say 'I love you' to God with renewed commitment to Christ that is pure and sincere. May we be presented to Christ as chaste virgins who know nothing of the temptations of the world and for whom 'I love you' still bears its full weight of meaning.

How do we reawaken this romance with God in our hearts? We must simply look again to the bridegroom. We must simply let our hearts behold all that he is. This is why Jesus teaches us to begin our prayer with the words, "Our Father". We recognize the one to whom we speak before we ask anything at all. Love will surely be our response.

I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.

17 June 2015 - every grace abundant

Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

We probably think we're doing good since we aren't out blowing trumpets before us when we do good things. We aren't praying on the street corners just so that people can see us and marvel at our holiness. We are probably tempted to tell people about the fasting we undertake but perhaps we hold back. We keep what our right hand is doing from our left hand, knowing that our left won't be able to shut up about it.

Yet we are called to reflect on our motives for our giving and for our prayer.

And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

Do we give because it pleases our Father? Or is it more because we need to have a certain self-image? We know that "good Christians" do these things and so we do them. This isn't wrong, exactly, but it is imperfect. It is something a little less than love to try to polish our own self-image. The implication is that if we give and pray than we deserve to be seen a certain way. Then, when we don't tell people about our pious deeds and alms and prayer it isn't just humility that is motivating us. We know that they should see us as pious and that they would if we just told them. We become smug even in the very fact of not telling them. Which is not to say that we should rush out and tell them and brag about our deeds. Instead, we should seek a more pure motive. The only way to find a more pure motive than our tainted ones is for God himself to motivate us. Motives that come from within tend to be self-serving. It makes sense, doesn't it? But as Christians filled with the Holy Spirit we have another source of motivation, a better source, a higher source.

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,
so that in all things, always having all you need,
you may have an abundance for every good work.

Every good work? How can we have enough for that? It is not every work imaginable. That is our pride talking, insisting that we must be the ones to individually save the world. Instead, we have an abundance for the "good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (cf. Eph. 2:9). These works are specifically prepared for us by God. Whether it seems like they are within our reach or not we can be sure that God will give us all we need to accomplish them.

You are being enriched in every way for all generosity,
which through us produces thanksgiving to God

Then we shall be the one whom the psalmist describes and not like the hypocrites.

Lavishly he gives to the poor;
his generosity shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory.

God loves a cheerful giver. The source of that joy is not within ourselves. He is the one who supplies and increases all that we need.

Light shines through the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.

16 June 2015 - first to the lord

So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

How is he perfect? In every way! He does all things well (cf. Mar. 7:37). But in this case Jesus has a specific perfection in view.

But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you

Our love is meant to be something more than merchant love. It is meant to be more than quid pro quo, this for that. The point of love is not what we get but what we give. After all, this is how God loves us. "God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (cf. Rom. 5:8).

This sort of love enables us to give with abundance of joy. Even "profound poverty" can overflow in a wealth of generosity. There is a trick to this, a trick which the Macedonians know, and which Paul recommends to the Corinthians. They don't give mainly for Paul's sake. Even Jerusalem isn't the primary object of their generosity. They "gave themselves first to the Lord and to us through the will of God".

When our focus is different, not first to the Lord, we tend to worry about the limits of our own resources. We tend to worry about whether or not people are our enemies. Their value to us begins to determine how much we are willing to give them. This is what happens when we try to initiate from the resources we have within ourselves. Instead, our love is meant to be a response to "the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ" who become poor for us even though he was rich so that by his poverty we might become rich.

This sort of love is what it means to be children of the Father. It is, we might say, the genetic code that Jesus bears from the Father. We are called to love with this same love "that you may be children of your heavenly Father". But again, it is not something which we initiate. The love which makes us daughters and sons of God is a gift given by the Father. It is the Holy Spirit, "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" (cf. Rom 8:15).

We are given the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit within us is the one who responds to the gracious act of Jesus. He responds by unleashing the power of God within our own hearts. This power enables us to offer all that we are "first to the Lord". When we love in this way we are able to love without limits.

Praise the LORD, my soul!
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.

15 June 2015 - have no limit as limit

Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.

Jesus cuts to the core of us, past our selfish egos. Our attempts at self-preservation are ruled out and excluded. It seems extreme. Won't we be quickly run out? It seems like if we don't fight for what is ours we will not have enough.

When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.

If we don't stick up for justice, we think, won't evil win? 

But in all this, are we sticking up for justice and right, fighting for what we need and deserve, or merely fighting for ourselves, our pride, and those things we want? We are called to remove ourselves from the equation. We don't necessarily change behaviors. We still go to war against the Hitlers of the world. We still provide for ourselves and our families. But now we are able to give and serve in ways which appear (and are in fact) supernatural. We seem "sorrowful yet" we are "always rejoicing". We may be "poor yet"  because we are "enriching many" it doesn't bother us.

Giving is not something we do on our own. It is meant to be supernaturally empowered.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness (cf. Rom. 12:3-8).

We can also see from this that it is a gift to be discerned. It is not a thing to always and everywhere do. There are charities which are not good stewards of our gifts. They do not deserve our generosity. We must be led by the Spirit. When we are led by the Spirit to give we are empowered to give spectacularly.

We don't have to put ourselves first because even "having nothing" in Jesus we experience "possessing all things." This is what Paul describes:

For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (cf. 1 Cor. 3:22).

Hearing all that makes it sound even more distant. But that is not the point. The point is this. God wants to empower unprecedented acts of generosity in the lives of believers, generosity that bears witness that he is LORD. It is not up to us to do this. It is only up to us to let him do this within us. Ours is to say yes, a simple yes, but a yes without reserve. When we do we witness God's victory in the world.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him, 
his holy arm.

14 June 2015 - behind the scenes

The kingdom of God is hard for people used to this world to understand. Its workings are subtle and hidden. 

We have a better picture in our head for what the end result will look like. It it is meant to become, "the full grain in the ear", for harvest or "the largest of plants", or "a majestic cedar". We want to see love and truth meet and justice and peace kiss (cf. Psa. 85:10). The end game is a place where the tears will be wiped from every eye. The mustard seed eventually grows into a world free from sorrow and pain (cf. Rev. 21:4).

But the mustard seed is just so small. We do not really understand how it can grow so large. The resources just don't seem to be there. The circumstances the kingdom faces are dire. There is sickness and war, poverty and hate. God is neglected and ignored and the basic kingdom building blocks, the very people who are meant to be living stones, are ignored and rejected. In the case of abortion they are even killed. These stones are meant to be joined into families. But these too are now being created with no reference to God. Dire might be an understatement. Even those who want it to grow are beset with weakness. Even we who want to see it become the largest of plants spend some of our time working against it. Yet in spite of all this, grow it does.

This is how it is with the kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and through it all the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how

It is not limited by its own apparent lack of resources.

It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.

In order to contribute to the kingdom we must not limit it by our expectations. We need to get on board with God's plan whether or not it seems practical in our eyes. Whether or not it even seems possible we must pursue it. The only way to do so is to "walk by faith, not by sight." Sight isn't enough. When our expectations are based merely on what we see and not on God's power we be fearful and ineffective for the kingdom. When we walk by faith we become courageous. We aspire to please God no matter how the circumstances look. We try to build the kingdom no matter what eventualities that seems to entail.

The fruit the kingdom bears proves the divine hand is at work behind the scenes giving it growth and life and vitality. We ourselves are meant to become the bearers of that fruit.

The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
Declaring how just is the LORD,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong.

13 June 2015 - old creation deprecated

We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.

In what ways are we still living "according to the flesh"? Jesus makes us new creations. Are we still using the old software on new hardware? If so, we're going to experience some incompatibility because "the old things have passed away". We are meant to be new both inside and out. We must not cling to the old self because "our old self was crucified with Him" (cf. Rom. 6:6). Our old software was deprecated and causes nothing but problems when we try to use it. That is why Paul says to "lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit" (cf. Eph. 4:22).

God himself makes us new within.

inwardly we are being renewed day by day (cf. 2 Cor. 4:16)

and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him (cf. Col. 3:10)

We pray with Paul that God "would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man" (cf. Eph. 3:16). When God is the source of our inner life we deliver on promises. We don't have to use fancy oath formulas to convince anyone. It is simply a matter of integrity. There is a unity of who we are, what we say, and what we do. In the old order of creation this unity is broken and so people swear by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and even their own heads. But these external things don't have any power to make a promise come true.

Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
Anything more is from the Evil One.”

Jesus is the perfect example of this. He is the yes to all of the promises of God. There is no room for no alongside a yes so completely given (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20). He will renew us from within so we can too can be whole.

Whatever the spyware and browser hijackers we've downloaded onto these new creations we are given Jesus is able to cleanse us and make us new once more.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us. 

12 June 2015 - watered up

But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, 
they did not break his legs, 
but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, 
and immediately blood and water flowed out.

O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

We see this morning the heart from which the springs of salvation flow. We see the heart that is the source of living water. We realize how thirsty we are. We realize how parched we are. This water shines. Let us pause for a moment here. In what way are we thirsty? What is the satisfaction for which we long that we cannot find? Now let us look again to the water. This water is filled with vitality. Yet it flows from him whom we have pierced. 

They will look upon him whom they have pierced.

It is available to us because the heart from whom it flows endured so much for us. Yes, it looks appealing. We recognize that it is a gift beyond measure. We know for certain that we do not deserve it. Should we hesitate and hold back?

With joy you will draw water
at the fountain of salvation.

We must not hold back! This is the fountain of salvation. It is the gift of the love of God for us. We are called to receive it with joy. We must not be reluctant. We must not hesitant or hold back. We can receive this gift "confident and unafraid" because God is our savior and he wants us to have it.

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 a man,
the Holy One present among you;
I will not let the flames consume you.

This is mercy. We do not receive what we deserve. Heaven help us if we did. We receive the free gift of God, given to us out of love. Even though God purchased this mercy for us with his own blood it does not mean we should hesitate. He chooses to make this sacrifice for us in spite of us precisely because he loves us. He doesn't suffer like this and then insist that we feel guilty for doing to him the very thing which he chose to endure and allowed for our sakes. He wants, if anything, his suffering to awaken us still more to his love. He wants his pain to call us more quickly to himself with no hesitation and with nothing held back.

He wants for us what Paul prays:

that you, rooted and grounded in love,
may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

His love is beyond our ability to know. But this morning, as we see his heart pierced for us, we don't just know it, we see it. And as we see it we are offered to drink and drink deeply. So let us drink!

An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; 
he knows that he is speaking the truth, 
so that you also may come to believe.

When we drink this living water we are made witnesses. We overcome by the power of his blood and the word of our testimony (cf. Rev. 12:11). This water is too good. We cannot keep silent. We don't merely speak, we sing and shout for joy.

Sing praise to the LORD for his glorious achievement;
let this be known throughout all the earth.
Shout with exultation, O city of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!

11 June 2015 - identity in unity

The LORD wants to show us the way to be righteous. He wants to clear any obstacles from our entrance to the Kingdom of heaven. He wants to teach and encourage us so that we can remain faithful to him with firmness of heart.

This is the mission of his Holy Spirit among us this morning. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity and it is on this that he calls us to focus today.

For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body--whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (cf. 1 Cor. 12:13).

The Spirit insists on a unity of his people which is not merely superficial. It is a lot deeper than merely avoiding external violence. It is more than merely not lashing out in anger at our brothers. It is more, even, than watching our words and carefully policing the thoughts which we choose to express. It is about cultivating genuine love and real relationship with our sisters and brothers. Even if all of the problems of our relationship seem to be on the side of the other we are still called to do all we can to be reconciled with him or her.

The Holy Spirit is not working freely where these relationships are not flourishing. He has the power to overcome our human limitations in order to make possible a unity which is supernatural in origin.

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace (cf. Eph. 4:3)

We can't have this righteousness unless we let the Spirit work in us. And we can't imagine we are allowing the Spirit to work in us if he seems to work in isolation from the people of God. He is building a family. When we are open to his Spirit as the source of our unity and our righteousness amazing things happen.

Now there were in the Church at Antioch prophets and teachers:
Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger,
Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen who was a close friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.”

We no longer have to do everything ourselves. We can play the specific parts which God prepares for us. We no longer have to be so strong. We have brothers and sisters surrounding us to help us. The Spirit fills us, encourages us, and guides us. We finally begin to express the deepest truth of our identity.

and it was in Antioch that the disciples
were first called Christians.

10 June 2015 - longing for the long-term

For if what was going to fade was glorious,
how much more will what endures be glorious.

We are called this morning to reflect on the question of what endures. What has lasting value? What is worth long-term investment?

It is an important question. There are genuine goods which are glorious but which can nevertheless be no more for us than a ministry of condemnation.

We don't want to be the least in the kingdom of God. We hear that people who break commandments and teach others to do so will be the least. So what should we do? Do we simply work harder? Do we focus on these commandments and exert our own effort?

If we attempt to simply work harder we find what is at best a short-term solution. We find the occasional success. But we ultimately run smack into a ministry of condemnation.

For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness (cf. Rom. 7:7-8).

The law on its own is not evil. Not even a little. It is important, glorious, and vital.

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! (cf. Rom. 7:7).

But on its own it is not sufficient. It is not a long-term solution on its own. Jesus does not abolish it. But it can only endure because of what Jesus himself does.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

Our solution is Jesus. He is the only one who can truly solve our problems in a lasting way. He is long-term. He endures and he alone! When the law is too much for us we need to push, not harder into the law, but harder into Jesus. He is the light which gives source to all other light. Without him all light flickers and vanishes in the breeze. He is the light which can never be overcome nor extinguished (cf. Joh. 1:5).

His holiness is not part of the picture. It is not one hope among others. It is not a strategy we employee as we mainly strive with our own strength. His holiness is our only hope.

Extol the LORD, our God,
and worship at his footstool;
holy is he!

9 June 2015 - shining example

Salt preserves and enhances flavor. If it can't do this it isn't really useful. All it can do then is raise our blood pressure. Do we have the appearance of salt but not the identity of it?

Are we both "yes" and "no"? Do we have one identity on the surface but another at the center? This morning we are called to integrity. We are called to live with intention and purpose. We are called to imitate Jesus. His life promises one thing and delivers on that promise.

For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him;
therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.

Our lives as Christians promise salt. They promise enhancement to the flavor of the world. Our lives promise light which can keep feet from stumbling and which can reveal the beauty of the Church. Just as Jesus is not yes and no we are called to embody God's "Yes" to all of his promises.

It starts with what God does in Jesus. On our own we are always both yes and no. We promise one thing but deliver something that is not quite that. We say one thing, we try, but we do not quite achieve it. But Jesus can transform us to make us a people of integrity. He makes us one hundred percent yes by the power of his Holy Spirit.

But the one who gives us security with you in Christ
and who anointed us is God;
he has also put his seal upon us
and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

We are called to be light of the world. To do so we must remember the source of our light. Otherwise we will promise but not deliver. We will know that we are meant to be light but we will remain, effectively, bushel baskets.

The revelation of your words sheds light,
gives understanding to the simple.

So we ask God to let his face shine on us. His light makes us light. In his light, we see light (cf. Psa. 36:9). His Spirit anoints us. He himself is the secret ingredient that gives the world its savor and saves us from becoming something utterly unpalatable.

This is why we reveal the Father's glory when we let our own light shine before others.

Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.

He is wonderful. May his face shine on us so that we can shine before others.

8 June 2015 - comfort, my people

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

One way God uses the sufferings of his people is to reveal how encourages, comforts, and ultimately saves those who suffer. He reveals that the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who long for righteousness, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, and the persecuted all have great things to which to look forward. They have such a great reward in heaven that they can even rejoice and be glad here and now. 

Everyone in the beatitudes foregoes some here and now pleasure in favor of something greater. But is it just, or even mainly, a matter of gritting our teeth and bearing it until we finally have our reward in heaven? Would this really contribute to the "encouragement and salvation" of others? If this is how our lives are going do we really have the courage to invite others to "Taste and see the goodness of the Lord"? Can we really make the case that people who look to the him "may be radiant with joy"?

It is not just an eventual reward to which we look forward. God "comforts us in all our affliction" not merely after all our afflictions. One day he will wipe away every tear but he gives us the Holy Spirit, the Comforter (cf. Joh. 14:26), even now. Even in the midst of the greatest sufferings the Holy Spirit allows us to share in the encouragement and salvation of God.

Jesus invites us to discover a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light (cf. Mat. 11:30). He invites us to give up trying to carry all this suffering on our own. He tells us that in the world, yes, we will have trouble, but that he has overcome the world (cf. Joh. 16:33). We can share in his victory even now to the degree that we allow him to unleash the Holy Spirit in our lives.

We reveal that there is more going in our lives than our own weakness. The limits of our strength are not our limits. Behind the scenes God is at work. We are more than meets the eye.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (cf. 2 Cor. 2:10).

Our sufferings do not define us. Even our own ability to respond, or lack thereof, does not define us. The way in which God comforts us when we do suffer defines us. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Now we can truly reveal his presence in our world. Now we can say with assurance that even in a world which is marked by suffering and affliction our God reigns!

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad. 

7 June 2015 - blood of the covenant

All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do.

We say this. Yet we don't really succeed at doing it. All that the LORD has said may be distilled down into the first and greatest commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" and the second which is like it, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Another way to say this is "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

When we hear it this way we start to wonder if it is even possible. Implicit in our acceptance of this covenant is the fact that it is more than we can manage on our own.

Then he took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, saying,
"This is the blood of the covenant
that the LORD has made with you
in accordance with all these words of his.

It is as if to say that our own lives in their totality are not enough to keep this covenant. But what else have we to give? We have nothing which we have not received. So, in our place we give back to the LORD the very things he gives us.

But these animals are not meant to pay the price of "eternal redemption". They serve to remind us that redemption is beyond price. They serve to remind us that we cannot of our own strength do that which God asks of us to do.

But they also prefigure a greater sacrifice which can "cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God." They teach us to long for that which only Jesus can do for us.

For this reason he is mediator of a new covenant:
since a death has taken place for deliverance
from transgressions under the first covenant,
those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.

What Jesus gives is a true sacrifice. In his body and blood is the full life of the Triune God. In this life is the strength we need to actually keep the covenant of God and "All that the LORD has said".

This is my blood of the covenant,
which will be shed for many.

Our sinfulness made it so that the only way we could share in this life is through the cross. Our inability to keep the covenant is why Jesus sheds his blood. He pours it out so that we can receive it. When we receive it we are no longer empty. We now have something to offer which can genuinely please God.

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

Let us praise the one who gives us "the promised eternal inheritance" which we could never afford on our own. Let us acknowledge, "you have loosed my bonds" with voices full of thanks and exultation!

6 June 2015 - beyond ourselves

Let us trust the LORD with all we have. Let us give to him out of our need.

It is not how much the widow gives that makes causes Jesus to praise her. It isn't even really because it is such a large percentage of what she has. Jesus commends the fact that she is able to give this way because of her trust in God. This is why she is contrasted with the scribes. They are too self-focused. Their gifts will always be tainted. Their offerings will always be vanity projects unless they learn to put God first. They will find themselves unable to their whole livelihood if they are called to do so. If they try give themselves away they don't have God to fall back on. But the widow does.

This is how Tobit is so ready to bury the dead even in the middle of dinner. It is ultimately what allows him to trust God to heal Sarah of the demon that afflicts her when all of her previous husbands have died. He, in a sense, offers God his whole livelihood on his wedding night.

The LORD is faithful. He can be trusted. We need to give him our whole hearts so that we can fall back on him even if we give away our entire livelihood. This is the secret of the martyrs and it can be our secret as well. Just look at Tobit. He proves that "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them" (cf. Psa. 34:7).

When God is faithful we should proclaim and celebrate it. We should tell the world that even when we are out of our depth we can count on God. Especially when we are taken beyond ourselves we reveal God's power and faithfulness.

Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory.
Before all the living,
acknowledge the many good things he has done for you,
by blessing and extolling his name in song.
Honor and proclaim God’s deeds,
and do not be slack in praising him.
A king’s secret it is prudent to keep,
but the works of God are to be declared and made known.

5 June 2015 - that we might see

May the LORD open our eyes to everything that he wants us to see.

He is wont to use his people to do so just as he uses Ananias to heal Paul.

Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight (cf. Act. 9:11-12)

The process by which he removes the blindness isn't always pleasant. 

“I am certain that his eyes will be opened.
Smear the fish gall on them.
This medicine will make the cataracts shrink and peel off from his eyes;
then your father will again be able to see the light of day.”

Yuck. And when Jesus himself does the healing it isn't necessarily a lot better:

Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing (cf. Joh. 9:7).

In order for the healing to happen in the way God intends there must be humility on the part of the person who needs the healing. Saul must accept that all of his depth of training in Judaism is of no avail. Tobit must accept an unpleasant remedy from the hands of his son. The blind man must allow Jesus to rub mud and spit in his eyes.

It is not just the one who needs the healing who must be humble. The one through whom God wants to heal must also be humble. He must trust the odd ways in which God chooses to work. No doubt any of these individuals would rather avoid such an unpleasant situation. Whether it is spit and mud, fish gall, or even a the threat to life that Ananias has every reason to expect from Saul, the healer too must submit to God.

It is only at the intersection of this humility that we learn to truly see. It is only the pure of heart who see God. They prefer God's plan to their own. And when they do amazing things happen.

The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.

The main thing Jesus wants us to see is himself. He is the light of the world (cf. Joh. 9:5). He is the true light which enlightens all mankind (cf. Joh. 1:9). He is guiding us to realize that he is greater than David. All else in the world, whether under the earth, on earth, or in the heavens, including even the great King David, must proclaim that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father (cf. Phi. 2:11). He is leading us to this recognition.

David himself calls him ‘lord’;
so how is he his son?”
The great crowd heard this with delight.

He wants to use people around us to help us overcome preconceptions about him. He is calling us to help others in a similar way. He wants us all to see him more. But if this is to happen we must all be humble before him.

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
I will praise the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live. 

4 June 2015 - first in our hearts

“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel! 
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your mind, 
and with all your strength.

This morning we are called to make sure we put first things first.

We are called to make sure that nothing, not even things which are are genuinely good, come before God in our lives.

We can't put even burnt offerings and sacrifices before God himself. These, for the speaker, are things which are good. They are things which God commands. It seems that they cannot be neglected. They seem absolute. Yet God himself who commands them must always be the priority of our hearts.

This is a secret which Tobiah realizes as he approaches his marriage with Sarah. Perhaps it is all the suffering which they both witness and endure that helps him to get it. Perhaps it is knowing that the seven men who married Sarah before him all died early. The temporary nature of life here below is on full display. Tobit, Tobiah, and Sarah are forced to realize that, except for God, even the greatest goods are temporary. They do not give up on these goods but instead place them in God's hands.

When the girl’s parents left the bedroom
and closed the door behind them,
Tobiah arose from bed and said to his wife,
“My love, get up.
Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us
and to grant us deliverance.”

At a moment in their relationship when it would be the easiest to forget God and be overwhelmed by genuine but lesser goods they choose instead to make him a priority. Tobiah is blessed because he fears the Lord. He is the man whom the psalmist describes.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table. 

God uses circumstances to bring Tobiah to the place where he can truly love the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength. Because Tobiah chooses to do this in his marriage with Sarah his is able to love her better than he could on his own. He receives from God the power and ability to love his neighbor as himself.

May Saint Raphael the Archangel himself intervene in our lives so that the earthly goods we encounter will be ordered by our love for God. Whether relationship, work or hobby, may all the goods of this life be lived as offerings to God. May God alone be first in our hearts.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life. 

This is what Paul commends us when he says, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (cf. Rom. 12:1).

3 June 2015 - deliverance not escape

Tobit has basically given up hope for this world:

For it is better for me to die
than to endure so much misery in life,
and to hear these insults!

And so has Sarah:

It is far better for me not to hang myself,
but to beg the Lord to have me die,
so that I need no longer live to hear such insults.

They both cry out to God.

Tobit prays,

And now, O Lord, may you be mindful of me,
and look with favor upon me.

And Sarah prays,

Blessed are you, O Lord, merciful God,
and blessed is your holy and honorable name.

They pray and entrust themselves to God. They know they can only find refuge in him from the trouble they face. But the specific deliverance for which they pray isn't what God has in mind. He does not simply offer them death as an escape from the perils of this life.

He is not God of the dead but of the living.

What God wants to give his people is more life. He wants us to have life in abundance (cf. Joh. 10:10). Indeed, the resurrection is not an escape to the netherworld. It is an even greater fullness of all the things that make life God. It is not fewer possibilities but more. It is not a muted gray netherworld but a place of dynamic and vibrant life. God wants to point Tobit and Sarah toward this reality. It is interesting how he does it. They can't have a proper hope of heaven when they abandon hope in the goodness of this life. So God uses each for the other to reveal to them that, as Samwise Gamgee says, "There is some good in this world, Mr Frodo, and it's worth fighting for." The Communion of Saints know this. That is why they are able to actively intercede for us. They value even the goodness here below. A love which is too heavenly minded to be any earthly good is imperfect and partial. It is truly marvelous the way in which God brings these two together in order to deliver them from their individual sufferings and reveal this truth:

At that very time, 
the prayer of these two suppliants
was heard in the glorious presence of Almighty God.
So Raphael was sent to heal them both:
to remove the cataracts from Tobit’s eyes,
so that he might again see God’s sunlight;
and to marry Raguel’s daughter Sarah to Tobit’s son Tobiah,
and then drive the wicked demon Asmodeus from her.

They are each provide the other with a way out for the other. Knowing that the LORD wants to deliver us in such a way that we truly internalize this truth should allow us to lift up our soul to the LORD and expect great things from him. 

In you I trust; let me not be put to shame,
let not my enemies exult over me.
No one who waits for you shall be put to shame;
those shall be put to shame who heedlessly break faith.

If there is no marriage in heaven it is not because heaven has given up on an impractical and unworkable idea. It is because it must give way to something greater in the presence of "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"

Let us long, not for escape, but for fullness as we lift our souls to God!