Matthew
7, 1-29
2nd
August Trinity
“Do
not judge your fellow man, so that your judgment will not someday be visited
upon yourself. For with the judgment that you pronounce you also speak your own
judgment, and the measure by which you measure will be the measuring rod for
your own self. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do
not become aware of the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your
brother: “Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye”--but mark it well,
there is a log in your own eye. You hypocrite, first remove the log from your
own eye, and then you may be able to see how to remove the splinter from your
brother’s eye.
Do
not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw pearls to the swine, for these will
tread them underfoot, and then turn upon you and tear you also to pieces.
Ask
from the heart and it will be given to your heart; seek and you will find;
knock and it will be opened to you; for he who asks in uprightness will
receive; he who earnestly seeks will find; he who knocks, to him will be
opened. Or are there among you those who when his son asks for bread would give
him a stone; or when he asks for a fish would offer him a snake? If then you
who in spite of wickedness know how to give good things to your children, how
much more goodness will your Father in the heavens give to those who earnestly
ask him for it.
All
that you want that men should do for you, do first for them. This is the true
content of the Law and the Prophets.
Walk
through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the path is easy which leads
to ruin [the abyss] and many are they who walk it. But narrow is the gate and
difficult the path that leads to Life, and it is only the individual who finds
it.
Be
on your guard against false prophets of healing. They come to you in the
garments of peaceful lambs, but inwardly are rapacious wolves. You shall
recognize them by the fruits of their deeds. Never will you harvest grapes from
a thorn bush, nor figs from thistles. Every noble tree brings forth good fruit,
but a wild tree only forms unusable fruit. A noble tree cannot bear bad fruit,
and a wild tree cannot form good fruit. A tree that does not bring forth good
fruit will be cut down and put in the fire. Therefore, recognize them by the
fruits of their deeds.
Not everyone who addresses me with “Lord! Lord! “ can be taken up into the kingdom; only he who accomplishes the will of my Father in the heavens. In the future, when the light of God breaks over the earthly darkness, many will call to me. They will say, “Lord! Lord! have we not worked in advance for your revelation? Have we not driven out spirits of destruction in honor of you? Have we not gathered multiple powers for your word?”
Then
I will freely say to them, ‘I do not know you. My paths are not your paths.
Depart from me, for you serve the forces of chaos [the downfall of the world].’
Everyone
who hears such words from me and acts accordingly will be like a man who wisely
built his house on bedrock. The clouds burst, the waves rose, the winds blew
and beat against that house. But it did not totter, for it was founded upon the
rock.
He, however, who hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like a man who foolishly builds his house upon sand. The rain comes down, the floods rise, the winds blow and beat upon the house, and it collapses with a great crash.”
When Jesus had completed saying this, the people were greatly moved, for he spoke to them out of spiritual authority, as if the powers of creation themselves spoke out of him, and not like their teachers of the law [canon-lawyers].
He, however, who hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like a man who foolishly builds his house upon sand. The rain comes down, the floods rise, the winds blow and beat upon the house, and it collapses with a great crash.”
When Jesus had completed saying this, the people were greatly moved, for he spoke to them out of spiritual authority, as if the powers of creation themselves spoke out of him, and not like their teachers of the law [canon-lawyers].
2nd August Trinity 2011
Matthew 7, 1-29
At the center of the blossom, at its heart, is the seed case. The petals open, unfurl, and fall away. But the seeds go on quietly developing new life.
Matthew 7, 1-29
At the center of the blossom, at its heart, is the seed case. The petals open, unfurl, and fall away. But the seeds go on quietly developing new life.
Our hearts are the center of our being. Christ encourages us
to ask for our hearts deepest desire, for what we want in the deepest core of
our being. What we feel, however intensely, comes and goes, like the petals.
But at the center of our heart, new life is forming. This new life contains our
capacity to grow, to withstand the rigors and trials and tests of life. At our
core there lives our capacity to develop into what we are truly meant to be.
Just as our heavenly Father gives life to the seeds at the
base of the blossom, so too, ever watchful, does He maintain the core of our
being. He waits for us to awaken; He waits for us to align ourselves with His
benevolent intentions for us; He waits for us to ask from the core of our
being, earnestly, in uprightness. He promises that when we look deeply enough,
seek earnestly, the gateway to new life will open to us.
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