The BreadCast

(Eph.4:7-16;   Ps.122:1-5;   Lk.13:1-9)   “Each of us has received God’s favor in the measure in which Christ bestows it.”   Paul reminds us today of Scripture: “When He ascended on high, He took a host of captives and gave gifts to men.”  Christ Himself “descended into the lower regions of the earth,” coming to the place where we lowly humans dwell, and then “ascended into heaven, that He might fill all men with His gifts,” that those to whom He comes here on earth might know the riches of heaven to which He draws us all. “It is He who gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers in roles of service for the faithful to build up the body of Christ.”  Yes, He gave us these leaders such as Paul to guide us to all truth, but He no less has given us each a share of His heavenly glory and bestowed upon each of us the gifts that are our portion from Him.  None is without gifts, and none can fail to employ these gifts.  It is necessary that the Body of Christ has “the proper functioning of [its] members joined firmly together by each supporting ligament” if it is to grow in love as it is called to do.  All our gifts must be employed to the full; each must fulfill his role. The Lord makes clear the call upon each of our souls to utilize the gifts He grants to each of His members.  Listen to the words of the vinedresser in His parable: “For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree and found none.”  Who is that vinedresser but Jesus Himself and who is that fig tree but we who claim to be His disciples?  And finding no fruit on the fig tree, what does the vinedresser say?  “Cut it down.  Why should it clutter up the ground?”  Why indeed should we drag down the Body of Christ struggling to grow in love in this world; if we are dead members, what place have we in His kingdom?  And unless we reform in the short time we are given, what shall become of our souls? Brothers and sisters, do we not wish to “go up to the house of the Lord,” to rejoice in the heavenly Jerusalem, to “form that perfect man who is Christ come to full stature”?  Then our tree must bear fruit in His name and serve to build up the Body in love; “if not, it shall be cut down,” and we shall be separated from the glorious presence of the Lord.  See the great graces and gifts the Lord showers upon you; pray for their fulfillment, for their growing more and more – “profess the truth in love” and the favors you have been given will bear their fruit, for your benefit and that of the whole world.    ******* O LORD, let us not be cut down  but built up as the Body of your Son.  YHWH, let us make our home in you; in the Body of your Son let us find our place.  In your holy Church may we ever dwell, bearing fruit in your NAME.   To full maturity let us come, in Jesus who has come to us. O LORD, in your House let us rejoice; let us find our peace in the New Jerusalem.  Within Her gates we are safe from every false doctrine, from every whim and fancy of man.  For divine wisdom rests in Her whom the Christ has formed by His own hands, in His own blood.  Since He has founded the Church and its servants, it is He who lives in it with you.  But we must leave behind our sin if we are to find such perfection in Him.  We must reform our lives if we are to be made in the image of Christ your Son.  O LORD, let our lives not be empty; let us not come to a sudden end…  May we please you by our repentance and know your blessings upon us this day.  Let your Church and all its members grow and bear fruit in Jesus’ Name.

(Eph.4:1-6;   Ps.24:1-6;   Lk.12:54-59)   “Make every effort to preserve the unity which has the Spirit as its origin and peace as its binding force.”   Is this not what Jesus instructs the crowds in saying, “When you are going with your opponent to appear before a magistrate, try to settle with him on the way”?  Do not both Paul and Jesus speak of the love we must have one for another, even for those who may seem our enemies?  Again, in the House of God there is unity, there is peace.  Among His children there should be understanding, there should be grace.  We must make every effort to have no enemies – to hate no one, to bear no grudge against any – in this life or the next. Brothers and sisters, we are called to live as one, “bearing with one another lovingly,” for “there is but one body and one Spirit” in Christ; “there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” which we all share, and so we should live as children of the “one God and Father of all.”  On our oneness in the Lord our hearts should be set, and nothing should disturb the peace we find in Him.  We see so many other things, we understand so much of the world and its ways… why do we not understand this?  Why do we not know and practice God’s way? “The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it.”  This David tells us: all are one under the Lord God.  But only those “whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,” “may stand in His holy place.”  We cannot “ascend the mountain of the Lord” if we are not made perfect as He.  And so the Lord warns us of the necessity of settling all our accounts here, now, while there is time – while we yet have breath and eyes to see – lest we come to the judge at the end of time with the darkness of sin upon our soul.  Now is His mercy offered forth, and we are called in turn to offer it freely to others.  Then will be grave punishment for sin, for failures to love and maintain unity. “A blessing from the Lord” awaits us all.  He “that seeks the face of the God of Jacob” shall receive his reward.  Even now the Spirit of the Lord grants us a foretaste of such grace.  But we must be ever diligent to maintain it.  We must be ever ready to forgive one another if we are to remain in Him.  And so I ask: forgive me, brother; forgive me, sister, any wrong I have done you… and be assured of my forgiveness.    ******* O LORD, help us to stand in your holy place, as reflections of your peace and your love for all.  YHWH, you are LORD of Heaven and earth and all is under your watchful care.  We are in you and in your Son and have your one Spirit at our heart’s core.  Let us live in peace!  Let us live as your children, holy as you are. If we maintain not humility and peace in our souls, can we be said to be your own?  O LORD, if we settle not with our opponent here on this earth, how can we come unto your heavenly presence?  There can be no anger or hatred in us; indeed, our hands must be sinless if we are to enter your eternal kingdom and make our home in you. And so, dear LORD, help us to forgive one another, to love all as you love them – let us be the race that seeks ever your holy face and never turn aside from such desire for utter love in your presence.  Forgive all those who sin against us, and please let us be forgiven in your sight.

(Eph.3:14-21; Ps.33:1-2,4-5,11-12,18-19; Lk.12:49-53)  “Do you think I have come to establish peace on the earth?”   Strong contrast we find in our readings today.  Jesus speaks of the division He has come to bring by the fire of truth He lights on this earth – fire like a sword separating even the closest of family members one from another; whereas Paul speaks of “the breadth and the length and the height and the depth of Christ’s love” and the great oneness found in “the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.”  How does one reconcile this apparent contradiction?  Is the Lord of peace or division? Brothers and sisters, there is no contradiction here.  Paul speaks of the “glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus” which exists “through all generations” and which we share “with all the holy ones” for whom “charity [is] the root and foundation of [their] life.”  As our psalmist proclaims, “Happy the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen for His own inheritance.”  In the House of God is peace.  In His Church is the oneness of perfect love, and all its members “experience this love which surpasses all knowledge” and “attain to the fullness of God Himself.” Then whence the division the Lord emphasizes?  The division exists here on earth, as He Himself states.  When the light of truth comes up against the darkness that is this world, when the holy ones of God meet up with the children of this evil age, there is necessarily division.  Despite the best efforts of the just to bring peace to all, how often is our offering of peace rejected – how frequently is Christ nailed to the cross.  So, though we yet hold love for all as the disciples of our living Lord, it cannot but be that many will cling to darkness and so find an enemy in the light.  And thus division comes.  Though in heaven and in the Church there is nothing but peace, the world breeds only division. Brothers and sisters, “may Christ dwell in your hearts through faith.”  “May [the Father] strengthen you inwardly through the workings of His Spirit” as you undergo the anguish of the baptism His Son has known.  May He keep you in peace and “bestow on you gifts in keeping with the riches of His glory.”  For soon division will be gone and His peace will be all that is known. ******* O LORD, how your love separates the evil from the good! – may we know the fullness of your love  at work in our lives.  YHWH, great is your glory, far above the ways of men – how can we grasp this surpassing knowledge, how can we know your all-encompassing love?  Though you dwell beyond our reach, in your kindness you stoop down to us, to share with us the great riches of your glory. And so, what should we do but praise your NAME?  What should we do but thank you in song?  For you have looked upon us in our lowliness and delivered us from death and sin, and made us one with all your holy ones in your eternal kingdom. But what of those who reject you, LORD?  What of those who spurn your love, who desire not the peace which surpasses understanding?  What can they do but fight against your Church?  And those may be of our own family.  Then where are we?  How shall there be peace on this earth among those who despise your gifts?  Give us strength to share in the baptism of your Son, in the fire we must endure on our way to Heaven; help us to conquer all division and stand always with you.

(Eph.3:2-12;   Is.12:2-6;   Lk.12:39-48)   “When much has been given a man, much will be required of him.”   Yes, “more will be asked of a man to whom more has been entrusted,” and today we see two of the men to whom the most has been entrusted.  First, of course, is Peter, who queries the Lord and to whom the Lord addresses His question, “Who in your opinion is that faithful, farsighted steward whom the master will set over his servants to dispense their ration of grain in season?” knowing full well it is to the blessed Rock of His Church He speaks.  And Paul tells us how “through the gift God in His goodness bestowed on [him] through the exercise of His power, [he] became a minister of the Gospel.”  Paul has been “given the grace to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ and to enlighten all men on the mysterious design which for ages was hidden in God, the Creator of all.”  The Rock of the Church and its great Apostle – how much has been entrusted to these two men! And what has been entrusted to these is entrusted to all who follow in their wake, to all “the holy apostles and prophets” to whom “the mystery of Christ” is “revealed by the Spirit.”  And so the same responsibility is upon them as well.  The Lord has promised, “With joy you will draw water at the fountain of salvation,” and how can the faithful find such life-giving water if the Lord’s priests and preachers do not offer it forth freely as it has been given them?  If they withhold the children’s food and their tongues cleave to the roofs of their mouths, how shall the Church be fed, how shall she be instructed in the way she should walk?  If the guardians of the truth are not vigilant, but rather begin “to abuse the housemen and servant girls, to eat and drink and get drunk,” feeding only themselves, their own bellies… what shall become of the Body of Christ?  And what shall become of those who have allowed the Lord’s House to be broken into? “Sing praise to the Lord for His glorious achievement; let this be known throughout all the earth”: that “God indeed is [our] Savior,” and all are called unto Him.  Brothers and sisters, we all share in the priesthood of Peter and the evangelical ministry of Paul, and so, “drawing near Him with confidence,” we must all “among the nations make known [the Lord’s] deeds.”  All have been given a measure of the Lord’s grace and power, and all are responsible for fulfilling the “master’s wishes” with regard to our call.  This is our gift from God, to share in His work of service, in His cross.  Let us embrace it as readily as have Peter and Paul.    ******* O LORD, may we all be faithful stewards of your manifold gifts  and find our salvation in your Son.  YHWH, you are in our midst and you call us all to your work, to service of your Church in your holy NAME.  Through your Son Jesus Christ we all may share in your manifold wisdom, in the salvation to glory wrought by His blood…  Let us give thanks to you and acclaim your NAME, serving you faithfully all our days. LORD, it should be our joy to serve you; it should be our very food.  What greater gift could we hope for than to share in your promise and in your blessed ministry with Peter and Paul?  One are we in your Body, in the flesh of your Son, and freely may we come to you now with all our petitions and find you ready to answer our plea – what blessing is ours by your grace! Let us draw water at the fountain of salvation, LORD; let us drink freely of the glory you offer forth.  Remaining ever faithful to your will, let us draw ever closer to you, till we sing your praises forever in your kingdom.

(Eph.2:12-22;   Ps.85:9-14;   Lk.12:35-38)   “You who were once far off have been brought near through the blood of Christ.”   We who “were excluded from the community of Israel,” who were not of His chosen people upon whom His Spirit rested and so were “without hope and without God in the world,” now are “fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God” by the great grace of the cross of Christ.  Now, “in Him [we] are being built into this temple”; now all “have access in one Spirit to the Father.” “He came and ‘announced the good news of peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near” – to us who were far off, we of the nations apart from “the covenant and the promise,” that the promise might be ours as well; but also to those who were near, those to whom the covenant had been given.  For those who were near were also far off; they too were blind to His presence in their midst and needed their eyes opened by the living Christ.  For though the word and the sacrifice were at their hands, far was He from their hearts, and so the blessed coming of the Messiah is for these, of course, as well.  He came, in fact, for them first of all. “Near indeed is His salvation to those who fear Him.”  Gentile or Jew, it does not matter.  Now there is but one race: Christian.  Now there is but one Savior for all.  For now indeed there is “glory dwelling in our land,” and any who come to it become children of its light and are fitted into the House of the Lord.  “He proclaims peace” now unto all, that all might know “His benefits.” And are we ready for His coming again?  Do we heed our Lord’s exhortation in our gospel today?  Do we serve Him constantly, ever keeping a place for Him in our hearts and at our tables, that when He comes the great promise He makes to His servants – “He will put on an apron, seat them at table, and proceed to wait on them” – we will know?  Will we be gathered into His heart and His home?  Brothers and sisters, “become a dwelling for God in the Spirit.”  Realize the blessing that is ours now through the cross.  If under its blessed shade we take refuge, if we heed the call to come from our former residences so distant from Him and draw near to the love of the Lord, then already we will sense “the master’s return” upon us, and holy light it will bring to our souls. ******* O LORD, let us be built into your Temple and become your dwelling place in the Spirit – your light in our eyes, your peace in our souls, your love in our hearts at all times. YHWH, let us be prepared for the second coming of your Son; may the blood He shed make us one with you and with one another, that in peace we might wait for His return, that in your Spirit we might dwell even this day.  As your holy temple let us be, that we might know your call in our souls and do your will in all things. You look down upon us in kindness, LORD, and so your Son you have sent.  He is Truth walking among us, leading us on the way of peace.  And so, your benefits we may know; our work may yield its increase – our lives may be made worthy of your coming kingdom. O LORD, let our eyes be open, looking for your Son’s return; let our hearts be set on the promise He leaves us.  O let Him freely enter our homes and we be fed by His hand alone – please let us be joined to your saints in Heaven, forming one House in your NAME.

(Eph.2:1-10;   Ps.100:2-5;   Lk.12:13-21)  “It is owing to His favor that salvation is yours through faith. This is not your own doing, it is God’s gift.” Brothers and sisters, salvation is no “reward for anything [we] have accomplished.”  It is nothing we make by our own hands, but comes only by God’s “kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” “God is rich in mercy.”  Here is the great truth; this is our great hope: “Because of His great love for us He brought us to life with Christ when we were dead in sin.”  By our own hands we had but built up our condemnation and so “deserved God’s wrath.”  Like the foolish rich man, we thought we could take our refuge in the things of this earth, that in them we would “have blessings in reserve for years to come.”  But however much we “pull down [our] grain bins and build larger ones,” filling them with all the “grain” and “goods” of the world, we yet will have nothing; yet will we be empty and in need.  For our life is in His hands alone.  “He made us” and not we ourselves; “we are truly His handiwork,” and so, dependent on Him for all things.  And if not for His mercy we would yet be dead in our sin. Brothers and sisters, we must not “live at the level of the flesh”; we cannot give our “allegiance to the present age and the prince of the air” and remain in the favor of God.  “Following every whim and fancy of our own” will but lead us down a dark road, and all the “piled-up wealth” we can amass will give us no light for the night ahead.  Truly we must realize that we are “created in Christ Jesus to lead the life of good deeds which God prepared for us in advance.”  Now that by His mercy He has saved us, has lifted us from the mire into which we’d sunk, it is ours to “serve the Lord with gladness” and “come before Him with joyful song.” “In Christ Jesus [God] raised us up and gave us a place in the heavens, that in the ages to come He might display the great wealth of His favor.”  And should we not but accept this gift from Him “whose kindness endures forever”?  Should we not humble ourselves before our Holy Lord and “enter His gates with thanksgiving”?  All He requires of our souls is to accept the salvation He brings us, and to grow “rich in the sight of God.” ******* O LORD, make us rich in your sight; by the favor you have granted us through the salvation wrought in Christ Jesus, remake us in your image.  YHWH, you made us and have remade us in the image of your Son who has died for us that we might be dead in sin no more.  Let us praise the great favor from you and live always according to your Word. We have accomplished nothing, LORD, nothing but our own condemnation, nothing but distraction from you as we turn to the flesh and riches of this world.  As to the evil spirit we give our allegiance, we find your wrath upon us; we find the death we have wrought by sin. But you are merciful, LORD, and call us through your Son to salvation from this darkness that has enveloped our souls.  You would indeed remake us in Christ; He would indeed restore us to our former glory and carry us to your kingdom.  O let us not set our hearts on the riches of this earth but seek only the grace that comes to us at your hands, in His blood.  Let us enter your courts with songs of praise this day.

(Eph.1:15-23;   Ps.8:2-7;   Lk.12:8-12)   “Whoever acknowledges me before men – the Son of Man will acknowledge him before the angels of God.”   We are only very small, less than a speck of dust in the eyes of God.  Beholding His heavens, “the moon and the stars which [He] set in place,” should we not cry out to God with David in our psalm: “What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?”  Truly we are but miserable creatures.  And yet the Lord of all has deigned to make man “little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor”; and yet through Jesus Christ He raises him up to His heavens. How like the acknowledgment the Lord promises is Paul’s acknowledgment of the Ephesians: “I have never stopped thanking God for you and recommending you in my prayers.”  For their “faith in the Lord Jesus and [their] love for all the members of the Church,” rightly do they gain honor from the Lord’s Apostle, and from the Lord Himself.  And all who are like them shall know “the wealth of glorious heritage to be distributed among the members of the Church.”  “Like the strength [God] showed in raising Christ from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in heaven,” so will be the strength and grace Jesus shows in raising us up to be one with Him and His Father among the angels of heaven. “He has put all things under Christ’s feet and made Him head of the Church, which is His body.”  And all who acknowledge His greatness, all who serve the Lord and His members, become part of “the fullness of Him who fills the universe in all its parts.”  Indeed they will be lifted up with Him who is “high above every principality, power, virtue, and domination, and every name that can be given in this age or in the age to come.”  For the body shares in the blessing of its head; the oil poured upon our Lord flows down upon all His members through the power of the Holy Spirit.  And, yes, the Spirit is with us, brothers and sisters, defending us always and teaching us at every moment just what we need to do and say, if we have but faith.  He gives us all the “wisdom and insight” we need to know the greatness of our call in Him and to accomplish all His works, if we but call upon the Lord’s Name.  Acknowledge Him always in all you do; be among the “babes and sucklings” who praise His majesty and glory, and His blessing you shall know to the depths of your soul, and the heights of heaven.    ******* O LORD, let your Spirit be upon us to speak in us and work through us always. YHWH, teach us by the Spirit all we should say and do; may He enlighten our innermost vision that we may know the great hope to which you call us.  How great is your power in us who believe!  To what glory we are led by the Spirit!  For we are  thus joined to your Son who has all power in Heaven and on earth – members of His Body do we become. You have put all things under Christ’s feet, dear LORD, crowning Him with your own glory and honor.  And as you have raised Him from the dead and seated Him at your right hand in Heaven, so you will raise us up with Him whose Name is above all names.  And so, what should we do but praise you and honor you with all our lives. O LORD, let us indeed acknowledge your Son here where we stand, before all men, that He might indeed acknowledge us before your angels and they might lift us to your presence at His command.  Glory to you forever!

(Eph.1:11-14;   Ps.33:1-2,4-5,12-13;   Lk.12:1-7)   “What you have whispered in locked rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.”   What we have whispered and what has been whispered to us, the teaching of the Lord, the truth of the Spirit, is destined to grow unto praise of God – to be proclaimed to the ends of the earth.  What begins here in a small way in Jesus the Messiah, shall proceed in His disciples to all nations.  In the dark, first it is but whispered.  It sinks deep into the locked rooms of our guarded hearts.  There the truth finds a home, takes root, and grows.  And all the world shall know…  All the world shall know all that is spoken in your heart. Brothers and sisters, “when you heard the glad tidings of salvation, the word of truth, and believed in it, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit who had been promised.”  In Him and in His truth whispering in your heart you found “the pledge of our inheritance, the first payment against the full redemption of a people God has made His own to praise His glory.”  Though a tiny spark at first, concealed in the dark, this flame has burned intensely, and now becomes the fire of praise unto God.  “We were predestined to praise His glory”; this was the Lord’s desire from the first moment He touched us with His Word.  And now His plan must be fulfilled. As Jesus looks about in our gospel and sees “a crowd of thousands had gathered, so dense that they were treading on one another,” He realizes how the flame has already begun to grow.  And so He warns His disciples to be true to the Word He has labored to plant in their minds and hearts and souls.  He knows that they will be tempted by “the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy,” that they may be inclined to speak what will tickle the public’s ear in order to gain their approval and support.  Thus does He say, “Do not be afraid”: do not be afraid of what the truth may bring or that you might be killed for speaking it.  Remain true to what I have whispered to you in our locked rooms, for the Word must go out to the ends of the earth.  Their mission upon them, He calls His friends to fulfill it. And so let all our voices resound with the praise of God who has saved us, for “praise from the upright is fitting.”  “Exult, you just, in the Lord… for upright is the word of the Lord, and all His works are trustworthy.”  Now all must know that “of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full,” so fail not to “chant His praises,” to proclaim His truth to all the world.  It is here we are called to do so. ******* O LORD, let us not fear to praise your glory before all the world. YHWH, we are called through your Son to declare your glory, to sing your praises in the light of this day.  May we in faith and sincerity fulfill this call and come at last into your kingdom. You are our LORD, you are our God, and all things are known to your eyes.  Life and death are in your hands, and only in you do we find the promise of the Holy Spirit fulfilled – only in you and by your Son will we inherit eternal glory.  Let us be your true disciples that, though we die for your cause, we may ever have life in you. Praise you, LORD, for your goodness to us, for your watching over us and providing your Son to save us and your Spirit to lead us to your glory.  Let the truth you have spoken in the depths of our hearts be proclaimed openly to the ears of all men that the devil may be overcome and all your poor sparrows find their home in you.

(Eph.1:1-10;   Ps.98:1-6;   Lk.11:47-54)   “It is in Christ and through His blood that we have been redeemed and our sins forgiven.”   Oh, brothers and sisters, “so immeasurably generous is God’s favor to us.”  He “has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens!”  In Christ we are chosen “to be holy and blameless in His sight, to be full of love… to be His adopted sons.”  In our midst the Lord fulfills the plan “to be carried out in the fullness of time: namely, to bring all things in the heavens and on earth into one under Christ’s headship.” And He does all this by the shedding of His blood. “God has said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of these they will persecute and kill.’”  “From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who met his death between the altar and the sanctuary,” to the blood of Christ, who died within the sanctuary – who is the sanctuary and whose blood is poured out upon every altar until this day – the sacrificial blood of the martyrs has been poured forth.  And all the blood shed until His time, and all the blood shed by His faithful until His Day… all is the blood of the Christ who redeems us all who shed that blood by our sins.  And we should but desire to add our own blood to fill up what is yet lacking in the sacrifice of the Lord, that all the chosen may enter His kingdom. Brothers and sisters, no longer is “the key of knowledge” kept from us; we now have access to enter into His reign.  For “God has given us the wisdom to understand fully the mystery” of the plan of His salvation.  And it speaks to us in Christ’s blood.  And in His blood we should rejoice; we should “praise the divine favor He has bestowed on us in His beloved.”  For “the Lord has made His salvation known: in the sight of the nations He has revealed His justice.”  And His justice is this: that though the devil accuse us rightly of our sins, though the blood of the prophets be on our hands, though none is worthy of the kingdom and all should be justly thrown into hell – yet “all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God,” yet there is One who has died in our place to wash us clean from our sins, to measure off the justice due us… yet the devil’s hope for our condemnation is thwarted by the One who loves us immeasurably.  And so we can enter in and “with trumpets and the sound of the horn sing joyfully before the King, the Lord.”  And so we may know fully the blessings of Christ’s blood.   ******* O LORD, the blood of your Son be upon us this day to redeem us from our sin and bring us knowledge of your glory. YHWH, thank you for sending your Son to redeem us from all our sins and make us one with Him and so with you in the heavenly kingdom.  Your salvation this day is known to all by the blood He has shed on the Cross – may all hear His call to repentance, that all might sing in your presence. O LORD, every spiritual blessing you offer to us through the sacrifice of Jesus.  O that we might be holy as He, holy as you, and praise you joyfully for your love.  Let us not linger in jealousy, in envy of His goodness and truth, but listen to His words that chastise our hearts, that we might be made pure for Heaven.  The key of knowledge is ours in your Christ; the wisdom of the ages comes to us through Him – let us but long to follow Him to your glory. In His blood indeed we are saved.  Though our hands have shared in the shedding of that blood, yet it is the source of our salvation, if we but turn to you in love.  Praise you, LORD, for your favor toward us!

(Gal.5:18-25;   Ps.1:1-4,6,Jn.8:12;   Lk.11:42-46)   “Since we live by the spirit, let us follow the spirit’s lead.”   “Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent”; these indeed follow not the spirit’s lead but the dictates of the flesh.  And all their “licentiousness” and “drunkenness,” all their “hostilities” and “envy,” shall but lead to their doom.  For “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!”  When they die – as already they are dead – the grave alone shall be their home, with the tortures that are found there.  But “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires” and so know the “fruit of the spirit” and not the flesh.  “Love, joy, peace” and all the precious gifts are theirs in this life, and shall remain with them forever.  The Spirit leads us to such blessing. As for the Pharisees in our gospel today, they prove themselves children of the flesh and not the spirit, for though they “pay tithes on mint and rue and all the garden plants,” though they are so careful about the details of the letter of the law, their worship is in vain for they do all “while neglecting justice and the love of God,” thus tearing out the very heart of the law of God they presume to follow.  And so their path is the one which leads but to the grave.  They clearly are even now dead, “like hidden tombs over which men walk unawares.”  Here are “the insolent” the just must avoid.  Here are those who build pretense of holiness but have nothing of the spirit inside.  And so their decaying souls shall crumble from within, and “like chaff which the wind drives away,” so shall their remains be scattered like dust by the truth of the Spirit, which exposes and destroys all lies. “The way of the wicked vanishes,” brothers and sisters.  It cannot stand, for there is no foundation, there is no truth on which it rests.  It is but empty, illusory, passing.  But we who claim to be sons and daughters of the living God, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ and following the lead of the Holy Spirit, must have nothing to do with the fruits of this way.  Our worship must be true, must be genuine, must be that in which the flesh is crucified and the spirit allowed to breathe, that none of us will be crushed under the burden of sin but all be set free to walk in liberty now and forever.   ******* O LORD, let us not be counted among the wicked but have your love and your truth burning in our souls. YHWH, let our worship be genuine, let our hearts be set on love of you.  Let us follow the Spirit’s lead; your way of truth be our own this day.  Meditating on your Law, let us live it and bear its fruit. Apart from you let us never be, O LORD, never separated from your love.  Crucified let our passions be, that we shall share in new life with your only Son.  Your joy and peace be with us always; keep us forever from jealousy and outbursts of rage.  In the Spirit let us make our home, never turning to what comes of the flesh. Far from the paths of the wicked please keep us, LORD, that we shall not live our lives in vain; day and night let us think of you, and we shall be ever blessed.  O that we might bear your fruit all our days, that our leaves might never fade…  Keep us always close to you by your chastising word of truth.  Then the water of your Spirit will nourish us well and our sin will be known no more.