Unseen witnesses to the Love that heals us

Morning: Psalm 80; 1 Samuel 16:1-13; 1 John 2:18-25

Evening: Psalm 33; 1 Samuel 12:1-5; Acts 20:17-35

There have been very few famous witnesses to Love when compared with the multitude of unknown ones. St. Matthias, whose day it is today, is one such unknown. He replaced Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus; that’s all we know. Famous apostles, like Paul, did great things. Countless unseen witnesses also do great things, and yet, fame is not a necessary consequence of greatness. We cannot all be famous, but we can all aspire to greatness. Many great unknowns serve and live in the Love that will heal the human family. And that is enough; it is the one thing necessary.

Life’s work - decide whom or what to serve

Morning: Psalm 72; Leviticus 19:1-18; I Thessalonians 5:12-28

Evening: Psalm 119:73-96; Matthew 6:19-24

Wealth is the energy and abundance of the Creation. You do not automatically serve wealth because you are wealthy. You can be poor and still serve wealth. Serving wealth is being devoted to the illusion that accumulating wealth will save you. Modern economies serve that illusion when they believe that health lies in ‘wealth creation’. But we are not God. Wealth creation is the Creator’s work not ours. When we serve wealth, we fracture our relationship both with the Creation and its Creator. Deciding whom or what we will serve - where our heart lies - is our life’s work.

Pray, but do not heap up empty phrases

Morning: Psalms 61, 62; Leviticus 16:20-34; I Thessalonians 5:1-11
Evening: Psalm 68; Matthew 6:7-15

Keep it brief and to the point! Jesus teaches: Pray, but do not heap up empty phrases. To demonstrate, he gives us the Lord’s Prayer ... <<Pray in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial but rescue us from the evil one.>> 58 timeless words containing a universe of meaning. Sometimes, less is more.

The reward you need

Morning: Psalms 56, 57; Leviticus 16:1-19; I Thessalonians 4:13-18

Evening: Psalms 64, 65; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus teaches: “Whenever you fast ... or give alms ... or pray ... your father who sees in secret will reward you.”  With Jesus, it’s not “if” you do these things. He assumes you will follow these spiritual practices. But you must do them in secret. You don’t do them in order to get a predetermined reward, like good fortune, wisdom, long life, or respect. It is fair to expect some benefit from spiritual discipline. But you probably will not know beforehand what the benefit will be. You only need to know your reward will be the one you need.

Grace for all ... there are no ‘most favoured nations’

Morning: Psalms 24, 29; Leviticus 8:1-13, 30-36; Hebrews 12:1-14

Evening: Psalms 8, 84; Luke 4:16-30

Whenever religious people make judgments about other people - saying that, for some reason, the others are not among the ‘chosen’, or the ‘righteous’, or the ‘blessed’ - you can assume the religious people are mistaken! This is why Jesus is thrown out of his hometown ... because the people think grace is especially for them. But the amazing, and shocking, and wonderful thing about Jesus is his declaration that grace and forgiveness and healing are for all people, all nations - no special status for anyone! Now, to embody this in our common life, let’s see now .... ??

Love shows itself to be stronger than hate

Morning: Psalm 55; Exodus 40:18-38; I Thessalonians 4:1-12

Evening: Psalm 1138, 139:1-17; Matthew 5:38-48

Please dig into Jesus’s teaching; it suggests courage, not weakness: “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also”. Think about this carefully: slapping your right cheek is a contemptuous backhand gesture. Jesus teaches: Do not accept contempt ... offer the other cheek. For all kinds of reasons, this is a strong gesture, not a weak one. Our culture has it wrong when it characterizes ‘turning the other cheek’ as a betrayal. Love does not ‘wimp out’; love stands courageously against injustice but refuses to practice injustice. Love shows itself to be stronger than hate.

No half measures

Morning: Psalms 40, 54; Exodus 34:18-35; I Thessalonians 3:1-13

Evening: Psalm 51; Matthew 5:27-37

When it comes to standards of human behaviour, Jesus is fierce. He will not countenance excuses, as if some offensive behaviour might be explained away as somehow less culpable. For him, every kind of behaviour that breaks human relationships fractures the natural balance of things. There is no such thing as a little bit of adultery. Or a small broken promise. When you find yourself participating in such brokenness, there is no way around it. You must face it and put it right. Jesus’ advice is deliberately extreme, to draw attention to the need for drastic action to heal brokenness.