The BreadCast

(Ex.33:7-11,34:5-9,28;   Ps.103:6-13;   Mt.13:36-43)   “The angels will hurl them into the fiery furnace where they will wail and grind their teeth.”   It is the justice of God which is our theme today.  And though it is absolutely certain that the mercy of God far surpasses our merit and He does not “requite us according to our crimes,” yet it is equally so – and Jesus could not make it more explicit than He does in His explanation in our gospel today – that God’s will is not for “declaring the guilty guiltless,” and that “the followers of the evil one” shall be punished.  It is this invariable necessity of God’s justice I highlight today because of its general ignorance in this age. “Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness,” David declares in our psalm.  “The Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.”  Yes, “surpassing is His kindness toward those who fear Him.”  But what if we should not fear Him?  What if we should not give Him the love and honor and respect which is rightfully His?  It cannot but be that we pervert His kindness and compassion and, by our own will, turn it into the flaming punishment it thus becomes.  This is the justice of God: it reaches down “for a thousand generations”; it covers the earth with its forgiveness.  But turning from it we inevitably cast ourselves into hell, for there is no place to hide our hardened hearts from His merciful love.  Thus our refusal to accept His surpassing kindness is that which provides the kindling for the everlasting flames.  And if we deny the existence of hell, we deny the presence of God’s love, and our own free will in choosing it or not. In our first reading there is quite a jump, better than a chapter, in the scene.  In the first half Moses is in the tent of meeting where he would serve as judge for the people; in the second half he is on Mount Sinai, where God has led him to receive the Ten Commandments (a second time).  The Lord has also promised to reveal His back to Moses – no one can see His face and live – and it is this scene that is spoken of in our gospel.  Moses speaks the Lord’s silent NAME, “YHWH”, and God comes in power, crying to him of His infinite mercy and absolute justice.  As the Lord passes by in this way, Moses is overwhelmed and begs God to remain with him and the people, recognizing that they will not be able to take a step without Him.  And in His great kindness, but not without appropriate punishment, the Lord will remain with Moses and the Israelites through their desert journey. “The saints will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.”  The angels shall gather the good seed unto their just reward.  And there shall be great rejoicing as the mercy of God thus comes to fulfillment.  But none of this can be until “all who draw others to apostasy and all evildoers” are cast out from His presence.  Just as the faithless were not permitted to enter the Promised Land but died in the desert, so only those whose hearts burn with the love of God will shine in His kingdom.  For the rest only the fires of torment await.   ******* O LORD, the weeds must be burned that those whom your Son has redeemed might shine brightly before you. YHWH, to Moses you spoke face to face, proclaiming your NAME to him, and he bowed down in your wondrous presence as your power passed before him.  Your merciful ways you made known to him, your mercy and your justice, for you put away the sins of those who fear you, but the wicked shall know punishment. We are indeed stiff-necked, O LORD, and deserving of your fiery wrath.  But help us now to turn to you that we might be preserved from destruction at the end of the age.  Your good seed let us be, sown by Jesus and His love.  By His sacrifice He prepares the ground for a bountiful harvest. O LORD, let us shine like the sun in your kingdom on the Day of your Son’s return.  And so, now let our ears be open to hear of your mercy; upon our hearts inscribe your NAME that we might remember your love.

(Ex.32:15-24,30-34;   Ps.106:1,19-23;   Mt.13:31-35)  “Eventually the whole mass of dough began to rise.”  The kingdom of God comes gradually, grows imperceptibly; from the smallest of seeds it becomes “the largest of plants,” and “the birds of the sky come and build their nests in its branches.”  Indeed, this yeast is kneaded into our hearts, and by its grace we rise gradually unto the form heaven would make us – and so the glory of God becomes ours, and with others we share His grace within us.  See that it is the people’s impatience which has led them into sin: “Make us a god to be our leader,” they say to Aaron, “as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what happened to him.”  Moses is gone to the mountain forty days to receive the commands of God upon the tablets of stone, but this time is too long for the Israelites to wait, and so when he returns with the “tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God Himself,” he finds that they have “exchanged their glory,” present so really, so physically, in the Law he carries in his hands, “for the image of a grass-eating bullock.”  They could not wait.  The God they sought in vain image was coming to them in truth with His Law written in stone, but they did not perceive His approach; and so, taking matters into their own hands, they crafted their condemnation.  For now it is but chastisement that awaits them; this, too, comes gradually, and is unavoidable.  As the Lord says to Moses, “When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.” “So grave a sin” the Israelites commit.  It is only because “Moses, His chosen, withstood Him in the breach, to turn back His destructive wrath,” that the people were not struck out of the book the Lord has written.  Indeed, though they shall all die in their sin in the desert, their generation shall maintain the promise.  But it shall not be until Christ Jesus stands in the breach for all, that we who are so prone to evil shall be saved entirely.  Only He makes the absolute atonement for the sin of the people, which Moses prefigures in our first reading today. And now that the Son has come, now the seed is planted in our hearts, now the yeast begins to rise in our souls – now the kingdom of God is nigh.  From the desert we are thus led, the angel of God going before us.  We have but to listen to the word He speaks to us in His blessed parables and apply its truth to our lives, and thus staying the path set before us we will come in time to the kingdom that awaits us.  We shall yet see the Lord descend from on high, not carrying tablets in His arms, but carrying us and our salvation in full bloom.  And on that holy day we shall eat of the bread He has caused to rise in our hearts and in our lives. ******* O LORD, may your kingdom grow ever in our midst, and may we patiently await its coming. YHWH, your Son comes to stand in the breach, to reveal to us your holy kingdom.  For it now we must but wait, and allow your will to be accomplished. We have sinned gravely against you, LORD.  Our hearts have all turned from your glory to the idols of this age.  We have been blinded by the gold the world so persistently offers. Give us patience to wait on your goodness, LORD.  Give us the wisdom we need to know the coming of your reign.  For it rises in our midst this day, if we but have eyes to see what your Son reveals. From the mountaintop let your Word come down, O LORD, to instruct us in your ways.  For without your Law to guide us here, quickly we become depraved.  O punish us not in your rage, dear God; strike us not out of your Book.  Let our hearts embrace the words of your Son.

(Ex.24:3-8;   Ps.50:1-2,5-6,14-15;   Mt.13:24-30)   “All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do.”   But will they?  Who among them will remain faithful to the covenant they make with God?  All the Israelites vow as one to follow “the words and ordinances of the Lord,” yet only two men shall come from the desert and enter the Promised Land.  Their children shall exhibit greater fidelity, but these, too, shall falter – throughout the history of the chosen people there shall be weeds, sometimes in abundance, sown among the good seed. And in our psalm, God declares: “Gather my faithful ones before me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”  For “God Himself is the judge,” and He will tell how well the “twelve pillars” “erected at the foot of the mountain” stand before Him.  He will make known how efficacious has been our sacrifice.  Jesus teaches us of God’s justice in His parable: “At harvest time I will order the harvesters, first collect the weeds and bundle them up to burn, then gather the wheat into my barn.”  Indeed, the weeds shall be separated out into everlasting fire, while the wheat which has been true to His Word enters heaven.  If we have been faithful to our covenant with the Lord, if we have been hearers and doers of His Word, we have nothing to fear.  Love overcomes all fear, and the Lord assures us of His grace: “Call upon me in time of distress; I will rescue you.”  But if our vows have been in vain, we have much to fear at the hand of the harvest master.  All shall be brought before Him – “The Lord has spoken and summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting.”  From east to west they shall be gathered before His judgment seat, and on that last day Jesus shall speak the sentence which awaits us all.  The weeds may seem to grow and thrive in this day, but be assured that this day is passing away; His Day shall last for eternity.  The enemy shall be cast from His presence forever. In the desert the people of God were excited to pledge allegiance to the Lord.  But what is promised must be done or the pledge is worthless.  We, too, profess our faith in God, and indeed His blood is sprinkled upon us daily as we raise the cup of blessing in His Name.  This New Covenant far surpasses the Old and puts the onus upon us thus to a far greater degree to heed the words of the psalmist: “Fulfill your vows to the Most High.”  Let us therefore truly heed and do all that the Lord calls us to.  Let us not hesitate to come into the Lord’s presence offering Him a sacrifice of praise, but let us not forget the promise inherent in our worship of Him; each day let us grow as wheat before the master of the harvest, His Word providing nourishment for our souls.   ******* O LORD, make us faithful to our covenant with you, that we shall not be burned in the fire.   YHWH, let us hear and heed your voice and vow our faithfulness to you, yes, but most of all let us stand with you, carrying out your will in all things.  Then at harvest time we shall have no fear; then truly as your wheat we shall ever grow, and be gathered into your kingdom. But if we turn away, if we instead serve the enemy, what hope shall we find on that Day when you stand before us as Judge?  What can we be but bundled as weeds and thrown into the fire?  O LORD, let us stand strong in the blood of your Son, for only His sacrifice will save us. We praise you, LORD, for your goodness to us, for planting us in your blessed field.  Let us do everything your Son has told us; may He continue to speak to our hearts this day.  In His blood let us be washed clean, that we might shine with Him in perfect beauty on the last day.

(Ex.19:1-2,9-11,16-20;   Dn.3:52-56;   Mt.13:10-17)   “Blest are your eyes because they see and blest are your ears because they hear.”   Jesus tells us today, “Many a prophet and many a saint longed to see what you see but did not see it, to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”  How blessed are we, for the light of His face now shines upon us, for His teaching is now in our ears. With fear and trembling the Israelites came to Mount Sinai to witness the presence of God.  They wished not to be there as He revealed Himself in mighty signs: “There were peals of thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.”  What an astounding scene!  For “the whole mountain trembled” and “the trumpet blast grew louder and louder, while Moses was speaking and God answering Him with thunder.”  Here is the revelation of  God in all His majesty as He communicates Himself to His people.  Our psalm, too, sings of the glory of the Lord and the praise due Him: “Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,” “on the throne of your kingdom,” “in the firmament of heaven.”  The Lord is indeed “exalted above all for all ages.” But overwhelming as the Lord is and difficult as it may be to find Him, we must never close our hearts to His presence.  Yes, there must always be proper fear for the awesome glory of God, but our eyes must yet be open to see Him and our ears open to hear Him.  He comes now to us not in thunder, not in earthquakes – but in a still, small voice… in the gentle presence of our Lord, Jesus Christ.  And though this pregnant silence radiating the Word of God may be just as fearful to the heart darkened by the cares of the world, though the refining fire it is may bring a greater pain to the soul being cleansed of its sin, we must not turn away as did the ancient Israelites, as did many of Jesus’ time: we must not allow our hearts to be “sluggish” to understand. He stands before us now, present here at Mass and in all His holy sacraments.  Indeed, He comes to us speaking through the people and all the things around us.  He is ever calling to our hearts, ever shining His light upon our minds.  Do we open ourselves to Him?  Do we seek to grow in the Spirit each day, every day…?  Blessed are we now that Jesus has come and on the third day been raised from the dead.  The Lord instructed Moses: “On the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people.”  That day is now fulfilled in our sight; let us cleanse our hearts, that we might be prepared to see Him.   ******* O LORD, what we see and hear, what we taste and touch, each day at your altar! YHWH, how can we look upon you who are so far beyond our understanding, who are exalted above all for all ages, we who are so sluggish of heart?  The ancient Israelites trembled at your glorious presence revealed to them at Mount Sinai.  How could they bear the trumpet blasts, your voice speaking in peals of thunder, the fire, the smoke covering the mountain…?  Would not any soul die at such display?  How shall we approach your mountain? Yet you look into the depths in which we dwell in our misery, in our darkness and our fear, and you come to us gently in the presence of your Son.  Our fears you understand, LORD, and so seek to allay them; yet our blindness remains.  Even to Jesus we close our hearts, though He comes only in love and bearing blessed truth to save our souls. O let our eyes look gladly upon His face and our ears hear expectantly the words from His lips!    Let us turn to Him, LORD, and find healing for our hardened hearts.  Let us be at peace in your presence.

Ex.16:1-5,9-15;   Ps.78:18-19,23-28;   Mt.13:1-9)   “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.”   He gives us bread to eat; He gives us wine to drink.  All our food comes from His hand.  He provides for our every need.  It is not by our own strength we are fed.  It is not by our own strength we produce fruit to feed others.  All our grain is from His hand and grows only with His blessing. The Israelites find themselves in a barren desert and begin to fear for their empty bellies.  “Can God spread a table in the desert?” they ask in doubt, and begin to dissemble before the Lord.  But it is God’s will to teach them a lesson, to show them from whom their sustenance comes, for even when in Egypt their “fleshpots” were provided by Him.  But they are a blind and ignorant race, and so He must show them the power of His grace, of His providence.  He thus gives them a food they have never seen before, whose very name, “manna”, reveals its mystery.  And so they partake of this food of the angels; “even a surfeit of provisions He sent them,” though their flesh shall not be long satisfied with this heavenly food. And we, do we realize all our food comes from the Lord?  Do we see His hand at work in all things?  Or do we go blindly along through this desert as well, listening too carefully to our grumbling stomachs while ignoring His Word in our hearts and presence in our midst?  Do we, too, forget all He has done for us?  Or do we turn faithfully to Him for His heavenly provisions and find ourselves satisfied with the food from His hands?  And thus, do we ourselves yield grain from the good soil He sets us on, increasing “a hundred- or sixty- or thirty-fold” His word in our hearts, that others might be fed too by our God?  Jesus sits before us today and calls us to such fruitfulness in His name.  Let us not be choked by the cares of this world or fail to have depth of faith within our souls, but let us take the blessed food He provides in His Word and in His Body and His Blood and so be nourished well to provide for others. The desert in which we find ourselves, by which the Lord tests our faith, can seem to overwhelm us at times.  May it never cause us to act as the Israelites, who “tempted God in their hearts by demanding the food they craved.”  Let us remember that only the “heavenly bread” rained upon us by Him will save us from the temptations and emptiness of this life.  I pray He fill you with His bread of eternal life.   ******* O LORD, you give us bread to eat; yes, you provide holy seed – and we must produce fruit unto Heaven. YHWH, our trust in you increase this day; let us know it is by your hand we are fed.  And what food is ours by your grace!  Even the Body and Blood of your Son. Bread from Heaven you give us, LORD, feeding us with the flesh of Christ.  As once you gave the Israelites bread in the desert, so now you open the doors of Heaven and provide for us our daily food. Plant your Word in our souls, dear God, that it might grow and nourish us well, that we might bear fruit a hundredfold in the Name of Jesus.  Our ears open to hear His voice, let us be faithful to His call. All the distractions of this world take from us; save us from the rumblings of our belly.  Let us understand that you care for all our needs if we but trust in the Word you send us.

(Ex.14:5-18;   Ex.15:1-6;   Mt.12:38-42)   “The Lord Himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still.”    But the scribes and the Pharisees cannot keep still, cannot hold faith firmly in their hearts, but are anxious for a sign.  But it is “an evil and unfaithful age” that is “eager for a sign,” and so no sign will bring it salvation.  Jesus indeed will die and rise again, but it will be of no avail to those whose hearts are closed, to those who blindly fight by their own power.  Indeed, a sign was not needed by either the queen of the South or by Ninevah; the wisdom and the preaching that come from the Lord were enough for them to bend the knee and to repent.  These pagans, these foreigners, had hearts open and seeking the word of the Lord – and so shall be saved thereby.  But these scribes and Pharisees who hear the wisdom and truth pouring forth from the lips of Christ are deaf to its significance, and so shall be condemned. The Lord indeed it must be who fights for us, and not we ourselves.  We must sing with Moses, “My strength and my courage is the Lord, and He has been my savior.”  Knowing we can do nothing by our own power, let us shout to our God, “Your right hand, O Lord, has shattered the enemy.”  Is it Moses’ staff and “hand outstretched” which part the Red Sea, or is it indeed the Lord’s power?  Is it we who save ourselves from the pursuit of sin marching like Pharaoh’s army against us, or is it God who hurls “Pharaoh’s chariots and army… into the sea”? “Fear not!  Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the Lord will win for you today,” brothers and sisters.  As He saved the Israelites from the relentless pursuit of the Egyptians, so He will save your soul from the onslaught of sin upon your soul.  You must but trust in Him.  Take not refuge in signs and wonders, which you might forget upon their passing, but be still and wait for the Lord, listening for His voice, remaining steady in the faith He instills in your heart, and you will not be shaken by the temptations and distractions and fears brought by the world and its blinded mind.  “They sank into the depths of the sea like a stone,” Scripture tells us: so it will be with your sins and the temptations which surround you.  “These Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.”  Have but faith in your hearts.   Jesus, may we simply know that you are with us and follow in your footsteps each day. Fight for us, O Lord, for the battle is always yours.   ******* O LORD, greater even than Moses is your Son Jesus Christ; should we not listen to Him and reform our lives? YHWH, Jesus has drowned our sins in the sea, buried them in the belly of the earth, and we have been raised up with Him, saved from the pursuit of evil.  In glory is He covered now; may we indeed stand with Him on the far shore. Slaves of the Egyptians never let us be again.  To fear of the march of Pharaoh’s army never let us return.  O let us be filled with trust in you, LORD!  Let us indeed be still and allow you to work for us.  For it is only by your right hand, by your magnificent power, that we are saved from the pursuit of the enemy – only by the sacrifice of your Son are we preserved from sin and death.  Let us today reform our lives that we might escape condemnation.  Let us put our faith in the wisdom of your Son. We need no sign beyond the presence of your Christ in our midst.  O LORD, let us go forward through the sea with Him at our side.

(Ex.12:37-42;   Ps.136:1,10-15,23-24;   Mt.12:14-21)   “All the Israelites must keep a vigil for the Lord throughout their generations.”   After four hundred and thirty years, as one man the Israelites left the land of Egypt.  More than a million people all told were “rushed out of Egyptand had no opportunity even to prepare food for the journey.”  And so the exodus from sin we all must make is here prefigured.  And in thanks for such grace from the Lord, whose “mercy endures forever,” who “freed us from our foes,” we keep constant vigil.  Knowing the manner of our first release from slavery, we watch now for His return. “Many people followed Him and He cured them all.”  All those who walk in the wake of the Lord know His saving power.  For He is endowed with the Spirit of God; of Jesus, the prophet writes: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my loved one in whom I delight.”  And so those who approach Him know the “mighty hand” and “outstretched arm” of God in the healing of all their ills.  Yet mighty as is His work, so gentle is its coming forth.  For it is not in great fanfare but rather great humility that Jesus has come into our midst to save us.  Though His works are great, His person is meek.  Much as the silent NAME shared with Moses, much as the “still, small voice” which spoke to Elijah, so is this WORD of God made flesh.  “He will not contend or cry out, nor will His voice be heard in the streets.”  For His is a voice which does not pass away with the dimming of its sound; His voice is not a clanging gong, empty of substance, but is filled to bursting with love and mercy, and goes forth in the silence of a pure heart.  It is for this silence we listen.  It is for His love we keep vigil. “He sternly ordered them not to make public what He had done.”  We must join Him in silence.  In telling no one, all will know.  It is by faith all is done.  Indeed, our light shines forth from this quiet heart.  Shshsh… (listen for the voice of God). The Israelites moved at once from the land of bondage.  The Lord has set us free now from our sins, brothers and sisters, and one day He will come again – He is knocking at the door even now – and take us to the presence of God.  Are we watching for His coming?  Are we ready to leave all behind?  Do we follow Him with such abandon even this day?  If we do, the word shall go forth from our lives.  If we do, we make Him known, and so we can be sure, “In His Name, the Gentiles will find hope.”  As we keep vigil for the Lord, His Word goes forth to the ends of the earth and shall lead all souls out of slavery to the mountain of God.  Watch, and listen.  The time is nigh.   ******* O LORD, come to save us – your mercy is our only hope. YHWH, in your Son we find our hope for release from this place of slavery.  His justice our hearts cherish, for in His justice is shown your mercy.  O let us be prepared for departure from the land of Egypt, from bondage to sin and death; may every night be a night of vigil for Jesus’ return. All at once you will take us from the darkness of this world into your presence, O holy LORD.  You will stretch out your hand as you have done once and again, and lead us through the midst of the sea on dry ground.  As Pharaoh and his force you drown in your mighty wrath, your children shall enter the Promised Land, freed from all their enemies. May your Spirit be upon us as it is on your Son; come in silence to our hearts this day and assure our wounded souls of your salvation, which waits on the horizon.

(Ex.11:10-12:14;   Ps.116:12-13,15-18;   Mt.12:1-8)   “The Son of Man is indeed the Lord of the sabbath.”   “There is something greater than the temple here,” greater than the Passover and all the feasts of the Lord, greater than the Law… for Jesus and His mercy subsume all these by His holy sacrifice, by His very presence amongst us.  And now on the new sabbath day, the words of the psalmist are fulfilled: “The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord,” as we offer now even daily the “sacrifice of thanksgiving” – the Holy Eucharist – as each day becomes a “memorial feast” for us.  Here we remember and partake of the Lamb “without blemish”; here the blood of the firstborn Son slaughtered for our sakes is applied to the temples our bodies become by its anointing, by our raising of the cup.  And heeding Christ’s words to be on watch, we are made ever ready for flight from this world of sin and into the arms of our God. It is an ominous night, that first Passover.  The darkness upon the land, the cries of mothers for their firstborn sons foreshadows the horror of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, and the piercing of our consciences which comes thereby.  By His sacrifice we cry for our sins; but by this death are we released from bondage to that same sin.  By it His mercy is poured upon us from age to age until the end of all time.  For now the Passover is made complete; now the sacrifice is truly whole.  And all of the old is made new as it is brought to fulfillment in the only Son. “You have loosed my bonds,” O Lord.  Each day you prepare my soul for flight from this world by the cup of thanksgiving, the sharing in your sacrifice, you offer to us each day at the hands of your priests.  As it is raised and as we “call upon the name of the Lord,” you come to us with your merciful anointing, and all guilt we may have incurred is cleansed thereby.  O Lord of the Sabbath, O Son of the Most High, O Temple of God and perfection of the Law, see the Lamb we eat at your Command; see the blood which marks our houses, and pass over us in the Day of Judgment – bring us freely into the celebration of your eternal feast in heaven. As we come to the altar today, brothers and sisters, let us remember the merciful sacrifice the Lord has made for our blessed protection and fulfillment of the hunger we have for His presence.  Freely let us partake now of His Body and Blood and so become one with Him who is Lord of all and master of our souls.  And let us share His merciful love with the waiting world.  Let us enter now the eternal Sabbath.  ******* O LORD, feed us in our hunger; your mercy be upon us this day – free us from our slavery to sin and to our ways! YHWH, your Son is the Temple where we are called to dwell, the Lamb of sacrifice of which we must partake.  It is His blood that washes us clean of sin, that keeps us free from your executing judgment.  With Him and in Him we shall not die, we shall not be condemned, but live forever to praise your NAME. Our bonds you have loosed, O LORD; from all hunger and thirst you have saved us by the feast before us even this day, by the Body and Blood we receive at the hands of the priests you have ordained in Jesus’ Name.  Perpetually we may now receive your graces.  Forever we shall take up this Cup of salvation.  Now that you have visited us with your mercy, what more could we need? Thank you, LORD, for the sacrifice your Son has made for our sakes.  By it may we leave this land of darkness and come to dwell with you.

(Ex.3:11-20;   Ps.105:1,5,8-9,24-27;   Mt.11:28-30)   “My yoke is easy and my burden light.”   I AM has come and led His people “up out of the misery of Egypt,” up out of slavery.  The heavy yoke of sin He breaks from our necks, and in its place we find His gentle presence. How this world can make us weary!  How the Israelites suffered under the iron hand of the Pharaoh.  But the Lord says to them, “I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt.”  And He says to us the same: “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.”  To Moses as proof of His presence He even gives His NAME, the silent WORD – “YHWH” – which speaks volumes of His being here and everywhere always: “I AM WHO AM.”  That gentle, all-present Spirit, that WORD that is Life, is made known to us now in Jesus, the WORD made flesh, He who is “gentle and humble of heart.”  And so salvation is fulfilled: release from slavery ultimately comes in the gentle yoke of the Son of God.  Let us place it upon our shoulders. I repeat, this world can be burdensome.  As it works its way into our hearts and souls, it brings terrible chains which bind us.  As the culture of death which surrounds us in this land of exile finds inroads into our homes and penetrates our minds, it can bring a slavish weight to bear.  But though the prince of this world and his subjects might harden their hearts against the emancipating Word of God, though they might refuse to allow us to worship our God freely and with all our beings and belongings… yet the Lord “remembers forever His covenant”; from age to age His word is true.  And He shall not be lacking for “wondrous deeds,” “portents,” and “judgments” to assure His people’s freedom, to assure their coming gently and wholly into His sacred presence. “I will stretch out my hand,” the Lord tells us.  He will stretch forth His hand and break the yoke from our backs with a word from His mouth.  And rest shall be ours.  Eternal rest in His sacred presence, in the light of His holy face, is inevitably ours as we follow in His humble ways.  Come, brothers and sisters.  Fear not Pharaoh.  The evil upon us is passing away; only what is real, only what is of His Word – only I AM shall remain.  Take His yoke upon you, and be led gently forth.   ******* O LORD, by your NAME and by the Cross we are unburdened of words, unburdened of thoughts and fears – let us walk with you! YHWH, our burden you wish to remove, for our plight in this world you see, and take pity.  And so, wondrous deeds you work in our midst, wondrous deeds in the sight of the nations, that all might know that you are God, in whom all find their rest. Your NAME you gave to Moses, LORD, to reassure his heart and show yourself to Him.  Knowing you, he could find faith in your goodness, in your eternal presence, and in your call upon his soul.  And so, in peace he could face all the difficulties that lay before him; so he could face the king of Egypt without fear. And your greatest gift you give to us, dear God, in the coming of your Son, in the complete revelation of your goodness He is to us.  Does He not tell us that you are near, that you are always here to refresh our souls and make us whole?  And so, the burden of His Cross is light upon our shoulders.

(Ex.3:1-6,9-12;   Ps.103:1-4,6-8;   Mt.11:25-27)   “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush.”   The Lord appears to Moses.  “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob,” reveals Himself on Horeb, the mountain of God.  He comes to him who, as we are told elsewhere, is the humblest of men, calling him – much as He will later call Peter, James, and John from their nets to be fishers of men – from “leading the flock across the desert” to lead His people out of slavery, out of Egypt, through the desert and to the Promised Land. In our gospel, Jesus tells us that the Father reveals Himself “to the merest children,” not to “the learned and the clever.”  And so He has come here to Moses, a man whose speech is weak but whose heart is indeed humble as a child, to call him to be the greatest, most godly of men, and to this great task set before him.  Like John the Baptist after him – who will be the greatest of men born of woman – he is entirely deferential to the Lord.  Here he hides his face, “afraid to look at God,” and questions sincerely: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”  Such as these the Lord calls; to such as these He reveals Himself.  These are they “to whom the Son wishes to reveal” the Father. “Merest children.”  Only to these does the Lord reveal Himself.  Only to those whose hearts are pure, who take no pride in themselves.  In a word, “humble” must we be.  “He has made known His ways to Moses, and His deeds to the children of Israel.”  To them He will show that “the Lord secures justice and the rights of all the oppressed.”  And as their lives are redeemed from destruction, they will “bless His holy name.”  Of the kindness of the Lord the earth is filled, but only those who come as children before Him will know “all His benefits.”  Only those who humble themselves before Him will be raised up to see His glory and live in the light of His presence. O Jesus, we pray that you will reveal the Father to us.  We pray that our hearts will be circumcised and that we will ever bow before the glory that is God.  Bring the fire of the Holy Spirit upon us to purge all our iniquity and prepare us to hear your voice, O Word of God.  Call us forth to do your will and lead us ever to your holy mountain, that always we might be in your presence, that forever we might worship you in spirit and in truth, as merest children, as sons and daughters of your eternal light.  May we never be consumed by sin or the vestiges of our pride, but be brought to life by the grace and power of God.  Show us your face and let us indeed live in the light of its holy fire.   ******* O LORD, you reveal yourself to us through your Son that we might be saved from our sin.  YHWH, make us humble, humble as children; meek as Moses, innocent as your Son, we shall see your face.  Reveal yourself to us, we pray, though we deserve not such kindness and mercy. To your light let us come, to the fire burning in our midst, that fire ignited by Jesus, that we might see you, LORD, that indeed we might know you who look upon our misery, who desire so to save us from the slavery of sin.  Lead us out of this desert to your holy mountain by the grace that comes to us only through your Son. O dear Jesus, how can we stand in the presence of your Father, we who have become so corrupted by iniquity, we who are blinded by the evil upon our souls.  Only you can make us as children again, pure and innocent in the sight of the LORD, pure and innocent as you are.  Let us be united to you in all humility that we might come before the Father and praise His holy NAME.