Blog Archives
We Can See!
2 Cor. 3:12-4:6
May the glorious gifts of mercy and peace you receive from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ shine into your world, as God transforms you into the image of Christ!
The Unnerving Glorious Mathematical Law
As we look at the incredible Transfiguration of Jesus, we need to understand it mathematically.
That is right; I said Mathematically.
We can show this mathematically, because of the of the epistle reading. We can understand why the transfiguration is much more than what was revealed that day to the three terrified apostles. As we see Christ revealed in all of His glory, we can make a connection from that event to our lives today, to our lives this week.
To what Paul talks about in Colossians 1,
“27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. Colossians 1:27 (NLT)
Read that last sentence, this gives you the assurance of sharing His glory.
What a glorious promise, what an incredible truth!
So what about the math?
There is a mathematical axiom that dates back to the time before Christ. It goes like this.
If A=B and B=C, then….
C=A.
Simple, right?
Now let’s apply it to scripture.
In verse 18 of our epistle reading from 2 Corinthians 3, it states this.
“And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”
So the transition could look like Our Image => Image of Christ
Jesus Christ is the exact likeness, the exact image of God,
Then we are being restored to what we were created to be, going all the way back to Genesis,
27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (NLT)
This is amazing, glorious, that we would be undergoing a transfiguration that will leave us sharing in the glory of Christ.
That is the work of God in us! This is true of you and me, for we are being remade in the image of God!
That Which obscures this in all of us
That is a heavy burden if you consider it for a moment.
Does God expect us to live, to speak, to think… like Jesus, to be like God, in whose image we are created?
Are we going to be judged based on how well we each resemble Jesus? How our thoughts are His thoughts, whether we love others like He did?
I think that is the problem the Jews had, for they measured their righteousness against the Old Covenant law. Because of that, all they could see was failure, they missed the presence of God. They hear the “you shall keep the Sabbath Day Holy” and miss the idea that we find rest in God’s presence, as He gathers us together, as His family. They hear “you shall not bear false testimony,” and look around at all the evil and unrighteousness, not realizing the comfort and security we have, trusting Jesus to care for us as promised.
Legalism comes from looking at the rules, and trying to keep them, without realizing why we do so. As we focus on the law, we are blinded to the God, who describes our life with Him in that law.
Because we are blinded, we miss Him!
If the Law is our focus, our lives our failures, for the burden is beyond anything anyone can accomplish. Judged by that law, we know what scripture tells, we all fall short of His glory. All have sinned, no one is good, no one but God!.
Even the reflection of God’s glory in the face of Moses would fade…as it did as Moses left the presence of God.
How this transformation occurs
This transformation then is not by our effort; it never could be! We cannot keep the law perfectly. That veil, that inability to look to God, to recognize His presence can only be removed by God.
Notice it says,
18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.
We’ve had that veiled removed; it is not something we’ve done. It is the work of Christ, on the cross, and pays for all our sin. It is the Holy Spirit at work as well, who through word and sacraments like baptism and the Eucharist assures us that we are united to Jesus. United to Him in death, and then that death, that veil removed as we rise with Him, cleansed and healed. We’ve become adopted children of God our Father.
We are being transformed into His image, even as we see the glory of God in Christ, as we adore Him. As we look to Him, as our focus moves off of our sins and failures, and off of those around us, we begin to reflect that glory, it becames more and more natural…
That is why Paul tells the church in Ephesus,
4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)
This transformation we are undergoing, it gives to God great pleasure!
This transformation, where the Spirit removes the veil in baptism, who keeps us close as we commune, as we hear that our sins are forgiven, that we can see God!
What this transformation looks like..
What an amazing change this is in life, to know God’s desire is fulfilled in reconciling us to Himself, in revealing His presence in every aspect of our life! In securing us to Jesus.
The results? Paul talks about this way of God giving us boldness, that we will never give up! That as His mercy is revealed, as we know it is mercy and love towards us, we stand in that love.
Everything else fails away, for there is nothing that compares to it. We do not have to force God’s love on people; we simply share the hope we have. We do not have to put out false images of perfect lives, we can share the hope that comes from seeing God, and that image becomes imprinted on us.
It is why Paul can use the “image” idea as he tells the people in Corinth,
33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I do not just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved. 1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1 (NLT)
Going back to our math, and the A=B and B=C, we find ourselves, our eyes on Christ, running a race without thought of sin, just focusing on Him. We see that image imprinted on Paul. Knowing His love, being transformed into His image.
We find ourselves doing what Christ did, inviting people into the presence of God, making the sacrifices that would remove that which blocks them from Him. For that is what He did.
So look to Jesus, for you can see Him! He is the author and perfector of your faith, who with joy gave it all, discounting the shame, the pain! Who now waits for us at the right hand of the Father!
That is our destination; that is why the Spirit transforms us, readying us for that day. Comforting, empowering, causing us to grow and transform, as we dwell in His amazing peace. AMEN!
The Hard Lesson From the Manger…..we have to share in it…
Artwork by my friend, and soon to be ordained Mark Jennings. His artwork (either originals or prints) is available through http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/mark-jennings.html
Devotional THought fo the Day:
1 Your life in Christ makes you strong, and his love comforts you. You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another. 2 I urge you, then, to make me completely happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and being one in soul and mind. 3 Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves. 4 And look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. 5 The attitude you should have is the one that Christ Jesus had: 6 He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. 7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. 8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death— his death on the cross.
1 Imitate me, then, just as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (TEV)
562 When I preach that we have to make ourselves a carpet so that the others may tread softly, I am not simply being poetic: it has to be a reality! It’s hard, as sanctity is hard; but it’s also easy, because, I insist, sanctity is within everyone’s reach. (1)
We have a fear of being taken advantage of, one that can easily consume us.
I feel it every time I get a phone call, and the person promises to come to church, if only we would pay their rent, or buy their meds, or provide them with money to buy food. I feel it when I get that text message at 10pm or 2am, knowing that the people need to listen, more than they are ready to hear my wisdom.
I see my fellow pastors, and all those who minister at this time of year struggling with it to, because they put in some much work, and sometimes only see a few people who will benefit from it. Or we fear that this is the year when only 3 people will show up for the midnight service.on Christmas Eve. I see in it families, where one member always feels underappreciated, even as they continue to meet the needs of others in it.
We don’t like to be taken advantage of, we don’t want to be walked all over.
And that fear is confronted by the words of St. Josemaria Escriva. What? You think we should allow ourselves to be run over, run down, wiped out? You want us to be a carpet or door mat that people can walk all over, grinding into us the mud on their feet? He wants us to just take it, and serve people, knowing we may never even get a simple thank you?
(quick disclaimer – I am not talking about being run over by sexual, physical or emotional abuse)
But yeah, St. Josemaria is saying exactly what Paul is saying in Philippians 2. The lesson of Jesus, lying there in the manger. Lying there, with the shadow of the cross already promised, with the stripes that will be caused by whips already accepted, with the humiliation, with the fact that the very people that will praise Him, that He’s come to save… spitting on Him, cursing Him, nailing Him to the cross.
That Jesus would suffer all of that, to save us. He through whom everything that has been created was created, becoming a infant, needing sustenance from another, needing another to change His diapers. That level of humiliation at the manger and at the cross, is first and above all, a picture of God’s love.
It is also a picture of God’s plan for our lives, here, during this life.
Paul knew that – and tried to live that way, accepting times of hardship, taking on the sacrifice it would take, including the humility to not strike back. but instead to let people see the strength of Christ-crucified, Christ-Incarnate alive in Him.
And he calls us to imitate him, as He imitates Jesus. To live in Christ as Paul strived to, to have that attitude, that being a carpet doesn’t matter, that seeing people reconciled to the Father is far greater a reward than inconvenience, sacrifice, even martyrdom.
This is the lesson – that little Baby, willing left Heaven for you…. so you could walk with Him……in good times and bad.
that’s the lesson we need to remember…..
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2107-2110). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
A Work of Love to Important to Leave to a Few…
Devotional/Discussion Thought of the Day:
1 Imitate me, then, just as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (TEV)
27 God’s plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God. 28 So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature individual in union with Christ. 29 To get this done I toil and struggle, using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work in me. Colossians 1:27-29 (TEV)
Before Christ and my own conscience I assure you that I am speaking the plain truth when I say that there is something that makes me feel very depressed, like a pain that never leaves me. It is the condition of my brothers and fellow-Israelites, and I have actually reached the pitch of wishing myself cut off from Christ if it meant that they could be won for God. Romans 9:1 (Phillips NT)
622 Do you realise how much depends on whether you are soundly prepared or not? Many, many souls! And now will you cease to study or work with perfection? (1)
There is a attitude in the church today, that needs to be confronted, that needs to be corrected. It is the idea that our lives are our own, that we have no obligation to work in the Kingdom of God. We have no obligation to tell people about God’s love, to either them, or to God.
We’d love to leave that to pastors (and pastors leave it to missionaries!) or to the religious fanatics. We don’t want the obligation and the obligations that come when those people we share God’s love with need to be loved…. by us. Or the obligation to know God’s word beyond the basic “believe and your will be baptized” type promises, the ones assure us that we aren’t going to hell The obligation of even praying for people is more than most of us are willing to take seriously.
how do we feel when we read Paul’s despair over the people of Israel? Is such love a foreign thing to us?
His is not the only love like this – look at Moses making a similar offer to God. What about Abraham, so worried about Sodom and Gommorah that he would bargain with God, over and over. These weren’t the best people these men of God tried to save, it was rebellious sinful people. The same kind of people around us. Will we hear their cries? Will we know their pain?
The problem is this idea that satan convinced the church of, that sharing our faith is an obligation, that it is commanded and we must do it. We buy into that, because it gives us an out – if it is law – we assume our guilt, claim to repent, and go our merry way, assured we are forgiven.
But sharing our treasured hope is not a matter of law – it is a matter of love. To look at those who suffer under the burden of shame and guilt, who are enslaved to sin, who are broken because of it. Who try to find their peace in bottles or drugs or anything that will numb the pain, that will allow them to ignore it, or set it aside. To look on these people is to see the need they have, that we know can be met, that can bring about healing and holiness.
It is a matter of loving them, and remembering when we realized what forgiveness is, what the promises of our baptism brings, what it means to know that God looks at us as His children, whom He chose to adopt.
We look those who don’t know Him, whom Jesus endured the shame of the cross to save… and we know we are called ot love them…..to be the ones who point them to life, to rest, to walking with God. Can we picture them, as the burdens are lifted, as the sins are removed, as the joy fills their hearts?
Lord, you’ve made us your children, help us to be patient, and desire that non perish…..and help us to embrace any sacrifice that will help us lead others into Your family. AMEN!.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 2629-2631). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Another Challenging “imitate Paul as he Imitates Jesus moment…”
Devotional Thought ot the Day:
14 Now I am coming to you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you. I don’t want what you have—I want you. After all, children don’t provide for their parents. Rather, parents provide for their children. 15 I will gladly spend myself and all I have for you, even though it seems that the more I love you, the less you love me. 2 Corinthians 12:14-15 (NLT)
288 When the Lord makes use of you to pour His grace into souls remember that you are only the wrapping round the gift, the paper that is torn up and thrown away. (1)
Over the last couple of days, my blogs have focused on the relationship of faith (trusting in God ) and humility. It’s not an easy thing to manage – this idea of humility. To let God be our God, to entrust our entire lives into His wise care, this is what faith is. The result is being transformed into His image, growing in His likeness. Learning to see His will as ours, and caring for what He cares for, that people come to repentance, to transformation. Learning to value what He does, the way He does.
We see this in Paul’s words, as he tells the church in Corinth how he isn’t in anything they have. He wants them to know Jesus. He wants them in the Father’s hands, no matter the cost.
Do we look at the world, as evil as it may seem, at those broken, from the homeless guy to the “big names” in sports, business, and politics in the same way? As people who desperately need to know Jesus? How are we welling to die to self, that people may know Christ. Not just about Him, but really know Him?
Are we willing to be the paper that Josemaria speaks of tossed aside, even trashed, as long as the Father’s gift to them is revealed and received?
This takes humility, it takes Christ-likeness, for this is what He has done… it takes trust in God, it takes knowing Him.
It is who we are called to be, it is to walk where God planned for us to walk – from before time.
Will you walk with Him today? Lord have mercy, we will let Him walk as our guide.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1388-1389). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Inalienable, God-given Rights? There is only one….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
12 Some, however, did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God’s children. 13 They did not become God’s children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father. 14 The Word became a human being and, full of grace and truth, lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory which he received as the Father’s only Son. John 1:12-14 (TEV)
255 Jesus came to the Cross, after having prepared himself for thirty three years, all his life! His disciples, if they really want to imitate him, have to convert their existence into a co-redemption of Love, with their own active and passive self-denial. (1)
A lot of my Facebook recently has been filled with people demanding their, or someone else’s “rights”. Here are a few of them.
- a right to a “living wage”
- a right to sexual freedom
- a right to speak our against sexual sin
- a right to life
- a right to end life
- a right to live in a democracy
- a right to own guns of whatever type
- a right to religious freedom (some claiming that right is infringed on in the USA… some really showing how it is infringed upon in places like the Sudan, or North Korea, or Syria. you can actually sign online petitions here in the U.S.A to petition the leaders in the Sudan and Iraq to not follow their laws…
- our right to be treated the way we want in any given relationship.
In some cases, these rights are considered to be God given, or inalienable or universal rights. My sense of irony would ask, in some cases do we want everyone in the world to have that right. For example – in the case of guns, if the right is truly inalienable, do we want our enemies to have the same right? What about those who are violently unstable? Do we want other countries to be able to tell us what we can or can’t do, based on their understanding of what is right?
Even as my thoughts find the irony in such demands, there is something more serious going on here. The idea of “rights” is quickly becoming a form of idolatry, with the idol being us, and our opinion. God doesn’t given these rights (neither does the Constitution – which can be another idol at times) unless we think we speak for God, or more realistically, if we have created God in our own image. demanding our own “God given rights” is often more simply our way of saying life isn’t fair. An adult way of throwing a tantrum and saying we don’t like the what we are given.
Don’t get me wrong – some of these rights are given to us, legally, by powers that ave the right to grant them. Others may have been given out of turn, but still, legally, they may have been given.
I am speaking about when we add “God given” or inalienable (which is the same thing if you think it through)
In talking of God-given rights, there is only one I find in scripture. The right given to those who trust in God, to be called His children. That can be unpacked, talking about being born again in baptism, talking about God bringing us into a relationship with Him, forgiving our sins. That is the right that God gives to us, one that neither Satan, the world, a government, enemies, nor even family and friends can deny us. To spend our life walking with God, knowing that He is there, that He loves us, that everything that happens is promised to work out for good. (That does stretch our trust at times) Knowing that we are His kids, that He is our dad.
BTW – if we are His kids, that means we will be sometimes treated like His only begotten son. That means, as we imitate those like Paul when they imitated Christ, we will need to deny ourselves, and take up a cross. We will have to give up our man-given or perceived to be given rights, We will have to lay down our lives. Not because we are commanded to, but because that is what those who walk with Jesus do, and have done for two centuries.
When we do, our lives testify to something far greater than our rights.
We testify to the God who gives, who sacrifices because of love, who gives mercifully, who walks with us through our lives, even through the times we make a mess of things. Even when the world is going to kill us.
So next time you think about your rights…. think first of your being a child of God. It will help put things into perspective.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1247-1250). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Is This Claim Audacious, Blasphemous or Simply Crazy?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
18 All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (MSG)
1 So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. 2 Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect. Romans 12:1-2 (TEV)
200 “When you consider how many people do not take advantage of a wonderful opportunity, but allow Jesus to pass by, think: where does this clear calling which was so providential, and showed me my way, come from? Meditate on this every day: an apostle has always to be another Christ, Christ himself.”
If you read the words of St.Josemaria Escriva (in blue) first, they might startle you. Every apostle has to be another Christ? We have to be Christ Himself? How in the world can he say those things! How audacious! How….. blasphemous it seems!
It becomes even more audacious when I tell you that by apostle, St. Josemaria means each of us who follows Jesus. Not just the 12 back in the day, not just missionaries who go to exotic places, meet interesting people and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Not just pastors and elders and deacons. Each one of us is sent by God into places where we represent Him, where we reflect His glory, where we bring Christ’s love to invade the darkness.
You who are reading this, God has placed you where you are, to reflect His love today. for you dwell, in Christ. You have, since your baptism.
Audacious to think you are Christ? Blasphemous to say you are? Or perhaps you are just nuts, insane, and have a Messiah complex?
That’s why I noted the two Bible passages above, where we are transformed by God into the image of Christ. When our attention is so captivated by the mercy of Christ, by His love, by His presence, that our old self is killed off, and all that remains is what is of Christ. That is why Paul will also write:
“19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:19-20 (NLT)
We don’t have to die on the cross, as Jesus did, for we died there with Him. But there is another part of that, the what does our baptismal life mean? How do we live, and we need to remember and struggle with the fact that we are to continue the work of Christ, that we are those He has sent, even as the Father sent him. Does this mean we need gimmicks and programs and all have to head off to seminary? No. Does it mean we have to sell everything we have, give it to the poor, and move to the Amazon or Siberia?
No, you are where as God placed you – that is where He has sent you. (for now) To be a father, mother, employee, boss, child, parent, but to do those things in view of your vocation as an apostle, as a son/daughter of God who has been put there to reflect His glory, to help people see God, to help them realize that Christ is there, and they can’t just let Him pass by. Because you are there – reflecting the Father, and Christ is loving them through you. The prayer in my devotional this morning said it well:
At every moment of our existence,You are present to us, Father. In gentle compassion help us to be present to one another so that our presence maybe may be a strength that heals the wounds of time and gives hope that is for all persons, through Jesus, our Lord and Brother. Amen. (2)
May this be so….may we live to Christ, dying to self. AMEN.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). Furrow (Kindle Locations 1041-1045). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
(2) from Celtic Daily Prayer – May 17th, the year of Aidan
Dare We Pastors/Priests say “imitate me as I imitate Christ?”
Devotional Discussion thought of the day:
As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, ‘Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.’ 20 And at once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:18-20 (NJB)
Imitate me, then, just as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (TEV)
AN ABYSS SEPARATES the priest from the religious functionary; they are qualitatively different. Sadly, however, the priest can be slowly transformed, little by little, into a religious functionary. When that happens, the priesthood ceases to be a bridge, and the priest is no longer a pontifex, a builder of bridges; he ends up simply having a function to perform. He ceases to be a mediator and becomes simply an intermediary. No one chooses to be a priest; it is Jesus Christ who does the choosing. Priestly existence remains true to itself only when it draws deeply on direct encounter with Jesus Christ. The priest must seek the Lord and let himself be sought in return; he must encounter the Lord and allow himself to be encountered in turn. All of this goes together; it is inseparable. (1)
In dicsussion with those I mentor, as we study the scriptures togather, we often talk (okay every week) about the relationship that God desires us to have with Him. To walk with Him, to understand His presence in our lives is not just something that is theoritical of philosophical, but real.
It is what we have to communicate – this relationship that is not idyllic,romanticized Thomas Kikaide version where everything is happy and perfect. Rather it is a relationship where we know His love enough that we are confident to argue with God, to question Him, to ask Him to silence our doubts, our fears An honest, open relationship where we encounter Jesus in the life we live, letting Him minister to us, heal us. As we do, we find ourselves being remade – crafted into fishers of men, even as our Lord fished for us.
Functionaries don’t fish for men. Pastors and priests do,it becomes why we exist, our greatest moments. Whether it is baptising a 90 plus year old, or an infant, It can be seeing one of the people we disciple in the faith having a AHA!!! moment, or joining us among the ordained. And make no mistake, while we disciple some much more deeply, we are making disciples of all whom hear or read our words.
When they point to Christ, when they draw people into that relationship – even as we were drawn into it. That is when we can say imitate me as I imitate Christ. Because we see Him as clearly as we see them. Knowing Him, being in a relatiosnhip where we follow Him, where we seek Him and now we are sought, that is where we find ourselves not demanding that people imitate us, but begging them to imitate us where we imitate Christ.
For it is there were life is,…. a life we’ve come to know… and which we want them to know as well.
Lord, Have Mercy we cry… hoping to help them cry it as well!
(1)Pope Francis; Jorge M Bergoglio (2013-11-18). Open Mind, Faithful Heart (Kindle Locations 266-271). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
Imitating Christ… in dying to self.
English: Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional/Discussion thought of the Day:
23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has now come for the Son of Man to receive great glory. 24 I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. 25 Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal. 26 Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my Father will honor anyone who serves me. John 12:23-26 (TEV)
17 In the Lord’s name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless 18 and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. 19 They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint. 20 That was not what you learned about Christ! 21 You certainly heard about him, and as his followers you were taught the truth that is in Jesus. 22 So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to—the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. 23 Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, 24 and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy. Ephesians 4:17-24 (TEV)
If the grain of wheat does not die, it remains unfruitful. Don’t you want to be a grain of wheat, to die through mortification, and to yield stalks rich in grain? May Jesus bless your wheat field! (1)
Yesterday I asked on Facebook a question about whether we would follow Jesus if he showed up today and asked us too. Actually, more specifically, I asked what our excuses would be when we told him we wouldn’t follow Him.
Most people said they would, and I believe in their hearts they sincerely believe it.
Even as I know most of us do not, even now, as Christ is present in our lives, as He is calling us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and walk with Him, through that dying to self, into the presence of the Father.
Will we walk with Christ in loving those who would kill us, that we could win their souls to God?
Will we forgive others who have sinned against us?
Will we depend on God when life is rough, the answers unknown, when we need to forsake joy and embrace suffering – that a person would come to know God’s love?
Will we give up taking care of what we are responsible for – to care for others. (think of John, James, Peter and Andrew leaving their fathers and boats behind, or Matthew leaving the tax table and the taxes he collected behind.._
Reading Les Miserable in my spare time is really causing me to ask these questions, not of you, but of myself. Wondering how I serve as an example, as Paul did, as Peter did, for those whom I have been entrusted with shepherding. It’s a hard question… and it seems like the law is condemning me…even brutally.
Until I realize that such things I cling to, are actually snares… snares that would stop me from following Christ, or at least blind me to His Spirit’s presence. I have to come to my senses and realize in whose presence I dwell. The Lord and Master who shatters those holds, who brings me healing, who brings me life.
This dying to self thing – its not so I can just die. It is so I can live.
We too need to experience what that seed did… actually we just need to realize we have… He has done this to us, even as He subjected Himself to it.
This imitating Christ – is the living that we were created for…
It is what began at our baptism, it is what is strengthened as we are absolved and commune…
It is the abundant life.
Lord have mercy on us, by crucifying our sin and sinful desires… leaving us nothing else, but You, and the glory in which you share with us. AMEN
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 574-575). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- What Do We Choose to Invite into our Lives? (justifiedandsinner.com)
- We must bear our cross….an powerful observation…. (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Pope Francis’ Angelus for June 23, 2013: English Transcript (devoutlycatholic.wordpress.com)
Can we be this Holy? In the face of our “enemies”?
Text of “Our Father” prayer with Trinity in central column (God the Father, dove of the Holy Spirit, Jesus) and Biblical and symbolic scenes in left and right columns. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Devotional and Discussion Thought of the Day…
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. 46 Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! 47 And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! 48 You must be perfect—just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 (TEV)
Don’t say, “That person bothers me.” Think: “That person sanctifies me.” (1)
It still amazes me, how little we understand the power of the grace and forgiveness of Christ, how little we appreciate His desire to win the affection, the love of all those He loves. How willing God is to separate all of us from our sin, how much His will is that all would be transformed by the Holy Spirit.
And yet, to those we as our enemies, we are as vicious, we are cruel, we are as unforgiving as any one could ever be. The church has for too long… treated them as adversaries, mocked them, planned our strategic arguments. against them. the very ones we have to pray for, love, serve, and reach with the only thing that will give them hope.
This is our role in life, it is how we are to imitate Christ, who allowed His enemies to kill Him, that He might love and save them. What if He treated His enemies the way we treat ours? What if He gossiped and mock them behind their backs, rather than confronting the in love? What if He treated His enemies, His adversaries, US like that? We say we honor martyrs, we want to give ourselves for Jesus like they did… well are we ready to ask God to forgive our enemies their sin, even as Stephen did, even as the Lord’s prayer urges us to ask God to help with?
St. Josemaria makes an incredible point… that these very people that bother us, make us holy – because in order to treat them in the way that would bring God glory, we have to depend on God. We have to trust Him, we have to know He is with us, that the Holy Spirit will work through us to cut open their hearts – even as ours were. We can’t do it on our own, we have to love, we have to embrace them, and the pain they cause us, in order to love them in a way that will reach them.
Will we love them……. will we strive to see them forgiven and healed? Can we be that holy?
In Christ… as baptized believers, as those who would glorify God the Father…
yes…. for there is no other way…. to live, or to accomplish our task.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Location 534). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- You must be a Theophilus (Loved/r of God before being a Theologian (justifiedandsinner.com)
- God is Watching over His People! (justifiedandsinner.com)
- If Faith=knowing Him, not just about Him…then Worship is… (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Do we have to have Mondays??? (justifiedandsinner.com)
Do you want a “comfortable” life or ministry?
Discussion/Devotional Thought of the Day:
19 A teacher of the Law came to him. “Teacher,” he said, “I am ready to go with you wherever you go.” 20 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.” 21 Another man, who was a disciple, said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.” 22 “Follow me,” Jesus answered, “and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:19-22 (TEV)
Copy me, my brothers, as I copy Christ himself. 1 Corinthians 11:1 (Phillips NT) 1
148 Why stoop to drink from the puddles of worldly consolations if you can satisfy your thirst with waters that spring up into life everlasting? (1)
I am still in awe that the Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom was created everything that has been created, journeyed around thinking nothing of His own comfort. Jesus should have been afforded every comfort, and took none, sleeping on the ground with a rock ( which He created) as His pillow, the ground as His bed. His service (we like to call it a nicer word ministry) to us was His focus, and discomfort was taken on gladly. Because of His love for the Father, because of His love…for us.
We are not so willing to follow Him, to make His life our pattern. We want to have the positions that are comfortable, the ministries that are peaceful and growing, and without conflict or pain. I myself have wondered recently, what would happen if I got a call that was to a church that was a distance off, far from our families and friends. ( If it was in upstate New Hampshire or near Boston – that’s cool – but… that’s me looking after my comfort zone again!) Would I be willing to endure that? Or what about another conflicted parish? What about going back to being bi-vocational?
I take my comfort in my electronics – I am presently struggling because my smartphone is in the shop, and I was given an ancient model (circa 2007) to replace it while it is there. Oh the indignity! Oh the suffering of dealing with a 2 inch screen (my 6 year old thinks its so cool and retro -cute!)
How much do we look for our comfort, for our lives and not look to where Paul looked, because he copied (as best as he could) Jesus.
How can we find our comfort, our consolation (look it up in the dictionary – cool word) in the things of this world – the homes, the cars, the safe community, when something more is there…..
Something more fulfilling, more enduring, more incredible.
Something that will leave us in awe…
Can we look to Jesus, the author, finisher, model of our faith… and take up our cross… and for His sake, for His service, for His mission… follow Him? Can we go where He wants us to go – not giving thought to the cost… knowing the cost of the sins of people – that they need to know has been paid?
Lord, Have mercy on us, help our perspective, help our will and desires to be copied from You, and give us your strength and power to see that happen.
Amen.
Jesus and Saint Peter, Gospel of Matthew 4.18-20 Français : Jésus et Saint Pierre, Évangile selon Matthieu 4.18-20 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 481-482). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Related articles
- The Eucharist: the Strength to Reveal Christ to Others… (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Our Place is His Place! (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Serving God where ever He calls you to service (justifiedandsinner.com)
- Persecution, Tribulation, Troubles, Trials: What the Bible Says to Christians (endtimesprophecyreport.wordpress.com)
