2nd August Trinity 2007, To the Humble

Matthew 7, 1-29

2^nd August Trinity

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]. 

2^nd Sunday Summer Trinity

July 29, 2007

Matthew 7:15-27

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear what is called a “hard saying”. It is evidently not enough to be able to call upon the Lord by name. And furthermore, the ability to prophesy, to exorcise demons, or to work wonders are also insufficient as entry cards into the kingdom of the heavens. And why is that? Are they not laudable activities?

It is because since Christ’s coming, and even more so now, the kingdom is granted to those poor in spirit, to the humble, to those who offer love. Christ, whose very being is love, is the pathway into the heavens. We create heaven on earth with Him when we abide in Him and in His love, when our wills produce works of healing and peace rather than spiritual fireworks. Walking in love is a narrow and difficult path. How quickly do our ‘hungry ghosts,’ our own inner rapaciousness, rise up to reveal our own prickliness. Instead of being able to nourish others, we wound them.

The bedrock upon which we build our house of the spirit is taking Christ’s abiding and unconditional love into our own selfhood. He, Love, is the foundation for all our inner progress, for our endurance despite life’s storms and the flooding of our emotions. Through human beings working with Him, earth becomes a new heaven.

For Heaven humbled itself, toward earth made its descent;

When will earth arise, and become heaven-bent?[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Angelus Silesius, “Heaven  Becomes Earth”  Nr. 32 in Book 3 of The Cherubinic Wanderer, p. 73