31 January 2022 - name it to disclaim it

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When he got out of the boat,

at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.

The demon felt so threatened by the presence of Jesus in what he perceived to be his territory that he ran out to him at once. He knew who Jesus was and that, as a consequence, Jesus would not leave in place the status quo which permitted the ongoing oppression of people by the powers of darkness.

Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,

he ran up and prostrated himself before him,

crying out in a loud voice,

“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”

In our world too Jesus is a provocative figure for this same reason, that he refuses to leave intact the status quo that allows for the oppression of the hearts of men and women by the powers of sin and darkness. This means that he often meets challengers who are deeply invested in the darkness, territorial to continue their reign of terror amongst the caves and tombs.

He asked him, “What is your name?”

He  replied, “Legion is my name.  There are many of us.”

Jesus took power over the demon by demanding to know his name. In a similar way Jesus is able to take power over the strongholds of darkness in our world, and even, indeed, in our hearts, by naming them as they truly are. The demon saw himself as strong and fearsome. Jesus drew out the truth that he was not the unified front he appeared to be, but was rather deeply divided within. He lacked the unifying principle of the good to give him integrity as a being. This truth was given physical manifestation when the demon was sent into, not one pig, but an entire herd.

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside.

And they pleaded with him,

“Send us into the swine.  Let us enter them.”

Sin that we refuse to name retains its power over our hearts. But once we allow ourselves to hear Jesus name it he can cast it out. This is difficult for us because we like to call things harmless that are actually fracturing our identities, driving us to seek after a thousand temporary things that can never give us happiness, and to flee from another thousand that seem to threaten to steal from us what little peace we have. Once Jesus identifies the Legion in us, with which we are complicit, he can drive it from us, though this won't necessarily be without cost.

Then they began to beg him to leave their district.

The result of being set free by Jesus is worth any worldly cost, whether the loss of friends, or livelihood. Until it happens we will continue to cry out and bruise ourselves in a struggle against circumstances we can't control. Once Jesus reintegrates our inner core, directing us toward the one goal of God himself, we finally experience the peace of lives lived to the purpose for which they were created.

As they approached Jesus,

they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,

sitting there clothed and in his right mind.

We too ought to become living testimony to Jesus. We need not have lengthy and elegant theological exegesis or argument. Instead, the very sight of us no longer living lives of thrashing and self-destruction, no longer "passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another" (see Titus 3:3), but instead living in our right minds, sitting peacefully, clothed and dignified by the action of God himself, can be a louder testimony than any of our words.

Then they began to beg him to leave their district.

Now that his relationship to the circumstances had been so entirely upended by Jesus himself the man desired to leave them. But he was not permitted to go, for to go would have been merely an escape from what was now to be his real task: mission.

“Go home to your family and announce to them

all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”

Finally Jesus instructed someone, perhaps the least likely of candidates, to begin the proclamation of "all that the Lord in his pity" had done for him. Scripture indicates that the revelation at which Jesus himself hinted by this phrasing was not lost on the man, for he went us and began to proclaim "what Jesus had done for him".

But the king replied: “What business is it of mine or of yours,

sons of Zeruiah, that he curses?

David did not thrash out against the difficult circumstances that he faced. He remained, as it were, seated and in his right mind while those around him became angry and suggested violence. Shimei himself had become like a demon in his opposition to David and his loyalty to Saul. He very much resembled Legion from today's Gospel in his cursing and throwing of stones. But although David did not know how to solve the problem, he refused to allow it to make him act like a demon. Instead, he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God (see First Peter 5:6) until God himself would choose to deliver him.

But you, O LORD, are my shield;

my glory, you lift up my head!

When I call out to the LORD,

he answers me from his holy mountain.

Mosaic MSC - Tremble

30 January 2022 - hometown hero?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

They knew what Jesus was implying. The year acceptable to the Lord had finally come, the true Jubilee year, in which the prophetic promises, specifically those about the Messiah were fulfilled. Jesus implied to the crowds that what they had heard about his ministry, proclaiming good news to the poor and setting captives free, corresponded exactly to the prophetic promise from the Isaiahian scroll from which he read. But it would only be fulfilled for each of them based on how these received what they heard. Only those with ears to hear would truly experience that the passage was fulfilled in their hearing it, because for those who listened with faith the Scripture, when proclaimed by Jesus, would achieve an inner transformation.

And all spoke highly of him

and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

We know Jesus has a mixed reputation in the world. But aren't many people still quick to praise Jesus at first? They know his reputation for being compassionate, wise, and entirely focused on love. Perhaps, in the imagination of the public, he is even a spiritual being who can help us with our problems so we can back to living our lives in comfort.

They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?”

The message of Jesus often tastes sweet at first, but comes with a challenge that might be bitter to us. When he seems to us to be just one created being among many, even if he is the most powerful and compassionate of them, he then becomes someone with whom we begin to compare ourselves, even if unconsciously. We see him as someone who should be addressing our needs as we understand those needs to be, and in precisely the way we desire. We see him as just one more piece of a universe that still revolves ultimately around ourselves, which we believe we ought to be able to orchestrate for our own motives. If this is impossible for us we won't necessarily reevaluate Jesus himself. Rather, we will tend to look for ways to dismiss the dramatic nature of his claims.

He said to them, “Surely you will quote me this proverb,

‘Physician, cure yourself,’ and say,

‘Do here in your native place

the things that we heard were done in Capernaum.’”

When we hear about the powerful miracles that Jesus still works in the world today how do we respond? Do we demand that he do the same for us, displaying not faith, but a sense of entitlement? And when we ask but do not receive don't we begin to think of Jesus more as a son of Joseph, constrained by the limits of time and space, rather than Son of God?

And he said, “Amen, I say to you,

no prophet is accepted in his own native place.

Jesus had greater freedom to work in people who were able to experience him for the first time without any prejudice or preexisting bias. Those with whom he grew up were not at an advantage, despite seeing the excellence of his character as he matured into adulthood. That was perhaps what gave them their first impression on his return, that about his "gracious words". But it was not enough to save them from feeling jealous of Capernaum. Having grown up near him without knowing fully his Messianic identity did indeed give them a sense of special entitlement, a sense so strong that seeing others receive before them was viewed as a insult.

It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,

but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.

Jesus did not, as we might expect, continue on to a message where he assured the people of Nazareth that he loved them just as much of the people of Capernaum. He did not immediately begin to heal and liberate in their midst in order that they not feel left out. Rather, he leaned into their criticism. But he did so by explaining that this was not simply the way of Jesus the son of Joseph, but rather God's way, with plenty of precedent.

Again, there were many lepers in Israel

during the time of Elisha the prophet;

yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

Of course this response seems harsh to us. And it was provocative. But it was provocative to unmask the hidden jealousy and entitlement that would have otherwise remained beneath the surface. Having it provoked and tested gave them an opportunity to either resist, which they did not appear to do, or to repent when they saw themselves becoming something terrible.

They rose up, drove him out of the town,

and led him to the brow of the hill

on which their town had been built,

to hurl him down headlong.

They had believed that Jesus was merely one of them, and that they were therefore especially deserving of his blessings. But it now appeared that, whatever Jesus was, they were something less, something tainted. They would need to come to terms with that before they could revisit the message Jesus spoke, and come to understand themselves, not as deserving, but as those in desperate need. Just as we recently saw with David, a fall isn't necessarily the end. It can be precisely at rock bottom that the most important changes begin. We can hope that it was so for the people of Nazareth.

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I dedicated you,

a prophet to the nations I appointed you.

We have been tasked with the same mission as Jesus, proclaiming to the nations that true freedom is found in him, and that in him we can finally know a year acceptable to the Lord. But we, even more than he himself, will face resistance. Part of the reason for this is that we have much greater liabilities than the Sinless One. We are not perfect. We don't do or say everything right. People are much more correct when they think they know us to be mere sons and daughters of Adam and Eve than they were about Jesus's parentage. But at the same time there is a hidden reality within us, the presence of Jesus himself, which is not immediately evident. It is because of this reality, and not anything we are of ourselves, that we have something to offer. Yet since it is hidden, and since it is still often at odds with our behavior, we should expect it to be difficult for others to recognize. We ourselves are often legitimate obstacles to the presence of Jesus within us getting out of us to reach others. But his presence is able to work wonders through us, even while we are still imperfect, if we trust in him and not ourselves.

Be not crushed on their account,

as though I would leave you crushed before them;

for it is I this day

who have made you a fortified city,

a pillar of iron, a wall of brass,

against the whole land:

We ought not say of ourselves that we are merely sons and daughters of humanity, subject to the same limitations. That is now only a partial truth, and no longer the dominant reality for those who have been baptized. We should remember that we are sons and daughters of God himself, that it is this reality that compels us to speak, and this truth that is the content of our invitation to others.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It is not jealous, it is not pompous,

It is not inflated, it is not rude,

it does not seek its own interests,

We are called to grow up, such that our lives begin to take the same shape as Jesus himself, which was always only love. We can no longer be like Nazareth where the people believed that they could demand the gifts without knowing the giver. We can no longer call our love to truly be such while it remains jealous and self-seeking. We are called to put first things first. Then and only then will we receive all else besides. Those who love are trustworthy with the divine gifts, they remain self-forgetful, and continue in service of the mission. Those who still have some other priority would use gifts only to insulate our lives with comfort, and this is something that Jesus wisely will not allow of his disciples.

The best part about seeking the giver rather than the gifts is that the giver himself turns out to be the greatest treasure we can know. As we come to know him more and more we can begin to experience our desires coming to rest, and profound peace can begin to rule in our hearts.

At present I know partially;

then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three;

but the greatest of these is love.

Matt Maher - Isaiah 61

TobyMac - Made to Love

29 January 2022 - do you not care?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,

so that it was already filling up.

Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.

This scene may serve as a metaphor for something many of us frequently experience. Difficulties so dire arise that it would seem to us that no one could ignore them. In this sense we experience storms that are so intense that it would seem that no one could remain asleep. Yet somehow Jesus seems, if anything, more likely to be asleep during these storms. Maybe it only seems as though he sleeps more often during the storm because it stands out more to us. Nevertheless his ability and willingness to remain asleep is something we often experience as a challenge of faith.

They woke him and said to him,

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

Jesus was not absent. He was with them in the boat. Yet he was not immediately responsive to what was for the disciples their most urgent concern. The winds blew and the waves crashed but he did nothing. Was he truly indifferent, as the disciples feared?

He woke up,

rebuked the wind, 

and said to the sea, “Quiet!  Be still!”

The wind ceased and there was great calm.

Jesus arose and demonstrated his compassion by doing what his disciples desired. It was not merely a concession to human weakness, as though they ought to have simply gritted the teeth and sailed onward through the storm without bothering him, as though to wake him at all was somehow a fault.

Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?

Do you not yet have faith?”

The problem with the disciple's prayer was not the content of the request but the attitude of those who made it. We are meant to wake Jesus when our circumstances overwhelm us. But even then we are meant to go to him with faith. We are not supposed to see the fact that we have been exposed to this or that trial as evidence that the Lord does not care for us. Why does the Lord allow for storms in our lives? It is often precisely so that we might learn to trust him more. We are meant to be able to see water filling up our little boats and yet go calmly and quietly to our sleeping Lord, to ask him in faith to save us, and to never doubt that he cares enough to do so. 

We may ask, what if Jesus doesn't calm the storms immediately? Are we then justified in losing some of our trust in his power or in his compassion? On the one hand, we don't want to experience any trial longer than is his plan for us, which we otherwise might if we don't ask right away. On the other, even when we do ask immediately, he sometimes seems difficult to awaken. In those moments he seems to us especially indifferent to the fact that we are perishing. Yet if we set our minds in advance we will be better prepared when the inevitable occurs. Scripture tells us that when we come to serve the Lord we ought to prepare for trial (see Sirach 2:1). We know that these trials are the disciplines of the Lord that he gives to those whom he loves (see Hebrews 12:6). We know that Jesus himself emphasized perseverance, especially in prayer (for instance, Luke 18:1-8). The longer the period between what we request and seeing our prayers answered the longer we have to exercise our faith, patiently and confidently trusting in the Lord to accomplish his will. Is this easier said than done? Absolutely. Yet it should not remain so. With each victory he accomplishes in our lives our trust is meant to grow, and will grow if we spend time in thankful meditation on the deeds he has done.

They were filled with great awe and said to one another,

“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

The disciples began to grow from an understanding of Jesus that was still of one who was merely human to one who seemed in some mysterious way to be divine. We who confess Jesus as Lord still need to internalize this understanding that we profess with our minds until the peace that is a logical consequence of the truth of it can finally control our hearts.

He made the storm be still,

and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven. (see Psalm 107:29-30).

Trusting in the Lord could have saved David when he felt the flames of temptation rising in his heart. But it was at least as important that he managed to trust after having fallen. He saw the anger of the Lord's indignation threatening to sweep him away like a storm. The Lord might have seemed especially likely to keep sleeping in that instance, indifferent to David after David's failure. But David did give himself entirely to despair. He knew that the Lord was known to save those who were perishing, even through their own fault, that he was in fact renown for his mercy. So amidst the storm of condemnation David sought mercy.

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

Nathan answered David: “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin:

you shall not die.

The mercy he received made him well disposed to the endure the chastisement that still inevitably had to follow. It did not take all the consequences and their pain away, but enabled him to live through them without being consumed by them. He had received the Lord's mercy and understood that it was by that mercy that he lived on. He eventually arrived at a haven of peace and trust that was greater than before he sinned.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,

and a willing spirit sustain in me.

Natalie Grant - Praise You In This Storm

28 January 2022 - he knows not how

Today's Readings

(Audio)

With the Kingdom of God, God himself is a sower who generously and abundantly sows the seed. He is not overly precious with it, but releases it even into environments that seem less than perfect or unprepared to receive it. And for the special seed of the King this is not foolishness, for the seed can thrive even and especially in adversity.

This is how it is with the Kingdom of God;

it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land

We are called to imitate the King and sow seeds of the Kingdom, whether that means inviting, teaching, healing, giving alms, or the other corporeal and spiritual works of mercy by which seeds are planted. But we are advised that once the seeds are planted we won't be able to closely track or monitor the growth. It may feel for a time as though nothing is happening, as though our efforts have been wasted. We must cede control, but should not for that reason give up on the seeds. Our desire to have too much control can become problematic and actually interfere with the growth and the operation of grace. When we insist on making hidden things our business we tend to disturb them rather than adding anything helpful to process.

and would sleep and rise night and day

and the seed would sprout and grow,

he knows not how.

Of its own accord the land yields fruit

The hiddenness of growth is true in others. But it is probably even more true for individuals trying to assess themselves. When we try to measure our growth we often find ourselves unable to recognize much or any progress. We can see all too well the things we tried apart from grace and the adverse effects they had. We can see times when we neglected water or fertilizer and our growth seems to have become stunted or stagnated, or because of which we even began to whither. But this is not to say that there was not much growth, perhaps enough even to outweigh any mistakes or setbacks. It is only that the grace that makes us grow is not directly in our control, but is nevertheless internal to us, operating in the very center of our being. The grace hidden within us conspires with grace around us to make even circumstances which to us seem adverse work together for our good. But it not typical that we are aware of this at the time, and even afterward we are often more aware of our current need for growth than any past progress. This is actually a good sign, a sign that we have not become overly content, which might be the beginning of neglect and indifference.

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign,

David sent out Joab along with his officers

and the army of Israel, 

and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.

David, however, remained in Jerusalem.

We see in this morning's first reading that David he had become complacent. It was the time for kings to go out on campaign but David chose instead to remain and indulge himself in Jerusalem. He had justified this to himself no doubt by remembering all of his past victories. Were not these enough? Was David not a plant already full grown and that no longer needed to strain toward the light? Having this false sense of completion exposed David to temptations he otherwise would not have faced. Had he realized his continued need for growth the whole incident with Bathsheba might have been avoided.

Then David sent messengers and took her.

When she came to him, he had relations with her.

She then returned to her house.

Fortunately this was not the end of David's story. Although he first tried to hide from the consequences of his actions he did eventually come to a deep and profound repentance. He sinned greatly, but his contrition was greater still. And it was here, hidden even from David himself, that he had more growth than during any of his military conquests. He learned to turn to God for mercy in the greatest of his failures. He learned that it was necessary to depend on God, not himself, and to cling to that dependence even when he himself failed and was found wanting. In learning to depend on mercy David grew in ways which may have likely remained obscure to him, but which helped to convert his own heart to be more like the merciful heart of God.

The ways that we grow are often obscure to us and the things that cause us to grow may seem to small or insignificant to do much good. But we are called by these very facts to learn to trust the sower, the seed, and the land that yields fruit of its own accord. They are all a call to rely on the grace of God rather than ourselves, lest we find ourselves neglecting our duty when it times for us, kings and queens by virtue of our baptism, to wage war against the powers of darkness. Yet even when we fail we can take heart. Even the times that seem to have been the worst for us, where we sinned the most grievously, can, in God's providence, become the occasions for our greatest growth.

Let me hear the sounds of joy and gladness;

the bones you have crushed shall rejoice.

Turn away your face from my sins,

and blot out all my guilt.

Huron Hills Church - Mea Culpa (Lord, Have Mercy)

DC Talk - The Hard Way 

27 January 2022 - time to shine

Today's Readings

(Audio)

For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; 

nothing is secret except to come to light.

There is a hidden beginning to much in the Kingdom. Things start small and growth is all but invisible. But they don't remain small. Eventually hidden seeds pierce the soil and become visible. The mustard seed does not remain the smallest of seeds but eventually become the largest of plants. Jesus himself began by emphasizing the hidden, for he did not spread the truth of his identity publicly all at one time. He in fact forbade those he healed from telling others too soon. It was in his resurrection that the seed finally pierced the soil of public view. It was therefore finally the proper time for the whole world to know, evidenced by the Great Commission Jesus gave to his disciples.

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation" (see Mark 16:15).

Corresponding to the way in which the Kingdom itself began hidden but finally manifested is the way it first takes root in the heart of individuals. There is much hiddenness that is necessary in our own lives, retiring to our inner room to pray, not letting our left hand know the good deeds that our right hand is doing. But these beginnings are not meant to prevent us from going public when the time comes. We allow the seed to be prepared in humility so that when it necessarily bursts through the soil it won't succumb to pride. 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 5:16).

We are called to shine our light, but without letting the focus become all about us. The more we can be self-forgetful while giving alms or speaking the truth the better it will be both for ourselves and others.

The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, 

and still more will be given to you.

Jesus reorders the common expectation, telling us to be concerned first with what we can give, rather than what we can get out of an exchange. The more this is truly our measure the more we will step out of our own way and become free to receive what God does in fact have in store for us as well. We are called to get ourselves off of our minds and to love others, but with the trust the God himself will take care of us.

To the one who has, more will be given; 

The one who receives even a little from Jesus, who focuses on it, and puts it into practice opens herself to receive still more from him. If we begin in a small way to let our light shine and love others we will find that he himself responds to those who are faithful even in small matters. Even acts of giving that we think too insignificant to matter, when they are truly measured out in charity, turn out to have effects that are entirely disproportionate to the initial cause.

from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

If we try to rely entirely on what we have and what we are apart from Jesus we will find it to be an unsustainable enterprise. Apart from him we feel the need to measure out to ourselves before we give anything to others. But in emphasizing this need to be in charge of our own destiny, in this failure to trust in providence, we close ourselves off from the only things that truly matter, the lasting treasures of the Kingdom. Fortunately, the one who has not need not remain impoverished. Even the smallest seed in the Kingdom can be sufficient to fill an entire life and to change the world.

David had to learn that the essential thing for him was not what he could do for God but what God wanted to do for him. David wanted to build a temple for the Lord. But the Lord wanted to show David that, whatever David would measure out as gift, it would need to begin with the abundance of the Lord first blessing him. Before David built a house for the Lord the Lord promised a dynasty for David.

It is you, LORD of hosts, God of Israel, 

who said in a revelation to your servant, 

‘I will build a house for you.’

David still in some sense needed the hidden time to allow the Lord to work before the the temple could appear. He desired to measure out that gift, but the Lord did not want that temple to seem to be a work of men, or a point of pride. It was rather only in consequence of the Lord's gift of Solomon that they David, who did in fact store up the materials for the temple, would realize his dream.

How wonderful it is that the Lord can do such mighty deeds in the secret ordinary aspects of our lives. But we must also remember that we live in the age of the Spirit, having become witnesses of the resurrection, entrusted with the Gospel message. We ought to continue to keep hidden and secret space for growth, but not fear when the Lord himself desires that we let our light shine.

For the LORD has chosen Zion,

he prefers her for his dwelling:

"Zion is my resting place forever;

in her I will dwell, for I prefer her."

Newsboys - Secret Kingdom

Newsboys - Step Up To The Microphone

Newsboys - Shine

26 January 2022 - saintly soil

Today's Readings

(Audio)

These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.

As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once 

and takes away the word sown in them.

Instead of a superficial faith we need one which is sincere, as was the faith that lived in Timothy. For him, the truth was not merely a word which he heard and then forgot. Part of the reason for that was that he was fortunate to grow up in a household of faith were the word could be nurtured and given a privileged position against potential alternatives. The surrounding soil was protective for him as the faith grew up within him.

We too, whether or not we have been raised in the faith, must seek environments in which our growth can be healthy. Much of it will come down to how we ourselves respond when we hear the truth. Instead of merely unraveling interesting religious or philosophical mysteries we need to come to recognize religious truth, as Paul emphasized to Titus. It must be religious truth as contrasted with mere opinion, truth as opposed to our desire to be the authors and self-creators of our own narratives. When we know that it is only in the truth that the hope of eternal life can found found, and in which the grace and peace of the Father and the Son can be experienced, then the truth will not simply sit upon the surface of our hearts where it is vulnerable.

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who, 

when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.

But they have no roots; they last only for a time.

Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, 

they quickly fall away.

We need to put down roots to ensure that the rocks we encounter don't prevent us from getting the nourishment we need. We need more than initial enthusiasm. Initial enthusiasm will eventually dry up. Instead of relying on it we should heed Paul's advice to "stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands". The initial gift might well result in a burst of enthusiasm. But it can only help us against ongoing tribulation and persecution if we continue to fan it into flames. Then it can help us overcome "a spirit of cowardice" which will otherwise result when we encounter tribulation and persecution. When we don't take the gift for granted, but seek to be ever more open to it, we will find it manifests as "power and love and self-control". We will not need to be ashamed of the Gospel, as our weakness would otherwise tempt us, but will have the "strength that comes from God" to face the trials that will inevitably come.

Those sown among thorns are another sort.

They are the people who hear the word, 

but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, 

and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, 

and it bears no fruit.

The thorns of this world remain a threat to us even after we have put down roots and seem somewhat established in our growth. Temptations like worldly anxiety and the lure of riches tempt us to attempt to nourish and sustain ourselves in ways that only God is meant to do. We, the plant, try to take over responsibility for our growth from the gardener. These are not merely unfortunate mistakes but harmful to the disposition of souls that are meant to be receptive to grace. When we insist on relying on ourselves it is only natural that the future will seem fearful, and that we might seek riches to maintain some semblance of control. Instead, we need to learn to rely on the gift of the Spirit, to fan it into flames not just once, but consistently. We are not meant to grow with only the strength that comes from us, which is nothing, but the strength that comes from God, which is more than enough. 

But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it

and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.

The call is simple enough to hear, but requires a response to live. The gift that we received, perhaps even without much thought or gratitude, contains all we need to live lives of power, love, and self-control. If that gift in us is now reduced to  mere embers, or if we see it dimming as the winds of circumstance become dire, we need to focus on more consistently stirring it up. That is not to say it is merely a feeling we stoke in ourselves. It is rather a fire that has all the fuel it needs, that is ever ready to burn, if we will simply desire and pray that it do so. 

When the Spirit is alive in us we will become as effective and trustworthy for the mission of the Kingdom as the saints. Indeed, the saints, Timothy and Titus and Paul included, will seem more and more to be working with us for that mission, the more that we all share that one Spirit.

Will Reagan - United Pursuit - Set a Fire

25 January 2022 - a chosen instrument

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I persecuted this Way to death,

binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.

Paul demonstrates for us that we ought never rule out anyone from being used by God. There is nothing that can so disqualify us as to make unusable by God for his purposes. Even our mistakes and sins can be recast by our conversion to be evidence of our credibility.

Even the high priest and the whole council of elders

can testify on my behalf.

For from them I even received letters to the brothers

and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem

in chains for punishment those there as well.

Certainly it must have pained Paul to remember the harm he caused to those who were now fellow followers of Jesus. It was no longer a past of which he was proud. Yet he spoke of it boldly, without shrinking back, in order to show that he was not only without bias toward Jesus, he was won over in spite of a bias against him, a misdirection of his extreme zeal for God.

On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,

about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.

It is reassuring to see that God can use surprising people for his purposes, taking the initiative himself when there seems to be no chance for change from a human point of view. We see the pure grace of a direct intervention that was able to overcome even the mostly deeply rooted opposition in the heart of Paul. We see God's unmerited favor poured out, transforming those he called into those whom he could send. This was so much the case that Paul regarded all that he previously considered gain now seemed to be so much rubbish.

Even in Paul's case, however, it was not a conversion that happened entirely isolated from the past. The fact the he was able understand the voice that told him that it was "Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting" was almost certainly all the more intelligible for what he saw at the stoning of Stephen, where Stephen became almost transparent to the presence of Christ himself. 

In addition to the impact of the martyrdom of Stephen another thing that prepared for the conversion of Paul was certainly the fact that the whole community of early Christians was united in prayer. It was a prayer that paved the way for God to act in ways that would perhaps have been surprising even to that community. Because of the surprising things they had already seen they were prepared and praying for God to continue to surprise them, to open doors that they might have thought to be tightly sealed. Members of that community were living in the power of the Holy Spirit, able to hear the voice of the Lord even when it made the unthinkable suggestion of outreach to their most vehement opponents.

The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight

and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. 

He is there praying,

and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias

come in and lay his hands on him,

that he may regain his sight.”

Granted, when Ananias heard that message he did discern it. He was not reckless but he was obedient when it turned out that the message was more than his imagination at work. 

Why did God go to all of the trouble to bring about the conversion of Paul, both by putting all of the right pieces in place, and by the direction intervention and appearance to Paul himself? Certainly Paul had personality traits that, when directed to the Kingdom, would make him an ideal evangelist. And it was doubtlessly true that the converted Paul was just as zealous as ever or even more so. But it may well have been that God called him at least as much for what he was not as for any qualifications of his. That zeal took on a new and humble context as Paul presented himself as the least of the disciples, the chief of sinners. He openly displayed his faults and liabilities so that the world could see that the main thing wasn't human strength, zeal, or persuasiveness, but the truth and power of Jesus himself. The same zeal he displayed as a persecutor of Christians was now entirely recast to showcase, not Paul, but Jesus himself.

Was Paul converted? In some sense yes. In some sense no. Much of what Paul received was a completion of things he had already known and pursued. Yet his change in direction, his change in motivation, his shift from violent suppression to proclamation do imply a break from the past in addition to whatever continuity there may have been. 

Why Paul? Perhaps not so much because of Paul, but because God knew who Paul would become when he received the grace offered. This was what it meant for him to be an instrument chosen by God himself. 

The conversion of Paul was so dramatic that we risk thinking it has nothing to say to us who may have been born into the faith, and those for whom conversion has been a more gradual and ongoing process. Yet God would say to us no less than Paul that we are chosen instruments for his plan. Whatever our past, whatever our liabilities and assets, God is able to recast them to make us perfect for whatever role he intends for us. 

Go into the whole world

and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;

We all have a part to play. Imagine Christianity without Paul and let us praise God for his contributions. Let us take heed not to neglect what God might want to do through us. Just as Paul's role was unexpected, both for Paul and for the world, so too might God's desires for us be more than we imagined.

These signs will accompany those who believe

Newsboys - Lead Me To The Cross

24 January 2022 - wrong division

Jebusite walls in the City of David, 2006

Today's Readings
(Audio)

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, 

“He is possessed by Beelzebub,” and

“By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”

The scribes might have preferred for Jesus to have been someone who could be easily dismissed or ignored. Yet the things Jesus was doing were widely recognized. Even the scribes themselves seemed unable to deny that they were in fact occurring. 

The scribes demonstrated that strict neutrality in the question of the identity of Jesus was almost impossible. He was simply too polarizing of a figure, and intended to be so. He said he came to cast fire on the earth, by which even households would be divided (see Luke 12:49-51) precisely on the question of their response to Jesus himself.

Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, 

“How can Satan drive out Satan?

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

And if a house is divided against itself, 

that house will not be able to stand.

Jesus came to bring division but not a divided Kingdom. He came in order to be the foundation of a Kingdom which could not be shaken, but which would at the same time expose all of the fault lines running through worldly power structures and even relationships built on merely human conventions or pretense. He came to reveal himself as the one source of unity, the one around whom the tribes good finally and forever be gathered. He came to pour out the Spirit so that people could know the unity that could only come from the unity of the Spirit by the bond of peace (see Ephesians 4:3).

The Kingdom Jesus came to inaugurate necessarily excluded the demons which he drove from those he came to him. It was a Kingdom which was utterly opposed to the kingdom of darkness. The very blows he struck to that kingdom revealed the goodness and Godliness which was the basis of his own. Jesus was in a sense dividing the light from the darkness, just as happened during the creation. When he set people free it was evident that the dark powers were delt a loss, that they there was now one fewer person over whom they held sway.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (see Colossians 1:13).

The division which Jesus accomplished was not within himself or within his body. It was rather between light and darkness, truth and falsehood. 

And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, 

he cannot stand; 

that is the end of him.

It was a blessing even to those who still remained in falsehood in darkness that they be able to clearly recognize where they stood, that they might seek repentance. They could hopefully even come to recognize that they first needed help to be free, that they needed someone stronger than the devil who could tie him up and plunder his spoils. That is, they could if they would only recognize that the stronger man was Jesus himself. They had already made themselves almost unable to do so, coming precariously close to the sin against the Holy Spirit. They not only denied Jesus on human terms but they proved ready to call good evil and evil good if it meant they could win people over against him.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (see Isaiah 5:20).

The scribes doubled down on darkness. Rather than allowing themselves to be drawn and united around the Son of David, to be pastured by the Good Shepherd, they insisted on not only wandering alone themselves but in attempting to lead others astray as well. They saw the finger of God at work in Jesus Christ and called it evil. It would be hard to imagine greater blindness. Yet perhaps even they were not beyond forgiveness, had not yet completely committed themselves to the blasphemy they had begun. The evidence of this is that Jesus himself summoned them, began to speak to them and to teach them. He desired that they become aware of the way in which they themselves had become divisive agents of darkness, who had in turn strengthened the division between themselves and the true Kingdom of light. Jesus attempted to show how flimsy were the arguments to which they had recourse, how logically incoherent it was to dismiss the evident work of the power of God out of hand.

Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables

We too may be tempted to question the Spirit at work when Jesus brings freedom so new and radical as to be unfamiliar. It may seem threatening to us, to our comfort, to the structures of power in our world. But we ought not give in to the temptation to call something evil which is merely dissonant with our experience or incompatible with our pride. We should look to it and judge it by the fruit it bears.

Then the king and his men set out for Jerusalem 

against the Jebusites who inhabited the region.

David was told, “You cannot enter here: 

the blind and the lame will drive you away!” 

David was a shepherd around whom Israel was meant to be gathered. Hence he was given the strength to take the stronghold of Zion which was meant to be the center of the Kingdom over which he would rule, the center of both the political authority of the king and the spiritual authority of the temple. Jesus himself was a new and greater David who overcame, not Jebusites, but all of the powers of darkness themselves in order to gain access for all of us to the heavenly Jerusalem, our true eternal home. Our business now is one of gathering, of inviting people to experience a taste of that Kingdom as it is manifest in the Church on earth. This means that we continue to welcome those willing to embrace the light, to assist by grace those who desire to be free from demons and darkness. To do this we must seek continued conversion ourselves, to live lives ever more completely within the light, with nothing to hide, fully able to embrace the work of God within in among us.

DC Talk - In the Light

23 January 2022 - the joy of the Lord

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly,

which consisted of men, women,

and those children old enough to understand.

The people of Israel had returned from captivity in Babylon and completed the key projects of rebuilding the temple and the city walls. They gathered before Ezra for the culmination of this restoration, to listen as the law was proclaimed, the law which had not been heard for so long. What they heard ought to have resonated with the words of the prophet Isaiah. They were the poor now hearing glad tidings, the former captives now at liberty, those who could not see their homeland or read the law now having their eyes opened to those realities. They were the oppressed who were finally free. It was a year, after long exile, and after all of the rebuilding that followed, that might finally be acceptable to the Lord.

as he opened it, all the people rose.

Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God,

and all the people, their hands raised high, answered, 

“Amen, amen!”

The people were pierced to the heart by what they heard. The law did not merely strike them as a curiosity or as entertainment but as a long lost treasure. Their response was not one which was consistent with those who merely heard a list of moral obligations, though those were of course among the words they heard. It was something which engaged them more entirely than any list of rules or moral philosophy could do. With the help of Ezra's interpretation it captivated their attention from daybreak till midday. Their whole body response to what was heard was evidence that they desired to come under the authority of what they heard.

Then they bowed down and prostrated themselves before the LORD,

their faces to the ground.

They clearly recognized that the law was a treasure, not a burden. Like the psalmist they could have said that the "ordinances of the LORD a true, all of them just". Yet, unlike they psalmist, this did not immediately move them to joy. There was something blocking them from experiencing the word as "refreshing the soul" and "rejoicing the heart". 

“Today is holy to the LORD your God.

Do not be sad, and do not weep”—

for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.

It seemed that as they experienced the value of the law they also came to realize all of the ways in which it had been absent, in which they had each been far from the law. It was as though they learned the way in which they were meant to be a part of the story of God and his people, the special destiny of those chosen to blessed and to bless the nations, and could now see even more deeply how far from that destiny the exile years had been. Even the reconstruction may have seemed too insignificant to ever fully return to embracing their destiny as the chosen people. They reacted as those traumatized by the oppression of their history, who recognized the beauty that was meant to be, but who doubted it could be realized in them.

He said further: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks,

and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared;

for today is holy to our LORD.

Do not be saddened this day,

for rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!”

The walls and the temple were rebuilt. The word of God was being proclaimed. But that word required a response. It was an invitation to the people that they themselves allow their own hearts to be individually restored by the word as they heard it. It was this word that would finally give structure and stability to all of the external structures by renewing hearts from the inside out. 

rejoicing in the LORD must be your strength!

They were invited to fix their minds and hearts on the good news they were now hearing rather than allowing their attention to be dragged down by reflections on the past. They were not to focus on the ways in which Israel had failed, nor even the ways in which their own lives without the law were less than they were intended to be. The word of God itself, the law proclaimed and received, was the the only source that could ever get them beyond those things. Only by allowing the Lord to speak his own joy to them could their hearts join their bodies in this return from exile. 

He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me 

to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to proclaim a year acceptable to Lord.

What Nehemiah and Ezra experienced was at best a provisional example of what the prophet Isaiah spoke. During the period of history when Jesus himself read these words they were associated specifically with the coming of the Messiah in the minds of the Jewish people. That people again felt like captives, oppressed by the Roman occupation, and awaited someone who would once again proclaim to them glad tidings. Hence they paid rapt attention to Jesus as he handed the scroll back to the attendant and "the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him", just the psalmist wrote, "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season" (see Psalm 145:15).

What would Jesus say next? Would he announce a military project by which the Romans would be overthrown? Would he suggest doubling down on rigid external obedience like the Pharisees in order to, as it were, strengthen the walls and the temple? It probably seemed that whatever point he had to make would be one about what change was needed going forward, that could finally break with the cycles of oppression in the history of the Jewish people. And if that was the expectation, what he actually said must have been all the more surprising.

He said to them,

“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

The people knew that if the left that synagogue they would find the nation was still under the sway of Roman occupation. In what sense were the captives at liberty or the oppressed set free? It could only be in a deeper and internal way that, just as for those who heard Ezra's proclamation, would only have its true power from the inside out. The word itself, by virtue of its own power, could give the strength to rejoice by setting free hearts and minds that were captive to something deeper and more pernicious than the Romans.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me 

This anointing was demonstrated when Jesus was baptized when he came out of the water and "immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove" (see Mark 1:9).

to bring glad tidings to the poor.

For Jesus said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (see Luke 6:20).

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives

For Jesus said, "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (see John 8:36).

and recovery of sight to the blind

Not just because he healed the blind (see Luke 18:35-43), but because he himself said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (see John 8:12).

to let the oppressed go free,

This was what Peter would later describe, saying, "He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him" (see Acts 10:38).

and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

The year acceptable to the Lord because one had come who would finally live a life as an acceptable offering that entirely pleasing to the Father. This was now the year of Jubilee and what remained to do was to receive Jesus himself, just as Zacchaeus did, with joy (see Luke 19:6). 

Let us not fixate on the obstacles that seem insurmountable, the way that plague and politics and all of the rest have made us all feel in some way like exiles, even though we may mostly now return to our churches. Those walls won't be strong unless we first allow the word of God to give new life to our hearts. We must do more than bemoan missed opportunities or impose programmatic external solutions. Rather, we must begin from within, allowing ourselves to receive the joy of the Lord, the joy of experiencing a word that fulfills itself as we hear it. 

Rend Collective - The Joy of the Lord

Newsboys - Rejoice

Matt Maher - I Rejoice

22 January 2022 - relative-ism

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus came with his disciples into the house.

Again the crowd gathered,

making it impossible for them even to eat.

When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, 

for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 

The relatives of Jesus felt the need to take matters into their own hands to protect the reputation of the family from being damaged by one who was reputed to be "out of his mind", which might even mean possessed (see John 10:20). The relatives left from Nazareth to seize Jesus at Capernaum in order to run damage control. It was a similar response to what Jesus would later experience when he himself came to Nazareth and preached in their synagogue. 

"A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household" (see Mark 6:4).

The closer people were to Jesus before his ministry the less willing they seemed to understand him once it started. Family and friends, people who should have been the first to advocate for him, were actually among the first to reject him. Familiarity with Jesus ought to have made them aware of his moral integrity and his utter lack of pretense, of the way his heart was always close to the heart of God. Yet when Jesus began his ministry it was something his relatives could not understand on the basis of mere historical precedent. Rather than being open to the fact that something amazing was beginning through and around Jesus they could only see it through a purely human lens.

When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, 

for they said, “He is out of his mind.” 

To arrive at this opinion the relatives must have selectively ignored the stories of healing and deliverance and instead focused only on the opinions of those in the crowd that doubted and disbelieved, those who saw only disorder and disturbance because they weren't looking closely enough. Why would relatives of all people do this? Did they feel particularly threatened or betrayed by this new role which Jesus took seemed to have taken upon himself, as though he were now too good for them, or as though he were leaving them behind? Those thoughts may not have been conscious but perhaps they distorted their interpretation of the reports about Jesus.

Jesus's relatives can serve as a warning for us that our familiarity is never a guarantee of perseverance. Just as we feel comfortable with the way things have been in our relationship with Jesus he may begin doing something new around us or within our hearts. We remain free to accept or reject him. The temptation is to limit ourselves to see Jesus according to a human interpretation of our past experiences with him. We may feel slighted that we experienced (or so we believe) a relatively normal and mundane Jesus for so long and yet only now something new, miraculous, and unexpected is said to be beginning. The bigger the crowd that proclaims it before we experience it the harder it can be for us to hear it. When it impinges on practical matters it can be even harder. We are not fans of anything that makes it impossible for us even to eat. Yet we have been given these lessons in advance so that we can recognize the temptation to put limits on Jesus when it occurs and to instead take the side of those who surrounded him with eager expectation.

There is often a human way to view a situation that is not the Godly way. He said through his prophet that his thoughts were not our thoughts. Jesus himself accused Peter of thinking as "human beings do" (see Matthew 16:23), as though that was now below what was expected of him. All of this is an invitation to make sure we are putting the renewed mind we have by virtue of our baptism to use by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. For people surrounding David the death of Saul would have seemed like a victory but David realized that such a death could never be a victory. Saul was the Lord's anointed and it was sorrowful to see him come to such an end. It was even more sorrowful to see so close a friend as Jonathan fallen by the sword. It was a victory for David in human terms, and many of the people around him would have had him celebrate. But such a celebration would have inevitably entailed the hardening of David's heart which instead remained pliant and malleable. 

“How can the warriors have fallen,

the weapons of war have perished!”

Yet we know that David had prophetic intimations of the resurrection. He was able to enter into a grief that did not become despair because, however sad this was, his trust in God was greater. He did not grieve in a merely human way, which is to say, without hope.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope (see First Thessalonians 4:13).

Christians who recognize that death is not the end may seem out of their minds to a world whose hope is only in this life. We ourselves must constantly reject the mindset that tells us that there is nothing more than this life. We can instead embrace the lavish hope we have been given.

Let us see your face, Lord, and we shall be saved.

David Crowder Band - Undignified

 

21 January 2022 - the Lord's anointed

James J. Tissot, 'David and Saul in the Cave' (1896-1902), gouache on board, The Jewish Museum, New York.

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted 

and they came to him.

The selection of the Twelve took a different tone than the calling of the first disciples. It was not something that simply had during his travels as the opportunities arose. It was a decisive moment that occurred after a night spent in prayer. For this he would not go out to them but rather would rather call them to himself, "and they came to him". Here was more than a rabbi selecting students. Here Jesus was forming a renewed Israel around himself. 

Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (see Matthew 19:28).

The selection of the Twelve had a great continuity with what had come before, a fitting fulfillment to the promises, including those to Abraham about his descendants, and to David about the kingdom he ruled. But it was not merely a nation or a kingdom in that limited sense that Jesus was forming.

He appointed Twelve, whom he also named Apostles,

that they might be with him

and he might send them forth to preach 

and to have authority to drive out demons

Jesus gave the leaders of the new Israel the authority to do what he himself had already begun to do. Their thrones of judgment were not merely for the settling of earthly disputes. Their authority was not merely the authority of a state to keep the citizenry in line. Theirs was first and foremost a spiritual authority over the power of sin and therefore even over death itself. People could come to the Twelve to experience they first experienced from Jesus: the truth that made one free. Rather than fighting off the yoke of the Romans the Twelve used their authority to fight against the dark powers themselves by undermining the foothold of sin that allowed them to maintain their influence in the world.

We recognize the special ways in which those appointed as successors of the Twelve continue to possess this power and authority. They are uniquely empowered to preach, to convey the forgiveness of sins, and to exorcise demons. But although their role is unique we have all been called by Jesus to a unique mission, entrusted with the truth that we need to stand fast in freedom, and given the authority we need to fulfill the role he has chosen for us. We know this because we know that we have all been made priests, prophets, and kings and queens by virtue of our baptism. We all possess the same anointing of the Holy Spirit from which this authority issues. We need not live as mere passive victims to the powers of darkness in our lives. 

If we have lost our sense of the anointing and the power that arises from it then the time has come for us to listen for the summons of Jesus. Let us spend some time apart with him so that he can confirm us in our mission. That mission may at first seem to us too simple to require such dramatic assistance. For example being a parent, or an employee, or a friend, for going to the grocery store, or even using social media all might seem too insignificant to fall under the auspices of our mission. But there is nothing too insignificant, no business of ours in which God himself does not desire to be involved.

David demonstrated the way in which it is better to fully involve the Lord than to merely take matters into one's own hands. He was fully capable of slaying Saul as he slept in the cave. Saul had been threatening David's life and David knew that he was destined for the kingship. But even then he would not overstep the authority given by the Lord with merely human supposition or pretense about how to accomplish that destiny.

The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, 

the LORD’s anointed, as to lay a hand on him, 

for he is the LORD’s anointed.

There may be new places in our own lives where the Lord desires to make our kingship or queenship evident. But we must not try to seize them ourselves. We must be patient, even through suffering, trusting that the Lord is more than able to deliver on his promises in his way, in his time.

And now, I know that you shall surely be king 

and that sovereignty over Israel shall come into your possession.

May we not despair when we encounter opposition. May we hold fast to the end that we might be saved, saved unto the fullness of life that Lord desires to bestow.

In the shadow of your wings I take refuge,

till harm pass by.

Mike Balhoff - You Have Anointed Me