Devotional THoguht of the Day:

9 The LORD told Moses 10 to say to the people of Israel, “When any of you or your descendants are unclean from touching a corpse or are far away on a journey, but still want to keep the Passover, 11you are permitted to observe it one month later instead, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the second month. Celebrate it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12Do not leave any of the food until the following morning and do not break any of the animal’s bones. Observe the Passover according to all the regulations.  Numbers 9:9-12 TEV

It is there in the wounds of Jesus that we are truly secure; there we encounter the boundless love of his heart. I have seen so many people who find the courage to enter the wounds of Jesus by saying to him, “Lord, I am here, accept my poverty, hide my sin in your wounds and wash it away with your blood.” And I always see that God does just this:
He welcomes, consoles, cleanses and loves.

For the orthodox fathers were pressured with great hatred by heretics under this particular pretext, namely, that the church should have no other thought concerning the inaccessible light of the Deity than that which the Deity Himself in proceeding from the secret place of His majesty has revealed concerning Himself.

I encountered the heart of God today in a most unexpected place.

Sure the Book of Numbers is in scripture, but we usually think it is one of those boring books with lots of lists and lots of precise and even complicated directions.

Yet, in the midst of it, God offers something to those who are far off from God.  Far off because of business, or far off because of being unclean. There, God gives direction to those who cannot celebrate the Passover, the great high feast where the angel of death is told it has no right to take us, it has no right to deny us the grace God meant for us.

Yes, it isn’t time to celebrate it, because of your situations, but that doesn’t mean don’t celebrate it at all.  Here is your opportunity, here is the way you can know you are with me, that I am still your God, and you are my people.

For us, the equivalent is seen in the wounds of Christ, the place we find our security, our serenity, our peace.  It is there where we ask Him to take away our sin and to wash us.  It is there we find the consolation, the comforting hand of God showing us His love, even as He has always done.

This is the majesty that Chemnitz notes, the heart of God revealed that we don’t have the authority to change. This is the God who reveals Himself to us, and reveals His will that none should perish, but that all be transformed by His love.

Far too often, the church considers people as being away, as if they are no longer part of the family, as if they are no longer part of the church.  Rather than welcome them back, we too often, like the prodigal’s brother, wonder why they’ve returned, why they should be allowed back, as if they weren’t away at all. And as the Father celebrates their presence, we turn away, we refuse to acknowledge their presence, we fail to celebrate with them the love of God which drew them back.

CHemitz reminds us that we need to have the same heart, the same attitude that Jesus has.   For that is what has been revealed to us.  We need to help them know the wounds Christ bore is not something they should fell guilty about but should be in awe of, for He loves us.  We need to celebrate this cleansing, this consolation, this love for them.  No, that’s not right.  Rather this cleansing, this consolation, this love for us all!

AMEN!

Pope Francis. A Year with Pope Francis: Daily Reflections from His Writings. Ed. Alberto Rossa. New York; Mahwah, NJ; Toronto, ON: Paulist Press; Novalis, 2013. Print.

Chemnitz, Martin, and Jacob A. O. Preus. Loci Theologici. electronic ed. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999. Print.