30 September 2024 - the greatest and the least

Today's Readings

(Audio)

An argument arose among the disciples

about which of them was the greatest.

Having returned from a recent failed attempt to exorcize a demon it wasn't long before the disciples' conversation devolved into rivalry and division. There was something about failure that made them more eager to define and emphasize their own worth and value. But they didn't know a better way to do this been defining themselves over and against the ones who were supposed to be their teammates and their brothers. They could only see their value on a relative scale of better or worse which implicitly or explicitly implicated everyone else as having some position on that scale. They were reeling from their failure, but still struggled to find reasons to insist that at least they had this or that going for them. And the this or the that could only be seen as valuable if it was something that few or none possessed. It is easy to see why characteristic common to all could not produce the sense of being valuable in such a scheme. They put such stock in their own goodness coming from success that failure sent their thoughts immediately to comparison with others in order to vindicate some sense of worth. They thought that the one most like Jesus is his success and popularity was the best and greatest disciple. But there was actually another way, not related to action or ability, in which one could imitate Jesus.

Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child

and placed it by his side and said to them,

"Whoever receives this child in my name receives me,

and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

Receiving a child wasn't an attention grabbing headline. It wasn't something one would put on a poster and hang on the wall. It seemed insignificant, trivial, and even without value. But Jesus revealed that there was in fact a hidden meaning in such a gesture that was actually greater than the external appearance of success or usefulness. Receiving the marginalized, the disenfranchised, and those with nothing to contribute made one more like Jesus than even being a water walking wonder worker would necessarily imply.

If Jesus himself associated so closely with those with no social value, who did not make even a blip on the radar of the great ones of the earth, then his disciples should learn that they too could become childlike, and let go of their insistence on attaining the highest position by the best performance. Only from such a posture, free from the need to compete, could they be open to realize the truth that whoever was not against them was for them.

For the one who is least among all of you

is the one who is the greatest.

The kingdom wouldn't be built be struggling for prestige or popularity. Lack of success might seem like a real roadblock along the way. But the value of disciples was not determined by the success the experienced, but by their willingness to accept and welcome the Lord Jesus and the one who sent him. The world would never celebrate such milestones. But the world was not exactly known as a reliable source of lasting peace. That was something that could only be found in Jesus himself.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

incline your ear to me; hear my word.

Show your wondrous mercies,

O savior of those who flee

from their foes to refuge at your right hand.

Matt Maher - Come To The Water/I Will Run To You

29 September 2024 - would that all were prophets

Today's Readings

(Audio)

At that time, John said to Jesus,

"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,

and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."

Jesus had only just told them that the one that wished to be first would need to become the last of all and the servant of all. And yet here the disciples were already taking issue with someone because he was not their follower. We note that the primary concern was not whether or not this exorcist was a follower of Jesus but rather whether he was a follower of the disciples. To some extent, since the disciples were being prepared as leaders in the messianic kingdom Jesus was establishing, it was natural for them to want to keep a tight grasp on authority. 

Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.

There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name

who can at the same time speak ill of me.

Jesus, however, was not concerned that this man was not a rank and file follower of the disciples. The important part was that the genuine motivation and power behind the mighty deed was the name of Jesus himself. Obviously it was possible to misuse this name in a way that implied one did not really know Jesus (see Matthew 7:21-23). But when it was used sincerely it became a basis of unity for the Church from the bottom up. Sincerity and unity could not be imposed top down by hierarchy, although the hierarchy could rightfully rule out things inconsistent with the name of Jesus. But it was possible for those in the hierarchy to fail to notice much genuine good happening in the world outside. There was always the temptation for leaders to think they had foreseen all the possibilities of genuine good and therefore reject anything that deviated from their model. What Jesus was really worried about was that they would become more obsessed with their own ways than his way, their own methods and practical prescriptions. They would then imagine that the programs they began could do no wrong well those of others would be of lesser value or none at all. 

Arguably, the hierarchy in our day is actually quite good at recognizing goods within the mission fields of the world. This is even when those goods seem to appear from the bottom up. We can see this in the cautious acceptance of the new ecclesial movements in past decades as an example. But what about us? How are we at recognizing what Jesus is doing beyond the bounds of our preconceptions and expectations? Do we automatically rule out anything just because we haven't seen it before, or because it is at odds with our own individual preferences? We should be careful not to ignore genuine good which may benefit from our own cooperation since "whoever is not against us is for us". On the other hand, do we, by contrast, accept anything at all, naively neglecting to test it and see if it truly honors the name of Jesus?

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. (see First John 4:1-3).

The criteria for whether or not something has value is not how we feel about it, not the subjective response it elicits. It isn't even so much about our own judgments or reasoning insofar as we tend to limit ourselves to those ideas with which with have some affinity. The criteria is rather about the name of Jesus and whether the possible good we perceive has legitimate potential value for the building up of his kingdom. Clearly, casting out a demon has such a value. Such actions are not of the devil, since a house divided cannot stand (see Mark 3:25). And they go further, since they do not leave the formerly possessed man empty, but provide a relationship with Jesus to fill the space vacated by the powers of darkness.

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,

it would be better for him if a great millstone

were put around his neck

and he were thrown into the sea.

It is precisely because the good to be found in the name of Jesus is so good that we shouldn't treat sin lightly. It is because of the greatness of the good they threaten that those who put the possibility of relationship with Jesus at risk for others are at particular risk themselves. There is therefore a great need to avoid sin and especially being the cause of scandal for others. Part of the way we can accomplish this is to not dally with sin and to show it no quarter in our own lives. We should act directly an immediately to "cut it off" before it grows to a level where it is out of control and unmanageable. To be clear, this may involve some pain. It may involve avoiding circumstances that are not in themselves inherently bad but which we know to be occasions of sin for us. If we insist on pursuing such desires that cannot satisfy the end result may be that we eventually find such unquenchable fire to be our whole world in Gehenna. 

But Moses answered him,

"Are you jealous for my sake?

Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!

Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!"

What if the Lord was acting and present in the world in more ways than those which are obvious and for which we already give him credit? Wouldn't it be hopeful? And yet we know that the desire of Moses, that all be prophets, was also God's own desire, and one which he promised by the prophet Joel to fulfill in the age of the Church:

And it shall come to pass afterward,

that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;

your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

your old men shall dream dreams,

and your young men shall see visions.

Even on the male and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit (see Joel 2:28-29).

Phil Wickham - House Of The Lord

28 September 2024 - pay attention

Today's Readings

(Audio)

While they were all amazed at his every deed,

Jesus said to his disciples,

“Pay attention to what I am telling you.

The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” 

The disciples amazement at the mighty deeds of Jesus seemed to have the additional effect of lulling them into complacence and making it difficult for them to pay attention. They had recently failed to cast out a demon, but Jesus resolved that situation for them. They thus shifted back into the mode of passive observers content to relish the actions of Jesus with less direct involvement on their part. Jesus handling issues and solving every problem could lead to the subconscious hope for a hassle-free and comfortable life where Jesus would always act in that way, in it would not be necessary to reckon with individual failures because Jesus would always show up to make things right.

The passive attitude to which the glorious actions of Jesus seemed to lead was not a place in which they could learn what he wanted to teach next or understand what he wanted to tell them. For this reason he began by saying, "Pay attention to what I am telling you". He wanted to wake them up and help them transition from something unimaginably good to something unimaginably difficult. He knew that humanly this juxtaposition was hard to navigate and understood the temptation to shape one's attention to only receive the wholly positive and pleasant. But not everything Jesus had to say would be immediately positive or pleasant. And in fact, the main message of Jesus was not the surrounding miracles and mighty deeds, which were more like side effects of who he was, and demonstrations of the authenticity of his claims to authority. Or they were like previews of something that would come in fullness only on the far side of the dark hour after the resurrection. But in any case, they could not be the exclusive subject of one's focus or attention.

The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.

Jesus desired his disciples to have a more wholistic understanding of his mission, that it was not only focused on miracles, but especially on mercy, mercy which he could only bestow on the world through offering himself as a sacrifice for sin. This understanding of Jesus was necessary for anyone who wanted to be his disciple since disciples would need to take up their own crosses to follow him. He wanted disciples who could shift attention from miracles to mercy as God directed them in the midst of their concrete individual circumstances. He knew the temptation to live in only one mode, pure affirmation, or pure negation. Pure affirmation was obviously out the window in the sense of being able to focus only on pleasant feelings. But the cross was not a pure negation. It did not mean the triumph of suffering and death, but the opposite. There was a way to hold the tension of miracles and mercy in mind simultaneously when proper attention was paid to the cross. Because then the cross would be revealed to be an even greater affirmation of life and creation than anything the more simplistic miraculous manifestations could convey, because the cross led inexorably, and, importantly, irreversibly, to the resurrection.

Travis Cottrell - Jesus' Blood

27 September 2024 - the wisdom of crowds?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Who do the crowds say that I am?

Were the crowds ever been entirely right about the identity of Jesus? It seems to be the case that they often got bits and pieces correct. He performed mighty deeds. He spoke with authority. He was in some significant way different from the scribes and the Pharisees. He even seemed to many to be a great prophet. Perhaps, like John or Elijah he even had something to do with the end times and the messianic age. Even when they crucified him they said they did so because he "said that God was his own Father, making himself equal with God" (see John 5:18). They weren't wrong. But it seems that the crowds' appraisal could never go far enough. 

Jesus was in some way like John who was himself operating in the spirit and power of Elijah. He represented the fulfillment of everything for which John was the preparation, the lamb of God to which he pointed. He was, uniquely, the son of the Father, in a way that implied has equality with him as God from God, light from light. But even in the best cases the crowds couldn't see beyond the precedents. The closer they got to the truth, the more offended they became, and the less they were able to tolerate him. Even John the Baptist grated against the egos of those who heard him. But he was at least nothing more than a great prophet. Prophets had been ignored before. The people already had some comfort level with tacit acknowledgment of such messengers without bothering to repent or convert. But if God himself was present? There was no middle ground. One would either need to go all in for him and submit to his commands, or one would, as in fact happened, conspire to put him to death.

Who do the crowds say that I am?

In our own day the expert answers about the identity of Jesus run the gamut. Some suggest, implausibly, that he did not live at all but was only the result of myth, perhaps important in some symbolic way, but not real. Those who believe he existed tend to distrust the Gospel narratives of his life assuming there was some historical Jesus behind those texts. Perhaps he was just another military messiah who was later reinterpreted. Perhaps he only interested in the poor and the disenfranchised but later exaggerated into the figure we know from Scriptures. Very few in the modern 'crowd' are willing to go all the way with Jesus and believe what he said about himself and demonstrated by dying and rising from the dead. If we don't follow Jesus all the way it is easy to take his teachings and commands as advice and follow only what seems helpful. But if Jesus is who he says he is then there is no room for us to negotiate. It follows that he has direct vision of what constitutes the greatest good and knows without the possibility of error what makes for true human flourishing. But of course this is hard to accept. It is frightening for us to give up control to that extent.

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

Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”

What if it is true, though? What if Jesus is who he says he is? It might be initially frightening to surrender control. But what if there really is someone who is so wise as to have all the answers and so good as to lead us without the possibility of deceit? What if there is someone who really does want what is good for us more than we want it for ourselves? What if all of our desires really do have the possibility of being fulfilled? What if all of our thoughts about meaning and purpose really do have an ultimate answer? How might much might our lives truly be changed if we surrender everything to such a one?

He has made everything appropriate to its time,

and has put the timeless into their hearts,

without man’s ever discovering,

from beginning to end, the work which God has done.

He put the timeless into our hearts from the beginning. But in Jesus he revealed it. Jesus revealed not only the face of God, but the true dignity and destiny of the creatures made in God's image. We had been derailed from that dignity and destiny by sin. But through the cross Jesus can restore it for all who believe and come after him.

Brandon Lake - Son Of Heaven

26 September 2024 - something new

Today's Readings

(Audio)

In Ecclesiastes Solomon observed that there was nothing new under the sun. From his perspective this was a problem not so much he was seeking novelty as because it meant the world was continuing in its fallen state with nothing to interrupt the cycle, nothing to truly satisfy the deepest desire embedded in the human heart. Speaking about it didn't help. Eyes would continue to look for something different. Ears would continue to listen for something new. But there was nothing to be found. All that was was vanity that vanished like the clouds. There was nothing lasting that could be attained. There was only desire, grasping, and then loss. Solomon observed the problem. But in spite of his wisdom he couldn't foresee the solution.

Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,

and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,

“John has been raised from the dead”;

others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;

still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”

But Herod said, “John I beheaded.

Who then is this about whom I hear such things?”

And he kept trying to see him.

Other people tried to categorize Jesus as someone who had already existed. They assumed that they knew from the context exactly who he was and what they could expect from him. From this they assumed he was nothing to worry about, and that they needn't reckon with who he was at a deeper level. 

There was a lot about Herod the tetrarch that wasn't great, obviously. But he didn't buy into the crowd's assessment of Jesus. He recognized in Jesus something truly new and without precedent in the history of Israel and indeed of the world. But in spite of what appeared to be intense interest his curiosity never progressed to a point where he sincerely sought to learn about Jesus. He sought knowledge about Jesus without truly opening himself to an answer that was beyond his comprehension. He needed to have an experience of revelation, as Peter did, to understand who Jesus was. But instead, he tried to figure it out on his own, using what intelligence and resources he had, as he would try and solve any other problem or riddle. But just as Jesus couldn't be predicted by the wisdom of Solomon neither could the truth of his identity be identified by Herod's power. 

Jesus came into the world as a gift of salvation. To receive this gift one would need to accept the truth of his identity by faith. But this faith was itself a gift from God, not something for which one could work, or something that could be earned. But let us not remain in the state of Herod. Faith is available to all who will open their hearts, just as Peter did.

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (see First Corinthians 1:20-21).

Third Day - Show Me Your Glory

25 September 2024 - God is enough

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority

over all demons and to cure diseases,

and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God

and to heal the sick.

The first and most essential form of authority Jesus bestowed on his disciples was not hierarchical or ecclesial. It wasn't a matter of position or bureaucracy. It was like the authority of Jesus himself, which made him stand out from the crowd of religious leaders, because no one else had authority like he did. His words were not like those of others because they were filled with authority. in a way that those of others were not. Other people had legitimate claim to obedience because of their position on the seat of Moses. But the authority of Jesus was something else again. There was something about his words, something that made it inexorably accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. 

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it (see Isaiah 55:11).

Others might have had human authority. But Jesus had divine authority. It was this authority that he bestowed on his disciples. He wanted the disciples to learn to function at a different level than the authorities of the world who were bound by their own wants and desires and limited by their own preferences. Worldly leadership is always tainted to some extend by the tangled web of the flesh. But the authority exercised by the disciples of Jesus was too important to be subjugated to individual egos. It was not to be made a means to any end other than that for which Jesus sent the disciples, that of proclaiming the Kingdom of God and healing the sick.

He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey,

neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,

and let no one take a second tunic.

If they had too much abundance on their journey they might have the issue described by Solomon in the proverb who was concerned not to receive too much food, "Lest, being full, I deny you, saying, "Who is the LORD?". The disciples would not be in want or steal because they could trust the Lord to provide for the essentials they required. Jesus crafted this first mission of theirs apart from him as something that would both serve to build the kingdom and train the disciples in dynamic dependence on God as they went.

Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there.

The disciples were not to seek an earthly reward by finding the house with the best hospitality, the softest beds, or the best meals. The places that welcomed them only needed to serve a functional purpose so that they, together with the people of the town, could focus on the pursuit of heavenly treasure. It may actually be difficult to imagine so much concern for the kingdom and so little concern for one's preferences. Proceeding with so little planning and provisioning is not likely something many of us would readily do. But by taking Jesus at his word the disciples discovered the truth of what Solomon said:

Every word of God is tested;

he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

BarlowGirl - Enough

24 September 2024 - my mother and my brothers are here

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him

but were unable to join him because of the crowd.

There was a crowd because Jesus was proclaiming the kingdom of God and performing signs and wonders. It is part of life for everyone that we must sometimes choose between different goods. We can't have everything all at once in a life bound by time, navigated by free will. This means that we will sometimes need to choose between even the greatest natural goods such as the family and supernatural goods such as the kingdom. Jesus made it clear which we ought to prefer.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (see Matthew 10:37).

There was nothing lacking in the love Jesus demonstrated to his mother. It would have been inappropriate to interrupt the work his Father had put him on earth to do for a conversation or a family meal. He wasn't rejecting his filial duties to his earthly relatives. He was demonstrating the precedence of his higher duties.

He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers 

are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”

We know that his biological mother was exactly such a person. She heard the word proclaimed by Gabriel the archangel and gave her fiat in response. Then she lived her entire life as an embodiment of that commitment. Because she was also the mother of Jesus in this second supernatural sense she would have been on the same page as him with regard to his duty to the kingdom and to the will of his Father. It might have been one of her sorrows that the fallen state of the world made it necessary that they couldn't spend more time together during their life on earth. But she was blessed along with those others who mourn because she would be so closely united to him in heaven for all eternity.

All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes,

but it is the LORD who proves hearts.

It is often the case for us that we become overly certain of ourselves, convinced that what we will is also the will of God. Sometimes we have to learn whether or not what is in our hearts is true. The Lord makes the circumstances of our lives conspire to help us internalize such truths. This means that discernment in advance isn't always enough, since we are capable of fooling ourselves. But living with fidelity will eventually bring the truth to light.

Damascus Worship Featuring Seph Schlueter - Hail O Queen

23 September 2024 - this little light of mine

Today's Readings

(Audio)

No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel

or sets it under a bed;

rather, he places it on a lampstand

so that those who enter may see the light.

We've been singing about letting our light shine so long that such a teaching may seem fairly unremarkable. But we should keep in mind all the times Jesus told someone not to speak about something he had done. This included various miracles of healing, such as when he brought the daughter of Jairus back from the dead (see Mark 5:35-43) and his Transfiguration (see Mark 9:2-13). It would have been possible on that basis to misconstrue the fellowship around Jesus as some kind of mystery cult that would always keep its teachings for initiates and its most profound mysteries for the highest members. 

For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible,

and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light.

Take care, then, how you hear.

Although early Christians would keep some of the rituals a secret, lest they be misunderstood, they did not keep the core teachings of the Gospel to themselves. Christianity had mystagogy but it was no mystery cult. It was intended that Christians would spread their message to the world. Before the resurrection it may have been appropriate to keep some such matters to oneself but Jesus explained this would not always be so, saying, "there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light".

Jesus is the source of the light that we are meant to share with the world. Of him each person is meant to say, he is "lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (see Psalm 119:105). We are intended to be so filled with Jesus and his words that his light shines from us too, in our thoughts, in our words, and in our deeds. Jesus is God from God and light from light. And it is when he dwells in Christians that we can become a light to the world. It is when she is filled with such Christians that the Church fulfills her vocation to be a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden.

Take care, then, how you hear.

To anyone who has, more will be given,

and from the one who has not,

even what he seems to have will be taken away.

Jesus himself is the most essential element in the life of every Christian. When his grace dwells in us we may hope to grow in holiness, moving from glory to glory (see Second Corinthians 3:18). But when we lose our connection to Jesus we are at risk of eventually losing everything else as well. For there is nothing apart from him that we can keep. Only by ordering everything to him and to his Kingdom does it take on meaning and lasting value. Apart from him we only seem to have anything. But it is ultimately an illusion that cannot last forever.

Newsboys - Shine

22 September 2024 - listening incomprehension

Today's Readings

(Audio)

“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men

and they will kill him,

and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”

But they did not understand the saying,

and they were afraid to question him.

There was suddenly a shift in the tone of the mission on which Jesus continued to lead his disciples. Previously they had seemed to move from one success to another. There were healing miracles, teachings, disputes with religious opponents in which Jesus was victorious, and hints and even confirmations that he was the promised messiah. From what had been happening all around them and even through them they probably assumed things would only get increasingly better until Jesus took the throne of Israel and began his reign. When Jesus began to prophesy his death they did not immediately understand. And in fact they did not want to understand. They could have asked and began to clarify how Jesus was the messiah but also the lamb of God and the suffering servant from Isaiah, how he was the one foreseen by Solomon in the book of Wisdom, and how none of these things was a contradiction. There were clear prophetic indications of his destiny.

Let us condemn him to a shameful death;

for according to his own words, God will take care of him.

When Jesus deviated from telling them only what they wanted to hear they began to focus on their own ideas, their own aspirations, their own thoughts about what would be for their greatest benefit. They set aside entirely the the idea that their friend and teacher was going to die to focus instead on how they could ride the success they had experienced so far into the greatest possible positions of prominence. At one end of the spectrum was Jesus, who attempted to reveal his plan to die in order that the world might be saved. At the other were the disciples, who ignored their teacher and closed their hearts him, seeking only their own fulfillment.

They had been discussing among themselves on the way

who was the greatest.

The fact that the disciples were ambitious or that they desired greatness wasn't the main problem. It was that they desired these things in a selfish and worldly way. Jesus did in fact need disciples who would be sufficiently motivated to go out and transform the entire world. Those too content to do nothing and be nothing wouldn't be able to accomplish that task. Jesus wanted the Twelve to learn that true greatness involved being of the greatest possible service to others. It involved doing the most for those who were the least able to offer payment in return. There might be others content to stay at home on their couches suggesting that their laziness was justified by the fact that they didn't need to be anyone important. But Jesus wanted his followers to be world changers. There was a sense in which they must be content to do nothing and accomplish nothing. But there was a greater sense in which they must desire with all their heart that God would accomplish his will through them. Their own contributions might look mostly like mistakes and failures. In what they themselves did there might not be much for which they would desire to take the credit. But they needed hearts that would persist and remain open to whatever God might desire to accomplish through them even when it seemed like he only managed it in spite of them.

Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;

and whoever receives me,

receives not me but the One who sent me.

Welcoming a child was one of those acts of goodness that seemed to offer no tangible reward or benefit. Welcoming suchlike was not going to make one famous, popular, or powerful. But in seeking greatness according to the mode of the Kingdom there was nevertheless a reward to be found greater what the world could offer. The reward was Jesus himself. The more the disciples emptied themselves and sought to act as servant leaders after the example of Jesus the more they would find true joy and delight. This was because they would find the world more and more suffused with the presence of their teacher and friend. 

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (see Psalm 37:4).

Jesus was leading his disciples to the cross. But the cross was not going to be the end of his presence or of their impact on the world. In the small ways in which they welcomed the lowest and the least they would discover Jesus again and again. And each of these encounters would point toward the resurrection, ascension, and return of Jesus himself in which his presence would and power would fill the world. The way he would reign was quite different from the worldly power struggles which the Twelve seemed to regard as normative. But every time they welcomed even the most insignificant child they could discover how much better it was than anything the world could offer.

Newsboys - He Reigns

21 September 2024 - not the righteous but sinners

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As Jesus passed by,

he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.

Matthew had been surviving by living a life that wasn't capable of producing much satisfaction or contentment. He was complicit in the oppressive activity of worldly powers. He was a pariah to those who might otherwise have been his friends. He may have even internalized this image of himself as a traitor to his people. But the most difficult part may have been that there didn't seem to be a way out. It wasn't as if he could just go to confession and then enter back into the life of the Church as one of us might do if we needed to make a break with a life of sin. The people he betrayed, represented by the Pharisees, didn't want him back. They wanted to keep him as distant and isolated as possible.

He said to him, "Follow me."

And he got up and followed him.

When we consider how Matthew's life must have felt, and how inescapable it must have seemed, we can begin to perceive the amazing newness of the idea that someone like Jesus would extend an invitation even to a sinner such as he. Matthew had no idea that such a thing was possible. But in an instant he knew that it was meant to be. He hardly had to think twice about abandoning the customs post at which he had sat day in and day out. He knew that all too well that there was no lasting happiness to be found there. He can't have known much about what following Jesus would ultimately mean, or to where it would lead. But Jesus had chosen him, and in doing so opened up an entirely new horizon in his life. He did not hesitate to pursue such an opportunity.

While he was at table in his house,

many tax collectors and sinners came

and sat with Jesus and his disciples.

The fact that Matthew had a life as a sinner before he became a saint was not merely an unredeemable liability best forgotten. It was something that Jesus was able to take and use for the building up of the Kingdom. Matthew was a former sinner who came to Jesus, revealing to his friends and fellow sinners that none of them need remain stuck in their circumstances. Jesus had called Matthew. He was happy to share his table with friends from Matthew's former life, even while they were still sinners. This meant, of course, that Matthew was not a unique case. There was hope for every sinner. Jesus would welcome any and all who came to him.

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,

"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

The professionally religious class was practically required to act scandalized by this lest they undermine their own apparent superiority. They had spent all of their effort to manufacture personas that were above and apart from the sinful unwashed masses. Jesus choosing to dine with sinners was an implicit criticism of this attitude of the Pharisees. They desired to be seen as superior to others. But Jesus was undermining that idea by welcoming all who came to him with sincere hearts.

Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.

We have already said that the Pharisees weren't particularly interested in curing sinners. They maintained their status precisely by condemning them. But in their lack of compassion for others they also put themselves in a position where they couldn't recognize their own need for mercy. At the one end of the spectrum they wanted to insist on the condemnation of sinners. At the other they wanted to insist on their own righteousness according to the law. But they were wrong about their righteousness, particularly in the measure that they refused to show mercy.

Go and learn the meaning of the words,

I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

No amount of externally pious actions can cover for a life that is closed to mercy. Jesus was emphatic in his teaching that only those who would share the mercy they received were worthy of it. 

I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.

This is good news for us to the degree that we recognize ourselves as sinners in need of grace. But it is a call to conversion for us when we still think of ourselves as doing fine on our own, already sufficiently good and righteous by our own actions and merits. We often prefer to not see the negative in ourselves. But we must at least know it to be there or we will forget to turn to Jesus and fall back in ourselves. This is why we all acknowledge, at every mass, that we are not worthy to receive Jesus. It is why even a great saint like Paul could still say, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost" (see First Timothy 1:15).

When we remember our dependence on Christ we can be assured of his presence, help, and fellowship. It is then that we become effective agents of his Kingdom and the gifts that he gives "for building up the Body of Christ" are activated.

Vertical Worship - Strength Of My Life

20 September 2024 - if for this life only

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If Christ is preached as raised from the dead,

how can some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?

There was a lack of understanding among the Corinthians of all that the resurrection of Jesus from death to life implied. They seemed to believe that his resurrection was an exception or an outlier and that the resurrection of others besides him was an impossibility. Maybe the physicality and seeming impossibility of raising to life people the Corinthians themselves knew to be dead, whose bodies they knew to be decaying in the dirt, was a harder thing to believe than the distantly pleasant image of the resurrection of Jesus. We can imagine rationalists in our own day that would regard the resurrection of Jesus as a lovely symbol and yet still insist that bodies once corrupted by death could not be reassembled. But Paul insisted that the resurrection of Christ could not be separated from that of the members of his mystical body, those who were in Christ. It was exactly the sort of difficult to believe return to life in the body that happened to Jesus himself that we are meant to expect on the last day for those united to him. The resurrection of Jesus is more than a distant symbol. And the corollary is that the resurrection of his followers is not only possible, but guaranteed.

And if Christ has not been raised, then empty too is our preaching;

empty, too, your faith.

Without the true and physical raising of Christ to life nothing else in Christianity holds or has value. It was his resurrection that proved that everything he said was true. It was by his resurrection that he defeated the power of decay and death that were among his chief opponents. If he was not raised then we are all still facing down the inevitability of death. The world, without the resurrection, has not been saved, and is still on the path to destruction that it appears to be to those without the eyes of faith.

For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised,

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain;

you are still in your sins.

It was not only the atoning death of Christ that freed us from our sins. He was also "raised for our justification" (see Romans 4:25). It was not merely that the sacrifice of Jesus won a courtroom acquittal for those known to be still guilty. His death put our sins to death. His rising raised us to life again, first spiritually.  But it will also do so physically, if we remain in him. 

Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Those who can take Christianity to be only pious stories or myths or the clever teachings of a philosopher and still think it has value have not sufficiently contended with the fallen condition in which the world, if that were true, would still be in. They would have to pretend that there was nothing wrong or broken about the fact that those who had fallen asleep in Christ had perished. They would have to vastly overestimate what was possible to attain in this life alone by hoping in Christ. It is true that our hope in Christ ought to make our lives here below more bearable, more meaningful, and more purposeful. But all of that would disappear in a moment if we knew it was a house of cards built on a false premise.

Fortunately, one thing about which Paul was absolutely clear, and about which he was entirely certain, was the resurrection itself. It was the basis of everything that he became, all that he did, his writings, his missions, and his ministry.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead,

the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

The good news of the Kingdom proclaimed by Jesus was only fully revealed in the light of his resurrection. That is the reason why the Twelve, some women, and others spent time with him leading up to his Passion. They were being prepared so that after he rose and ascended into heaven they might have the same certainty as Paul and so become both transformed themselves and witnesses to the world.

But I in justice shall behold your face;

on waking, I shall be content in your presence.

Phil Wickham - Christ Is Risen

19 September 2024 - hence, she has shown great love

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself,

“If this man were a prophet,

he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him,

that she is a sinner.

Like this Pharisee we may invite Jesus into our lives out of interest or curiosity. We may have been hoping to have a conversation around the table where we could learn more interesting things about Jesus or his message. Perhaps too we were hoping to impress him by our own cleverness. Or perhaps we thought to boost our status with the community around us by playing host to a popular teacher. Whatever the Pharisee was expecting in this case, Jesus proved disruptive to that expectation just as he so often did and does. Because Jesus was present the Pharisee had to put up with the presence of a "sinful woman" whom he never would have invited into his house under other circumstances. Indeed Jesus often brings into our lives those whom we ourselves would not have chosen. It appeared to the Pharisee that he had nothing to gain and much to lose in the way of honor by the presence of this woman. But this interruption Jesus permitted was not only for her sake but also for the that of the Pharisee. There was clearly something he was meant to learn, which was why the explanation of Jesus to Simon was so clearly enunciated, in order that everyone present could benefit.

“Simon, I have something to say to you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two people were in debt to a certain creditor;

one owed five hundred days’ wages and the other owed fifty.

Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both.

Which of them will love him more?”

Simon said in reply,

“The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”

He said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

The woman was actually in a more privileged position in regard to Jesus because she knew herself to be a sinner in need of mercy. Society, after all, wouldn't let her forget, and defined her by her past. Society would have kept such a one at a distance. But Jesus permitted her to come to him. Already implicit in this gesture was her acknowledgement of her guilt and Jesus' bestowal of mercy. This happened in her actions of bathing, wiping, kissing, and anointing, before Jesus confirmed by his words that she was forgiven. Jesus was thus able to unlock her heart, enabling her to love much in the way she was always meant to do. 

The Pharisee, however, was not prompted to love in the same way. His invitation to Jesus did not contain even half of the hospitality that the presence of the woman conveyed. He was still only a casual observer of Jesus, and not yet one who really knew what Jesus desired to offer in terms of forgiveness of sins. He didn't believe he stood in anywhere near the same need as the sinful woman. But this was a limiting belief because it prevented his own heart, his love and hospitality, from being unlocked by Jesus. 

So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven;

hence, she has shown great love.

But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

The Pharisee was only forgiven little (if anything) because he didn't realize his need and open his heart before Jesus in humility as the woman did. After all, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23). All stand in need of the grace to which the woman was open but the Pharisee was not. But Jesus was clearly doing two things in the house of the Pharisee. He was forgiving the woman but also inviting the Pharisee to learn from her example. This wasn't the teaching that for which the Pharisee signed up when he decided to invite Jesus to dine with him. But it was the one he and others at the table received as they began to ponder, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" This reality of the forgiveness of sins is at the very core of the Christian message, as Paul explained:

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:

that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;

that he was buried;

that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures;

Newsboys - You Are My King (Amazing Love)

18 September 2024 - melody of life

Today's Readings

(Audio)

‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.

We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’

They were people who were impossible to satisfy, always claiming to want the opposite of what they received, never satisfied with what they were actually given. 

For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,

and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’

The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,

‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,

a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

They found John the Baptist to be too extreme to fully follow in his footsteps. But they found Jesus too lax, asking why his disciples did not fast as did those of the Pharisees and those of John. To be associated with John meant an extreme isolation from that of the world which was too much for many. But Jesus was too friendly with the world, implicated in it by feasting together with tax collectors and sinners, even those who had not yet committed to conversion.

There was a time to fast, as people made straight the way of the Lord and prepared for the coming of the messiah. And there was a time when it was inappropriate to fast, when the bridegroom was present together with the wedding guests. Yet although the music was being played not everyone was willing to weep or to dance. They criticized what they were being offered. But what they were being offered was not the issue. It was the sluggishness of their hearts that wanted none of it and were looking for excuses to remain idle and uninvolved.

People who were not moved by the dirge or the flute may have thought they were being sincere. They might really have been intimidated by John the Baptist or had their sense of propriety offended by the apparent laxity of Jesus. But again, the problem wasn't with what they were being offered. The problem was that, deep down, they just wanted excuses to remain as they were. They didn't want to be moved by any music that wasn't their own creation.

What sort of music is God playing for us, in our lives, in our world? Are we willing to listen, or are we instead impossible to satisfy? Does he prompt us to rejoice while we insist on clinging to worldly sorrow? Does he call us to repent while we are too preoccupied with worldly affairs? Let's reassess what God is offering us, and realize that everything he offers is good. Wisdom is given in order to lead us to the marriage feast of the lamb. But to get there it must first get us outside of ourselves. There is no satisfaction or joy or peace to be found in the machinations of our ego. But God's music will guide us to the place were the perfect abides, where we will see him face to face.

Phil Wickham - House Of The Lord

17 September 2024 - arise

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As he drew near to the gate of the city,

a man who had died was being carried out,

the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.

This death of the son, who was the only child of a widowed mother, may have brought to mind Jesus' own approaching death and the grief this would bring to his own mother. 

When the Lord saw her,

he was moved with pity for her and said to her,

"Do not weep."

The pity Jesus felt for this woman might be taken as representing, in a way, the power of Mary's intercession. Jesus was moved with sadness for this mother and so for that of his own mother who would be able to relate to it so profoundly. The deep comprehension of this woman's loss that Jesus and Mary would share would lead them to pity all the deceased children of the world, whether the death was physical or spiritual. Mary wept first for Jesus and then for every son that was meant to be united to Jesus but was still not enjoying the fullness of life. And Jesus was moved with pity for them all, both because it was inherently a sad situation, but also because of the way it touched the heart of his mother.

He stepped forward and touched the coffin;

at this the bearers halted,

and he said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"

The pity Jesus felt for this man and for his mother was not simply an idle and ineffective sorrow. It was not like the sorrow of the world which leads only onward inexorably toward death. It was powerful. It halted the forces bearing the coffin toward destruction. It raised the young man from death to life again. 

The dead man sat up and began to speak,

and Jesus gave him to his mother.

Jesus is pained by every relationship that sin and death have broken or rendered less than they were meant to be. And his mother shares his heart. We should avail ourselves of the pity they feel, the fact that their hearts are moved with compassion for us. They want to enter the dark, silent, and isolated, places of grief and brief new life. Those who once lived in spiritual death can learn to speak the lifegiving words of the Gospel. Those headed from death to death can change trajectory, going instead from life to more life, from glory to glory. The results of Jesus entering into these dark places, the results of the sorrowful heart of his mother calling him there, is always going to be as it was in the case at Nain:

Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,

"A great prophet has arisen in our midst,"

and "God has visited his people."

Something beyond the merely human had occured. Something that could only be accounted for by God himself had been accomplished. And it all began in the heart of a grieving mother.

Red Rocks Worship - Good Plans

16 September 2024 - not worthy to receive you

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"He deserves to have you do this for him,

for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us."

When we come to Jesus with our needs we often have thoughts that prompt us to believe that we deserve his help and ought to receive what we ask of him. We may not have built in synagogue. But we have generally been good, faithful Christians. We haven't, hopefully, sinned mortally. We've gone to mass. Maybe we've even consistently performed works of charity. Above all, we do have faith. Isn't it faith that is supposed to unlock the door to answered prayers? Isn't this, finally the thing, we can take to Jesus as payment for our prayers? 

Lord, do not trouble yourself,

for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.

Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you;

but say the word and let my servant be healed.

We are not meant to go to Jesus on the basis of anything we are in ourselves. We have hope because he comes to us with no regard to our limitations and liabilities. The centurion did have faith in the authority of Jesus. But this was not a fact that made him feel entitled. If anything, it made him hope in Jesus in spite of feeling unworthy. Had he been only looking at himself and what he had to offer he saw himself realistically enough that he would not have even asked. But, because his focus was on Jesus, and because he saw the power Jesus possessed, it didn't seem like a stretch that his healing hand could reach past all barriers and touch his slave who was ill and about to die.

For I too am a person subject to authority,

with soldiers subject to me.

And I say to one, Go, and he goes;

and to another, Come here, and he comes;

and to my slave, Do this, and he does it."

To be clear, the centurion was not indulging in self-pity when he stated he was unworthy to receive Jesus. He was stating an objective fact that is true of every human being. That is why Catholics throughout the ages, including holy popes and great saints, have repeated his words when we participate in the mass. For who could deserve the gift of the body, blood, soul, and divinity, of the second person of the Trinity? And yet this is offered freely to all who desire it, provided they don't willingly turn aside from the free gift of grace.

When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him

and, turning, said to the crowd following him,

"I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."

When we need something from Jesus let's not spend time calculating what would be required of us to attain it, how much holiness, how many rosaries, litanies, or whatever else. Let's not look so much at ourselves at all, nor the circumstances that might make our requests appear impossible. The authority of Jesus is sufficiently great to cover all distance, break through all barriers, and change any circumstances.

What is the litmus test that we are actually trusting in Jesus more than ourselves? One such test would be when we don't receive what we ask. Do we then start to assess what we did wrong or what more we might have done? Or do we rather keep our focus on Jesus himself? We should know that if we have asked for something good and it has not yet been given, we are that much closer to the time when it will be.

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (see Luke 11:13).

Elevation Worship - See A Victory

15 September 2024 - what say you?

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Who do people say that I am?"

Other people had opinions or ideas about who Jesus was or might be. Was Jesus in some way a prophetic figure? Yes, absolutely. But it was not the case that this was all that he was or that his entire identity could be summed up in this way. 

If Jesus had been only a prophet it would have still been important how people responded to him. They could have demonstrated their fidelity to God by listening to the one sent by him. But Jesus was much more than a prophet. And who he was implied that the way one responded to him was correspondingly more critical. It was not enough to repeat the opinion of others about Jesus. The question of the identity of Jesus was something that each person could truly only answer for himself. An answer to this question could not be borrowed.

Peter said to him in reply,

"You are the Christ."

Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Peter and the disciples had now unlocked a deeper understanding of the identity of Jesus than that of the crowds. In saying that he was the messiah they implied that he was the complete fulfillment of the hopes of Israel in a way that the crowds had not yet perceived or accepted. But, even though it was clear that the disciples attained true knowledge by supernatural revelation from the Father, it was also clear that their knowledge was as yet imperfect. Jesus was indeed the Christ. But the Christ was not who the imagined him to be. They must have imagined that the messiah would of necessity by consistently successful and ultimately victorious. How else could he fulfill the hopes of Israel?

He began to teach them

that the Son of Man must suffer greatly

and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed, and rise after three days.

How could an ignominious death result in the fulfillment of the hopes of Israel? Why would the Son of Man need to suffer greatly in order to unleash the promises of God upon the world? Asking questions like this represented a very human way of thinking. But God had other ideas. Peter rebuked Jesus for saying this because he wanted Jesus to be a messiah who gave the world what it thought it desired rather than that which it truly needed. But that was because the world itself did not yet recognize its deepest needs. It was perhaps impossible to see just how vile was the sin that afflicted the earth until it sunk its claws into Jesus, the wholly innocent and perfect one. It was hard to imagine a greater prize than a perfected world, Romans gone, and bread aplenty, until the resurrection revealed that we were all meant for more than a merely prolonged life with the kinks smoothed out.

At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,

rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan.

You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."

In hindsight it is easy to criticize Peter for standing in the way of the plan of Jesus. He was basically offering the same temptation as Satan when he offered Jesus all of the Kingdoms of the world without a cross. The very fact that people wanted this so much made it necessary to be firm in rejecting it. But we err in the same archetype of Peter when criticize God for the ongoing presence of suffering in our lives. Jesus did not come to simply remove all suffering, but rather to transform it.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for my sake

and that of the gospel will save it.

Salvation to Jesus meant more than a mere removal of difficulties. It was a surgical healing that would ultimately destroy the selfish ego so that love might truly reign in every heart. We all hate to hear that this is basically unattainable without suffering. But it is not just any suffering that will serve. Only when we follow Jesus and unite our crosses to the one he first bore for us will our own suffering have merit. It should be obvious by now why other people's opinions are insufficient to enter into this mystery. But perhaps it sounds more dire than in reality it is meant to be. After all, we do not bear the yoke of discipleship alone, but together with Jesus. And when we do this, even while we are still growing, still in the process of being transformed, we can know the rest and the peace he promised.

So also faith of itself,

if it does not have works, is dead.

Faith must mean more than the possession of data about Jesus, even if that data is correct. It must motivate us, and have a connection to our hearts. If it does not achieve the work of transforming us it is deficient somehow. We know well enough that are faith doesn't always reach our hearts and motivate us as much as we would like. Hence we repeat the prayer of the father of the possessed boy, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (see Mark 9:24).

David Crowder Band - Here Is Our King

14 September 2024 - lift high the cross

Today's Readings

(Audio)

No one has gone up to heaven

except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.

Humanity has always been ready and willing to try to climb from here to heaven. This was evident ever since the construction of the Tower of Babel when the builders said, "let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves" (see Genesis 11:4). But Jesus explained that there was a distance between heaven and earth that was so great that it could not be bridged from our side. Only the Son of Man acting as a bridge between heaven and earth could connect us from the top down, rather than us achieving it from the bottom up. He was therefore the ladder upon whom the angels of heaven would ascend and descend as he told Nicodemus (see John 1:51). 

Several additional facts follow from the truth that Jesus was the only one to come down from heaven. It meant that he was the only one who could truly reveal God the Father. As Jesus said, "no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (see Matthew 11:27). It also meant that our only hope to ascend to heaven would be through the person of Jesus Christ himself. It wasn't as though Jesus simply built a bridge and then left us to climb it. Rather, he himself remains the only bridge connecting humanity and divinity, heaven and earth. It is for this reason that "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (see Acts 4:12). He himself is "the way" as well as the truth and the life (see John 14:6).

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,

so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

Considering what we have said about the exulted status of Jesus these next verses are all the more surprising. Why would someone in the form of God empty himself, take the form of a slave, and become obedient even unto death? We can imagine a royal king showing up to conquer enemies and save the day. But the king offering himself for the sake of those who are to him even less than peasants? It should be unthinkable except that we are so used to hearing it. Couldn't Jesus just come and forcibly set things right? Perhaps, but perhaps also the outcome of such as external imposition would be a less meaningful form of salvation than what he ultimately chose to give us. 

Sin and death are ugly, like the saraph serpents in the desert. We might have preferred for God to simply come in and remove them and the effects of their poison. But God chose to do something different. He decreed that the those who had been stung must look upon the bronze serpent on the poll. This action required the use of free will and represented repentance. It was a form of owning the ugliness in which one had become complicit. Thinking about making such a choice, it is clear that one who received healing in that way, rather than by being allowed to ignore the problem, would be healed at an existentially deeper level. Their own freedom was refashioned as they cooperated with the grace that made their healing possible. This foreshadowed what happened with Jesus himself, as the prophet Zechariah predicted, "when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn" (see Zechariah 12:10).

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him might not perish

but might have eternal life.

The point of the serpents was not to kill those in the desert, but to provoke them to turn to God who desired to heal them. He wasn't out to get them. And he isn't out to get us, as though he were waiting for us to sin as an excuse to condemn us. Rather he goes to the greatest lengths imaginable to offer us salvation. He isn't stingy in what he offers, no matter how narrow the road is said to be. It is only because of the heights he desires us to reach that the way to get there must be so specific.

Let's not flatter God with our mouths and lie to him with our tongues. We need our hearts refashioned in order that we might be steadfast toward him and faithful to his covenant. Just as for all past generations, he has mercy on all those who fear him, forgiving their sin and destroying them not. Let us remember these wonderful works of the Lord. When we do not know which way to turn this sacred memory can give us direction. When we think we've hit our limits it can give us hope. God is truly on rock and our redeemer.

Leeland - Way Maker