The BreadCast

(1Cor.15:1-11;   Ps.118:1-2,16-17,28;   Lk.7:36-50)   “I am the least of the apostles.”   Brothers and sisters, “little is forgiven the one whose love is small.”  And it is in the sweet tears of repentance that we discover the love held in the merciful heart of the Lord. Paul speaks the truth of himself when he claims that he does “not even deserve the name” of apostle because he has “persecuted the Church of God.”  “But through the favor of God” he has “worked harder than all the others,” preaching the Gospel of the Lord.  As small as he is and as undeserving as he is, so great is the Lord’s blessing upon him.  In the measure he recognizes his sin, the Lord pours His grace into him, and through him to others. And what grace pours forth through the woman in our gospel today!  In her we see our own encounter with the Lord.  Here is she who is “known in town to be a sinner” standing and kneeling in tears before her God.  And the Lord knows well “who and what sort of woman this is that touches Him – that she is a sinner,” and He knows well, too, her repentant heart.  While the others at table see neither their own sin nor the woman’s repentance, He allows Himself to be touched by both (her sin and her repentance) – it is for just such a moment as this He has come.  And how well the Lord speaks the truth in His detailed description of the woman’s repentance; how well we see His love reflected in her… and how blest is she to hear these words for which every heart does long: “Your sins are forgiven.”  And how her tears increase at this word come forth from the mouth of the Holy One.  And so, while the others argue blindly among themselves, He reaches out His hand, touches her face, and whispers to her soul: “Your faith has been your salvation.  Now go in peace.” “O my God, I extol you…  You have been my savior.”  Indeed, your “mercy endures forever,” and now I know that “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”  This is the song the woman must sing; this is the song of St. Paul.  This is the song of every soul redeemed by the love of the Lord.  So let us all “stand firm” in the Gospel preached to us by those who have seen Him, from Peter to this wretched Paul; we “are being saved by it at this very moment if we retain it” in its purity.  And here is the Word simply put: “That Christ died for our sins in accord with the Scriptures; that He was buried and, in accord with the Scriptures, rose on the third day.”  What grace is ours, we the least, we poor sinners – we who know the greatness of His love.  *******  O LORD, let us have faith in your Son   and in His sacrifice for our sins;   on our knees in love let us come to Him,   and we shall find His mercy.  YHWH, how can we see you if tears of repentance do not fill our eyes?  How will your mercy be known to us if we do not come on our knees before your Son?  If we love but little we shall be forgiven little, and our sins will continue to blind our eyes.  Have mercy on us, O LORD, we are all burdened with debt we cannot repay.  But you hear our prayers, you have pity on our poor, sinful souls, and you reach out your hand to touch our hearts, to relieve the burden we carry by the sacrifice of your Son.  Thank you, LORD.  We praise you for your love.  Let us welcome you into our homes; let us receive Jesus into our very hearts.  In our spirits take up your residence, LORD, by our faith in Him and in His death and resurrection.  For us He died and was buried; for us He rose on the third day.  Let us never forget His enduring mercy – in great humility let us embrace your love.

(1Cor.12:12-14,27-31;   Ps.100:1-5;   Lk.7:11-17)  “A great prophet has risen among us.” A great prophet, yes, and so much more; for here is He who is Himself the “one body” upon whom the “one Spirit” rests, and in whom all find their home. “The body is one and has many members; but all the members, many though they are, are one body; and so it is with Christ.”  Christ is all things: He is apostle sent by the Father, prophet speaking for God, teacher instructing all on the narrow path that leads to heaven, miracle worker raising the dead, healer of body and soul causing the deaf to hear and the blind to see, assistant washing the feet of His disciples, administrator apportioning the gifts and graces which are His own, and speaker in tongues upon whom the flame of the Spirit eternally rests and whose Word goes forth to all nations.  We are not all apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, and speakers in tongues – but He is.  He is all these things for He is whole; He is the only Son of God, and we are “His people, the sheep of His flock” who share in His power according to our baptism in His Name. And so should we not “sing joyfully to the Lord” for the Savior who has been raised from among us?  Should not all “lands,” all members of His blessed body “serve the Lord with gladness,” that all might tend to the glory of God?  In our gospel “a considerable crowd of townsfolk were with” the widow, and “a large crowd accompanied” Jesus.  These met at “the gate of the town” called Nain.  When the Lord raised the son of the widow from the dead, “fear seized them all and they began to praise God.”  Is not this scene of celebration like that which should encompass the body of Christ?  Should not such joy in recognition of the greatness of God course through all our veins, strengthening all our muscles?  For we know more than they.  We know this Man is more than a prophet – we know it is the Messiah who is among us.  And so, let us “enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise” as we “set [our] hearts on the greater gifts” at work within us now as members of the body of the only Son. Alleluia!  He raises us all from the dead to speak in the power of the Spirit. ******* O LORD, let us be raised from the dead to live in you, ever praising your NAME. YHWH, in your Son we approach the gates of Heaven; as His Body we become your own.  Sheep of your flock let us ever be – let us enter the New Jerusalem. O LORD, raise us from our litter, from the bed of death to which sin has brought us.  The hand of your Son touch us this day, His voice let us hear speaking to our ears, that we might be filled with your Spirit and rise from our graves to praise you, to give witness to your glory dwelling in our land. Alive in you let us ever be, O LORD.  The blood of your Son let course through our veins.  In His Body let us make our home, as His very members.  Then we shall remember you; then we shall enter your courts with praise and ever give thanks to your holy NAME. Let us do your will, O LORD, your work on this earth.  As Jesus your Son, let us live out our days, bringing His Word and His teaching to everyone.

(1Cor.11:17-26,33;   Ps.40:7-10,17,1Cor.11:26;   Lk.7:1-10)  “Just give the order and my servant will be cured.” By a word from His mouth what cannot be done?  For those who have faith this is all that is needed. Listen, brothers and sisters, to the centurion’s explication of “the meaning of an order”: “I say to one, ‘On your way,’ and off he goes; to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  Do you see faith at work?  Do you understand the power of a word?  And if a mere centurion in the Roman army possesses such power and gains such loyalty by his commands, do you think the Lord’s words shall fall short or His servants be found lacking in obedience? “I am not worthy to have you enter my house” are the words the centurion speaks to Jesus before our quote for the day, and they are of course the phrase we utter just before we receive the Lord in Holy Communion.  That same sacrament of Communion is described for us by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians; he tells us of the Christ’s words and actions upon its institution “on the night in which He was betrayed.”  “This is my body,” Jesus says; and, in Paul’s phrasing, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”  And so do we partake of the Lord’s Body and Blood even as we remember His sacrifice for our sins; and so, like the centurion’s servant, we are healed of our ills. Yet there are “divisions among [us]” regarding this central sacrament of our faith.  Perhaps “there may even have to be factions among [us] for the tried and true to stand out clearly.”  But the Lord is never pleased with a lack of faith.  And if He decries the lack of “faith among the Israelites,” what is His thought on Christians who cannot believe in His presence in the Sacrament?  Does the Lord not also have “soldiers under His command” like the centurion?  Do they not also carry out His orders?  Or is the word He gives them not powerful enough to carry out His will?  Is it somehow impossible for the Lord to make himself present as He has promised by the intercession of His apostles, His priests – even as by the intercession of the Jewish elders the centurion gained his request from the Christ?  Does your faith not fall short if you thus limit the power of God, of His Word, of the power given His apostles?  “I received from the Lord what I handed on to you,” Paul states succinctly as he speaks to his disciples of the Lord’s Supper.  And this meal shall last till the end of time; and it shall ever feed us body and soul with the presence of Christ. “Behold, I come,” says the Lord.  To do the Father’s will is the Son’s “delight” and the delight of all who follow Him.  In body He comes and in body He remains, upon our altars and in His sons.  This “justice” we “announce in the vast assembly”; we do “not restrain [our] lips.”  For His faithfulness to us, we His slaves and soldiers well know; and for such love we can but proclaim: “The Lord be glorified”!  For by a word from His mouth uttered through His priest – “This is my body” – He is in our midst. ******* O LORD, in faith let us come to you to receive the Body and Blood of your Son, and so find the new life He brings. YHWH, your Son comes to us and gives us His own Body and Blood that we might partake of Him and so find our salvation in union with you.  But have we the faith to see Him here in our midst; and have we the love to receive Him into our hearts? The flesh can be such a distraction for us, O LORD; it can leave us quite blind.  As we seek to feed our bellies, our souls can be greatly deprived.  And so, do we not lose you by our lack of faith? In your Word let us trust, dear LORD, not in the matter at our hands.  Our hearts be set upon your grace, upon the sacrifice of your Son, that we might come to dwell in your House.  O let us offer our bodies in union with His and we shall become sons as He, doing your will alone and so knowing your blessing. Let us lay down our lives in faith, O LORD, declaring your glory to all with ears.  Let our very lives be made in your image, in the image of your only Son.  Let us become as He is as we eat His Body and drink His Blood.

(1Cor.10:14-22;   Ps.116:12-13,17-18;   Lk.6:43-49)  “Is not the cup of blessing we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread we break a sharing in the body of Christ?” The Body and Blood of Christ we have upon our altar and in the Word of His teaching.  It is these which set a firm foundation within ourselves, these by which we bear fruit in His Name – these by which we come to be as He is. Paul tells the Corinthians today “to shun the worship of idols,” not because they are real, for they are not, but because these sacrifices are made “to demons and not to God” and we, as sons and daughters of a jealous God, “cannot drink the cup of the Lord and also the cup of demons” nor “partake of the table of the Lord and likewise the table of demons.”  As “a good tree does not produce decayed fruit any more than a decayed tree produces good fruit,” so evil has no place with good and demons no place in the house of God.  Partaking of this table is like building a “house on the ground without any foundation” and will only serve to weaken and eventually destroy our faith in the Lord. And so we should have no share in the things of the world or in the decayed fruit which such mammon bears.  This unholy food and drink is but to be vomited out in the sickness it produces.  And calling upon the name of the powers of the earth and the air will but cause us to choke in an unholy fear.  We must “call upon the name of the Lord” and upon His Name alone build our home.  It is “the cup of salvation [we must] take up” and drink of the blood that is sanctified by the sacrifice of our Lord and God.  And what does our psalmist mean when he sings, “My vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all His people” but that, as Jesus Himself instructs us in our gospel, we must “put into practice” the promises we make unto God.  Else our words are empty; else our words are evil, for else our words will bear no fruit and our worship will be in vain. A great call have we, brothers and sisters: to be like the Lord.  And this call is within our reach.  His Body and Blood are upon our table; His words are ringing in our ears.  We have but to eat; we have but to listen… we have but to accept these gifts and do His will, and even the torrents of death shall not shake our souls.  For we shall be as “the man, who, in building a house, dug deeply and laid the foundation on a rock”; we shall stand solidly with unshakable trust in the eternal Lord.  For Him we shall have become by sharing in His sacrifice. ******* O LORD, let us put your Word into practice, living as your only Son, sharing in His Body and Blood. YHWH, let us dig deep and make our foundation in you, in your Word and in your Body and Blood, and we shall bear fruit unto your kingdom, and our house shall stand strong on your holy Day.  Let us shun entirely the table of the wicked; let us not partake of the food of demons.  Our hearts be set only upon you, and all sin will be purged from our midst. If we act in evil, LORD, what are we but evil?  But if we act in goodness, we shall be made good by you.  Let us praise you each day for your goodness and your grace that we might be sharers in your glory, that we might be members of your Body.  The cup of salvation let us take up each morning and live all our days wedded in the blood of the Lamb. What a gift you give us, LORD, in holy Mass; your own presence in the flesh and blood of your Son.  In your Word and in your food let us build our home, and we shall become holy as you.

(1Cor.9:16-19,22-27;   Ps.84:2-6,8,12;   Lk.6:39-42)  “Although I am not bound to anyone, I made myself the slave of all so as to win over as many as possible.” How like His Lord is Paul in his declaration, “To the weak I became a weak person with a view to winning the weak.”  For as Jesus descended from heaven to take on flesh and save those corrupted by its sin, so the Apostle has made himself “all things to all people,” stepping inside their skin “in order to save at least some of them.”  Indeed, Paul proves himself to be “on a par with his teacher” in sacrifice and fruitfulness, for how well he serves “to remove the speck from [his] brother’s eye” that he might see Jesus in the clear light of day. The Apostle has been “entrusted with a charge,” that of “preaching the Gospel.”  And doing so willingly he finds his “recompense.”  And what is this recompense but that he receive nothing in return for his work, nothing here on earth except of course the blessing of persecution such work for the Master entails?  Then why engage in such toil, and why call others to such a life of self-sacrifice?  Ah yes, because of the “crown that is imperishable” which awaits the runner of such a race.  This heavenly blessing, too, is found when one does all “for the sake of the Gospel.” “My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God,” our psalmist intones today, and goes on to proclaim the happiness of those “who dwell in [God’s] house.”  “Continually they praise [Him]…  They go from strength to strength,” for “grace and glory He bestows.”  This is the goal Paul has in mind when he says, “I do not run like a man who loses sight of the finish line.”  All his tribulations never distract him from his final destination; the kingdom of heaven remains ever upon his heart.  And ever does he strain forward that he and so many others might attain that crown for which “our soul yearns and pines.” Brothers and sisters, we must “discipline [our] own body and master it”; we must “remove the plank lodged in [our] own [eye]” if we hope to join Paul in the place where “even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest in which she puts her young.”  And our young we, too, must bring there – all those in our charge must know of the kingdom of God.  And so let us join Paul and our holy Lord in here becoming slaves of all, enduring our exile bravely that we might draw others to the eternal home found on the altar of the living God. ******* O LORD, let us be led by your holy apostles to lay down our lives with your Son, that we might find our home in you. YHWH, all holy hearts long for your presence, long to make their home in your house; and you send to us apostles, teachers of your way, that we might find you.  O may the vision of all be made clear to see your glory!  May all learn the lesson they need to know, taught by your Son in His sacrifice and carried on by His disciples. We long to praise you, LORD, but there is a log in our eye that blinds us to your coming kingdom.  Help us to remove all obstruction, all distraction, all our blindness, that we might not lose sight of the blessings you offer to those who spend their lives for the sake of the Gospel.  Let us rather carry that Good News of salvation to all souls, serving to remove the specks from their eyes by your grace and mercy.  Help us to be slaves of all that all might make their home in you.  Keep us from the pit, we pray, by your guidance and secure protection.  Let us always yearn for you.

(1Cor.8:1-7,11-13;   Ps.139:1-3,13-14,23-24;   Lk.6:27-38)  “The measure you measure with will be measured back to you.” And what is your measuring stick, brother?  Is it the ruler of this earth, limited by eyes of flesh?  Or is it the yardstick of heaven, which reaches unto the Lord’s side and finds us in His sight?  Do you toil on this plane alone, or do you climb the mountain where He sits, where He teaches?  Do your ears hear only of the debits and credits recorded in the book of this world; or are they open to the word the Lord speaks, and the generous outpouring of His grace? In our first reading Paul states: “‘Knowledge’ inflates, but love upbuilds.”  What he means is that our knowledge of earthly things can do little but inflate our pride, and thinking that this is true knowledge makes us blind.  The “knowledge” that we should seek is the love of God, which comes from God and teaches us all things.  “If anyone loves God, that man is known by Him,” and living thus in His sight, in His light, we see all with heavenly vision.  With this wisdom we understand that “there is no God but one” and that “an idol is really nothing”: all the idols man makes upon this earth are empty and vain, and all the teaching which comes from such has no resonance, falls short of truth. Yet we are called to be patient with the weakness of others, with their failures in faith.  We must “not be an occasion of sin” for others but always be prepared to pardon and love even those who hate us.  For if someone does violence to us, what do we teach these who cannot measure beyond earthly passion if we do them violence in return?  If we answer with violence, what language do we speak but that of the world?  But we are called to converse with heavenly tongues, even with the word of our Lord, and cannot rightly be called His sons if we do not do so.  “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners love those who love them.”  And you are thus but saying that you are a child of the earth and not heaven, living in the flesh and not the spirit. “Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb,” is David’s song of joy to God.  He gives thanks that he is “fearfully, wonderfully made.”  And if made by God should we not reflect God and the love He has revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ?  Should we not be as His Son?  And so, should we not with David call upon the Lord to “probe” us and to “know [our] heart” and our “thoughts,” that He might straighten out our “crooked” ways and set us on the path His love prepares?  Do we not desire the overflowing joy He brings?  Then we must measure as He, with the heavenly yardstick that reaches up to where the Trinity is. ******* O LORD, if we could but learn to love as you, how blessed we would be! YHWH, let us learn your lesson of love, your perfect knowledge, by putting into practice love of all, even our worst enemies.  If we repay evil with good, then we shall be like you; then we shall know as you know, that nothing surpasses love. LORD, you know all things for you see all things, even the hidden matters of the heart.  Nothing is hidden from your eye but all is bathed in your wonderful light.  But we shall not find that light or your knowledge if we do not love, and love without measure.  All remains dark for those lacking love. Let us but be concerned for our brother’s welfare, LORD, that he shall not sin, that he shall turn from his sin to find you.  And so, let us not judge, let us not condemn, or we shall not show him your holy face and he will never come to you – and we will not know you either.  Let us rejoice to turn the other cheek, to give to all who would take from us, to be compassionate even toward those who hurt us.  For then we will know you and your love.

(1Cor.7:25-31;   Ps.45:11-12,14-17;   Lk.6:20-26) “The world as we know it is passing away.” And so, “hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear, forget your people and your father’s house,” for the King is calling you from this passing world to the heavenly marriage feast – “He is your Lord, and you must worship Him.”  This call is for every chosen soul, for who is the Lord’s virgin daughter, who is His Bride but the Church?  It is she who is called, even as the Virgin Mother who has preceded her to heaven, and each of our souls must be wed to Him alone.  And we who leave all behind to follow Him “shall be filled” and “shall laugh” on the Day of our marriage, for “the reign of God” will be ours. It is not in this world we take our “consolation” – how sad those who do so.  For the riches of this world will rust and rot, and its laughter shall prove so hollow.  Thus Paul instructs the wise: “Buyers should conduct themselves as though they owned nothing,” for in truth they have nothing at all: of what worth is that which does not last?  Only an illusion are the temporary pleasures and vain accolades of this dying earth.  The trials we find are all that should cause us to “rejoice and exult, for [our] reward shall be great in heaven” if we endure our exile well. To those who consider marriage, Paul gives the instruction: “[You] will have trials in this life, and these I should like to spare you.”  Certainly marriage is not sinful, and is even a fruitful sacrament, but even this which can be such a blessing is but passing in the eyes of God.  And the attachment we find to our spouse, again, though blessed by the Lord, is a union that is also passing – one which must be ultimately left as well.  Since only our marriage to the living God is that which endures, Paul in his wisdom offers this word: “Those with wives should live as though they had none”; for this beauty, too, shall fade, and it is not in it we are called to make our home. Yes, “the time is short,” brothers and sisters.  The time is always short because time itself is passing – only eternity remains.  And so, set not your hearts on the fading things of this life.  The Lord who has died now prepares a place for you in His heavenly kingdom.  And “all glorious is the King’s daughter as she enters; her raiment is threaded with spun gold.”  So, to His palace be “borne in with gladness and joy”… join now the song of all His saints in our heavenly homeland. ******* O LORD, let us turn from the things of this world and set our hearts on your kingdom, which passes not away. YHWH, help us to remember that this world is passing away, that we should thus be attached to nothing of this world, and certainly not make our home in it, seeking the riches it offers.  Help us to set our hearts on you and seek you alone, forgetting all that is not of you.  For we wish to enter your kingdom, to sing your praises with all your saints, but how shall we come there if fattened on the fruits of this earth? LORD, your Apostle’s counsel is a very wise one – to make use of the things of this world as if we were not using them at all, always with an eye to their temporal nature, that they are indeed passing away.  For if we remember this world is passing, we shall better remember you who are eternal.  You are all that matters. You are all that matters, LORD, and so let us cry out for your presence, hungering for your kingdom.  Let us give up all of this world that we might find you present to us, and make our home in your palace forever.

(1Cor.5:1-8;   Ps.5:5-7,9,12;   Lk.6:6-11) “Let us celebrate the feast not with the old yeast, that of corruption and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” For indeed, “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed”; indeed, the new Sabbath has come.  And on the Day of the Lord only goodness remains. “Get rid of the old yeast to make of yourselves fresh dough,” Paul commands the Corinthians as he chastises them for their “boasting” and self-satisfaction even while tolerating a professed sinner in their midst.  He writes here to insist that they should be “grieving and getting rid of the offender,” both for the sake of the community and that the sinful man’s “spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.”  For, as David makes quite evident in his psalm, God “delight[s] not in wickedness; no evil remains with [Him].”  And as for the vain pride of the community: “the arrogant may not stand in [His] sight.” It is not an unkind exaggeration to say that the Lord “hate[s] all evildoers.”  The sharp line dividing evil and good Jesus would make clear as He confronts the scribes and Pharisees in the synagogue on the sabbath, “a man whose right hand was withered” standing before Him: “I ask you,” He says, “is it lawful to do good on the sabbath – or evil?  To preserve life – or destroy it?”  Then He heals the man, much to the chagrin of the scribes and Pharisees who deem this unlawful work for the day.  But in the Lord’s House and on His Day good is always and only done – and certainly this healing is a blessed act.  And since only the good remain in His House, just as the man who is “living with his own father’s wife” will be purged from the Corinthian community at Paul’s urging, so by the word of our Lord Jesus Christ these false leaders who harbor such distrust and jealousy will be cast from within the walls of the Lord’s Church; for “the bloodthirsty and deceitful the Lord abhors,” and indeed the blood of the Son is upon their hearts, and will be upon their hands. But we, brothers and sisters, we have the new feast, the new Sabbath before us now.  We come now into His House to eat His Body and drink His Blood.  Each day, in fact, we may celebrate the greatness of God’s glory and the grace of His presence in our midst.  And so, let us celebrate with a pure spirit, with His cleansing blood upon our hearts, that our goodness may be preserved and we who “love [His] name” and “take refuge in [Him]” may “be glad and exult forever.” ******* O LORD, why is man’s heart so set against you? YHWH, the arrogant cannot stand before you, those who have the desire for evil in their hearts and blood upon their hands.  How can they begin to know your undying love, those who would condemn even the Son of Man? Should not the broken and sinful man always stretch his hand out to you?  Is your arm somehow shortened in its merciful reach?  Should we think that you, O LORD and God, are somehow limited in the dispensing of your grace?  Will not Jesus show us otherwise as He stretches His arms out on the Cross? And what shall save those who do not accept His embrace, who would rather embrace this corrupt and wicked generation?  Condemnation shall be pronounced over the rebellious soul, unless he repents of his evil.  O LORD, let us eat only the bread of sincerity and truth; let us desire only your goodness upon all.  O let us embrace your Son!

(1Cor.4:9-15;   Ps.145:17-21;   Lk.6:1-5)  “God has put us apostles at the end of the line, like men doomed to die in the arena.” “Up to this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, poorly clad, roughly treated, wandering about homeless,” the great Apostle Paul tells us of the persecution and slander all the Lord’s apostles must undergo.  And yet “when we are insulted we respond with a blessing,” for this is our call in the Lord: to love even our enemies, that we might show the love of God to all, that we might indeed become “a spectacle to the universe, to angels and men alike” – “fools on Christ’s account,” yet bearing all patiently that the Gospel might truly be fulfilled and the last shall be shown to be first in the eyes of God. It is this birth to which Paul brings the Corinthians, his “beloved children.”  And though it seem a difficult fate to call down upon a people, yet we know that David’s psalm is true, that “the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth”; and so through all trials He leads us and comforts us, making any suffering a light burden to bear.  And just as Paul is father to this nation, so the Father of all is there always to watch over all His children, for it is “in Christ Jesus” the Apostle has begotten them; and as He has heard the cry of His Son upon the cross and brought Him to resurrection, so “He hears [all His children] cry and saves them.” In our gospel the Lord’s disciples are hungry, and so, in the hot sun, “walking through the standing grain” with Jesus, He feeds them: all around is food at their hands.  Truly their prayer does He answer; their need does He see.  But instead of seeing that the Lord “fulfills the desire of those who fear Him,” all the Pharisees can do is ask, “Why are you doing what is prohibited on the sabbath?”  Thus the very men who should be present to bless and comfort and guide the followers of the Holy One can but call them into the arena of persecution with the rest of the fallen world.  Thus the shepherds who are called to feed the sheep would remove the food from their hands and see them perish.  Instead of becoming apostles themselves, they become their bane.  For they cannot comprehend that God’s love transcends God’s law, that “the Lord keeps all who love Him” and this is what makes Him “just in all His ways and holy in all His works,” and not the mere precepts to which they hold so desperately, so blindly… so jealously.  Thus the chosen of God become in their eyes “the world’s refuse, the scum of all.”  And what can they be but crucified? All must come to the holy Lord and “all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever.”  And though war be brought upon our souls, we must always “try conciliation” – peacemakers covered with blood and spittle is the state to which we are called.  No other way will the world come to know that the love of God transcends all, and all call upon Him from their hearts. ******* O LORD, though persecuted and poor, we are surrounded with your presence, and so are fed in times of famine. YHWH, you are our LORD and God; when we cry out to you, you save us.  Though we must endure persecution for your sake, though we suffer want and go hungry, you surround us with standing grain – you are ever near to help us.  Let us indeed praise your holy NAME! What should it matter to us if we are beaten, if we are insulted and spat upon; if you are with us we are free of pain, for all these things your Son endures for our sake.  We are your children and you love us, so even these trials you turn to good.  Remain ever with us to save us by the Cross of your only Son. He is Lord over even the Sabbath.  He has power from on high.  For you, LORD, have given all things over into His hands, and for us He does provide.  Our rest we take in Him, our food He places in our mouths – through Him we remain close to you: He is our Bread of Life.  And so, let us rejoice to walk in His way.

(1Cor.4:1-5;   Ps.37:3-6,27-28,39-40;   Lk.5:33-39)  “The salvation of the just is from the Lord.” “For the Lord loves what is right, and forsakes not His faithful ones.”  And so He comes.  He comes bearing a new garment; He comes with the blood of a New Covenant, His own blood, to wash us clean and make us whole as He is.  Drinking this new wine indeed we are made holy. It is not as “John’s disciples” or as “the disciples of the Pharisees” we shall find our salvation – only as disciples of the Son of God, only by “commit[ting] to the Lord [our] way” will “justice dawn for us like the light.”  And that His way, His covenant, is whole we see in His teaching that “no one tears a piece from a new coat to patch an old one,” for this indeed “will only tear the new coat, and the piece taken from it will not match the old.”  What foolishness this would be.  No, the New Covenant founded in the blood of Jesus Christ, though absolutely in accord with the Old, is whole unto itself and serves to redeem and fulfill the covenant that has come before.  One cannot take pieces of it as it might suit one’s judgment – it must be received entire as grace from the Lord.  Then, “bright as the noonday shall be your vindication,” and feast with the bridegroom you shall. Brothers and sisters, “the Lord is the one to judge,” and His Word must be accepted in full.  Only “He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and manifest the intentions of hearts,” for only His eyes see all things.  And so, do not attempt to judge for yourselves the worth of a person or even yourself.  Paul says, “I do not even pass judgment on myself,” not because he is innocent, but because God alone knows his heart.  And as we cannot judge one another, so we cannot (as James has said elsewhere – 4:11) judge the Law of God.  We must simply live under His Law, seeking to obey the Word of His covenant.  We must only make it our concern to “turn from evil and do good, that [we] may abide forever.”  For when the Lord comes again, when the New Covenant is fulfilled in our midst, “at that time, everyone will receive his praise from God.” Neither praise nor condemnation from the mouth of man has worth.  Trust not in this.  “Trust in the Lord and do good, that you may dwell in the land and enjoy security.”  Commit yourself entirely to His Word and Blood, and a new skin to receive His grace you shall find. ******* O LORD, let us put ourselves entirely in your hands, and we shall be made new and holy in your sight. YHWH, you are our salvation, you alone.  How shall we be clothed in the white wedding garment of purity, how shall we enter your kingdom and feast at your table, if you do not save us, if you do not deliver us from the evil of the world and the evil in our souls.  Let us give ourselves to you whole and entire, that new we may be made in your presence. You declare men holy, LORD, for you alone judge hearts.  We cannot see, we cannot know who is just in your sight, for our vision in limited to the surface of things – all we see are acts, but you know the intentions of hearts, the thoughts of man and what he truly desires… and so you alone know who is worthy of your blessings. Make us worthy, O LORD, to rejoice at your table, to drink wine in your kingdom, to have the blood of your Son upon us to wash us clean in this world.  Make our skins new, our souls new, to receive the grace you impart to your faithful disciples.