30 November 2024 - fishers of men

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As Jesus passed by John the Baptist pointed him out as the Lamb of God. One of the people who heard him and took it to heart was Andrew. Andrew followed Jesus, but for reasons he couldn't immediately articulate. Jesus asked what he and his companion were looking for and they could only respond by asking where he was staying. Perhaps they didn't immediately think of the prophecy of Isaiah about the one who would offer himself like a lamb as a sacrifice for sin.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he opened not his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he opened not his mouth (see Isaiah 53:7).

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;

he has put him to grief;

when his soul makes an offering for guilt,

he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;

the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand (see Isaiah 53:10).

Jesus invited them to come and see where he was staying, implying that if they did they would see more than merely that particular detail. It seemed that it only took a day in his presence to realize that he was the promised Messiah. After an afternoon in the place where he was staying he was already so excited about Jesus that he couldn't help but begin inviting others to do what he had done, coming to see for themselves. 

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

At once they left their nets and followed him.

Andrew was the one who invited Peter, as we hear summarized in today's Gospel from Matthew. Together they were invited by Jesus to become something more than mere observers. They had been fishermen. They were to become fishers of men. They had discovered in Jesus the arrival of the Kingdom of God on earth. They were now meant to help to populate that Kingdom. They were to do what Andrew had already begun to do, inviting others to come and see for themselves how God was fulfilling his promise to send a Messiah and a Savior into the world. 

Most people need to have Jesus pointed out to them because most of aren't looking for our Messiah to be a lamb of sacrifice. We typically prefer someone who could enter the scene with unconquerable strength in order to set things right. But external solutions will always leave the deepest inner wounds unhealed. We need more than we know we need. And we are not comfortable admitting this, even to ourselves. We know how the lion of Judah can be useful and what he might do for the world. But it is only in the healing presence of Jesus himself where our need for the lamb of God becomes evident.

We can learn from Andrew how to follow in his footsteps as fishers of men. We don't need to have all of the answers right away. Jesus is already appealing enough that many people will be ready to come and see if we invite them to do so. And if they do, Jesus is more than capable of taking care of the rest. It is hard for us to explain to others their need for a lamb of sacrifice. But we can tell them that is what we ourselves found in Jesus and invite them to come and see for themselves. He can be the one who makes it make sense for them. Time with him is what it typically takes to make it click.

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!

Brandon Lake - Son Of Heaven

29 November 2024 - when you see these things

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When their buds burst open,

you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;

in the same way, when you see these things happening,

know that the Kingdom of God is near.

It is surprising when we consider what specifically were the "these things" Jesus to which Jesus referred. They included "wars and insurrections" "earthquakes, famines, and plagues" and signs in the sky and in the see so significant that people would "die of fright in anticipation" of what was coming. Most people would not immediately think to use the analogy of the buds of trees bursting open and the near approach of summer for such events. They seemed rather more like the beginning of the end in a way that would be more appropriately signified by winter. But the apocalyptic signs to which Jesus referred were not merely the beginning of the end. They did in fact point to a new beginning. Chaos and catastrophe would not ultimately have the last word because it was not heaven and earth, nor words about them that would abide. It was the words of Jesus that would last forever. Therefore his Kingdom, together with all of those who built their lives on the foundation of his words, would merely be shedding their old protective shells to unleash the fruit they were always meant to bear. No amount of apocalyptic chaos could prevent this from happening. Indeed it seemed that for Christians difficult circumstances led more inexorably to bearing fruit than did comfortable ones. It was fitting for them to looking at the most trying of times with supernatural hope. There were no situations so dire that they could not lead mysteriously to the coming of the Kingdom, especially in the lives of Christians specifically because of the fruit that God brought forth from them at such times.

Heaven and earth will pass away, 

but my words will not pass away.

The things that seem the most permanent to us are typically the ones that our senses have demonstrated to be reliable. The ground beneath our feet today was also there yesterday. The sun rose yesterday and will probably rise tomorrow. But these apparently reliable phenomena are rooted in that which is by its nature temporary and partial. The words of most people are much less solid than created things themselves. Promises made by normal women and men simply can't compete with gravity or the laws of thermodynamics for consistency. Science and philosophy themselves only seem solid to the degree that they accurately define what is actually the case for heaven and earth. But in Jesus all of this is reversed. His words are in the fact origin of all things, they accurately describe how they will end, and they point beyond that to what will truly last. If we root our lives in the circumstances of heaven and earth as we now experience them it is inevitable that our peace will be repeatedly shaken. They will not exist forever and we aren't intended to cling to them in their present form. True peace can really come only to the degree that we learn trust in the words of Jesus since it is precisely these words that give us access and entrance into that which eternal, permanent, and perfect.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

The former heaven and the former earth had passed away,

and the sea was no more.

I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven from God,

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Vineyard Worship - Bring Your Kingdom

28 November 2024 - now thank we all our God

Today's Readings (for Thanksgiving)

(Audio)

And one of them, realizing he had been healed,

returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;

and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. 

Do we realize all that God has done for us? Almost certainly the amount for which we remember to thank him is fractional compared to the countless blessings he has bestowed. We could spend the rest of our lives thanking him for the goodness of creation without ever exhausting it or approaching the end. Each day further multiples such goodness with every new sunrise, every new song of a bird, every embrace of family, every greeting of a friend. Beyond the goodness of created things there is also all that God has done to redeem the human race by becoming taking on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, teaching, healing, and ultimately dying for us. The Paschal mystery is a font of blessing that is probably even more inexhaustible than the original creation. Because of the goodness of our redemption we even sing with gratitude in the Exultet of our 'felix culpa', our happy fault.

Where would we now be if the Word had not chosen to take on flesh in order to bring us salvation? In what darkness would be now be forced to remain? We take for granted that it is possible to strive for holiness because we are accustomed to the grace that God never ceases to make available to us. If we have ever known what it is like to be a slave to sin and addiction we have probably mostly forgotten by now. It is very easy to take the new normal of Christian life for granted. But there we should pause to remember that the freedom we now enjoy is a gift that we only have because of the generous lengths to which Jesus freely chose to go to give it.

“Ten were cleansed, were they not?

Where are the other nine? 

Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 

It is obvious to us that a leper who was cured ought to be grateful. But we forget that we owe a debt much deeper than that of any leper. As Paul says, "we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another" (see Titus 3:3). And if any of us managed to survive to adulthood without being quite that bad we should remember that this too was a grace and gift given by Jesus himself.

I give thanks to my God always on your account

for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,

that in him you were enriched in every way,

with all discourse and all knowledge,

as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,

so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift

as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We do sometimes remember to give thanks for the fact that we have been saved from sin and damnation. But we are often less attentive to all the spiritual blessings we have received, less attentive to that for which we have been saved. Even when we remember to be grateful for the possibility of heaven which Jesus gained for us we tend to think of it more as a negation of the negatives of this world, a lack of suffering, rather than the positive goods of eternal love and divine worship. Since we take for granted how we are even now "enriched in every way with all discourse and all knowledge" and "are not lacking in any spiritual gift" we have a hard time imaging or appreciating the possibility of heaven where these blessings will even more entirely define our existence.

How can we become more like the one leper that remembered to return and give thanks, rather than the other nine who were happy to take their healing and run? We can make a practice of thanksgiving, knowing that we will never exhaust all of the possible gifts for which we can give thanks. Rather than do nothing because there are so many, we can ask God himself to help us know how blessed we are, so that we can return those blessings to him in thanks and praise. When we live lives defined by thanksgiving we become by definition a Eucharistic people. And this thankfulness will result in rooting us more firmly in God and making us stronger in the face of circumstances that do not lead to obvious and immediate gratitude.

He will keep you firm to the end,

irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Newsboys - Praises

Nathan Drake - Now Thank We All Our God

27 November 2024 - testimony

Today's Readings

(Audio)

They will seize and persecute you,

they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons,

and they will have you led before kings and governors

because of my name.

Being a follower of Jesus did not necessarily make one popular or successful. It would be more likely that those who genuinely loved his name would be met with hostility and opposition. After all, the message of Jesus did not sit comfortably with those who were in power. They had typically sought that power because of greed or pride or vanity, acquired it through corruption, and maintained it through the oppression of the weak and the poor. The proclamation of the Lordship of Jesus was a definitive statement that the power of worldly rulers was relative, temporary, and destined to come under judgement on the last day.

It will lead to your giving testimony.

Opposition, for Christians, was to be seen as an opportunity. What would be catastrophic for most individuals would be for Christians an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and give their testimony. This sort of thing happened repeatedly throughout the events described in Acts. 

When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas (see Acts 16:27-29).

When Paul was under house arrest in Rome he nevertheless "welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance" (see Acts 28:30-31). These weren't the sort of situations one could easily imagine before they happened. Successfully navigating them required a spirit attentive to the guidance of Jesus, receptive to the "wisdom in speaking" that he himself promised to provide. Those who were thus guided would see their enemies powerless to resist or refute the message, even though the words might seem simple to the point of being insufficient. Those who instead insisted on relying on their own intelligence would often experience that, no matter what they said, it was never enough. No argument, no matter how comprehensive, would make a difference without the assistance of grace and the guidance of the Spirit.

You will even be handed over by parents,

brothers, relatives, and friends,

and they will put some of you to death.

Speaking the words of Jesus to those who did not yet accept them was likely to push them toward a crisis of conscience, making them likely to lash out violently, whether verbally, or even physically. It was important for Christians to remember that this didn't mean things had gone awry or were no longer going according to plan. Rather such hostility was included in the plan of Jesus and for it he had already accounted in advance. We saw it, for instance, in the martyrdom of Stephen, to which Paul bore witness. Stephen did not respond to violence with violence but kept his gaze on God. As a result his very life became a testimony to Jesus (see Acts 7:55). By his perseverance he secured life eternally, down to the last hair on his head, at the resurrection of the righteous. He gained the right to join the saints in heaven in singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.

Sing to the LORD a new song,

for he has done wondrous deeds;

His right hand has won victory for him,

his holy arm.

Newsboys - Step Up To The Microphone

26 November 2024 - before the end

Today's Readings

(Audio)

While some people were speaking about

how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,

Jesus said, “All that you see here–

the days will come when there will not be left

a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”

We must consider even the good beauty of this earth from the vantage point of eternity. All here below is ultimately temporary. The temple was a sign of realities that were unchanging but it was not itself permanent or eternal. Even beautiful Christian churches that now facilitate worship under the veil of the sacramental presence of Jesus will not be left unchanged when he comes again.

If we get too attached to the things of earth, even the really good ones, we risk being unsettled in a way that can make us vulnerable to deception and easy prey to peddlers of false hope.

He answered,

“See that you not be deceived,

for many will come in my name, saying,

‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ 

Do not follow them! 

People may come promising easy answers. The stories that lead the most quickly to the happiest ending are always the ones we would initially prefer to believe. We should be able to perceive when answers are too good to be true by remembering the realism of Jesus who said that things would not always be easy and would in fact by quite traumatically difficult at times. But he suggested that it was possible for us to maintain our peace even when we heard of such dire events as wars and insurrections, not in spite of them, but because they were accounted for in the divine plan.

When you hear of wars and insurrections,

do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,

but it will not immediately be the end.

The things of earth are temporary and are destined to pass away. But the words of Jesus will never pass away (see Matthew 24:35). They give us good ground for hope. It is not a hope that we will never experience any difficulties. But it is a hope that he will be with us in whatever difficulties we experience and lead us safely through them all to the glory of his Kingdom. If we grasp the things of earth too tightly we risk perishing with them. But if we cling to God he himself set us free.

Because he clings to me I will deliver him;

because he knows my name I will set him on high (see Psalm 91:14).

Shane And Shane - Psalm 91

25 November 2024 - change not spared

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people

putting their offerings into the treasury

and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.

The wealthy people to whom Jesus referred need not have been particularly engaged in their offerings. For them, giving could be easily become so routine as to lose its meaning. This was not to say that the virtuous habit of magnanimity was a bad thing. But if giving was done entirely without reflection and always without any significant cost it might not ever reach the heights that true self-gift could attain. It could remain intermixed with pride and the vanity of sustaining a certain sort of self-image. People could in fact give but not have love.

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing (see First Corinthians 13:3).

The point was not that wealthy people should necessarily give away all that they had. It wasn't even just to always keep in mind whether or not there was more wealth they could give. The point was that all people, poor or rich, could and ought to truly give of themselves. They could be genuinely motivated by love above and beyond their need to check a box or appear a certain way. Their gifts could be empowered by the trust in God to have an impact that they otherwise could not.

and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.

He said, “I tell you truly,

this poor widow put in more than all the rest;

The widow's offerings probably did not contribute to her self-image or vanity as a religious individual. She knew that in the eyes of others, of rich people making their generous offerings, that what she gave was basically nothing at all. But for the widow herself her gift cemented her trust in God. And for all who saw and all who would eventually read of her gift it had a world changing effect of teaching what true giving could be. Her minimal gift became a maximal example. The point was not to follow her in giving one's whole livelihood necessarily. But we are certainly meant to learn to give, as she did, our whole self.

Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Elevation Worship - O Come To The Altar

24 November 2024 - for this I was born

Today's Readings

(Audio)

"Are you the King of the Jews?" 

Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own

or have others told you about me?" 

Jesus was accused of being the sort of king who would be a rival to the emperor. This was the accusation Pilate sought to make Jesus either confirm or deny. But although he wasn't the sort of king his enemies asserted he claimed to be he was indeed a king. He was the sort of king about which Pilate might have asked on his own, in spite of the fact that he was not a Jew. But Pilate was only interested in calming the religious authorities that handed Jesus over. He wasn't interested in what the truth might actually be. He didn't even believe in the possibility of truth. He was entirely invested in practical realities and was completely motivated by political pragmatism. 

Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world.

If my kingdom did belong to this world,

my attendants would be fighting

to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. 

But as it is, my kingdom is not here." 

The kingdom of Jesus did not have a worldly origin and it did not compete by the violence that was typical of earthly kingdoms. In other words, his kingdom was not a threat to the emperor in the way it had been suggested it was. But the kingdom of Jesus was real, and truly present where the king, Jesus himself, was present. The story Pilate had heard was inconsistent with this reality. Although he did not seem to be problematic in the way Pilate had heard, there was definitely something about Jesus that was different, something Pilate did not understand. Did this difference make him dangerous?

So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" 

Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. 

For this I was born and for this I came into the world,

to testify to the truth. 

Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

The authority of Jesus was rooted in the truth of his heavenly origin in the heart of God the Father. His kingdom did not depend on political power or violence to achieve its ends. It had something more unconquerable than power. It had truth, the fullness of truth, on its side. One could fight against earthly kings and kingdoms. But to fight against the truth was to fight against reality itself. One might appear to win briefly in such a struggle, as did those who thought they were victorious when Jesus was crucified. But truth cannot finally be killed or destroyed. The kingdom of Jesus was rooted in the deepest nature of reality, because that kingdom had its origin in the one who created all things. It could be opposed for a time. But its victory was inevitable in the end.

Was Jesus dangerous? In some sense he was the most dangerous person in the world, at least for those whose earthly kingdoms were rooted in darkness and sin. For the truth of Jesus had the power to definitively vanquish such kingdoms. It could empower legions of future disciples to take a stand for Jesus and his kingdom, adding their own testimony and the testimony of their very lives as confirmation of this testimony of Jesus before Pilate. They, like Jesus belonged to a kingdom that was in the world but not of the world. And although they might at times appear to be defeated they did not lose their peace for they knew that nothing could change the truth or remove Jesus from his throne. They looked forward in hope to the day when that truth would be finally revealed in fullness.

Behold, he is coming amid the clouds,

and every eye will see him,

even those who pierced him.

David Crowder Band - Here Is Our King

Newsboys - He Reigns

Blessing And Glory

23 November 2024 - life, but not as we know it

Today's Readings

(Audio)

The children of this age marry and remarry;

but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age

and to the resurrection of the dead

neither marry nor are given in marriage.

Our view of the age to come is significantly limited if we assume that it is basically just an infinitely elongated version of our present existence. The logistics of such a world seemed absurd to the Sadducees at the time of Jesus just as they do to modern skeptics with a similarly limited perspective.

According to Jesus the current function of marriage would no longer be relevant in the age to come when individuals would be like angels in that they would no longer die. Just as the full number of angels had been created and did not need constant replacement rates to continue to exist so too would humanity be in that age. That was not to say that the relationships between people who were married in this age would be any less intense or real. It only meant that the way those relationships were previously defined by procreation would no longer be the case. Parents and children too would still be related through their love for one another. But in heaven they were more defined as being together "children of God". The earthly fatherhood that was a symbol of divine paternity would give way to the fullness of the reality of being daughters and sons of the one who "gives all people life and breath" (see Acts 17:25), since "from him and through him and to him are all things" (see Romans 11:36).

All of the good aspects of the godly relationships people enjoyed on earth would continue in heaven within the communion of the saints as the deceased dedicated themselves together to divine worship and by their prayers advanced the peace and salvation of the world. But it was wrong to try and imagine the intermediary state before the resurrection of the body or even the resurrection of the body on the last day merely in terms of the limited way in which we understand this present age. Even if what the future age will be is hard to understand or conceptualize it should still be possibly for us to desire it based on the goodness of the one who has prepared it for us, around whom it is entirely centered.

That the dead will rise

even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,

when he called  ‘Lord’

the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;

and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,

for to him all are alive.

There is a degree of life within God that we have barely even guessed, one that far surpasses the facsimiles we have experienced so far. It might initially seem like union with him would be something less than the life we have now, with less varied and diverse goods to enjoy. But it is just the opposite. God is fullness. What we have seen thus far is merely shadow.

to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (see Ephesians 3:19).

Elevation Worship - Fullness

Carey Landry - Only A Shadow

22 November 2024 - space for worship

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out

those who were selling things

Jesus was one that was greater than the temple, and therefore qualified to assess whether it was fulfilling its purpose. Although temple worship would eventually give way to worship in Spirit and truth it was still meant to be the focal point of worship in Jesus' day before the coming of the Spirit. That meant that Jesus cared a lot about what happened in the temple, since a proper attitude in regard to temple worship would more easily lead to understanding New Covenant worship when it was revealed.  

It is written,

My house shall be a house of prayer

Jesus desired that the prophecy of Isaiah would be fulfilled, that even foreigners would be made joyful in his house of prayer, and that the temple would "be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (see Isaiah 56:7). Instead, what he found in the court of the Gentiles was the noise of the commerce of the money changers and those selling animals for sacrifice. It was not that there was no need of such services. But they were intruding into a domain that was supposed to be spiritual with concerns and goals that were worldly. Jesus did not wish the greed of some individuals the displace the ability of others to enter into worship of the living God.

but you have made it a den of thieves (see Jeremiah 7:11)

The correction Jesus was able to provide by casting out those selling things was only temporary and did not lead to a full rehabilitation of temple worship. It was impossible to fix that issue without transforming the hearts of those who worshipped. Without such a transformation things like greed, pride, and selfishness would always intrude into spaces meant for the worship of God. Thus a new temple was needed, the temple of the Body of Christ. Only by tearing down and putting to death the old sinful nature of humanity on the cross and by rising again did Jesus unleash the possibility of true worship that God had always desired.

The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people, meanwhile,

were seeking to put him to death,

but they could find no way to accomplish their purpose

because all the people were hanging on his words.

Even these people who were briefly delighted by Jesus would ultimately prove fickle and would largely side with the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people against him as they sought his death. Here, for a moment, they hung upon his words, while those words were pleasant and entertaining. But when he didn't do or say everything they desired they quickly revealed how thin their allegiance to him was. But Jesus had accounted for all of this, since he himself knew exactly what was in the hearts of women and men. Their collusion against him was taken up and transformed by his own plan to give himself for them and to save them.

We are meant to be a part of the Body of Christ and of the new temple. Our worship is meant to be worship in Spirit and in truth. But is it? Or do we allow the courts of our hearts to be so filled with worldly concerns that the true worship of God does not find a place within us? Do we only hang upon the words of Jesus when they are pleasing or do we savor the sweetness of all of his words, even those that make the "stomach sour"? His words have the power to transform us in an even more substantial way then his cleansing transformed the temple. May we be open to it.

Shane And Shane - Psalm 34 (Taste And See)

21 November 2024 - the things that make for peace

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem,

he saw the city and wept over it

Jesus did not celebrate the fact that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed in 70 AD. He was not the type of messiah who would simply regard that destruction as just punishment for failing to recognize or to welcome him. He came not to destroy but to save, and lamented when the hardness of human hearts prevented him from doing so.

If this day you only knew what makes for peace–

but now it is hidden from your eyes.

Most people assumed that the only peace worthy of the name would require military might and conquest. Those hoping that a messiah would bring peace assumed he would bring it by means of the sword. No one suspected that it was through humility, obedience, and patient endurance of suffering that the possibility of true peace would be won. 

Do we know what makes for peace? Or do we perhaps only see peace as the ascendance of our ideas and opinions about how things should be? Or do we know only what makes for temporary compromises that are unsustainable in the long term? There have been many apparently good ideas in the history of the world designed to avoid  violence and conflict. There have been a variety of plans designed to lead to the construction of peaceful utopias. But the key and fundamental fact is that no system is so perfect that it can survive implementation by sinful and imperfect people such as ourselves. Our pride, our greed, our lust for pleasure and for power always corrupt such efforts before they get too far off the ground.

They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,

and they will not leave one stone upon another within you

because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

We don't necessarily need a theocracy in order to fully realize the promise of Kingdom peace. But if Jesus does not reign in the hearts of individual women and men we will never attain it. If he does reign then it isn't too much of an exaggeration to say that any form of government will suffice. This should lead us to question whether Jesus fully reigns within us. And to with the qualifier fully we must admit the answer is always no. We always need more. This means that we need to continue to watch for his coming, for his visitation, when he comes to more fully claim his kingship within us. We must be watchful, because there are competing tendencies and desires in us that would hide his coming from our eyes. It may look much more humble than we would like. It may not seem successful or strong enough to be practical. But if we do learn to recognize his coming and he does reign in us more and more we can be sure that he promise of peace will be realized.

because of the tender mercy of our God

by which the daybreak from on high will visit us

to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,

to guide our feet into the path of peace (see Luke 1:78-79).

Matt Maher - Canticle of Zechariah

The Maranatha Singers - He Is Our Peace

20 November 2024 - faithful in small things

Today's Readings

(Audio)

they thought that the Kingdom of God

The people misunderstood the fact that the Kingdom of God was among them to mean that its final and complete realization was imminent. But before Jesus would reign on earth he would first depart, as it would seem, to a distant country. He would ascend to right hand of the Father with his resurrected human nature and take his seat on the heavenly throne.

He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins

and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’

The context of the parable about the gold coins was to serve as instructions for how those who awaited the second coming of Jesus were to live in the interim. It was not only a matter of waiting and looking up at the sky after him. There was work to be done. However, it was not work that the Church did primarily with its own resources. Rather it was the coins entrusted to it by Jesus himself that chiefly defined the principal task of the followers of Jesus. This task would indeed be carried out in a world in which they would be surrounded by people who did not want Jesus to be their king. No doubt this made such antagonistic individuals skeptical of any investments that smelled of originating from Jesus's gifts or which were apparently motivated by his purposes.

Then the second came and reported,

‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.

The only real failure when it came to the gifts with which Jesus has entrusted his people was a failure to use them. Even doing next to nothing, putting the money in a bank to gain interest, would still have produced a pleasing result. As it was, the cities that the stewards received did not represent their own skills or abilities so much as the level of trust they were able to place in Jesus himself. Their own reign resulted from their willingness to listen and to obey rather than from any profound investment strategy they devised on their own. By contrast the one who failed to invest seemed to take an opinion of the nobleman that was shaped by the surrounding culture that did not wish him to become king. Choosing not to trust the nobleman proved to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. His fear was not a helpful fear but rather projected a negative image on the nobleman which only became true because of he the degree that he continued to insist on seeing him that way.

I tell you,

to everyone who has, more will be given,

but from the one who has not,

even what he has will be taken away.

We are among those to whom much have been given. But if we don't take Jesus at his word and trust him we may render ourselves among those who have not. We have as much as we could ever need precisely to the degree that we trust Jesus. But if we fall back on ourselves or let our view of ourselves be shaped by people who do not want Jesus to be king we will quickly encounter our own insufficiency. It is not too late to believe in the abundance with which Jesus has gifted us, to take him at his word and set about putting it to work.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (see Second Corinthians 9:8)

Elevation Worship - Here As In Heaven

19 November 2024 - to seek and save the lost

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Now a man there named Zacchaeus,

who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, 

was seeking to see who Jesus was;

but he could not see him because of the crowd,

for he was short in stature.

Maybe those in the crowd took the fact that they were able to see Jesus for granted. They need not have been highly motivated in order to do so. Mere curiosity would have sufficed. But not so for Zacchaeus. He was not able to casually stroll up to him to see if whatever it was that he had heard about him was true. He attempted normal means first but found the crowd too thick, and he too short to see over them. Perhaps someone less motivated would have given up. But Zacchaeus seemed rather to be provoked by the initial difficulty into taking extreme measures, going as far as to climb a tree to get a decent vantage point. 

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus,

who was about to pass that way.

When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, 

“Zacchaeus, come down quickly,

for today I must stay at your house.” 

To Zacchaeus it seemed that Zacchaeus was the one who was seeking Jesus. But it was actually the opposite. Even the will with which Zacchaeus did not give up, the humility and persistence that made him climb the tree, were things God was causing to happen in his heart since "it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (see Philippians 2:13). What seemed like a barrier to the presence of Jesus and a hardship was actually something that God made work for Zacchaeus's good. Jesus demonstrated this by stopping and speaking to him as though it was always his plan. He knew Zacchaeus would be there waiting for him because he was already drawing Zacchaeus to himself. It was for this reason that Jesus said, "today I must stay at your house" demonstrating that it was always part of his eternal plan. 

And he came down quickly and received him with joy. 

Had Zacchaeus been able to walk up to Jesus and catch a glimpse like anyone else it seems unlikely he would have had such a pronounced response as he did. But it wasn't as though the vigorous response of Zacchaeus somehow earned the favor of Jesus. Rather even this vigorous response represented a more complete reception of grace compared to that of the complacent crowd. All of us are meant to be like Zacchaeus, extreme in our willingness to seek Jesus, all the more since we know that to do so is a desire he first inspires within us. 

But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,

“Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor,

and if I have extorted anything from anyone

I shall repay it four times over.”

What might we take away from this story? For one thing, we should grow in our resolute desire to be undeterred by obstacles. They may seem like a hassle at first. We may even have to grow in humility to surmount them. But they may well have the effect of making the eventual encounter with Jesus all the sweeter. He is able to make all such things work together for the good of those who love him (see Romans 8:28). A second thing we might take away is the comfort of knowing that even when we are having difficulty, struggling, and unable to see God's will clearly, Jesus is seeking us even then. When we are lost like one seemingly insignificant sheep or coin he does not rest until we are found.

For the Son of Man has come to seek

and to save what was lost.

MBL Worship Featuring Brennan Joseph - One Look

18 November 2024 - unseen and seen

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As Jesus approached Jericho

a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,

and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.

The man may have been blind but he was spiritually perceptive. He demonstrated that "faith comes from hearing" (see Romans 10:17) and serves as "the evidence of things not seen" (see Hebrews 11:1). The crowd following Jesus who rebuked the man could see Jesus but did not understand the mission of Jesus who came to give "recovering of sight to the blind" (see Luke 4:18). The man was blind but he proved that he saw better than most by recognizing that Jesus was the Son of David, the messianic king promised to Israel. Moreover, he recognized that the authority of this king was such that he could even heal his blindness by his power. The blind man's faith was such that he was undeterred even when others tried to rebuke and to silence him. He persisted, continuing to ask until he received.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”

Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.”

He immediately received his sight

and followed him, giving glory to God.

This man did not wish to use his newfound sight merely to off and gratify his curiosity about the shapes of the elements of the world. Rather he desired to put his sight to good use by following Jesus himself. Sight was designed to help humanity seek the good, though most used it more selfishly. But the formerly blind man would ensure that he would not fall into spiritual blindness by using his sight to focus on the highest good, fixing his gaze on Jesus.

let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

As we see in the reading from Revelation it is possible to begin well with fervent love illuminated by the lampstand of faith. But we must not only begin well but persist in our response of love to Jesus. We must continue to act in a manner worthy of the grace of his illumination. We can't take for granted that this light will always be with us if we take it cheaply and account it as of little value by the way we act. Let us remember a time when Jesus gave us new light to illuminate our lives. Let us try to stir the desire within us to respond to him in love today, just as we did in those initial peak experiences. Let us show him by our actions that we value the light of faith he has given us to save us from spiritual blindness.

For King And Country - Fix My Eyes

17 November 2024 - endgame

Today's Readings

(Audio)

In those days after that tribulation

the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will be falling from the sky,

and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

History was not merely an arbitrary accumulation of unrelated events. It was rather something that God had foreseen, that was happening according to a divine plan, and permitted by divine providence. It was not primarily defined, as historians may asserted, by the technologies in plan (such as in the Bronze or Iron Age), nor by the empires that were dominant in a given era (whether the Persians, Greeks, Romans, or anyone else). History was rather marked by successive stages which progressed closer and closer to a climax and a conclusion. And this meant that at the very center was Jesus himself. As Saint John Paul the Great wrote in the first sentence of the first paragraph of his first encyclical: "Jesus Christ, is the centre of the universe and of history" (see Redemptor Hominis 1).

Thus it was that history was fundamentally divided, as is even reflected by our calendar, into that which came before Jesus and that which would follow (regardless of the acronyms we choose in order to mark those periods). The calendar attempted to base itself on the birth of Jesus but the most fundamental dividing line between the old world and the new was actually the death and resurrection of Jesus himself, when the old covenant gave way to the new, in his own Body and Blood. This was reflected by the darkening of the sun (see Luke 23:44) and by the falling from the sky like lightning of the angel (see Luke 10:18) who was once considered the morning star (see Isaiah 14:12) and the rest of the fallen angels that followed him (see Revelation 12:4).

The spiritual reality that began at the passion of Jesus was confirmed in the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD and by the end of the system of temple sacrifice. What Jesus did was not merely symbolic or subjective but changed the fundamental course of history forever. Of course the way history had changed was still something one would need eyes of faith to properly understand. But for those with such faith it would now be evident that the world had reached its final age, the last stage of progress before the end. And those who saw this would be able to live lives directed toward that end. Others would look at the darkness and disasters that continued to overspread the earth and see on futility. Christians would see something more. They would see that with each tribulation the final summer was increasingly near and that Jesus was ever closer to the gates. If the world was heading only toward meaningless destruction, what could be done? Or why bother to do anything at all? But if all things were indeed awaiting the coming of the savior on clouds of glory then there was indeed a clear course of much to be done, with an ever growing urgency. The more Christians were faithful in response to this reality the more it would be true that when the angels were sent to gather the elect none who were intended to be in that number would be missed.

Elevation Worship Featuring Brandon Lake - There Is A King

Brian Doerksen Featuring Wendy Whitehead - Come Now Is The Time To Worship

16 November 2024 - without losing heart

Today's Readings

(Audio)

There was a judge in a certain town

who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 

This judge may have been an unintentional parody of the modern political scene. But while we can see multiple parallels in our own day we may wonder why Jesus would use such a judge as an analogy for God himself. 

For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,

‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, 

because this widow keeps bothering me

I shall deliver a just decision for her

lest she finally come and strike me.’” 

The widow also seemed like an unlike analog for those who pray for justice. It was not as though those who prayed to God could bother him or persuade him to do anything that he did not intend from the beginning. Even though the unjust judge was probably not actually significantly threatened by the possibility of violence from the widow he was motivated to minimize his own hassle. But God himself had no such need.

Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones

who call out to him day and night? 

Jesus used the humorous example of the widow and the unjust judge to reason from a lesser to a greater. If even a terrible judge, one who did not care about justice, might be motivated be persistence, how much more would God himself respond to those who learned to pray always without becoming weary. The similarity was not in the way that the persistence affected God and the judge. Absolutely speaking, persistence didn't affect God it all. Rather it affected those who petitioned him for justice. And in this it was vastly superior to the situation with the unjust judge. People who persisted in prayer would find there hearts more and more transformed by God's priorities. There was apparently some real risk that the widow might eventually become violent in her demands. So too would the insistence of the saints becoming increasing strong and even aggressive. Perhaps this was one interpretation of "the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force" (see Matthew 11:12). But it was not the obvious result when there was not an immediate answer to prayer. It might seem rather that unanswered prayers would eventually peter out. And certainly that was also a possibility. But God was looking for any apparent delay in his response to be exactly the length necessary to transform the hearts of those who sought his favor. And for this reason his response, however it would seem to us, would always be on time.

Will he be slow to answer them? 

I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. 

But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

Shane and Shane - Psalm 34 (Taste And See)

15 November 2024 - ready to go

Today's Readings

(Audio)

As it was in the days of Noah,

so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;

they were eating and drinking,

marrying and giving in marriage up to the day

that Noah entered the ark,

and the flood came and destroyed them all.

The end times will be similar to the days of Noah, which are in a way also similar to our own day. Just as there were then and will be in the future there are presently those who are so hypnotized by the world around them and intoxicated by the routine of daily life that they don't pay attention to the word of God and do not heed the call to repentance. They are the ones who excuse themselves from attendance at the banquet of the king because they have better things to do (see Matthew 22), even if those better things are the drudgery of daily work. But by contrast there are also those who are in the world but not of it (see John 17:14), and who use it as not using it fully (see First Corinthians 7:31). 

God has provided in ark for his people in the form of his Church. He desires to lead all people away from the fire and brimstone that will ultimately destroy sin and death and those who cling to them. But at least two things are necessary for us to ensure we are in this company. First we need to listen to the word of God when he calls us to come out and stand away from the society around us. We must not be embarrassed by our ark even when the rain isn't yet falling. We must follow Jesus where he leads us even before the fire of destruction begins. Second, we must not be too attached to lesser goods. If we are so attached to the things of this world the risk is that when we are asked to forego them for the sake of the Kingdom that we will not be able to do so. If we find ourselves clinging to this world in ways that hinder our ability to follow Christ we should try to address those attachments now when we still have the relative safety to do so.

I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;

one will be taken, the other left.

And there will be two women grinding meal together;

one will be taken, the other left.

The Lord intends to lead his faithful remnant to safety. For a while this remnant may look much like those around them, engaging faithfully in daily work, living as good citizens of the countries and nations to which they belong even as they remember that their primary citizenship is in heaven (see Philippians 3:20). But the end, either of our lives, or of the world itself, will inevitably come. And with it will come judgment when the spiritual disposition of our souls is revealed. If we ultimately choose to shun the rescue mission that Jesus' incarnation and Passion represented he will not force it on us. But he will certainly save those who have longed for his appearance (see Second Timothy 4:7-9).

Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for

but may receive a full recompense.

Relient K - Be My Escape

14 November 2024 - Kingdom among us

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,

Jesus said in reply,

“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,

It was apparent that the Pharisees were expecting some visible manifestation of the Kingdom, something concrete and empirical which would indicate that what Jesus said had come to pass. But this was not quite right. The Kingdom was not going to manifest in the way that an earthly empire might arise and spread. It was not going to be evident primarily by external political structures. Because the Pharisees were expecting something the observation of which would make obvious Jesus had to clear up their misconception about what the Kingdom was before he would more vaguely the question of when.

and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’

For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.”

The Kingdom of God was principally wherever Jesus reigned in the hearts of women and men. These were the people in whom the seed found good soil, the leaven raising up the communities and societies of which they were a part, and the mustard seed that started off small and hidden before becoming a tree capable of transforming the world around it. The Kingdom was not, therefore, something that could be imposed from without. One could not point to a law or a political program and say, 'That is the Kingdom'. The religious milieu of Judaism at the time of Jesus tended to emphasize external ritual and legalistic conformity while treating the inner life as secondary. The Kingdom, by contrast, focused on the internal, requiring faith to perceive, and only secondarily sought to create external forms and structures and methods of enforcement. It tried to change people before it tried to change laws, as we saw with Paul and Philemon in today's first reading. It was obviously also the case that the Church would be instrumental in the legal abolition of slavery. But this was all predicated on transformation of the hearts of those who pursued that noble goal. Of course pursuing the external and the internal was not an either/or choice. But conversion of heart was the emphasis of the Kingdom because only that would lead to lasting and sustainable change.

There will be those who will say to you,

‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’

The desire to see some visible manifestation of the Son of Man or his Kingdom contained the risk that one would expose oneself to deception. We are supposed to desire the coming of the Kingdom. But the desire for visible concrete results is not guaranteed. For now we should focus on the expansion of the reign of Jesus in our hearts and those of others rather than on any climactic transformations of the world. Those changes are worth desiring, and they will come. But the desire to be in control of those changes tends to be unhelpful and destructive because it is typically driven by pride or vanity. 

For just as lightning flashes

and lights up the sky from one side to the other,

so will the Son of Man be in his day.

Jesus assured his followers that the final manifestation of his coming wouldn't be subtle or hidden or indeed possible to miss. Therefore those claiming it already happened were frauds and charlatans. This was how Jesus obliquely addressed the question of when the Kingdom would come in fullness. It was as though he said it would be sufficiently obvious that recognizing it was not something on which they needed to waste time. Instead they should focus on the fact that for anyone who allowed Jesus to rule in her heart, the Kingdom was already present. This was not merely a nice idea to tide them over through a long dark history before the second coming. It was a reality which was evident in all of the lives it changed, all of the saints that bore witness to its transformative power.

Newsboys - Secret Kingdom

13 November 2024 - what he has done for us

Today's Readings

(Audio)

They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,

“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”

We all necessarily begin life in a condition which makes us unable to draw close to Jesus on our own. It is not because "of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy" that the "bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" heal us from our the spiritual leprosy that otherwise disfigures our souls. Jesus himself does this for us. Then he commands, "Go show yourselves to the priests", that we may be integrated into the worshipping community.

As they were going they were cleansed.

And one of them, realizing he had been healed,

returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;

and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

Many are healed in the waters of baptismal rebirth. But fewer truly realize that they have been healed. Many follow the instructions to be joined to as members of the Church. But few pause to reflect on how great is the debt of gratitude that they owe to Jesus himself.

Only the healing power of Jesus can transform those who "were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another" to become heirs in in hope of eternal life. But there is a risk that those who are thus transformed don't fully realized from what and for whom they were saved. This may result in a lukewarm commitment to Jesus and a merely perfunctory attempt to live as his disciples. The antidote is a heart that treasures what Jesus has done for us, and a thankfulness that stirs us to devotion.

If our Church was full only of the sort of spiritual lepers who would return to Jesus with thanksgiving she would become a more powerful witness in our world. So let us give thanks ourselves and encourage one another to do the same. Thankfulness is more than a duty. It helps our entire lives take on color, warmth, and purpose.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Don Moen - Give Thanks