30 April 2019 - a Spirit thing

Today's Readings

(Audio)

We are born of the Spirit. Is he the principle that animates us and gives us life? Without the Spirit alive in us the descriptions we hear of the disciples in the Acts of the Apostles seem like idealized fantasy.

The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own,
but they had everything in common.

Church as we experience it does not show much of the unity of means and purpose. We tend to hoard more than we need for ourselves, holding back from those whom we could otherwise assist. We tend to each have a particular focus of just what truth the world needs, which corrections it should hear, and how the Gospel should be proclaimed.

We have been born again of the Spirit. So where is this unity? God has placed unity in our hearts, but we must work to manifest it. We have been given peace so we must now walk in the peace we have been given.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (see Ephesians 4:1-3).

Only the Spirit will keep us humble, gentle, and patience when our intentions of peace and unity are put to the test. Only the Spirit can give to the whole Church a unified program of proclamation. By unified it isn't meant that everyone says the same thing. Rather, it is meant that our voices harmonize. Truth, it is said, is symphonic. Only with the Spirit as our conductor do we avoid discordant notes.

We are so interested in studies and programs and demographics for figuring out how the Church should grow. We have our own ideas about how to preach. But when we turn first to the Holy Spirit we finally find the way to bridge the gap to the heart of those who need the message.

With great power the Apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.

What does the Holy Spirit teach? To lift up the Son of Man! In him is life!

The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.

29 April 2019 - born again

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and Spirit
he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.

We have been born again in water and Spirit through baptism. The risk now is that we will revert to the flesh after having begun with the Spirit.

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (see Galatians see 3:3)

We need to choose to live this new reality which comes to us as gift.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit (see Galatians 5:25).

Our old selves are still inside, kicking around, waiting for an opportunity to break free and take back over. Living from the old man within is habitual for us. We're used to it, so we have a tendency to backslide into it. It isn't always blatantly obvious either. It becomes a subtle shift from relying on God to relying on ourselves. It is a move from finding our worth and validation in the eyes of our Father to finding it in our eyes and those of others. Every time we seem to achieve something on our own without giving thanks we are at risk. Every time we receive praise that we don't refer to God's grace we are at risk.

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness (see Ephesians 4:22-24).

Even with all this risk of corruption through deceitful desires we can still walk safely through the dark valley without fear if we rely on and keep looking back toward the guardian and shepherd of our souls (see First Peter 2:25) to renew our minds and help us to live out of the new self we are given.

How do we shake of the dross of self-reliance? What do we do when we know we need renewal? Holy boldness is the answer. It is a radical trust in what we would never be able to do on our own.

and enable your servants to speak your word
with all boldness, as you stretch forth your hand to heal,
and signs and wonders are done
through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

The world can't stop us from living the renewed life as long as we choose to receive it. 

Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord.

28 April 2019 - every moment peace

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Peace be with you.

Jesus reveals himself to us. He shows us his hands and his sides. He commands peace to guard our hearts. By his words he casts out fear.

Do not be afraid.
I am the first and the last, the one who lives.

He is willing to repeat himself until we believe him.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you.

If we have trouble accepting this revelation he is willing to adapt himself to our needs.

"Peace be with you."
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe."

Can peace really be possible in this world? All manner of terrible things can still happen. For the disciples things were only, from a human perspective, about to get even harder for them. Is it really enough just to have Christ here with us speaking peace when for all appearances our circumstances are unchanged? Yet the peace of Christ could truly guard the hearts of the disciples because death itself had been defeated. It can truly guard our hearts as well.

Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever.
I hold the keys to death and the netherworld.
Write down, therefore, what you have seen,
and what is happening, and what will happen afterwards.

We now know what happens after any sufferings we may have to endure here below.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen (see Second Corinthians 4:17-18).

Jesus is calling us to a faith that really allows us to see the world with new eyes. We have life in his name, not just in the Kingdom, but here and now, as we experience the freedom from fear that only his peace can bring. This will stand out to a world sick with the fear of death so much that they will long to stand in our shadow.

Thus they even carried the sick out into the streets
and laid them on cots and mats
so that when Peter came by,
at least his shadow might fall on one or another of them.

Are we still afraid? Jesus is still speaking peace. He will speak it until we get it. And even then we must continue to listen and not turn back to self-reliance. At every moment we can have peace only because he is speaking peace and he has conquered death.

My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just

27 April 2019 - to the nations

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The celebration of the resurrection should motivate us to share the good news with others.

Whether it is right in the sight of God
for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges.
It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.

Of what have we seen and heard? Christ risen from the death, victorious! This is too momentous for us to keep it to ourselves. It is a fact of such importance that all of reality is impacted by its truth. We can't allow other people to silence us. We can't allow the fact that we are often "uneducated men" to stop us. Neither self-doubt nor opposition from others is important enough to threaten the world's access to the message of the resurrection.

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (see Romans 9:16).

The world has heard Jesus is risen, but many do not yet believe. Jesus himself really does want to appear to unbelievers through his body, the Church. Through charity they will know. Confirmed by signs and wonders they will know. No other explanation will be left than that Christ is risen. He is truly risen!

He said to them, "Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."

God doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (see Romans 8:30).

We when gather together Jesus is with us. He is in our midst. He reveals himself to us.

But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them
and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had been raised

Have we really received this revelation? The litmus test of this reception is how eager we are to share it.

He said to them, "Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature."

It won't feel like an obligation when what we proclaim is death defeated and victory over the grave. But perhaps it still feels more like a dead letter and an obligation to us. If so, Jesus wants to speak to us today, now, to show us that he is risen and nothing will ever be the same.

"The right hand of the LORD is exalted;
the right hand of the LORD has struck with power."
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.

26 April 2019 - gone fishing

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing."
They said to him, "We also will come with you."
So they went out and got into the boat,
but that night they caught nothing.

It this point in the Easter season the risk for us is the same as it was for the disciples. We can choose to return to business as usual, living as if nothing really happened. This is a normal human tendency. It is a filter we have to help us not be too influence by outliers too unlikely to matter. But although the resurrection is both an outlier and unlikely to the extreme it is nevertheless real and matters. 

When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

The way we get the resurrection through our filters and into our mind and heart is by receiving the revelation that it happened more than once.

This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.

The disciples themselves needed more than one revelation of the risen Christ and so do we. We need to learn that he is more than a myth, more than an idea, more than a merely spiritual presence. He is alive. His human body, the same sort of body that causes us so much pain in sickness, aging, and death, is restored to walk again on the earth and to never again to die.

Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast."

Because Jesus's body is risen as well as his soul there are no areas of life that are off limits to his care and intervention. He has fully sanctified what it means to be human. He has introduced a new possibility of meaning and holiness in the ordinary aspects of our lives.

Because Jesus lives he continues to work through his body. He continues to reveal himself to the world.

it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;
in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved.

Our normal fishing expeditions are no longer off limits to Jesus. Let us invite him fully into our lives as the Easter season continues. He wants to come. He wants to reveal to us and through us the power of his resurrection.

25 April 2019 - not a ghost

Today's Readings 

(Audio)

The lame man was healed and we were amazed. 

You children of Israel, why are you amazed at this

The risen LORD appeared to us and we were fearful and uncomprehending.

Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?

Like the people of Israel, we didn't understand what God had announced through the prophets. We couldn't simply ready Isaiah and think to ourselves, 'Oh, this is how it will turn it.' Even having heard the message of Jesus in the Gospels there was a critical difference between simply hearing and taking it to heart. 

Now I know, brothers and sisters,
that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did;

Until the the Gospel message truly takes root in us Jesus seems like someone in the past. Every time his power is revealed in the present seems unlikely and amazing. In many ways we too expect Jesus to be a mere ghost. We can allow for a non-physical entity that mostly impacts us subjectively in order to make us nice people who have nice feelings. We are far less ready for the living Christ who can really come to us at any moment and change the course of our lives. But we can be made ready. 

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

Without the Scriptures opened to us we remain distant from Jesus who is himself the word of God. But without the help of Jesus the Scriptures remain closed to us. We need this experience of having our minds opened in order to become the witnesses we are meant to be.

Once our minds are opened Jesus is freed to act through us to reach out to and heal the people we meet in our daily lives.

And by faith in his name,
this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong,
and the faith that comes through it
has given him this perfect health,
in the presence of all of you.

Jesus is "the author of life", whose name is wonderful "in all the earth". We need our hearts opened to recognize his presence here and now so that he can give us the "times of refreshment" we so desire.

24 April 2019 - in the breaking of the bread

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.

This happens to all of us more often than we realize. Jesus wants to be more present in our lives than we allow. There is more to him than our current mental constructs manage to capture. He wants to reveal himself in greater depth and to show us all the places from which he surrounds us with his presence. Given that we so often miss Jesus, how can we avail ourselves of this desire of his to reveal himself to us?

Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over

Our desire to remain with him, open to him, and open to what he wants to reveal is all we need. More will happen than we are able to realize while it is happening.

Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?

We find him in the Scriptures in a way that is surprisingly powerful. He is alive amidst his living and active word. This presence is no mere metaphor. Even more, we find him in the breaking of the bread.

Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Once we begin to find him in Word and Sacrament we become able to see him in the poor, the sick, and the lame. When we see Jesus himself in need what can we possibly do but rely on Jesus himself to meet that need?

But Peter looked intently at him, as did John,
and said, “Look at us.”
He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold,
but what I do have I give you: 
in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”
Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up,
and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong.

Jesus is near us but we often don't recognize him. Let's invite him to remain with us, patient with us, until we do recognize him. He surrounds us with his love, waiting to unleash signs and wonders on the world.

Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.

23 April 2019 - called by name

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart

Jesus Christ, who was killed, was raised from the dead. God revealed him to be both Lord and Christ. Are we cut to the heart? Even though our sinfulness made us complicit in his death, Jesus did not allow our brokenness to have the last word. We killed him and his answer was not to destroy us. It was rather to be our savior. The resurrection is the last thing we had any right to expect after the culmination of evil that crucified him. Yet from the resurrection we received life and salvation beyond what we realized we needed, beyond what we could ask or imagine.

Repent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Have we been cut to the heart by the news of the resurrection? Or are we still, as it were, weeping with Mary Magdalene outside of the tomb. Perhaps we understand the idea of the resurrection without having internalized it. Have we encountered the risen Jesus without fully realizing it?

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”

Jesus wants us to go deeper than this. He is not content to let us wandering around in abstractions without the power to change our lives.

Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” 
which means Teacher.

Jesus calls our name and we know in a way that we have never known before that he truly lives. This is a hard moment to let go.

Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.

But the moment is only the beginning of a new reality. We are part of a new family with Jesus's Father as our Father, Jesus's God as our God. Jesus left Mary Magdalene but only to be even more present to his Church, always, to the end of the age. So with her, let us proclaim "I have seen the Lord".

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.

22 April 2019 - death could not hold him

Today's Readings

(Audio)

You are to say,
‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’

They had to have a story because the tomb was empty. If they themselves could just go to the tomb and produce a body they would have had no need of a story. As it was, they needed to make up a story to explain the empty tomb from which no body could be produced to end the debate.

The body stolen, or moved by the gardener, or otherwise simply moved but still dead was the normal explanation to which anyone would reach. Even those who wished Jesus had not died did not imagine what had actually happened until they encountered him.

And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them.
They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.

Only as Jesus revealed himself and all that Scripture said about him did the disciples begin to understand what actually was the case.

But God raised him up, releasing him from the throes of death,
because it was impossible for him to be held by it.

The Cross, which seemed like a failure, was part of "the set plan and foreknowledge of God". Jesus spoke of the resurrection before he died. But even then his disciples did not understand. They thought, at times, he was speaking of the resurrection of all of Israel on the last day. When Lazarus was raised Jesus showed himself to be the resurrection and the life. But even so, when he died it seemed as though death had won. That continued to be the case until he encountered the disciples. He met them in his risen flesh and revealed himself to them.

God raised this Jesus;
of this we are all witnesses.

It is so for us as well. We've heard much. But it still often seems like death is winning. We need a new encounter with the resurrected Christ. He goes before us to Galilee this morning. Let us go and see him, resplendent, risen, and victorious. He will change our hearts to make us his witnesses. He will prepare us to receive more of the promise of the Holy Spirit.

I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

21 April 2019 - this is the day, we are the witnesses

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Then the other disciple also went in, 
the one who had arrived at the tomb first, 
and he saw and believed.

The tomb is empty, alleluia!

For they did not yet understand the Scripture 
that he had to rise from the dead.

We have been taught by the Holy Spirit to understand, alleluia!

Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Because he has risen we have new life, alleluia!

And so, because Jesus Christ rose from the time "everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness through his name." Because death could not hold him he is the one "appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead."

The resurrection on the third day was not visible to all. Not all are yet witnesses to it. But we are "chosen by God in advance" to be witnesses to his resurrection.

We have seen the LORD, alleluia!

Let us swell the chorus of alleluias today. For without this day that the Lord has made what good would life be to us? What other joy, what greater hope have we than we see in the empty tomb this morning?

“The right hand of the LORD has struck with power;
the right hand of the LORD is exalted.
I shall not die, but live,
and declare the works of the LORD.”

Jesus Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

2019 April 20 - the harrowing of hell

From an ancient Holy Saturday Homily 

(Click here for a recording of me reading it)

"Something strange is happening—there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.

For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity."

19 April 2019 - come let us adore

Today's Readings

(Audio)

So let us confidently approach the throne of grace 
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.

Today we see the reason for our confidence and our hope. We see that there are no lengths to which God will not go to captivate us and to win us back with his love. Jesus need never have taken on flesh and become one of us. But he did so precisely so that in his flesh he could experience suffering and death for our sakes.

Yet it was our infirmities that he bore,
our sufferings that he endured,
while we thought of him as stricken,
as one smitten by God and afflicted.

We have sanitized this is our minds. We realize every time we watch the Passion and see the depths of pain that he endured that our normal pious devotions don't really capture the reality of what he did for us.

But he was pierced for our offenses,
crushed for our sins;
upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole,
by his stripes we were healed.

Indeed, if Jesus hadn't chosen to be pierced and crushed, we would have remained unhealed and broken. If God hadn't laid upon him the guilt of us all that guilt would still condemn us.

We don't realize how much Jesus loved us on that Friday when he offered his life. So too do we fail to realize how it is our sins and offenses that made it necessary. He prayed to his Father to forgive us who know not what we do. If the solution was as dire as the cross what must have been the problem? 

Today, on Good Friday, we are invited to take stock of the ways in which we still prefer ourselves to God. We do this only at the same moment that God's love is fully revealed to us lest the depths of our depravity move us to despair. Instead, seeing his love, we can be confident of his mercy, just as the Good Thief was confident. We can be forgiven. We can be with Jesus in paradise.

From the Cross Jesus gave all he had to give. We must not overlook the gift of his mother to us.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."

She is not just the mother of Jesus anymore. Neither is she given only to be the mother of John. We read in Revelation of "her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (see Revelation 12:17)". She stood by the cross when we fled and couldn't bear to see the consequences of our sins. As we venerate the cross today she holds our hand and gives us courage. She teaches us to treasure the body of the LORD. Yet, though sorrowful, she does not despair. She knows, some way, somehow, the end is not yet written.

18 April 2019 - as I have loved you

Readings for the Evening Mass

(Audio)

Do you realize what I have done for you?

We say we realize what Jesus has done for us. But how deeply do we truly realize it? Jesus emptied himself to come in human likeness (see Philippians 2:17) and washed us in the waters of baptism. He himself is the lamb whose sacrificial blood covers our hearts so that our enemy will not destroy us. He himself is the unleavened bread we eat. If we are not washed we will have no inheritance with Jesus. If his blood does not cover us than death will have the last word in our lives. Only the bread he gives can strengthen us for the journey.

Do you realize what I have done for you?

It seems that we need a deeper realization, LORD, of all that you have done for us.

You call me 'teacher' and 'master,'  and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, 
you ought to wash one another's feet.

Jesus, you want to inspire our love for you and for others by the love with which you first love us. We are not meant to just receive for ourselves indefinitely. We don't need to create a holding pattern for ourselves that would only end with some imagined self-perfection.

"Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over; 
so you are clean, but not all."

Rather, as we realize what you have done, we realize that we ourselves are empowered to love as you love.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (see John 13:34-45)

In fact, LORD, we have nothing to offer you which you did not first give to us. But this does not make it a lesser gift. It is all we have to offer you and it is all you want from us.

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.

This is our proclamation until you return LORD Jesus! We celebrate your love for us by making of all that we receive from you, all that we have and are, an offering back to the glory of your name.

17 April 2019 - spy shames

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
"Surely it is not I, Lord?"

But it is each one of us. We are all guilty of betraying the love and confidence Jesus showed us when he invited us to be numbered among his intimate companions. We all had our own ideas about the way Jesus would fix everything wrong with the world and with our lives. And when Jesus doesn't go with our plan we look for ways to monetize our investment.

"What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?"

When push comes to shove it is revealed that much of our motivation for following Jesus is in fact selfish. It is OK for us to desire the blessings that the LORD offers us. It is legitimate to follow him because our lives and full of more joy and peace than they could be otherwise. But what happens during the dark night? Do we then draw back? We are meant for more. We are meant for a love that can persist and endure, carrying our own crosses out of love for Jesus.

"Surely it is not I, Rabbi?"
He answered, "You have said so."

Unlike Judas we have some understanding of God's abundant mercy. When God doesn't go our way we may feel a little animosity or anger toward him. But we behold Jesus absorbing all of that anger, taking it on himself to make us right with God again.

Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.

We need to realize that at times we are the ones spitting when we do not choose God's will. We are the ones who beat him when we try to make things work by our own power apart from God. We need to realize this, because seeing it, we can see that his love for us is nevertheless undiminished. He prays for our forgiveness even from the cross. His arms are open to welcome us back.

"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."

16 April 2019 - investing in loss

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Master, why can I not follow you now? 
I will lay down my life for you."
Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me?

How like Peter we are. It isn't just that we are all talk. We really believe our commitment to Jesus is martyr level. But when we are tested we see that we are just as ready to run and to deny Jesus as he is. We learn the hard way that we can't depend on ourselves. We discover our desire to preserve our own ego is much more deeply entrenched in us than we knew.

What are the specific ways in which we deny Jesus? What opportunities are we given to witness to him when we would prefer to simply blend in rather than be exposed as his followers? How often are we complicit in the systems of the world that trample over the poor and the innocent just so that we don't have to stand up and stand out?

So Jesus said to him, "What you are going to do, do quickly."

The ideal of following Jesus to the cross is romantic and attractive. The reality is gritty and difficult. It can only be done at all if we rely on Jesus entirely for the grace his Holy Spirit provides.

For you are my hope, O LORD;
my trust, O God, from my youth.
On you I depend from birth;
from my mother's womb you are my strength.

Our feeble efforts need not be in vain. Judas and Peter were both guilty of betrayals. But Peter trusted in the mercy of Jesus above and beyond his own shame and failure. So too must we. The LORD does not reprove us so that we can hate ourselves and be discouraged. He reproves every son he receives so that we can be more perfectly his children, so that we can ever more perfectly fulfill the destiny he has for us.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
Yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.

15 April 2019 - aromatics

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil
made from genuine aromatic nard
and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair;
the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 

What can we do to love Jesus this Holy Week? What is something extra and extravagant that we can offer to the one who loves us so much? Even if it seems imprudent, this is the time to prioritize our walk with Jesus as much as we can. If the world criticizes, let us hear Jesus console us:

So Jesus said, "Leave her alone.
Let her keep this for the day of my burial.
You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me."

Let us find a way to spread the fragrance of the oil through the whole house. The spiritual oil which anoints us, which we can share in our turn, is the Holy Spirit, who is himself the oil of gladness. In what ways can we offer his fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control to Jesus? It may even be costly. If we use a whole liter of the oil it will probably seem that way. But Jesus is well pleased with gifts of this kind. 

The whole forward motion of the Kingdom seems too impractical to be true. It seems like we should use a more pragmatic approach that prioritizes strategy and power over gentle loving encounters. But it is not through power and strategy that the Kingdom advances.

Not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;
the coastlands will wait for his teaching.

In any case, we have nothing to offer back to God which is not first his gift to us. Even our gifts to him are in fact his gifts to us. After all, the gift we give may be to anoint Jesus, but the whole house is filled with the fragrance of it.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

14 April 2019 - next to us

Today's Readings

(Audio)

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are (see First John 3:1).

Today we see just what kind of love is given to us.

After withdrawing about a stone's throw from them and kneeling,
he prayed, saying, "Father, if you are willing, 
take this cup away from me; 
still, not my will but yours be done."
And to strengthen him an angel from heaven appeared to him.
He was in such agony and he prayed so fervently 
that his sweat became like drops of blood
falling on the ground.

We see no mere sentiment. We see more than an affection that wills our good from a distance. We see rather the utter commitment of all Jesus is to loving us and his Father.

We rebel and complain even though our sentences correspond to our crimes. Jesus is innocent yet like Isaiah he can say "I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting." As we endure our own crosses are we preoccupied with complaining about them or are we rather grateful for the one who is in fact right next to us, enduring the same and worse, even though he need not have done so?

Jesus perfectly reveals the heart of the Father. He shows a heart that empties itself out of love. It is a heart which makes its very self and gift and which holds nothing back.

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 the point of death,

Following this example seems impossible. We see Peter turn aside from it three times. We see preoccupation with status the disciples exhibit and so many other distractions. But we also see the patience of Christ. We do end up bearing our share of sufferings. We usually do not bear them well. But if we, like the good thief, have a moment of clarity, Jesus is waiting to bless us.

Then he said,
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
He replied to him,
"Amen, I say to you, 
today you will be with me in Paradise."

And so let us welcome the King. Let us rejoice in his love just as the crowds did when he entered Jerusalem for them and for us. We know and see our weakness even in this praise but we continue because his mercy is greater than our weakness.

"Blessed is the king who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven
and glory in the highest."

13 April 2019 - sheep shape

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I will make them one nation upon the land,
in the mountains of Israel,
and there shall be one prince for them all. 
Never again shall they be two nations,
and never again shall they be divided into two kingdoms.

Jesus wants to form one people over whom he will be shepherd and king forever. This is an amazing gift of grace whereby he abolishes the divisions among the people, "that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility" (see Ephesians 2:15-16). The barriers he breaks down to make this possible are both between us and our neighbors and between us and God. This is atonement or at-one-ment, in the deepest sense of the word.

"What are we going to do? 
This man is performing many signs.
If we leave him alone, all will believe in him,
and the Romans will come
and take away both our land and our nation."

We sometimes act like the chief priests and the Pharisees. If Jesus is the center it means we are not the center. We had plans and now these plans are threatened by Jesus acting in ways that go beyond what we can understand of our circumstances. We search for ways to take back control and so rebel. Yet even though we fail the Kingdom of Jesus is designed to absorb our failures and convert them into redemption and new life.

He did not say this on his own,
but since he was high priest for that year,
he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,
and not only for the nation,
but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God.

Let us place Jesus at the center of our lives unconditionally. Only then can we know the oneness of deepest fellowship that has always been the most fundamental of our hidden desires.

He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together,
he guards them as a shepherd his flock.

12 April 2019 - woke sleepers

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.

Jesus isn't just arguing for the sake of arguing. He isn't trying to win one against his opponents to gain points with the crowds. He is actually making his case. He cares even about these people who are trying to stone him for blasphemy. How about us? Are we still able to love others even when they aren't sensitive to our needs? Are we still able to do the works of the Father, works which reveal his heart and his love, even in the face of opposition?

We need the spirit of the prophet Jeremiah. Even if there are enemies on every side and it seems that we have no help at all we can trust in the LORD.

"Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him."
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.

Just so the opponents of Jesus constantly try to trap him. Jesus for his part never ceases to trust the Father. As he does so his opponent's arguments against him are revealed as fallacious. They themselves are shown to be hypocrites. But Jesus is not interested in seeing them destroyed. Indeed, if his trust were so focused on worldly outcomes the cross would have seemed a thing to avoid. But rather, his trust in the Father goes even deeper than death and apparent failure. He knows that his Father's plan will result in the resurrection. For his opponents this will be a "lasting, unforgettable confusion" but it will not destroy them. Instead it will be there opportunity for new life, just as it is ours. It is the ultimate wake up call.

We are going to face opposition. The risk is that we meet it on its own terms. Instead, let us be like Jeremiah and like Jesus. Let us reveal the heart of the Father who loved us even while we were enemies (see Romans 5:8).

Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.

11 April 2019 - promised Son

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.

We who have faith are the heirs to the promises of Abraham.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all (see Romans 4:16).

The Church is the "Israel of God", the "new creation" of Jesus Christ (see Galatians 6:15-16). And so again, we are the heirs of the promise. But what does that mean to us? We begin to understand when we realize that the promise is it about more than just physical fertility and a geographical promised land.

I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God."

Christians cannot look for permanence in the world as it stands now. 

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come (see Hebrews 13:14).

The promise to us is one of spirituality fertility. We become a nation that is abundantly fertile, giving birth to souls that live for God, with God indeed as their Father. The promise is of a heavenly city that will not pass away in which the Church even now participates, a place in which even now we find refuge and help.

How does this promise help us? We can rely on it! We can believe it when things look bad for the Church and maintain our hope. We can be confident when we ourselves help to evangelize that we're not only moving within God's plan but that he will help us along the way.

As we try to trust in the promise we need to remember that only in Jesus do we see the true and full meaning of that promise.

Jesus said to the Jews:
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death." 

Only the only-begotten Son can make of the nations sons of God the Father and so create the new promised land. Let us look to him. Realizing who he is and storing his words deep within us is meant to be the very source of our life.

Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM."

10 April 2019 - our plus one

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual
and had some of the strongest men in his army
bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and cast them into the white-hot furnace.

Now when the three are bound and thrown into the fiery furnace it would seem that this is the opposite of freedom. This is the world doing its worst to inflict pain and remove options. Most people would do whatever it takes to avoid this situation. They would bow down and worship whatever golden statue was the flavor of the weak. But Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, are aware that true freedom can only come from God.

So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.

It is a foreshadowing of the Son that delivers the three to freedom.

"Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?"
"Assuredly, O king," they answered.
"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt,
walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God."

If we want freedom we won't find it by running away. We won't find it by giving in. We will only find it by trusting in God.

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him,
"If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

If we look at our lives we may recognize idols that we have adopted in order to protect us from the fire of purification in the holiness of God. We may see that we turn to them rather than surrendering our self will and going where God will be most glorified. Let us cast down those idols. Let us trust in the Son of God to make us free indeed.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you (see Isaiah 43:2).

9 April 2019 - lifted up

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
"Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!"

A more modest version of this disgust can creep upon us toward the last days of Lent. We've tried to delight ourselves upon the LORD alone in order to receive the desires of our hearts (see Psalm 37:4). We've tried to make doing the Father's will our bread (see John 4:34). Jesus really is the bread from heaven who contains within himself all sweetness. But if we let ourselves, the journey can wear us out. We need faith to find nourishment on our Lenten journey. We can find deeper fulfillment than we have ever known but if we choose to continue to trust God even when the journey grows long and we grow tired.

It is likely that we have indulged in complaining. Maybe not explicitly about God, but implicitly as a part of our general dissatisfaction with his universal governance. Such complaining does to our spirits what the Seraph serpents do to the people of Israel. Let us look to the one who endured all of our complaints. Let us see that it is our complaints that raised him upon the cross. We do this not in order to feel guilty about complaining, but because the love he showed can heal us.

When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM

It is realizing who Jesus is that saves us. It is his revelation of love on the cross that reveals this to us. Our complaints have within themselves the seeds of their own healing through the wisdom of God most high. Let us receive that revelation and therefore that salvation this morning.

"The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die."

8 April 2019 - light of the world

Today's Readings

(Audio)

They suppressed their consciences; they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven, and did not keep in mind just judgments.

We know there is a problem when we are no longer comfortable looking to heaven. If we cease to pray because the dissonance between the way we're living and God's just judgments is too great we ought to realize that something has gone wrong. When we judge alone apart from God we are unnecessarily exposing ourselves to the risk of self-deception.

Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone that judge, but I and he who sent me.

Instead of turning away from heaven to our own judgments let us turn toward the Father. For us this means turning first to Jesus.

You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also.

This is why Jesus is the light of the world. This is how he keeps those who follow him from the paths of darkness. It is the truth of just judgments and knowledge of the Father that Jesus makes available to us. 

God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel

The light shining in our lives will move us to desire God's salvation for all people. We will be stirred up and unable to resist doing what we can, even if we're young and the judges are old and respected. God is no respecter of persons (see Acts 10:34) in that sense. Instead he delights to save all who hope in him. He brings the truth of his saving plan to light in the light which his presence itself shines forth.

The whole assembly cried aloud, blessing God who saves those that hope in him.

There is only one way we will make it safely through the valley of the shadow of death. The way is Jesus, because he is also the light of the world, and true life itself. Let us rejoice in his light as we follow him today.

7 April 2019 - the first stone

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Let the one among you who is without sin 
be the first to throw a stone at her.

The law is not meant to be used as a weapon against others. It isn't meant to be used against eh woman caught in adultery and it isn't meant to be used to put Jesus to the test. It is meant to lead toward mercy.

Woman, where are they?
Has no one condemned you?”
She replied, “No one, sir.”
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.

But it is not a mercy that leaves us in our sinful state.

Go, and from now on do not sin any more.

Even though Paul no longer finds his righteousness based on the law he does not for that reason cease to make progress.

Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind 
but straining forward to what lies ahead, 
I continue my pursuit toward the goal, 
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.

He strains toward what lies ahead by faith in Christ, the righteousness from God. It is only by knowing Jesus through faith that the resurrection can transform our lives. And it is meant to transform them. It is not meant only to wash over the exterior and leave our hearts unchanged. It is both the upward call and the means by which we ascend.

Lately there seems to be an insufficiency of this resurrection power and this upward call in our world. We seem to be living in a desert where we resign ourselves to using to law for hurting and being hurt. We have trouble seeing hope when this is what surrounds us.

Remember not the events of the past,
the things of long ago consider not;
see, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

God is speaking a word of hope to us right now. He wants to enlarge our hearts by faith in Jesus. He wants to renew our deserts with the power of the resurrection. He will once again make us a people formed for himself that we might announce his praise.

The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.