7 May 2020 - this Kingdom

Today's Readings

(Audio)

From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.

Jesus is the fulfillment of a plan and a promise. The place and the people to whom he comes are not random or arbitrary. This means that accepting Jesus means accepting the plan of the one who sent him. Even more than David, Jesus is a man after the Father's heart who carries out his every wish. When we come to Jesus we must also agree with God's diagnosis of the human condition, his condemnation of sin, and his desire to bring salvation. We must abandon our ideas about deserving and entitlement and instead be grateful to be finally numbered among those whom God has freely chosen.

I am not speaking of all of you.
I know those whom I have chosen.

Jesus knew how hard it would be for us to accept him as the great I AM. People imagined a conquering king. What they got was one who washed the feet of his disciples and conquered only through his love. The idea of a chosen people made sense to that people if their exclusivity was preserved. When salvation was proclaimed to the Gentiles too, and the plan was no longer on their terms, they struggled. And how could that plan make sense to the Gentiles, who were so sure that they could not need anything from the Jews? Only a mutual dependence on one another for mercy could make sense of it. To help us accept him and his plan Jesus revealed in advance how it would turn out, just as prophets, culminating in John the Baptist first announced his own coming.

‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’“

Jesus wants to assure us that he is trustworthy. If we believe this we will be able to face circumstances in which his victory is anything but apparent and not lose hope. If we trust him we can in fact walk in victory no matter the circumstance.

From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM.

The true victory is something greater and not less than the destruction of the seven nations in the land of Canaan. The inheritance we receive without earning it is something greater than that land. The King who reigns over us reigns with more power and perfection than anyone else. Yet his Kingdom does not operate according to the principles of this world. Until he comes again we can only enter into it by faith, only live in it by love and service.

Let us accept not only Jesus, but the one who sent him, and his plan to rule the world through love and mercy. May he make us fit subjects of this King and Kingdom.

“My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.

6 May 2020 - not to condemn, but to save

Today's Readings

(Audio)

I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.

Jesus does not condemn anyone. But he does not prevent us from condemning ourselves. He tells us how to come to him and have life. But if we reject those words we will not find a path to life. The words will be testimony of the help he offered but which we refused.

Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words
has something to judge him: the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.

When we reject something which Jesus says we are not rejecting merely human teaching, nor simply the elegant wisdom of a philosopher or a prophet. We reject the all-knowing, unchanging, entirely loving mind of God. When we do this we often imagine that we have a better idea, something more kind and loving in a specific circumstance. But our ideas are never more true than those of God, nor more loving. 

I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.

Jesus wants us to come to him so that we can walk in his light. He enlightens us so that we can walk in love. He helps us to avoid the temptation to concoct our own plans, when such plans are other than the Father has revealed. Without his light we are like children scared in the dark, making desperate plans for survival and thinking that such plans are the best our love can do. With his light we are able to live in his peace and his safety, trusting in his word.

The words of Jesus condemn us if we do not come to the light, in the sense that we now choose to stumble in the darkness by our own choice, over and against the light he has now revealed. He tells us where we can find the light and where the is the darkness we must avoid. So let us not continue in darkness, even to any degree, even in the recesses of our hearts that we hold back from him. May he shine fully within us and through us.

Only in the light will we have confidence to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit and obey him when he speaks.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.”

A significant reason why we don't hear the Spirit is because we are afraid to listen, afraid of what he might ask of us. But why? What darkness lies over our hearts, what recesses of them are still held back from God? What do we still imagine we need to protect by our own strength?

When we see what the Spirit asked of others we may fear that we could not rise to such challenges ourselves. But we don't have the grace for the missions of others. We will have grace for whatever he asks of us as individuals. Knowing in advance, we couldn't imagine doing whatever that might be, because we could only imagine how our own strength would fail. This is why we need to walk in the light of trust in Jesus. His call is not only possible, though it is, because all things are possible for God. It is better than any other option we might choose.

So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit,

Whatever we do, may we too go forth, sent by the Spirit, to proclaim in our own way, the praises of God to all the nations.

May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!

5 May 2020 - among my sheep

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.

Even if Jesus explains things to us plainly we are still free to believe him or not. Yet we do not encounter propositions about which we can make determinations with our own reason. We encounter a voice. We can be among the sheep of Jesus who hear his voice and recognize it even prior to anything it says. Sheep are able to trust because they know the one who speaks. This is the level of trust we need to move from abstraction and debate which are mere distractions to the substance of the truth that sets us free (see John 8:32).

The Father and I are one.

We may be smart. We may be clever. But often this works to our detriment. We are able to rationalize the convenient and dismiss the truth. We are sheep that are prone to wander. In the hands of Jesus we find security. We eventually do learn wisdom, but it is not wisdom as we knew it before, as the world recognizes it.

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away (see First Corinthians 2:6).

Isn't this the very opposite of what we would prefer, of the way in which we would normally approach the truth? We would probably want to hear valid arguments again and again and only gradually trust the one who makes them, more and more perhaps, but only to the degree that he earns that trust and never absolutely. We would remain the ultimate arbiters of that truth. Such is our nature as fallen creatures. It is characteristic of the sin of Adam and of all sin ever since.

When Jesus speaks to us, revealing truth, he offers an invitation. He stands at the doors of our hearts and knocks (see Revelation 3:20). Our response can't simply be, 'Yes, I believe this is accurate data.' It must begin as a recognition that the one who reveals is supremely trustworthy, for he himself is what he first reveals. From that point we can accept anything he tells us, even hard truths which are difficult to accept. This is when we say, 'You have the words of everlasting life' (see John 6:68).

The message of Jesus is an invitation. It is for this reason that it is able to captivate hearts that have been neglected and ignored. It is an invitation that is utterly compelling to lost sheep, without a shepherd. In it they feel seen and known. In it they experience compassion for which they have always longed.

The hand of the Lord was with them
and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

The message reveals that the shepherd cares about the sheep long before any doctrine is transmitted. The very fact that the shepherd is inviting is enough to give hope to hearts that had long ceased to hope.

Are we following the voice of the shepherd? Or do we spend more time reasoning on the basis of the flesh, apart from him? If we return to the shepherd and guardian of our souls (see 1 Peter 2:25) we can experience once more the joy of having a shepherd who cares for us. And we can encourage others to remain faithful to him as well.

When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.

4 May 2020 - one flock, one shepherd

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Only Jesus is the good shepherd because only he shepherds his flock without self-interest. Only he is able to give his life for his sheep.

I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Even the best human shepherds are tainted in one way or another by self-interest. It makes it hard for them to welcome the other sheep who do not belong to the fold. They tend to gravitate toward the sheep which are a natural fit for them and away from those that are not. As the good shepherd Jesus wants all sheep to join his flock so that "there will be one flock, one shepherd."

In Jesus we can overcome our natural tendency to put ourselves first, to clique up with similar individuals, and to ignore those with nothing to offer us.

When they heard this,
they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying,
“God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”

In order to transcend our selfishness we need to keep our eyes on the movement of the Spirit as he calls us out beyond the safe boundaries which we have created for ourselves.

The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating.

His movements seems obvious when we hear them celebrated, but we sometimes miss the Spirit moving in our world precisely because we prefer to stay within the safe confines of our comfortable routines. When we are actually being called out from these protections we are much more likely to ignore and to look away. But if we do that we miss great things.

As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them
as it had upon us at the beginning

Jesus wants us to cast our nets for fish of every kind. He wants his one body to be united in one Spirit.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (see Ephesians 4:4-6).

Jesus has the power to lay his own life day for the sake of his sheep. It is a command he receives from his Father. We in turn receive the command from him to lay down our own lives for his sake and for the sake of the Kingdom. And we know that whatever Jesus commands he also empowers. 

May the LORD himself give us a desire to see this flock united. May he help us to overcome the natural inhibitions that keep us separated from one another, ministering only to those who are the most like minded among us.

As the hind longs for the running waters,
so my soul longs for you, O God.

3 May 2020 - the grace of suffering

Today's Readings

(Audio)

When he was insulted, he returned no insult;

The ability to suffer for doing what is good is a supernatural grace. Finding joy in bearing dishonor for the sake of the name is not something that comes naturally. When we are insulted we are often mature enough not to say anything in response. But we are often not so mature that we don't contrive what our response would have been, entertain it, and take delight in it.

when he suffered, he did not threaten;

When people do things with which we disagree, when they impose themselves and their ideals on ourselves and on society, we don't usually threaten them with ultimatums in order to make them stop. But we secretly cherish the idea of doing so. We think that if they are going to act in whatever harmful fashion, then these consequences we imagine for them would fit perfectly. We delight in the idea of it, even if we don't threaten them with it.

How can we break free from the cycle that returns insult for insult and responds to suffering with threats? How can we receive the grace to not only act right on the outside but to be patient in our hearts? We need to hand ourselves over to the one who judges justly. Jesus does not have to defend himself because he knows he is righteous in the eyes of the Father. When we allow ourselves to be handed over to the Father with Jesus, when we surrender our own rights, the sins with which we struggle are put to death on the cross. As we surrender, we are set free, and made able to live for righteousness.

By his wounds you have been healed.
For you had gone astray like sheep,
but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

How can we tell the difference between surrendering on the cross with Jesus and surrendering to the harm intended to us by strangers, thieves, and robbers? In each case we end up suffering. But one path destroys and one gives life. We need to be able to know for sure, when we lay down our lives, to whom we offering them.

When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.

Let us learn to recognize the voice of Jesus. Let us train ourselves to hear it. Scripture is the starting place, because we know for sure that we hear him speaking to us there. But prayer too requires careful attention. The more clearly we feel a nudge or hear a word from Jesus the more we must treasure it in our heart and celebrate it so that we can more easily recognize his voice in the future. What might this voice feel like?

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles,
“What are we to do, my brothers?”

When the grace we receive doesn't seem to have been prepared for naturally, when it doesn't seem like something our flesh would accept, when it was previously unfamiliar but now captivates us, these are signs that the LORD might be speaking to us in a new way, that he is moving to claim new ground, or to work a deeper conversion within us. We see in Acts that this can even happen through other people who are anointed with the Spirit to speak in his name.

The LORD cuts us to the heart with his words, not to destroy us, but to heal us, like a master physician performing surgery. It is a procedure that is designed to help us release our grips on the reins of our own lives and to let Jesus direct them instead.

As we begin to grow in familiarity with the still small voice that speaks we learn of the characteristic tone with which it speaks. We are able to experience peace that it imparts even when the words themselves might be hard. How different this is from other voices, where the words are easy, but which cannot give peace. This is the corrupt generation from which we are called to save ourselves.

The peace of the voice of the shepherd is a peace we can know even in times of trial, perhaps especially in such times. We can discover an even closer union with Jesus if only we surrender ourselves, if, together with him, we hand ourselves over to the one who judges justly. It is by this path that we return to the Good Shepherd who is the guardian of our souls. It is by this path that we are made to live for righteousness. It is the path to joy and to life.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.

2 May 2020 - Spirit and life

Today's Readings

(Audio)

It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail.

When we rely on human ways of thinking we limit our ability to accept what Jesus teaches. We say, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Without the aid of the Spirit, the idea of someone giving his flesh and blood for food and drink is shocking. It is shocking to our flesh because it does not seem to be practical as a symbol but it doesn't make sense to us within the normal realm of scientific truth. After all, in that realm, what could this mean but some sort of invitation to cannibalism?

The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.

Jesus invites us to come higher up, to accept a new mode of thinking, and a new way of being. This is an archetypal moment, where the disciple who had followed Jesus closely enough until now is invited to beyond the limitations of his own fleshly way of thinking to accept Jesus and his truth in a new way. Jesus often calls us to a deeper conversion, a point where our flesh would rebel and turn back without the Spirit. The Spirit within us can connect to the Spirit in the words of Christ to bring us beyond the murmurs and the shock of our own thoughts that we often discover when he invites us higher.

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Peter does not say, 'No worries LORD. We understand what you mean.' His flesh is similarly shocked and his thoughts are probably filled with murmurs. But he chooses to give voice to the invitation of the Spirit. He confesses that he doesn't get it either, but that he knows that the one who speaks is true. He will trust that. It is enough for him.

It is Spirit that allows individuals to accept Jesus. And it is the Spirit who works through each to build up the body of the Church.

She was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord,
and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit she grew in numbers.

The beliefs that seemed shocking are now a great consolation. The ability to trust in the Spirit instead of the flesh is the great secret of the early Church in Acts. Peter began to learn it before this, early in his walk with Jesus. He didn't always get it just right. But by allowing the Spirit to believe within him, responding to one invitation at a time, it gradually became a habitual response.

Peter said to him,
“Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed.”

The miracles that happened through Peter, including the healing of Aeneas and the raising of Tabitha, were not things that could have happened through one whose mind was still dominated by fleshly ways of thinking. Peter in Acts reveals a person utterly transformed who no longer thought first from his own perspective and only after considered the theological implications, but rather took Jesus and his Spirit at their word. Though it may be hard to believe, Jesus invites us to the same level of trust. He has mighty deeds for which he wants to use us, for which we will only be suitable if we learn the reversal Peter showed us: Spirit first, the natural and the human second if at all. It begins when we come to our own limits and manage to ask "Master, to whom shall we go?" And then to confess, "You have the words of eternal life."

How shall I make a return to the LORD
for all the good he has done for me?
The cup of salvation I will take up,
and I will call upon the name of the LORD

1 May 2020 - eye opener

Today's Readings

(Audio)

He said, “Who are you, sir?”
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.”

We need the eyes of faith to recognize Jesus where he is present. But this is not something we work up in ourselves either subjectively or rationally. It is a gift and an invitation from Jesus himself. His appearance has the power to overcome our biases and habits. He can allow us to make a clean break from who we are before we encounter him. None of us is so entrapped in his present life that Jesus cannot save him. We can't overcome our own blindness and see clearly without Jesus. It isn't enough to know that he is the answer. We have to let him do what he wants to do in us.

Saul got up from the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;
so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.

If we are having a hard time seeing God's plan for the world and for us it might be that we need to have our eyes opened, for the first time, or again and wider than before.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.

It is by eyes of faith that we recognize the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. His Flesh is true food and his Blood is true drink. Seeing, touching, and tasting; in him they are deceived. In this time when we can't actually receive communion we can still experience the presence of Jesus within the consecrated elements by our faith. Faith is so powerful that it attains to the not yet even in the here and now. There is not only a sense in which, by faith, we are already back at mass and receiving the Eucharist, but also a sense by which we are already seated in heavenly places (see Ephesians 2:6), sharing in the wedding feast of the Lamb. Our faith connects us to this future and draws us toward it.

“Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me,
Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came,
that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes
and he regained his sight.

It is certainly true that none of us has a full and complete perception of all that Jesus has done for us, of all that is already ours by faith. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens (see Ephesians 1:3). Yet, in spite of this, we live impoverished lives, lonely in spite of God's presence, full of hungry desires in spite of all he has down to satisfy us. May he open our eyes to the reality of his gifts.

This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever.

As we make spiritual communions in this time of quarantine let us feel them connecting us to and accelerating us toward the reality, not only of receiving physically once more, but of the coming of the King and his Kingdom. Maranatha! Come LORD Jesus!

Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!

The Spirit and the Bride - Matt Maher

Take Me In (To the Holy of Holies) - Kutless