30 September 2015 - unconditional

As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding
on their journey, someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.”

We get so excited when we see that all that Jesus is doing. We have all of this initial zeal. We will follow him wherever he goes. Except, maybe to the cross. We didn't really realize he is going there. We didn't realize that this isn't going to be simply the royal parade of the king. It is not just the red carpet rolled out toward the throne. The journey isn't easy. The Son of Man himself has nowhere to rest his head. 

As we first hear about this we don't realize the full implications. We think approach it like our newest and most exciting hobby. We think that there will still be room for everything we used to do. We think it is up to us to divide up our time. Maybe we'll give Jesus seventy-five percent of our time but reserve twenty-five percent for "the other important things." Yet even the most important "other things" can't take precedence over following Jesus. It is no longer up to us to divide our time at all. It isn't our choice whether or not there is room for anything from our old life. All of this is up to him.

Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.

Jesus has a greater claim on us than even Elijah has on Elisha.

And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” (1 Kin. 19:20)

We must simply follow him and leave the rest in his hands. He is the one thing necessary. We must desire his mission with the same heart with which Nehemiah desires to see Jerusalem rebuilt.

How could I not look sad
when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins,
and its gates have been eaten out by fire?”

The desire for the kingdom of Jesus to rise in our midst must be even stronger than the desire of Nehemiah to rebuild the city of his ancestors' graves. We realize that this desire must go deep in us. It must be so genuine in our hearts that to see it unfulfilled is a source of sadness for us. Only then do we respond wholeheartedly when Jesus says, "Follow me."

May my tongue cleave to my palate
if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
ahead of my joy.

Jesus is leading his people back from the exile of sin and death just as the psalmist was captive in Babylon. We cannot fully sing the songs of Zion while the exile persists. But Jesus is leading us out! Let us look to him as he teaches us to sing a new song to the LORD. Let us follow him recklessly with no regard to whatever we may have to leave behind. When we have this attitude we see the kingdom built even in our midst as the land of our exile is transformed into the kingdom.

The king granted my requests,
for the favoring hand of my God was upon me.

His hand remains upon us until we finally hear the angel blow his trumpet and loud voices in the heaven, saying "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever" (cf. Rev. 11:15).

29 September 2015 - angel list

And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Jesus is the bridge. He unites heaven and earth. He unites humanity with his divinity.

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;

When we praise Jesus we do so in the presence of the angels.

Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.

He is enthroned in heaven. He has taken his seat at the right hand of God (cf. Mat. 16:19). When we seek the things above "where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God" (cf. Col. 3:1) we find ourselves in the presence of the angels. It isn't as though we're calling Jesus in a distant household where the angels also happen to live. We find ourselves in that very house together with them. Jesus tells us, "behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (cf. Mat. 28:20). Yet while he is with us, he still reigns at God's right hand (cf. Heb. 10:12). He is the bridge. When we come to him we find ourselves standing in heaven.

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (cf. Heb. 12:22-24).

The presence of Jesus is always available to us. That means that the presence of the angels is always available to us. We are not to neglect them. They are not optional extras. They are not nice-to-haves without whom we can get along just fine. Their presence is made available to us as a gift.

They pray for us.

And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne (cf. Rev 8:3).

They protect us.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. (cf. Psa. 34:7).

They fight for us.

War broke out in heaven;
Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.
The dragon and its angels fought back,
but they did not prevail
and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

Of course Jesus does not need myriads upon myriads to minister to him. He does not need to use angels to help us, either. But he delights in his angels. His angels reveal something of the magnitude of the awesomeness of God. Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael reveal aspects of God's power. They perfectly fulfill his will in specific ways so that we can see what that might look like. We can see the perfect messenger, the perfect soldier and commander who knows that there is no one like God, and the perfect healing remedy for Tobit. Yet they are more than mere ideals or exemplars. They are real beings with whom we can be in relationship day to day. They can help us with their power, they can pray to God for us, and they can show us how to more perfectly embody his will in the specific ways that they are made to embody it. 

Jesus knows us just as he knows Nathaniel. He gives us the angels because he knows precisely what we need in the depths of our hearts. Let us not neglect them! Let us sign God's praise together with their company. 

In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.

28 September 2015 - embraced

Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child
and placed it by his side and said to them,
“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest.”

Jesus insists that we be the least among all. Only then are we able to welcome all people with his own love. If we're focused on greatness we are only interested in welcoming the great, the advantageous to us, and the useful within society. Jesus wants us to have a love that is more than quid pro quo. He wants us to love those who can't earn it. After all, that is how he loves us. 

He has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9)

And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (cf. Eph. 2:8-9).

God's love for Zion is described as intensely jealous even though Zion herself is seldom faithful to him. He loves her and rebuilds her. He does this not because of those who can be useful to him. He makes her safe for "old men and old women, each with staff in hand because of old age". He makes her safe for "boys and girls playing in its streets". He loves and rescues his people whether or not they can do anything to merit that love. The aged and the children are the least useful in the eyes of the world. Yet they are the first he mentions when he plans the rescue of his people "from the land of the rising sun, and from the land of the setting sun."

Jesus wants to us love this way, too. He himself gives us his Spirit to make this possible. He wants us to rebuild society with a love that rejects the tendency of our society to discard the useless and the inconvenient. He wants us to love the children and the old, the orphans and the widows. We see that much of our supposed love is tainted by self-interest. Yet the LORD will embrace that love. He himself will purify it. He will transform it more and more into his own all embracing love.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (cf. Joh. 12:32).

God himself is ultimately the only source of the love we need. He himself will build up Zion again and appear in his glory. But the embrace of his love reaches out for us. It covers and fills us and makes us able to reach out ourselves in his strength. When we do so, when we take our ego out of the equation, we find friends everywhere.

Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.

We find the same all embracing love of God at work changing our world.

That the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion;
and his praise, in Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together,
and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

27 September 2015 - outside the camp

For whoever is not against us is for us.

The disciples have the wrong motivation for trying to stop this person who was driving out demons in the name of Jesus. They are concerned with the respect the feel they were are, thinking "he does not follow us". But Jesus echoes the sentiments of Moses. He does not permit them to be jealous for his sake. Even more than Moses he desires "that all the people of the LORD were prophets". Jesus is himself the one through whom the LORD finally does bestow his spirit on us all. Because of him Paul can say, "I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:5). He does not say it wistfully. It is his expectation for the community in Corinth. The heart of Moses, Jesus, and Paul is that the Spirit be poured out without limits on everyone who wants it. We can't let jealousy hinder the Spirit. We must always be ready to allow new and novel manifestations of the LORD's power.

On the other hand, Jesus tells us, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters" (cf. Mat. 12:30). The authentic message of Jesus never leads a little one to sin. It never leads us to withhold wages from workers or to store up treasures for ourselves at the expense of others. There are a million manifestations of the Spirit to which we must be open.

"Whenever the Spirit intervenes, he leaves people astonished. He brings about events of amazing newness; he radically changes persons and history." (John Paul II to the World Congress of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities)

We must be open to these. We must be open to them even if they seem "outside the camp". Even if they challenge our expectations we shouldn't extinguish the Spirit.

The Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles, too. For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God (cf. Act. 10:45-46).

The Holy Spirit always moves us toward unity, even when he works in unexpected places. Even if he falls on those outside of the camp they will inexorably be drawn more deeply into the "unity of the Spirit" (cf. Eph. 4:3). The Spirit is, after all, the principle of unity into which we are all baptized (cf. 1 Cor. 12:13). Every legitimate cause belongs to us. Whether we are working to protect the unborn or the environment, the poor or traditional families these causes are all those of the LORD. We must be open to his work in any of them. When we see signs of the supernatural at work in causes which aren't necessarily close to our own hearts we must not for that reason close our hearts.

Yet we must be quick to cut off any movement toward sin. This is the only real distinction about which we need be concerned.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.

The name of Jesus should be the center around which we gather. For his sake we should give water to drink and do any other good work. It is of course possible to say his name without meaning it. "If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (cf. 1 Joh. 4:20). That is why "no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit" (cf. 1. Cor. 12:3). They can say the words, but not truly mean them. They can't love with the love of Jesus which only the Spirit makes possible.

It is to this love that we are called. It is a calling to which we all too often fall short. But let's not put any artificial limits on the ways in which the LORD may pour out his Spirit, not only on others, but on us today. The Spirit longs to write the law of the LORD in our hearts so that we can be filled with all the joy which God wants for us.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
the decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.

26 September 2015 - safe beneath the cross

Jesus said to his disciples,
“Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” 
But they did not understand this saying;
its meaning was hidden from them
so that they should not understand it,
and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

The message of the cross is always a challenge. There is always resistance in us that makes us afraid to fully embrace that message. We aren't so different from first century Jews who wanted a military messiah to throw off the yoke of the Romans. We too want a savior who can fix the externals and leave us to continue to live however we want. The cross means that the problem is more serious than that. It is not merely the misalignment of external circumstances. It is something deep in the hearts of men. If the cross is the price paid, how serious the debt must be.

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him (cf. Joh. 12:25).

We begin to understand just what it is that we're afraid of. The death of Jesus shows just how serious the problem is. The sin problem and the death problem cannot be fixed externally. And the cross is no mere external fix. It is something which exposes us as sinners. It is something which itself can put that sin in us to death. But it is more. It is can turn the death in us into everlasting life, "that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (cf. Heb. 2:14-15).

So let's pay attention to what Jesus is saying. Once we get this truth we begin to draw strength from it. Even though the world around us is like "open country, because of the multitude of men and beasts in her midst" we can be safe. The cross can be "an encircling wall of fire" which keeps us safe. The cross? Isn't that the opposite of safety? The cross is only dangerous to the impermanent, to sin, and to death. It is also the gate through which the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and the all things which truly last (faith, hope, and love) enter the world.

Then the virgins shall make merry and dance,
and young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.

25 September 2015 - that which cannot be shaken

For I am with you, says the LORD of hosts.
This is the pact that I made with you
when you came out of Egypt,
And my spirit continues in your midst;
do not fear!

We see the house of the LORD and at times it seems like nothing in our eyes. We remember the former glory it had earlier in the history of our nation. The LORD wants us to know that, however things look, he is still with us. This is his promise to us. He is with us and his spirit continues in our midst. Because of this promise we do not need to fear.

In order to not be slaves to fear we must know the answer to one question. Jesus asks, "But who do you say that I am?" We can't give the answer of the crowds. Jesus is more than John the Baptist or Elijah. Even Herod had heard those answers and it brought him no closer to answering the question of who Jesus is. We need our own answer to this question. We need to be able to respond, "The Christ of God." But we do not just mimic the correct answer of Peter. That is why Jesus forbids the disciples to tell this to anyone. He wants us to answer the question ourselves.

because, 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. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved (cf. Rom. 10:9-10).

Peter's answer won't save us from slavery to fear. Only our answer can do this. We need that salvation. We need to be firm in our faith and have the courage that our convictions make possible.

One moment yet, a little while,
and I will shake the heavens and the earth,
the sea and the dry land.

This shaking is ultimately a good thing. The result will be the LORD's house having greater glory than ever before. But if we don't have the answer to the question right the quake will terrify us.

Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain (cf. Heb. 12:26-27).

If we're concerned about the things that remain we won't worry about shaking and removal of temporary things.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire." (cf. Heb. 12:28-29).

This is why Jesus makes sure the disciples have the right answer before he starts talking about the cross. The cross is the ultimate earthquake that removes the temporary and reveals that which lasts (cf. Mat. 27:54). It is the earthquake that opens the doors to earthly prisons of fear (cf. Act. 16:26) and sets us free.

Let us learn to hope in God in the face of these temporary earthquakes no matter how the house of the LORD appears in our world today. If we hope in him as savior and God we will have cause to praise him.

Send forth your light and your fidelity;
they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.
Then will I go in to the altar of God,
the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
O God, my God!

24 September 2015 - seeking to find

But Herod said, “John I beheaded.
Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”
And he kept trying to see him.

Herod's past just won't seem to stay behind him. He thought he could bury it, in a literal sense. He's perplexed but it is more than that. His guilt lingers. He knows that he should not have had John the Baptist put to death. But even with John dead the message for which he stood remains. It is embodied even more perfectly in Jesus than in John, or Elijah or the prophets. It is interesting, then, to see the curiosity of Herod. He doesn't hide from Jesus. Actually, "he kept trying to see him." This is the approach to religion which we all take at times. It is an approach what explores only so that it can excuse itself. It is not a genuine seeking which is open to being changed. It is rather a seeking that desires distraction. It seeks how it might separate these new manifestations of the supernatural ("all that was happening") from that for which it feels guilty. It is the worst sort of spiritualism. Yet we all embrace it at times.

Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses,
while this house lies in ruins?

Herod is more interested in his own house than the house of the LORD. There are cracks in his walls that are letting the winds of conscience blow and chill him. He may create much comfort. But he can never escape the insufficiency of his own resources.

You have sown much, but have brought in little;
you have eaten, but have not been satisfied;
You have drunk, but have not been exhilarated;
have clothed yourselves, but not been warmed;
And whoever earned wages
earned them for a bag with holes in it.

If only Herod can learn to put the house of the LORD first. If only he could learn that the pleasure and the glory of the LORD is a precondition for happiness and peace in his own life. If only we could learn it. If we could we would seek to see Jesus, not as insulation against the cold of our consciences, but sincerely. And seeking, we would find 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).

Every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future. We will never fix our past on our own. But we don't have to. We struggle when the solution is so easy.

But I wipe away your sins because of who I am.
And so, I will forget the wrongs you have done (cf. Isa. 43:25).

We cannot find true joy unless we find it in the LORD. He has made us for himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in him, as Augustine reminds us.

Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.

23 September 2015 - when all seems lost

He said to them, 
“Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.

We are on a journey through life and we need to learn to rely on the providence of God.

In many ways "we have been delivered up, we and our kings and our priests, to the will of the kings of foreign lands" but even here God is not powerless. Though he has scattered us among the Gentiles he has shown us his greatness even here.

Again, God is not powerless. Even if we are slaves to a secular state arbitrarily imposing its will on us we must not give up. We must not accept the status quo.

but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us;
rather, he has turned the good will
of the kings of Persia toward us.

It is true that we no longer find ourselves living in a Christian culture. It is true that inertia is no longer sufficient to keep people on a moral path. It is even true that many of the cultural battles we face now seem unwinnable. But God can still turn the good will of the leaders of our nation toward us.

We must, with Ezra, rise in our own wretchedness, with penitent hearts, with cloak and mantle torn acknowledging our own guilt and wicked deeds. No wonder we can't win these battles. No wonder we're in such a difficult spot. We tried to do this ourselves? Really? Look at us! How could we ever create the city of God on earth when we are sinful men and women. Yet in spite of our guilt we stretch out our hands to the LORD our God. In spite of the fact that we don't really have anything that can help us on this journey we now trust in his providence. We had been trying to get by with our own walking stick, sack, food, money and surplus tunics. But it wasn't enough. We're empty and we realize it. And so our hands are now free. We lift them to the LORD and entrust ourselves to him.

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling (cf. 1 Tim. 2:8).

When we trust the LORD he can show us his greatness even in our nation, even in our day, even, finally, when the battle seems lost. 

In the land of my exile I praise him
and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation.

Our praise of God in spite of our own insufficiency allow him to reveal his power in our midst. Let us praise him "with full voice."

22 September 2015 - homecoming

I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem.

We are called to the house of LORD, too. Do we rejoice? Do we realize that, in a way, we are exiles in the rest of the world? We are, because "our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (cf. Phi. 3:20). We are among those who "make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one" (cf. Heb. 11:14-16). Precisely because of this when we enter the house of LORD we are, in a sense, returning from exile. This is as close to coming home as we can experience here below.

The children of Israel–priests, Levites,
and the other returned exiles–
celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.

This is because the house of God is no mere earthly house. When we come to his house we are entering heaven. Even if our eyes still see earth our faith tells us that we in fact stand in heaven.

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (cf. Heb. 12:22-24).

Earth is exile. Heaven is home. And we get to experience this home here and now in the house of the LORD. If the house of the LORD is home, then the "compact unity" of the "tribes of the LORD" is the unity of family. We experience the truth that "you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (cf. Eph. 2:19).

So if this is the home of our family, in order to know this blessing, we must become those people who Jesus calls his mother and brothers. We must become people "who hear the word of God and act on it." What is the word on which we are called to act this morning? "[T]hey said to me, "We will go up to the house of the LORD."" It isn't something of crazy complexity or impossibly difficulty. "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (cf. Rom. 10:8). We are called and we go! We go rejoicing!

According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

21 September 2015 - follow the call

He said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed him.

Matthew hears and he follows. He is not one he hears the word of the LORD only without doing, deceiving himself (cf. Jam. 1:22). How is Matthew able to get up and go? After all, he has a life up to this point even if we don't hear much about it. He has a profession. And even if he is not popular with everyone he does have friends, the other tax collectors and sinners who dine together with him and Jesus at his house.

Matthew is responding to the mission for which he is made. It isn't just a preference he has. It isn't just the career most suited to him by his temperament. It is his chance to use the gift he is given. It is his chance to truly embody the purpose for which he is made.

And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,
others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,
to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,
for building up the Body of Christ,

We tend to accessorize our Christianity. We do it when it feels right or when it seems like a good match for our individual strengths and weaknesses. We take it on like we take on a career. We discern it based not on the gifts we are given by God nor again based on his call on our lives but instead based on the fit that feels the most natural to us. We can assume that leaving everything behind to follow Jesus does not feel natural to Matthew. It feels better than that. It feels supernatural. It is something he would never discover without responding to the call of Jesus. He would never work it out based on mere self-assessment.

Yet his natural abilities are all put to use. All of the friends and relationships he has are not wasted but instead elevated. Their fellowship is raised to "the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" as they dine with Jesus in the house of Matthew.

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
He heard this and said,
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.

Matthew discovers that he is made to "declare the glory of God" just as surely as are the heavens and the firmament. His voice resounds throughout the whole world because Jesus calls and he answers. Jesus says, "Follow Me" and he follows. May we do the same.

until we all attain to the unity of faith
and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,
to the extent of the full stature of Christ.

20 September 2015 - children such as this

Jesus tells us that we must become like little children. Children can be competitive at play but they aren't concerned with social status in the way that adults are. Remember the way middle school and even more so high school made us aware of our public presence. Cliques formed and social status became more and more of a big deal. We are called to return to simpler times, before we cared so much about "who was the greatest." We are called to lay aside jealousy and selfish ambition. It is this sort of over involvement with self from which wars and conflicts ultimately come. We recognize how silly it looks when we see high school students so concerned about it from the distance of years. But when we ourselves are still caught up in it it is by no means so obvious.

If we do not become like children, with the ability to welcome children with no social merit of their own, how will we ever accept the One who comes to be the last and the servant of all? The Son of Man comes not to be served but to serve. He teaches us to do the same. But if we are so concerned with who is the greatest we cannot welcome the One who chooses to be the least. In fact, he becomes hard to deal with. He becomes a reproach to our whole way of being.

Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;
he sets himself against our doings,
reproaches us for transgressions of the law
and charges us with violations of our training.

How do we extricate ourselves from all of this pride and passion? How do we actually step back through time to become like little children, untainted by the brutal competition of this world? We welcome Jesus who comes as servant. We surrender our hearts to the One who surrenders all he has to us. Where our abilities fail the grace of God is sufficient.

O God, by your name save me,
and by your might defend my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
hearken to the words of my mouth.

19 September 2015 - planted deep

Jesus is calling us to welcome the word of God. There is abundant seed. The sower throws it everywhere, regardless of whether it will ultimately take or not. It is up to us not to be too shallow, or too hard, or too crowded to receive it. We are a very special kind of garden.  We get to choose what kind of soil we are.

But as for the seed that fell on rich soil,
they are the ones who, when they have heard the word,
embrace it with a generous and good heart,
and bear fruit through perseverance.”

If we want knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God to be granted to us this is what we need to do. We need to embrace the word with a generous and good heart and bear fruit through perseverance. We need to let it penetrate deeply into us. We need to consciously lower the barriers that keep it on the surface. We need to draw it down deep into the soil of our lives by bringing it into contact with every corner of our hearts and minds. What areas of our lives are lived without reference to the word? Let us bring the seeds there too. Let us continue to draw the word deep within us until it touches every part of who we are.

When the seed is deep enough perseverance is possible. Our roots are deep enough to actually bear fruit. We are able to keep the commandment even "Without stain or reproach" until Jesus returns or calls us home.

the King of kings and Lord of lords,
who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light,
and whom no human being has seen or can see.
To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

It is all possible because the sower is so generous with his seed. He gives us all we need to produce fruit, thirty, sixty, and one-hundred fold.

For he is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.

18 September 2015 - the love of money

supposing religion to be a means of gain

Are we using our religion for gain in some worldly sense? Or are we using our worldly gain for the sake of religion? The love of money is the root of all evils because it is love misdirected. It is love which tries to make absolute and permanent the things which are of this world and therefore temporary. Because it is thus mistaken it clings to things which it cannot hold and grasps at things which it cannot have. It surrounds itself with things, with experiences, with states of mind and body which it believes will make it happy. At the center is pride, the ego, which has to believe itself to be the most absolute of these absolutes. If it cannot keep this influx of experience flowing it cannot be happy. Since it is up to the ego to ensure this flow it feels the need to be the most absolute among these imagined absolutes. If the ego cannot be God how can it possibly remain happy? No wonder it is so given to "envy, rivalry, insults, evil suspicions, and mutual friciton among people with corrupted minds, who are deprived of the truth".

But if we remember that "we shall not be able to take anything out of" this world we discover the way in which "religion with contentment is a great gain." It teaches us the way to the one thing which lasts. It teaches us to chase the one thing which endures, to seek first the Kingdom.

But you, man of God, avoid all this.
Instead, pursue righteousness, devotion,
faith, love, patience, and gentleness.
Compete well for the faith.
Lay hold of eternal life,
to which you were called when you made the noble confession
in the presence of many witnesses.

We are then able to use our gain for our religion and our wealth for the kingdom of God just as the women do for Jesus.

Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities,
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza,
Susanna, and many others
who provided for them out of their resources.

We discover that the poor in Spirit are truly blessed. It isn't just words or sentiments. It is the only way to peace in this world and lasting joy in the next.

Yet in no way can a man redeem himself,
or pay his own ransom to God;
Too high is the price to redeem one’s life; he would never have enough
to remain alive always and not see destruction.

17 September 2015 - realized

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,
“If this man were a prophet,
he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,
that she is a sinner.”

Aren't we a lot like this Pharisee? We are OK having Jesus around. We even invite him over for dinner. But when things start to get a little too personal we start to squirm. We are uncomfortable with the level of intimacy Jesus welcomes. We condescend to emotional responses to Jesus. We smugly think to ourselves, 'Oh, a new convert. Give it time. They'll see how things really are.'

But that isn't what Jesus says. Jesus says that this woman realizes the truth at a deeper level than the Pharisee. She perceives that she was forgiven "the larger debt". She is moving, not out of weakness or merely human emotion, but rather out of response to the action of Jesus in her life.

So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;
hence, she has shown great love.

Jesus does great things in our own lives. But we don't respond the way she does.

When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet,
but she has bathed them with her tears
and wiped them with her hair.
You did not give me a kiss,
but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.

Don't we wish we felt like responding this way? Don't we wish that Jesus would penetrate our complacency and show us just how much he has forgiven us? We have head knowledge that he what he does for each one of us is immense. How can we stand with our hearts unmoved before the cross where his blood pours out for us? Yet we do.

God gives us great gifts. But it is up to us not to neglect them.

Do not neglect the gift you have,
which was conferred on you through the prophetic word
with the imposition of hands by the presbyterate.

We have the same forgiveness as the woman. Perhaps we have even more, since we are filled with the Holy Spirit. And this same Holy Spirit can bring the head knowledge of what Jesus does for us into our hearts. He makes it real. Timothy is told not to neglect this gift. He is given even more specifics in Paul's second letter.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (cf. 2 Tim. 1:6-7).

The surrounding onlookers give Timothy a hard time for being young. They try to discredit the woman as a sinner. Yet both Timothy and the woman are responding to Jesus in their lives. He is so real to them that they are willing to look foolish before others. 

Jesus is willing to be that real to us. He is willing to penetrate our complacency and show us how greatly he loves us. Our part is to not neglect his gift, but fan it into flame. 

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
prudent are all who live by it.
His praise endures forever.

16 September 2015 - seat of wisdom

wisdom is vindicated by all her children

Sometimes wisdom tells us to weep. Sometimes she tells us to look upon him whom we have pierced and mourn as one mourns for an only son.

Sometimes wisdom tells us to dance, to glory in the One...

Who was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated in the spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed to the Gentiles,
believed in throughout the world,
taken up in glory.

Sometimes wisdom tells us to eat and to drink in celebration. Sometimes she tells us to fast and abstain. But if we follow her guidance we will be her children and her truth will be vindicated in us. On our own we tend to get this wrong. And not just a little wrong. We tend to get it completely backwards.

We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.

We tend to dance, not to celebrate, but to distract ourselves. We incentive the badness of life and twist our emotions in subtle ways to long for the imperfect and the broken.

We tend to mourn, not the things that our truly sad, but imperfect things we desire here below. It is the sinful and the selfish we mourn all to often.

There are reasons to mourn. This world is imperfect and so are we. Even more so, there are reasons to celebrate. Wisdom wants to teach us how to do both of these at the right time.

How does she teach us? First are foremost she does so through the "Church of the living God" which is "the pillar and foundation of truth." Let us approach the Church for all of the wisdom which she offers. She helps us learn when to fast and when to feast. In doing so she helps us to mourn and weep appropriately throughout our lives. She heals the emotions that so easily mislead us.

We become able to appreciate more fully "the works of the Lord" and the great "mystery of devotion" that crowns those works. Our hearts are no longer weighted down to the earth. They are free to soar.

Majesty and glory are his work,
and his justice endures forever.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.

15 September 2015 - stand with her

“Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

Jesus loves his family so much. He manages his household perfectly. Bishops must be like him so that they, like him, can "take care of the Church of God". Jesus has such love for us that he makes us a part of that family. He says to us, "Behold, your mother." He doesn't just love the Church like he loves his family, Joseph, Mary and his Father in heaven. Rather, he makes us a part of that family! What great intimacy! 

Together with Jesus, Mary keeps us "under control with perfect dignity". This is a great blessing. We can be wild children and we need help. The mother Jesus gives us is up to the task. She is perfectly temperate, self-controlled, and decent. Her hospitality is without limit as Elizabeth learns. She is gentle and able to teach us. Of course she is! This is the household of God (cf. Eph. 2:19)! Of course she is dignified and faithful in everything.  Her offspring are "those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus" (cf. Rev. 12:17). If the house of the bishop is meant to reflect his care for the Church then of course Jesus chooses Mary for his own household. The amazing part is that he lets us share in her own tender motherly care. 

What love that they both have for us! Jesus endures the exalted Cross out of love for us. Mary keeps her station at the cross, a living martyr, out of love for Jesus. But she also stands there for us. For those of us who can't quite manage it on our own she stands steadfast and stalwart. For those who are tempted to run Mary herself stands firm. She embraces her children and helps them to see the cross through her eyes with her own love. She is willing to share with us the sword that pierces her own heart. The sword that pierces the side of Jesus also pierces the soul of Mary. And somehow there is a profound value in this experience. It opens more fully the love which Jesus deserves, the love we so seldom give him.

Mary, from her station by the cross, loves Jesus perfectly. And she will help us to do so as well. Our secret thoughts in which we place ourselves first are revealed as selfish in the light of the love for Jesus which Mary shares with us. This is a passionate love. It is a tender love. It is riveted by his sufferings and cannot look away. It is a heart which is justifiably called a living martyr. Mary will guide us to love Jesus with this same love.

My eyes are upon the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me.
He who walks in the way of integrity
shall be in my service.

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux understands the love with which Mary loves. This is the love which Our Lady of Sorrows offers us this morning.

Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his. 

Mary is Our Lady of Sorrows. If we let her be that for us she will also be Our Lady of Joys. With her we shall say, "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness" (cf. Psa. 30:11).

14 September 2015 - lift high the cross

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

He is lifted high upon the cross so that we might look at him.

Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and if any who have been bitten look at it, they will live.

This might sound obvious, but let's think about it. He is lifted up because we are supposed to look at him here and now as he is lifted. We aren't supposed to look away in shame or sorrow. We have to look at Jesus on the cross.

I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn (cf. Zec. 12:10).

So is it obvious? Maybe not. The cross is not an easy sight if we truly understand it. It is the profound summary of our guilt. It is the final word on the severity of sin. Yet it is precisely here that we begin to understand the depths of the love of God for us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.

That is why it is precisely here, on the cross, that Jesus draws all people to himself (cf. Joh. 12:32).

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.

At Christmas we celebrate this same humility. It is humility which is willing to step down out of heaven and to lay aside the divine prerogatives of glory and honor in order to be with us. It is here on the cross that we see the culmination of his humility. Christmas is easy to sentimentalize. But not the cross. Not if we're honest. Yet it is precisely the depths of love that are on display that resist our attempts to sanitize or sentimentalize them. The temptation is to look away. We might prefer to skip right past the cross to Easter Sunday and to the resurrection. Yet we mustn't.

We need to be more like Paul who says, "far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (cf. Gal. 6:14). It is because of this cross that God greatly exalts Jesus and bestows on him the name above every name. The glory is not simply Easter Sunday. It is also the cross itself. When we acknowledge victory in the cross itself we acknowledge that death his finally been, not just escapes, but defeated.

Do not forget the works of the Lord!

Looking at the crucifix we might say that Jesus is nailed to the cross. But it is more true that death itself is nailed to Jesus who pulls it from its place on dominion and opens the way to life.

13 September 2015 - anchored

What good is it, my brothers and sisters,
if someone says he has faith but does not have works? 
Can that faith save him? 

It isn't enough to say with Peter, "You are the Christ." We are not called to a mere acknowledgment of who Jesus is. We are called to deny ourselves, to take up our cross, and to follow him. When Jesus begins to teach us about suffering, rejection, and the cross, do we rebuke him as Peter does? Do we hear him say, "Get behind me, Satan" because we are unwilling to embrace the cross?

We need a faith which goes deeper than mere acknowledgement. We need a faith that gives rise to hope. The hope must of necessity be beyond this age and this mortal life. It is "a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul" (cf. Heb. 6:19) that allows us to persevere in spite of difficulties. It gives us the strength to say:

The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

This hope is how Jesus endured the cross "for the joy that was set before him" (cf. Heb. 12:2). For us to, it is meant to culminate in the love by which we can give our lives for Jesus and his kingdom. This is why these three things remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (cf. 1 Cor. 13:13).

Only if we know and believe that we will walk before the Lord in the land of the living can we really walk without stumbling in this life. This begins with faith. It begins by confessing with our lips that Jesus is LORD and believing in our hearts that God raised him from the dead (cf. Rom. 10:9). But it can't just be that. It must demonstrate itself by the works of charity which are made possible by our hope in Jesus the Christ. 

We cannot do this by our own power. But we do not have to. Jesus reminds us that apart from him we can do nothing (cf. Joh. 15:5). He invites us to take upon ourselves his yoke, the yoke which is easy, the burden which is light, the yoke which he himself helps us to carry (cf. Mat. 11:28-29). When we do we can say with Paul "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Are we arguing with Jesus about his plans? Let us instead embrace them so that we too can discover the joy that is set before us.

12 September 2015 - viticulture

A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.

So what do we do when we see rotten fruit in our own lives and the lives of those around us? Do we write ourselves off as beyond hope? Do we begin to identify ourselves as just those sorts of people?

We shouldn't. Though we are "a wild olive shoot" Jesus grafts us onto the root of the olive tree (cf. Rom. 11:17).  He himself is the vine of which we become branches (cf. Joh. 15:5). On our own the fruit we bear is questionable at best. We are often more thorn bushes and brambles than figs and grapes.

We need to rely on our connection to Jesus if we want to bear good fruit. We need to build our house on a rock if we don't want our own efforts swept away by the flood. It is all about our connection to him. We are called to be constantly in contact with him, connected to the source.  What this means is no matter what fruit we see in someone's live at the moment they are not condemned to that forever. Jesus can give them the life they need to bear his fruit for the kingdom.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated,
so that in me, as the foremost,
Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example
for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life. 

Paul himself is all thorns and brambles until he meets Jesus on the road to Damascus. But he is allowed to become a branch of the vine of Jesus. He is filled with life and made to bear incomparable fruit for the kingdom. He even says that God does this for someone as bad as him just to prove that he can do it for anyone. "He raises up the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill he lifts up the poor." He can definitely do it for us!

To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God,
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

11 September 2015 - light up the darkness

Jesus told his disciples a parable:
“Can a blind person guide a blind person?
Will not both fall into a pit?

We don't want to fall in that pit. So what do we do? Let us pray that we may have the eyes of our hearts enlightened (cf. Eph. 1:18). The first problem is that we think we see just fine and we don't. The counsel to the church in Laodicea is well taken. They are told, "buy ... salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see." We need this same salve even though, like that Church, we often don't realize it. The Holy Spirit is the salve who enlightens us and we need to receive him constantly. This happens first at baptism. But as life goes on we need to avail ourselves of this salve again and again.  The dirt and residue of this world clings to our eyes and darkens our sight. We end up with huge planks in our eyes. These have to go! But is it really safe to try to remove them on our own when we can't even really see? Jesus is offering us training so that our vision may be as clear as his. He himself will remove the plank from our eyes. He himself will renew the anointing of the salve of the Spirit to soothe and heal any damage done.

No disciple is superior to the teacher;
but when fully trained,
every disciple will be like his teacher.

Our teacher is the "light of men", the the light which shines in the darkness which the darkness cannot overcome. He is the "true light, which gives light to everyone". We must not prefer the darkness. We must come to the light, to Jesus. It is hard to realize that we have planks in our eyes. We might just prefer the darkness to a horrific sight like that. But only if we come into the clean light of his presence can he heal us. It is the light of the operating room of the Divine Physician. He wants us to have this light ourselves "so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness" (cf. Joh. 12:46). He wants us to become like him, our teacher, to ourselves become lights for the world (cf. Mat. 5:14) and guides for those who are still blind.

Jesus understands all the baggage we have. He knows how hard it is for us when we're stumbling around in the darkness.

I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man,
but I have been mercifully treated
because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.

He wants to mercifully treat all of those who are still in darkness, still in ignorance, or still in unbelief. There is no shortage of grace for anyone.

Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

As he opens our eyes and heals our vision we must continue to look to him. His word is meant to be the lamp that guides our steps (cf. Psa. 119:105). His is the "prophetic word ... to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (cf. 2 Pet. 1:19).

I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

This is the only we we can find the path to life. It is the only way that anyone in this world will avoid falling into the pit. But it is freely offered. Let us receive it and share it.

10 September 2015 - admonish one another, judge not

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as also your Father is merciful.

We are called to imitate Jesus who loves us while we are enemies and dies for us while we are yet sinners (cf. Rom. 5:8). We aren't supposed to be keeping a running tally of people who are worthy of our help or who have earned it. If God kept such a tally for us we would never measure up. We are called to avoid all judgment of this sort.

Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Yet we must judge actions. Some are good and some are bad. But sometimes we judge people as unworthy of our love. And this is the sort of judgment which is wrong, the sort which Jesus condemns. It is, in fact, sinful. This is precisely the sort of judgment that prevents us from "admonishing" one another in a way that is actually helpful and positive.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,
as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another,
singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
with gratitude in your hearts to God.

There is a sense in which this is also judgment. This is not the sort of judgment that is condemned. This is actually commended and even commanded because the motive is clearly love. It is a desire to include. It does not stem from hatred for the other person or the desire to absolve ourselves of responsibility for them because we deem them to be, somehow, unworthy. The prohibition on judgment is usually something we use to absolve ourselves of our responsibility for others. But we are our brother's keeper. We must go to every reasonable length we can to help them when they are doing things which hurt themselves and others. We cannot force anyone to listen just as God, ultimately, does not force us. But we must make every effort.

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (cf. Mat. 18:15-17).

So no more letting ourselves off the hook for others. We engage in all sorts of speculation about the motives of others, and often it is only so we don't have to say something to them which we know we ought to say. We justify the motives they have for the things they do, not out of charity, but so that we can stay out of it. Which is not to say that every word of criticism is helpful. It is just to say that our motive must be love. Our discernment must be guided by the word of Christ dwelling richly in us and teaching us the Spirit's wisdom. 

We want God to give us these insights into our own inner workings because we have the tendency to fool ourselves whenever possible. And if we really want it for ourselves we must be open to becoming channels of this grace to others.

For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.

When we are open the world is transformed and we are made able to praise God with all of our heart, mind, and strength.

Praise the LORD in his sanctuary,
praise him in the firmament of his strength.
Praise him for his mighty deeds,
praise him for his sovereign majesty. 

9 September 2015 - already rich scheme

If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

This is why poverty, hunger, and sadness can be beneficial. They are reminders to seek what is above. They are reminders that the things of this world are never enough. Of course, neither poverty, nor hunger, nor sadness are good in themselves. They can be to our benefit only if they help us to remember to seek what is above. This is how we can be rich even now in the midst of worldly squalor. 

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

If this is true, and it is, than imagine what riches are ours.

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. 3:22-23).

We all experience small poverties. Let's not waste them. Let them be reminders to us to lift our eyes to the things above. When we do we experiences the riches that are ours in Christ. What sort of riches are these?

that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (cf. Eph. 1:18)

that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (cf. Eph. 2:4)

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (cf. Eph. 3:16)

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (cf. Phi. 4:19)

These riches are not external things. They are the promise of power of Jesus dwelling in us. 

the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (cf. Col. 1:27).

They are both the hope of glory and the foretaste of it. Jesus becomes poor and takes on our humanity so that we can become rich (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9) and take on the divine nature (cf. 2 Pet. 1:4).

Compared to this, what are poverty, hunger, and sadness? Let's ask ourselves how we are experiencing poverty this morning. Where is this world coming up short for us? Where are we suffering? These very things can help us to lift our gaze and seek what is above. These can help us to experience the power of Christ in us even now. This is can help us to avoid the trap of filling up on the riches and consolations of this world. How terrible to be so full of the things of this world that we have no desire for the promise of Christ in us, the promise of being partakers of the divine nature, for the riches that are ours in Jesus.

To really experience these riches we must live lives centered in heaven where they are hidden with Christ, "since you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator." These riches are already ours. We just need to be who we are in Christ. We need to live from the deepest place of our identity in him. What is poverty, hunger, or sadness compared to this joy? What are even the greatest worldly riches by comparison? Let us seek what is above!

Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

8 September 2015 - yes woman

The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The entire bible before Jesus, all of salvation history, is preparation for his coming. All of the lives of the great heroes of the Old Testament become dots in the line of the genealogy of Jesus. As Saint John Paul the Great reminds us, "THE REDEEMER OF MAN, Jesus Christ, is the center of the universe and of history" (Redemptor Hominis, 1). After all, "all things were created through him and for him" (cf. Col. 1:16). Again, we read that "For from him and through him and to him are all things" (cf. Rom. 11:36).

Today we celebrate she who is both the finishing touch of the preparations as well as the dawn of the fulfillment. Mary stands at the boundary between sign and promise and substance and fulfillment. God had this plan fixed in his heart since before time began.

Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
when she who is to give birth has borne,
And the rest of his brethren shall return
to the children of Israel.

This passage from Micah is actually a restating of a much earlier promise.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
hhe shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel (cf. Gen. 3:15)

The one who will strike at the head of the serpent is born today! We celebrate the Nativity of Mary. We celebrate the culmination of all of the promises in Mary. We celebrate the dawn of the fulfillment of those promises.

We see in the genealogy of Jesus many who are all too human. We see many sinners. We see much failure and disappointment. But it does not stop God from using them all to prepare the way for the Messiah. We see in this history that no one can stand in the way of God's plan. This should give us great confidence that he can use us for his kingdom as well.

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.

God wants to enter into the world and be present to his people. Mary is the gate through which he makes his entrance. Because of God's preparations for her birth she is born today. Because she is born she gives her fiat to God. She gives the unconditional yes for the sake of the rest of sinful humanity that cannot manage it. God responds to that yes and he comes.

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means “God is with us.”

So we see that God does not let the brokenness of humanity stand in the way of his plans. He doesn't let our inability to say yes keep him from coming to us. Maybe today our yes is partial or wavering. Maybe today we don't have the strength to say yes at all to that which God is asking of us. God gives us Mary for just such times. We turn to her and ask her to help us make her yes our own. 

Though I trusted in your mercy,
let my heart rejoice in your salvation.
Let me sing of the LORD, “He has been good to me.

7 September 2015 - clean energy

Paul can persevere in his sufferings because of God. It is "his power working within" Paul that makes it possible. With the psalmist, Paul does not trust in himself, nor in the resources of this world, but instead says, "Only in God be at rest, my soul".

If we trust in our own strength or the resources of this world any blip in that tenuous source of power can cause us to freak out. Those blips are experienced as sufferings. It is when the world comes up short. When the resources of the world are insufficient for our needs we suffer. But if our hope is in God we need not lose our peace. The power we have from him is a steady stream. There are no outages. There are no brownouts.

The Holy Spirit is the power source that is a necessary prerequisite to transforming our own sufferings into something of value. Rather than drawing from the grid of this world and coming up short we become able to feed power back into that grid for others.

I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake,
and in my flesh I am filling up
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ
on behalf of his Body, which is the Church

When we run on the power of God's Spirit and not on this world we are free to live and work for his kingdom. Normally, we care a lot about what the Pharisees think. We take the rules at face value so that we can make a good appearance before the world. We worry that the world will cut our power off if we deviate in the slightest. But Jesus runs on the power he receives from the Father. He need not and does not care what the Pharisees think. He is not trapped by the letter of the law when there are lives to be saved and people to heal.

“I ask you, is it lawful to do good on the sabbath
rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”

If our own hands are too withered to work for the kingdom let us reach out toward the one who can heal us.

“Stretch out your hand.”
He did so and his hand was restored.

Let us first acknowledge that there is one who is utterly above the normal limitations of this world. In him we see a source of life with no variance. We see a love that never fails. Then as we reach out to him let us experience that source of life and power ourselves. Let us free ourselves from dependence on the power grid of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Instead, let us trust in God for all our needs.

Trust in him at all times, O my people!
Pour out your hearts before him;
God is our refuge!