Jesus taught us, saying: Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than two sparrows”.
In this short citation of Jesus’ words, we learn all that we need to know about living life and about being watchful.
ONE: Nothing can be concealed from God. The Creator knows all that we think and do. The Creator understands our most secret motivations. Why do we try to hide anything we do or anything we think? Secrecy is futile in the kingdom.
Christ walks always with us, calling us forth in the name of the Creator. The Spirit remains in us, filling us with life eternal.
TWO: Nothing we do goes unnoted by God. The Creator marks both our pain and sorrow, our happiness and joy. Why do we persist in relying on our own small forces when we have the omnipotence and omniscience of the Creator buoying us up? Reliance on self is meaningless in the kingdom.
Christ walks before and behind us, guiding and protecting in the name of the Creator. The Spirit hovers, abiding and consoling with love everlasting.
If God notes even the falling of a sparrow’s feather, how much can our anxiety and willfulness accomplish? How far will our stubbornness carry us in comparison with the power and strength of the Spirit?
If God numbers every hair on our heads, how much do we think we can hide what we do not like about ourselves?
How much will our separateness gain for us in comparison with the unity we have in God’s love? Secrecy and too much reliance on self will always be trumped by humility, generosity and love in the kingdom. Let us live as if we believe that God has numbered our every hair.
When you see the desolating abomination standing where he should not [let the reader understand], then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, [and] a person on a housetop must not go down or enter to get anything out of his house, and a person in a field must not return to get his cloak . . . Be watchful!
These are words that are often construed by fundamentalists to predict the idea of rapture, of the faithful being taken into God’s presence suddenly while the unfaithful are left behind. Here Jesus speaks words of warning, but what do they really mean?
God says: You worry and fuss, you compare yourselves with others, and you focus on the minutiae of your day while you neglect The Word. When fear begins to overtake you, remember that I want to bring each of you to me, even those of you who have much to account for. Keep in mind that you are joy to me . . . and I want to be joy to you. Remember that I find joy in you . . . and I want you to find joy in me.
And so we pray with the words of the psalmist.
Great things are they that you have done, O LORD my God!
Remind us, God – when we are stressed – that your hope heals many wounds.
How great your wonders and your plans for us!
Remind us, God – when we are tired – that you care us for each moment of the day and night.
There is none who can be compared with you.
Remind us, God – when we are sad – that you are our greatest champion.
O, that I could make them known and tell them!
Remind us, God – when we are worried – that you suffer with us through all misfortune.
But they are more than I can count!
Remind us, God – when we finally come to rest in you – that your love counters all tribulation.
See that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name saying, “I am he,” and they will deceive many. When you hear of wars and reports of wars, do not be alarmed; such things must happen but it will not be the end.
We live in a world in which information flies around the globe more quickly than we can take it in. Some of us are overwhelmed. Some of us become desensitized. Some of us try to find a place for our fear and an appropriate reaction. Some of us hide and try to protect ourselves in the monuments to our fear and control that we build for ourselves and loved ones. Some of us take in this news and try to balance our caution with our love.
God says: It is impossible to sort out all the conflict that surges around you locally and globally. This information is fearsome but do not let it drive you further from me. I am not in the event. I am in you. I am not in the dreadfulness. I am in the caring hands and feet and hearts that tend to the wounded. When such things happen that frighten you, remember that I watch over you just as I watched over the Hebrews when I guided and protected them as the pillar of smoke and fire. You are as precious to me now as were the Hebrews then. Live out my love as you address the wars and reports of wars but do not be alarmed. Such things happen but it is not the end.
Let us consider how we might preach the good news Jesus speaks to us today in these words recorded by Mark. We may want to visit an “End Times” web site and applying God’s words about such things. (A typical site can be found at http://www.signs-of-end-times.com/.) Think about the presentation of such information, and reflect on how we react, why we react, and how we might live out the Gospel words we read today.
Dirck van Baburen: Christ Washing the Disciples’ Feet
Our Experience of Christ – Part II
Are you so stupid? After beginning with the spirit are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so many things in vain? . . . Realize then that it is those who have faith who are children of God.
Today’s lesson is a difficult one. It asks us to exercise our faith. It asks us to acknowledge and remember all of the times that we have been rescued. It asks that we tell the story of our redemption. It asks that we act in this belief that God is God, that God created us, that God loves us, and that God longs to hold us close.
O you stupid Galatians! Who has bewitched you?
Who has talked us out of believing our own story? Who has convinced us that Christ does not exist? Who has persuaded us that a false story is better than the vibrant experience of Christ that we have lived?
We so frequently doubt and when we do there is only one remedy. We must cast back through our lives to remember the many small and great ways that we have been rescued, the small and great ways that we have been loved. When we do this . . . we will find it easier and more natural to act in faith as Paul asks us to do. We will find that no one and no thing will ever bewitch us. No one and no thing will ever lure us away from Christ.
From the MAGNIFICAT Morning Prayer:
You led your people through the sea dry-shod: let us put our trust in you as you lead us through this day’s challenges. We put our trust in you!
You fed them in the desert: let us hear your word of life amid the noise of our bust lives today. We put our trust in you!
You gave them water from the rock: let us drink from the fountain of life and not from bitter and polluted waters. We put our trust in you!
Cameron, Peter John. “Prayer for the Morning.” MAGNIFICAT. 23.4 (2010). Print.
In some religious structures it is customary to regard a particular member of the community as a singular mediator between the creator and the created. “As a prestigious, elite class the priests were also expected to preserve the holiness of the sanctuary and the uniqueness of the people of Israel. Therefore they were subject to added restrictions not incumbent upon the average Israelite. A priest was forbidden to officiate if he had a physical defect (Lev. 21:17-24), was ritually impure, was under the influence of alcohol, or had married a woman forbidden to a priest”. (Achtemeier 882)
Jesus comes to serve as high priest for all. Jesus comes to us a priest who administers the Law of Love. Jesus comes to us as our brother and high priest to call each of us to unity in and through him.
In this Eastertide, let us consider how we respond to this holy call to peace and grace and love.
We re-post this reflection written in 2014 in union with those who stand up for personal and communal freedom justice on every continent. The human race seems determined to create chaos rather than unity. Let us come together with all those who seek the common good. And let us pray not only for the oppressed but also for those who commit acts of oppression.
A Prayer to Nourish Us Here and Now
Matthew records the words Jesus speaks to those who gather round him when he describes the kingdom of God in the Beatitudes, the new Law of Love that supersedes the law of the Torahand Moses. We have spent much time this week reflecting on the Interior Law placed within each of us at our inception. This law flourishes in faith, grows in hope and acts in love. And so we pray, we look for strength as we build God’s kingdom.
BBC News: South Sudan in Crisis
You have heard it said, an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
Around the planet the peoples of the world constantly look for answers to difficult questions; they consistently yearn for security and peace; they continually hunger for the words that Jesus speaks in his Sermon on the Mount. And so we pray, we look for courage as we build God’s kingdom.
When someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other one as well.
In Ukrainethe people struggle to find leadership that is free of corruption. And so we pray, we look for integrity as we build God’s kingdom.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand over your cloak as well.
In South Sudanthe people struggle to live a life without fear. And so we pray, we look for justice as we build God’s kingdom.
Reuters: Thai Protestors Target Ministries and Threaten Stock Exchange
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go for two.
In Thailandthe people fight over who will bring them into the light. And so we pray, we look for truth as we build God’s kingdom.
Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on the one who wants to borrow.
In Venezuelathe people fight over how they will share the power of leadership. And so we pray, we look for peace as we build God’s kingdom.
You have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Swiss Broadcasting: Activists Injured by Gunshots
In West Virginia, USAthe people ask for answers to dark questions. And so we pray, we look for compassion as we build God’s kingdom.
If you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
In our own home town the people ask for honesty and justice. And so we pray, we look for love as we build God’s kingdom.
We are not much different from those people who listened to Jesus two thousand years ago; we too, hunger for security, healing, truth, forgiveness and redemption.
Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. And so we pray, we look for endurance as we build God’s kingdom.
National Geographic News: West Virginia’s Chemical Valley
The perfection God asks of us lies not in our living a life without mishap; rather, it lies in our persistence to return to the Law of Love no matter how far we stray. The kingdom Jesus describes is not in some distant future when all God’s children have suddenly seen and corrected the errors in their lives. The kingdom of God is here and it is now. God’s forgiveness and mercy are here and now. God’s healing and presence are here and now. God’s compassion and love are here and now. Let us take strength from the one who created us, take heart from the one who accompanies us, and peace from the one who dwells within us. Amen.
Along the old Silk Road The Crescent Oasis: Gobi Desert, China
The Valley of Dry Bones – Part II
Lifeless bones clamber together to form full figures. This dramatic imagery came to the Jewish people when they were well into their exile, well into the desert, without much hope or recourse to salvation . . . or so they thought. When the prophet is asked if he thinks it possible that the desiccated bones might rise to take on flesh and function again, he wisely replies that only God can answer that question. What follows is an interesting interplay in which Ezekiel is invited to take a part in a rebirth that occurs quite dramatically. What was thought as lost is found and restored. The people who had no temple, no visible home for Yahweh, had never been abandoned by their God as they had thought. The dry bones rise, take on flesh, and live.
What might we do to rise when we believe there is no hope? We call on God who makes all things possible. What might we do when we have stumbled into an oasis we thought was merely a mirage? We continue to follow Christ who carries our burden. How might we validate our new life in the Spirit? We give thanks to God for affirming and claiming our potential.
Ezekiel has much to teach us about the bone-strewn valleys where we see only mirages on the horizon. When we place all hope in God we are not disappointed. When we lean on faith in Christ we are always redeemed. And when we are willing to move forward in the love of the Spirit, we are renewed, restored and rewarded. Let us not shrink from dry bones or the desert wastes in our lives . . . for we may be missing a deep and eternal experience that only the desert oasis can provide.
Tomorrow, the Oracle of Two Sticks.
Adapted from a reflection written on February 17, 2008.
In your word I hope . . . strengthen me that I might be safe . . . I hold your edicts in awe . . .
Fear of the Lord does not describe terror, dread or anxiety; it does, however, express the sense of wonder, amazement and awe we feel when we think about the guiding presence and protective power of God.
God says: There is no need for you to hide from me. There is no need for you to worry about reporting to me in any way. There is no need for you to live with a sense of trepidation that I might castigate you . . . you punish yourself enough already. I know about your fears and they are groundless. I am with you always and I know all that you think, say and do. I am in awe of your persistence, love and dedication to me. I love the generosity, tenderness and care you bring to your work as you come to the aid of the marginalized. Persist in bringing me your hopes and dreams. Delight in the strength I bring to you. Revel in the safety of my arms and continue to live and work in me.
With God all things are possible. God is our rock of safety.
Jesus says: Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. (Matthew 7:24-25)
Robin Anderson: Mary Holding Baby Jesus Looking Up Towards the Light
A Prayer to Fulfill God’s Promise in Us
It is truly a paradoxthat God creates humans to fulfill the great promise of love. Let us consider our response to this call to promise.
It is a signof God’s love that God chooses to come among us as a child. Let us consider how we make room for others in our lives.
It is a further giftand promisefrom God that we are granted the free and open will to choose how we will respond to this loving call. Let us carefully consider our reply.
It is an honorto put aside our own ego in response to God’s open invitation to love. Let us prayerfully consider how we become selfless in service to others.
It is our return promiseto God that we offer our thoughts, words, and deeds in the service of God’s good. Let us honestly consider how we best make this return promise of love.
Good and holy God, you are paradox, sign, gift, honor and promise. May we joyfully live in you. May we authentically live through you. And may we lovingly live with you . . . in thought, word and deed. Amen.
For more on the paradox, sign, gift, honor and promise of God’s love, explore the first three stanzas of Psalm 119in last week’s Noontimes.
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