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.
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| Rembrandt |
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.
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].
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
Matthew 7:15
– 27
In living things there are always three phases: first the founding
or rooting, then the leafing, blossoming and fruiting, and finally the falling
away. Or, one could say, the up-building, the peak, and the disintegration.
There are some places where Christ speaks in what are called
“hard sayings”. Today He says, “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.” Matthew 7:21
The Father’s will lives especially in the up-building and
peaking phases of things, especially in the up-building of the next phase or situation, the forward-moving
building of the future. The
disintegration of the old happens on its own—it happens where life and spirit
are no more.
Therefore Christ warns those who 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].”Matthew 7:21-23
Though well-meaning, they are serving in the place where
life and spirit are no more, in the old places of power and hierarchy whose
time has passed, which are disintegrating. They are serving destruction.
A new living thing is being formed. It is founded on the
bedrock of warmth of heart, love and service, rooted in Christ’s heart. This is
a kingdom whose fruits are visible as healing and peace, as an ennobling of
souls. It is a kingdom that wants to grow out of the very inmost center of our
being.
The Act of Consecration of Man helps us to dedicate
ourselves to this new future kingdom of the heart. Through Christ we are
offering to the Father our noblest thoughts. We are offering Him the love that
lives in our hearts. We are offering Him our devoted willing toward the up-building
of His kingdom. Through Him, whose very being is love, we receive them back purified,
strengthened and renewed, as the Father’s will for the future, to be carried
out into the world as peaceful love and healing service.
