7 March 2019 - the joy set before us

Today's Readings

(Audio)

If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.

We're afraid to take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow Jesus. We're afraid because we only perceive the negative in such a choice. But it is only a denial of that which can never truly satisfy. It makes room for and affirms the only possible source of lasting joy and happiness. If we can learn to see this we can not just follow but run after Jesus.

I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.

It seems that the cross is a call to embrace death. But this wasn't the approach Jesus took to the cross and it should not be ours.

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (see Hebrews 12:2).

The call to follow Jesus is a call to the cross, yes. It does not end at the cross but leads through to the joy set before us. The cross is our shared yoke with Jesus. It doesn't sound like it would be easy and light. But Jesus has grace from the Father to obey. He has perfect hope in the joy set before him.  In him we can indeed find rest for ourselves even while our crosses remain.

We aren't self-abusive. We aren't obeying commandments for their own sake. It is all about the joy set before us. Jesus is not whipping us on from behind us. He is urging us on from a place of perfect peace and happiness. He offers the water of life when we are thirsty. He offers his own strength when we feel weak. He will do anything necessary to get us home.

For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Let us take up our crosses, yes, but only with our eyes fixed on Easter.

Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

6 March 2019 - an acceptable time

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.

When we receive ashes on our foreheads today we do not display them so as to brag about ourselves or even about our Church. It is no great merit on our part to receive them. They would be offered to anyone who walked in for them. Ashes signify our weakness. They tell the world that we, yes, even we who are Church-goers, are sinners that need conversion. They are not holier-than-thou. The are rather the opposite. For all intents and purposes we know our need of conversion the deepest and so we assume we have more need of repentance than others.

We are called to give alms, to pray, and to fast. But we are not called to do these so as to win the praise of others, or to be seen by others, or to appear to others to be fasting. We are doing something in secret so that the Father who sees in secret will repay us. We are like the seed which grows, we know not how (see Mark 4:27), so deeply buried is it in the soil. To the extent possible we don't even dwell on these practices ourselves. If possible our left hand has no idea about the alms our right has given. We may wonder, without even that awareness, can such deeds make a difference? This sort of thinking is incipient pride. Rather, we are actually drawing near to God when we practice prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The degree to which we hide ourselves from ourselves in the process allows this closeness to God be magnified.

But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.

By our ashes, we recognize our need. By our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we turn away from ourselves and toward God who is rich in mercy. 

Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.

Jesus himself is our path to the righteousness of God. He himself is the hidden room in which the Father hears and delights in our prayers. It he who offers what is hidden to the Father, ensuring that the grace God gives us is not given in vain.

For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, 
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

We see in Jesus one who was always concerned with his Father's will above all else. He was always motivated by the love of his creatures. He was never driven by pride or vainglory and united with him we can be the same.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.

5 March 2019 - the law of the gift

Today's Readings

(Audio)

For the LORD is one who always repays,
and he will give back to you sevenfold.

Here we have a spiritual law given by God that many of us probably don't believe. We've all experienced times when our offerings aren't immediately met with the karmic returns we might think they deserve. And yet the promise not only stands but is intensified by Jesus.

Amen, I say to you,
there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or lands
for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel
who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.

We note that he says for my sake and the sake of the Gospel. On the other hand, our gifts are more often like bribes that the LORD does not accept. We do them out of a sense that we are obligated to pay off the judge so he will look the other way. We're afraid that he's looking for any excuse to condemn us and so we offer what we do to try buy him off.

If we change the attitude with which we give we experience different results as well.

With each contribution show a cheerful countenance,
and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy.

We are called to give for the sake of Jesus and the sake of the Gospel. This sort of giving can be done with a cheerful countenance and a spirit of joy because we no longer begin from a place of desperation but rather from one of love and understanding.

Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
generously, according to your means.

Almsgiving is an important part of Lent. We are called to make sacrifices for the LORD. But let's do them in a right spirit. Then, because they are done well, we can look forward, even this Lent to a bountiful harvest.

who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age:
houses and brothers and sisters
and mothers and children and lands,
with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.

Even the persecutions are transformed into blessings when we operate for the Gospel's sake. LORD, give us generous spirits!

Offer to God praise as your sacrifice
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.

4 March 2019 - treasure in heaven

Today's Readings

(Audio)

At that statement, his face fell,  
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

This risk is real for all of us. People for most of history would consider what we have to be untold riches. This doesn't doom us. But it does mean that we should be on our guard. Lent is a perfect opportunity for us to analyze our lives to see what things might be taking priority over Jesus. What, if asked, do we have trouble relinquishing? Maybe we can cut back or refrain from such things for a time. While doing so we can learn just why we were clinging to those things. Did we not trust Jesus to provide for us? Did we cling too much to love of comfort so that it took precedence over love of God and neighbor?

"You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

Jesus asks us to relinquish only that which keeps us from following him. He truly knows that the treasure waiting for us in heaven is worth more than anything we might accumulate here below. He wants to make our hearts unencumbered, that they might be light enough to rise with him.

“Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For men it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God.”

We can't try to empty ourselves on our own. If we do we will experience only emptiness at the bottom. We need the power of Jesus to make it possible. His yoke, even when it consists of laying down our wealth, is easy and light. When we share his yoke we, like his disciples, are sent out with nothing extra. Like his disciples we always have enough.

To the penitent God provides a way back,
he encourages those who are losing hope
and has chosen for them the lot of truth.

God knows that we drift. Even as we learn to give up something we slide into taking solace in some other earthly delight. Even though we are so incorrigible he is nevertheless always ready to welcome us back. We are made to delight in him. He offers himself to us to be our joy.

How great the mercy of the LORD,
his forgiveness of those who return to him!

We can see how we are doing by praising God. Is there joy in it? Or is it rather obligation from which we wish to return to our many possessions? Jesus has the power and the desire to give us joy in praising him.

Let the just exult and rejoice in the Lord.

3 March 2019 - from the heart

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear;
so do one's faults when one speaks.

The test of our ability to control what we ourselves say is one that Scripture strongly recommends. Other people may speak well and persuasively and it doesn't mean that they have a life that backs up those words. Granted, if they don't their words will eventually betray. Yet it is a more effective strategy when applied to the plank in our eye than the spec in our brother's eye.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless (see James 1:26).

The tongue can made made to say all sorts of noble sounding words about love and compassion. But without the Holy Spirit we will be unable to prevent it from talk which divides, wastes, and distracts.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (see Ephesians 4:29).

Jesus is the Word of the Father. He reveals the Father's heart to man. So our words reveal more about us than we'd like to admit, for "from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."

To tame the tongue is not possible with mere human strength. We'll always slip up and complain, gossip, and speak endless other words that tear down rather than build up. We need a guide who is not blind if they are to lead us. We need someone with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's job is to remind us of everything Jesus said. He gives us words when we need to speak. He has a specific ministry around giving words to us, whether, knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, or tongues. The Holy Spirit can fix our spiritual speech impediments and enable us to proclaim God's Word.

There is hope for us, even if we have some bad habits around the use of our language. That is why we say "thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Even now in this mortal life our corruptible speech can be clothed with the incorruptible Spirit of God. The resurrection of Jesus can transform every aspect of ourselves until he only  fills our hearts.

 Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?

Quick, before Lent..

2 March 2019 - like children

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Let the children come to me; do not prevent them,
for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
 
Why prevent children from coming to Jesus? Is it not because we assume that Jesus has more important things to do? We expect Jesus to be more interested into intellectual discourse or moral merit or really any quality of deserving on the part of those who approach him. We expect him to be willing to engage with adversaries or even to heal the broken. But aren't children a waste of time? This shows how in our broken ways of thinking we are wont to place doing over being. It is a short path from there to trying to justify ourselves by our works.

Amen, I say to you,
whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child
will not enter it.

We are called to more than any specific action. We are called to come near to Jesus and to be with him. All the things which we might do for Jesus or which he might do for us have specific endings. But all of those specific endings are meant to draw us toward relationship with him.

Then he embraced the children and blessed them,
placing his hands on them.

We do not simply seek wisdom, healing, or forgiveness for their own sake. We want all of those good things so that we can then simply be with Jesus, embraced by him, and blessed as he places his hands upon us.

He put the fear of himself upon their hearts,
and showed them his mighty works,
That they might glory in the wonder of his deeds
and praise his holy name.

We might worry that little children don't have the fear of the LORD and therefore ought not approach Jesus. But clearly this isn't a problem for Jesus. From the lips of children and of babes he finds perfect praise. We consider fear more in relation to ourselves and our actions. The fear that children have is the correct one. The fear of not being with Jesus is a healthy fear that Jesus honors by giving them first class access to his presence.

But the kindness of the LORD is from eternity
to eternity toward those who fear him,
And his justice toward children's children
among those who keep his covenant.

1 March 2019 - faithful friends

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.

We are called to live by the new commandment of love. Jesus has given us new hearts.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh (see Ezekiel 36:26)

Our new hearts enable us to live in accord with God's original plan for things. They allow us to live for the purpose of our lives rather than merely making do with brokenness and sin. Relationships take on new meaning as we become rooted and grounded in love.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.

Our relationships with one another are restored to their original meaning. They become a participation in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They partake in the mission of Jesus.

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church (see Ephesians 5:32).

It is not just the specifically sacramental relationships that should be different. We are called to a supernatural unity even among our friends.

The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me (see John 17:22).

It is on this spiritual level of friendship that we are the most able to move beyond friends of convenience or utility to find instead a "faithful friend beyond price".

For he who fears God behaves accordingly,
and his friend will be like himself.

It is of this friendship that David speaks when he says, "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!" (See Psalm 133:1).

We recognize that we sometimes fail to live up to this new heart we have been given. May the Spirit renew us again today so that all of our interactions with others may be chances to call other people friends just as God first does to us.