The BreadCast

(Rv.18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9;   Ps.100:2-5;   Lk.21:20-28)   “These indeed will be days of retribution, when all that is written must be fulfilled.”   The destruction of the world and the coming of the kingdom is our clear theme today.  It is what is written.  It is what must be fulfilled. “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!” that “dwelling place for demons,” cries out an angel by whose authority and glory “all the earth was lighted up.”  He calls down the destruction of the evil empire that is the city of this world.  And the “assembly in heaven” sing loudly, “He has condemned the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her harlotry,” exulting in the salvation and glory and might of the One God, whose “judgments are true and just!”  For though “the blood of His servants… was shed by her hand,” “the great city” is “hurled… into the sea” like “a huge millstone,” “cast down” with such “violence” that it shall never rise again.  And so, “happy are they who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lord,” who sing “Alleluia!” to the great and wonderful presence of our God in the kingdom that is to come. And in our gospel Jesus warns of the coming destruction of the city of Jerusalem, and of the final destruction of the earth.  Yes, “Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles.”  Indeed its “devastation is near,” a mere thirty-five years from the death of the Lord.  But the devastation of Jerusalem will last beyond its destruction by Rome, by the whore of Babylon, around 70 A.D. – it will continue “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,” until the nations’ drinking of the cup of evil to its dregs, and the consequent end of this world brought about by the mighty hand of God.  And so the blood of His servants continues to be shed, even as the kingdom is on the horizon. “Those in the heart of the city must escape it.”  Here is a grave warning.  You must rise from the mire of the sin into which the world leads you.  For “the powers in the heavens will be shaken”; the walls of the city will be torn down, and you will be exposed and alone.  “Flee to the mountains” of holiness; take refuge in “the country,” where the Lord pastures His sheep.  Do not give yourself to the ways of this world or the mark of the beast – lust not for the gold in its hands.  For she is “a cage for every filthy and disgusting bird”; though the appearance may be otherwise, though the cage may be gilded, the horror within shall be revealed in the last days. Brothers and sisters, we must find ourselves standing with those who “sing joyfully to the Lord,” who “enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise.”  On the last day we must not fear “the roaring of the sea and the waves” because of our complicity with evil, but “stand up straight and raise our heads,” ready for our ransom to come at the hands of our Lord.  Let His goodness which “endures forever” be fulfilled in our souls.  (With arms open upon the cross, we shall find our song.)    ******* O LORD, as the great city of this earth is destroyed by fire, let us be welcomed into your kingdom by your Son. YHWH, in you and in your Son our ransom is near at hand, ransom from this world of corruption, ransom to the wedding feast of the Lamb.  Your saints have shed their blood at the hands of the great harlot, but never again shall she sing her mocking song – all evil will be silenced before you as you gather your sheep into your arms. Though by the nations your people be trampled, though great signs come in a bloodstained sky and a roaring sea… though it seem like the end has come upon us, it is only the beginning of your reign to come.  O LORD, may we let this world pass away in its iniquity as we join ourselves to you!  Into your gates with thanksgiving let us come, O LORD; in your courts let us praise your NAME.  Let us raise our heads to see your Son coming, even as the earth and its wickedness pass entirely away.

(Rv.15:1-4;   Ps.98:1-3,7-9,Rv.15:13;   Lk.21:12-19)   “By patient endurance you will save your lives.”   Jesus tells His disciples bluntly: “People will manhandle and persecute you.”  Some will be “put to death” as they are “brought to give witness on account of” His name – “All will hate you because of me.”  Yet in their witness He promises to provide “words and a wisdom” to serve as an impenetrable defense against their enemies… and in the end, after persevering through all suffering, eternal life shall be theirs. John’s vision in our first reading reveals the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise.  Even as “seven angels holding the seven final plagues” of “God’s wrath” stand ready to cast these culminating tribulations upon the earth, the Evangelist sees “those who had won victory over the beast and its image” – over the illusory power of the evil one – “holding the harps used in worshiping God,” and singing “the song of the Lamb” who was slain but now lives forever: “Mighty and wonderful are your works, Lord God Almighty!  Righteous and true are your ways, O King of the nations!…  You alone are holy.” Brothers and sisters, let us “sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wondrous deeds; His right hand has won victory for Him, His holy arm.”  Yes, “the Lord has made His salvation known,” and as those who stand “on the sea of glass” give praise to God with harps in hand, so does “the sea and what fills it resound,” so do “the rivers clap their hands, [and] the mountains shout with them for joy.”  Let us join their holy song “before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to rule the earth”; His everlasting “justice” is upon us.  And though we may have to suffer for a time in this world of darkness and sin, where light is shunned by the sons of men, yet even in our persecutions this eternal joy should take hold of our souls so that we know not the suffering from the rejoicing – for both are done in His name, and soon the former shall pass away.  Indeed, the song of the Lord is already upon our lips; we wait now only for its eternal resonance before His throne.   ******* O LORD, let your will be done in us   and our souls be saved,   that we might praise you forever. YHWH, let your song of praise be on our lips for the salvation you have wrought in our midst.  With the Lamb let us come into your heavenly kingdom.  Through all persecution let us endure with your Word within us.  What is our suffering in this life, O LORD, when the eternal life of Heaven awaits us and comes to us even this day.  We shall rejoice with the rivers and mountains and all the earth, for we shall win victory with your Son over the devil and his illusions – that battle is being won even as we speak.  Be with us, LORD, this day, this hour; every hour we toil on this plane, let us toil only with you and for you.  And we shall have nothing to fear at the death of the body or our being dragged before the rulers of this age.  For we shall never die!  For you who are life never die and our home is in you.  Praise you, O LORD our God!  Do your mighty works in our midst and we shall glory in your holy NAME forever.

(Rv.14:14-19;   Ps.96:10-13;   Lk.21:5-11)   “Use your sickle and cut down the harvest, for now is the time to reap.”   Brothers and sisters, you will “hear of wars and insurrections,” and “there will be great earthquakes, plagues, and famines in various places, and in the sky fearful omens and great signs.”  “These things are bound to happen first, but the end does not follow immediately.”  The end does not follow immediately from the signs, so do not set your hearts upon them – “take care not to be misled” by those whose seed has no root and so jumps up at any indication of travail.  There has been travail throughout human history and the end, which is upon us every moment now, will only be fulfilled at the angels’ cry.  When this will be, be assured you do not know. In John’s vision, at the first angel’s cry “the one sitting on the cloud wielded his sickle over all the earth and reaped the earth’s harvest.”  At a second angel’s cry another “wielded his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth… [and] threw them into the huge winepress of God’s wrath.”  And so the end comes.  But does John see the future only, the past or the present as well… or a time that exists quite apart from our own?  And even the angels did not know the time had come until they obediently acted upon the word of their God.  And would you yet listen to the anxious rantings of those without eyes, those whose vision does not approach the heavenly reality? The Lord “shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with His constancy” when “He comes to rule the earth.”  This you can know even now; of this you can be assured.  But when “the heavens [shall] be glad and the earth rejoice… [and] the sea and what fills it resound,” none can say – this word is in His mouth alone, and when the Mighty One shall pronounce it is known to His Heart alone.  He has spoken once at the coming of Christ, but when He shall speak finally cannot be ascertained; it is but for us to be prepared for that Day.  For He will come again, we know, and the angels’ sickles shall be sharp, and separate with certainty the wheat from the chaff.  The time of harvest is at hand. (In the harvest of the wheat and the grapes of the earth at the end of the age is made perfect this Body and Blood of Christ we eat and drink from our altar today.  The saints’ flesh and blood become the Lord’s own.)   ******* O LORD, when harvest time comes,   let us not be fearful but rejoice   in the return of your Son. YHWH, you rule the world with justice and in the end your justice will be known.  There will not be left a stone on another as you reap the harvest you have sown and cast the unrighteous into the winepress of your wrath. Those who love you, LORD, shall rejoice at your coming, at the return of your only Son and all His angels with Him.  They shall rejoice that the end has come and your justice will be fully known.  And you shall gather them into your barns.  But those who are not your own, LORD, will not be able to endure that day, for they will be anxious and afraid at the glory that comes to rule the earth.  Turn all hearts from the empty illusion of this passing world and set them on your kingdom which passes not away but is fulfilled in the judgment of your Son on the Day of His return.  Let us not fear the violence coming upon the land but look to the peace that follows.

(Rv.14:1-5;   Ps.24:1-6;   Lk.21:1-4)  “They are pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” Here is answered most definitively the question David sings: “Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord?  Or who may stand in His holy place?”  In John’s vision, the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God “was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him were the hundred and forty-four thousand who had His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”  Here are they who are worthy to stand with the perfect and pure One, for their “hands are sinless, [their] heart is clean”: “on their lips no deceit has been found; they are indeed without flaw.”  And so they “receive a blessing from the Lord, a reward from God [their] savior.”  The greatest blessing of all is theirs – remaining in His presence forever. And these holy ones play the thunderous song of praise “on their harps,” “singing a new hymn before the throne in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders.”  They indeed have found their place as firstfruits of the kingdom of heaven, singing a hymn no one else could learn.  And again, it is their purity, their perfection in the sight of God, that brings them to this holy place.  All they have given over to the Lamb, and so He makes them like Himself. And in our gospel we see in the simple widow indication of the spirit necessary to enter God’s presence.  She holds nothing back from the Lord, but gives “every penny she ha[s] to live on.”  Yes, brothers and sisters, every penny must be paid; all we have and all we are must be given to Him.  If we are like this widow and like the holy ones who stand before the throne and give all while here on the face of the earth, we shall come quickly to heaven and find our place in His presence prepared.  If not, the purgatorial flames await to take away any flaw in our soul, to remove any selfishness from our hearts – to bring us then to give up all that we yet have to Him, that with Him we might truly be.  But the saints tell us these flames are not pleasant.  In fact, they say they are much the same as the fires of hell, though they shall come to an end. So let us here and now offer all we have to the Lord; let us seek to serve Him with all our lives, that we might by His grace avoid the cleansing fire and come immediately before Him.  Only those in absolute purity follow Him and stand in His place. ******* O LORD, come; send your Son a second time and let us enter your kingdom. YHWH, that we might be able to stand secure before your Son on His coming Day, that great and terrible day that leads to the eternal kingdom!  O that we might eat the fruit of the crystal river that flows from your throne and that of the Lamb, that heals us of all our illness and enables us to live forever!  O that we might stand in your holy light, that we might look upon your face, your NAME written on our foreheads!  O that we might forever reign with you! O LORD, let us sing your praise even this day that we might come to sing your praise always in your kingdom.  Let us bow down in our worship and kneel before you who have made us.  You are our God, you alone; let our hearts not be set on any of the things of this world but on you who have made them all, that we might transcend this earth and all its emptiness and come quickly into your presence.  O let us heed your Word this day and ever serve you faithfully.  Glory to you, O LORD our God!

(Rv.11:4-12;   Ps.144:1,2,9-10;   Lk.20:27-40)   “After three and a half days, the breath of life which comes from God returned to them.”   And these his two witnesses “went up in a cloud as their enemies looked on” “in sheer terror.”  For it seemed they had “conquer[ed] and kill[ed]” the Lord’s prophets.  Their corpses had lain “in the streets of the great city, which has the symbolic name ‘Sodom’ or ‘Egypt,’ where also their Lord was crucified.”  Fire had “come out of the mouths of these witnesses to devour their enemies,” but now it seemed the truth had been overcome and sin and death had won the day.  And so “the earth’s inhabitants gloat[ed] over them and in their merriment exchange[d] gifts.”  But their death, as with the death of the Lord, was not to last, was only to show the absolute power of the God of life. And fire comes from Jesus’ mouth today to silence the evil conjurings of the enemies of life.  His word is truth and cannot be answered, cannot be gainsaid by even the most unbelieving mind.  And what He tells all today is that “the dead rise again,” that death has no dominion in the kingdom of the living God.  The Lord is “the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,” and these fathers of the faith along with the prophets and saints of any and all time “are alive for Him,” for He is but Life: in His reign all His children “become like angels and are no longer liable to death.  Sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God.”  This truth cannot be denied, will not be conquered. “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.”  It is He who is “my shield, in whom I trust, who subdues peoples under me.”  As He was with His only Son, giving Him victory in every battle and final victory over death; as He was with His witnesses who devoured their enemies’ lies and rose from the dust after three and a half days; so He is with all who put their trust in Him, enabling them to conquer all doubt and fear, all surrounding sin and death.  For Jesus crucified sits now at the right hand of God, and His witnesses with Him; and all who take their refuge in His power, though they die, cannot but rise to life.  Yes, they will hear “a voice from heaven say to them, ‘Come up here!’” and will again have the breath of life.  Alleluia!   (Note on “three and a half days”: more than its obvious similarity to the three days the Lord spent “in the heart of the earth” (Mt.12:40) may be an allusion to His approximately thirty-five years spent on this earth (which is half the span of a human life – “seventy is the sum of our years” (Ps.90:10)), itself a kind of death for Him.) *******  O LORD, let us be set free from death; raised from the grave, may we praise your NAME forever   with your angels and your saints. YHWH, what need we fear if you are with us, you who hold even death in your hand?  If we serve as your witnesses, we will be united to you who are life; and even though we die, in the sight of our enemies, in the sight of the devil and death itself, we shall be raised up to Heaven on a cloud.  You are our refuge! With you as our stronghold, LORD, with you as our God, we shall indeed gain victory over all the forces of evil – nothing shall keep us from you who desire our presence in your kingdom.    Make us as your Son who has died and been raised; make us sons of the resurrection, like angels, no longer subject to death.  This is our hope, O LORD; this is our desire…  Let us not wait long for Jesus’ return.  Then we shall be one in your presence, your holy children, O Most High God.  Then we shall celebrate forever your glory in Heaven, all our enemies cast far away.

(Rv.10:8-11;   Ps.119:14,24,72,103,111,131;   Lk.19:45-48)   “I gasp with open mouth in my yearning for your commands.”   In our first reading, John is told to “take the open scroll from the hand of the angel” and to “eat it.”  In his mouth “it tasted as sweet as honey.”  And now he who has eaten of the blessed word of God “must prophesy,” must speak the words upon the scroll, despite the sour stomach, the persecutions, it will inevitably bring. In our gospel we hear that “the entire populace was listening to [Jesus] and hanging on His words” as He taught daily in the temple.  The Lord has cleansed the temple of the impure forces at work within it, and for this and for His speaking the irresistible words of Truth He shall know the sour stomach of persecution – the cross is now quite close on the horizon as the leaders of the people seek “a way to destroy Him.” O Lord, “how sweet to my palate are your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”  “The law of your mouth is to me more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces.”  “Your decrees are my delight,” “the joy of my heart,” and despite the cross I find in consuming and then having to proclaim them, I shall not cease to eat of your glorious presence.  Day to day you come to me.  Moment to moment you whisper in my ear.  You speak to my heart your wondrous promises, instilling faith and hope in my soul, and I shall not turn back from loving you.  May all “peoples, nations, languages, and kings” know of your greatness; may all embrace the inheritance you offer by the death of sin in our lives. Open your mouth, brothers and sisters, and He will fill it.  He will feed you with the food that comes without cost; the sweet Bread of Heaven shall be yours.  Even at His altars and from His pulpits it is today offered forth.  Eat, and it will bring life to your soul, life that lasts beyond the destruction of the world. ******* O LORD, let us listen devoutly to your Word   that we might be cleansed of sin and made whole in your sight. YHWH, your words are sweeter to us than honey, and your NAME the sweetest Word of all.  Speak to our soul this very day; let us hear your truth in our heart, though it bring persecution and trial.  As your Son let us be, O LORD, unafraid of the Cross which comes from doing your will.  Let our concern be to cleanse your Temple, to make your House a house of prayer, though it bring the body’s destruction. We are in your Temple, O LORD, and you call us to eat of your words and partake of your Son’s Body and Blood.  This gives life to our very spirits, a life that does not pass away.  Be our inheritance, all that we desire in this land. LORD, we are unworthy to proclaim your words, to receive them in our souls and speak them to the world.  How can we prophesy in your holy NAME?  Let your Son be with us every step of the way; may His blood strengthen our service.

(Rv.5:1-10;   Ps.149:1-6,9,Rv.5:10;   Lk.19:41-44)   “Do not weep.  The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won the right by His victory to open the scroll with its seven seals.”   “Jesus wept over” Jerusalem “because [she] failed to recognize the time of [her] visitation”; and so she will be destroyed, and so her enemies will “leave not a stone on a stone within” her walls.  And John “wept bitterly because no one could be found to open or examine the scroll” “in the right hand of the One who sat on the throne.”  The scroll “had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals.”  How wonderful it must be!  But “who is worthy to open” it? The tears of both will be appeased, both by the One.  For whom does John see appear at the throne of God but “a Lamb standing, a Lamb that had been slain” – Jesus, our Savior! who is on His way even in our gospel today to conquer death, to receive the wounds John witnesses, that by His blood He may purchase for God “men of every race and tongue, of every people and nation”… that He might take the destruction of Jerusalem upon Himself and thus redeem her from annihilation.  Because of His sacrifice, He is able to read the wisdom of the ages to all waiting hearts, for that wisdom is known only in such dying, only in His redeeming love. And so, let us join with the elders who fall “down before the Lamb.”  Let our prayer unite with “the prayers of God’s holy people,” which rise up like “aromatic spices” before the throne of the One on high.  Let us sing the new hymn unto the Lamb who was slain for our sins and so saved us from all tears.  “Sing to the Lord a new song of praise in the assembly of the faithful.”  Weep no more but “let the high praises of God be in [your] throats” and “praise His name in the festive dance.” How great is our God!  How profound is the revelation of His wonders in our midst!  What joy do we find in His blood!  His wounds bring us victory over death, and we reign now in the New Jerusalem as priests in the service of our King, joining ourselves ever to His sacrifice, finding ever the wisdom only He brings. ******* O LORD, offering the sacrifice of your only Son, we become priests in your Temple;  this blood we shed He makes holy by His love. YHWH, you have made us a kingdom of priests who offer continually to you the blood of your Son in our holy prayer.  O LORD, it is we who have slaughtered Jesus, your Lamb, we who by our blindness have caused Him to be pressed hard from every side, not a stone left on a stone in this holiest Temple…  Yet by His willing acceptance of our sins He washes clean the blood upon our unholy hands and redeems our souls from destruction.  By His blessed sacrifice He makes us holy, as holy becomes the sacrifice we make. O how can we fathom your love for us, dear LORD?  How can we plumb the depths of your Son’s sacrifice?  We are left with nothing but high praises for you in our throat!  O LORD, let us exult in your glory this day, in the glory that is ours by the wounds upon your Lamb.  Make us a nation of priests offering always this living sacrifice in your NAME.  Let us ever praise you and the One who was slain – save us from all sin!

(Rv.4:1-11;   Ps.150:1-6,Rv.4:8;   Lk.19:11-28)   “O Lord our God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power.”   “A man of noble birth went to a faraway country to become its king.”  And of this faraway country and of its king, whom “everything that has breath” should praise, John has vision today. “Above me there was an open door to heaven”; and a “trumpetlike voice” called the great Evangelist, “Come up here and I will show you what must take place in time to come.”  And so, “caught up in ecstasy” he sees the “One whose appearance ha[s] a gemlike sparkle,” the Lord of all, seated upon His throne.  And on twenty-four thrones surrounding this King he sees the elders, “clothed in white” with “crowns of gold on their heads,” sharing in their Master’s Kingship.  And the four living creatures are at the center, singing, “without pause”: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty!”  And ever do the elders worship Him and join in the song of praise which rises continually to the One through whom all things “came to be.” “Praise the Lord in His sanctuary… praise Him for His sovereign majesty,” for He reigns justly over all and is indeed worthy of all praise.  “With the blast of the trumpet… with lyre and harp… with clanging cymbals” – with every instrument that is placed in our hands, with all the talents He provides here as we wait for His return, we must join in the song of the angels and the saints in the heavenly kingdom and praise His holy Name.  For He will seek “to learn what profit each [has] made” when He returns to us from His journey.  He will “send for the servants to whom He [has] given” His possessions, and call them to account in His love.  Will our deeds then praise “His mighty deeds”? Glorious is the kingdom of the Lord, and blessed are they who join Him in such marvelous glory.  These He puts in charge of His cities; with these He shares His crown and His throne.  And everywhere He has a right to reap, for only He does so in love – and there is nowhere He has not sown.  All are invited into His radiant presence: to all He gives gifts that will bring them there.  And but for their employment does He wait, that they might learn to praise His glory. Follow Him as He continues “with His ascent to Jerusalem,” and the cross He meets in this city will lead you to the light of paradise.   ******* O LORD, let us rejoice in serving you all our days, and praise you forever in your kingdom. YHWH, let all your creatures give you praise: by your will we came to be and were made.  We are in your hands; by all that is at our hands may we give you glory and honor and praise.  May we know the blessing of praising you with full voice. Before you let us bow, O God; before you let us throw down our crowns.  All we have is from you alone – let us return it to you with great profit.  May your glory be multiplied in us and we enter your holy City with joy.  Holy are you and worthy of all our praise, and by our praise we enter your glory. Who are we, O LORD, that you place talents in our hands?  Who are we that you would put a crown upon our heads?  Are we to be even as your Son, our King and Savior?  Is His reward to be our own?  For this gift we could not praise you enough, and so we shall praise you forever.

(Rv.3:1-6,14-22;   Ps.15:2-5,Rv.3:21;   Lk.19:1-10)   “Today salvation has come to this house.”   To two of His houses, two of His seven churches, does the Lord speak today, calling them both to repentance, that they might know the salvation Zacchaeus has found. In no uncertain terms does the Lord call the churches in Sardis and Laodicea, chastising both dearly, telling the first: “I know the reputation you have of being alive, when in fact you are dead!” and the second (who think themselves “so rich and secure that [they] want for nothing”): “How wretched you are, how pitiable and poor, how blind and naked!”  In Sardis there are only “a few persons who have not soiled their garments”; and the Laodiceans, who are “neither hot nor cold,” are promised by the Lord, “I will spew you out of my mouth!” All the unfaithful, all those who have lost their fervor and who pride themselves on their own works shall be spewed from the Lord’s mouth, shall be cast from His presence.  All He calls to “wake-up,” to “repent,” to “buy white garments in which to be clothed, if the shame of [their] nakedness is to be covered.”  All He summons to rouse themselves in sharpest and truest of words, for “whoever is dear to [Him] [He] reprove[s] and chastise[s]” – for He knows that only by the jettisoning of our sin will we find the salvation He so dearly desires for each of our lives. Brothers and sisters, the Lord “stand[s] knocking at the door.  If anyone hears [Him] calling and opens the door, [He] will enter his house.”  And He will sup with him, and He will sit him on His own throne.  Listen to the promise our Lord makes: “The victor shall go clothed in light.  I will never erase his name from the book of the living, but will acknowledge him in the presence of my Father and His angels.”  And see how the promise is fulfilled in Zacchaeus, who in his great fervor “climbed a sycamore tree which was along Jesus’ route, in order to see Him”; who in his great generosity promised “to give half of [his] belongings” to the poor – and who has had the Lord in to sup in his home and has heard the blessed words spoken over him: “Today salvation has come to this house.” And so, strive with all you have to be as “he who walks blamelessly and does justice, who thinks the truth in his heart and slanders not with his tongue.”  Let His chastisement bear blessed fruit in your life; turn from your sin… and you too will know the victory the Lord Himself has won for all faithful souls. ******* O LORD, save us from our sin by your chastising Word, that we might walk in white before you. YHWH, let us hear and heed your Word: let us repent of all our sin that we might enter in and sup with your Son. Do we not have ears, O LORD, and should we not have hearts set on you and the doing of your will?  And yet, are we not lacking in zeal, are we not pitiable and poor in accomplishing your work?  Are we not dead?  Have we not soiled our garments instead of purifying our souls to receive your blessings?  O how shall we turn from our sin to your Son’s presence among us? Save us, O LORD, from the thought that we are safe and secure, from putting our faith in the riches we amass in this world.  Let us know and remember the only true riches are of the Spirit and come to us only by your grace.  And only by your grace do they remain. Make our hearts blameless, dear LORD; cover over our nakedness with your white garments, and we shall rejoice in your glory.

(Rv.1:1-4,2:1-5;   Ps.1:1-4,6,Rv.2:7;   Lk.18:35-43)   “Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.”   A blind man sat begging by the side of the road.  “Hearing a crowd go by the man asked, ‘What is that?’”  And he was told that “Jesus drew near,” that all he could possibly ask for was upon him – and so he begged with the greatest sincerity he could muster. And as the end of the Church year approaches, we hear from the Lord’s beloved “servant John” “the revelation God gave to Jesus Christ”; he “bears witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ,” telling us truly that “the appointed time is near,” that He “who is and who was and who is to come” is passing by the way.  It is time to call out to Him, and know His healing touch. To the church in Ephesus specifically, the Lord instructs His apostle to speak today, to commend the disciples there on their “patient endurance” and their lack of tolerance for “wicked men,” and to call them back to their “early love… the heights from which [they] have fallen”; thus do they need to “repent,” to call out themselves to the Lord for renewal of their innocent hearts and their burning love for God.  You see, all have their own reason to call out to Jesus as He passes by. What need have you to call upon the Lord’s Name as He passes by here at the end of days?  Do you walk at every point in “the way of the just,” or are you somehow blind to His presence, or are you in some way cold in your love?  Or have you any of innumerable other sins that keep you from His kingdom?  Be careful.  The time is indeed short, and we are indeed sinners – and Jesus is indeed still passing by to heal us.  Do not be afraid to cry out to Him, to leave “the company of the insolent” and find His redeeming graces.  Let the light of faith burn in your soul that you might know “the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven lampstands of gold.”  His holy light is coming now upon the earth, and you must join yourself to it. “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”   ******* O LORD, heal us of all our sin   that we might walk in the way of your Son.  YHWH, grant us vision to see the appointed time is near and Jesus is passing by to heal us of our blindness, to return us to our early love.  And let us not be afraid to cry out to Him. Bring us healing, Lord Jesus, for you have come from the Father and pass through our midst this day.  To us you bring His surpassing love; may we join ourselves to it and follow you along your way.  You speak to us by your Spirit, LORD; you inspire your apostles with your Word.  You teach us of the way to you, and that with all our heart we should walk it.  Help us to meditate on your Law day and night; ever let us dwell in your light.  Make us always fruitful, LORD, as we delight in serving you.  Let our hearts cry out in joy for the blessings you bestow on faithful souls.  Make us your own and let us enter your glory.