2nd Trinity III
Matthew 7:1-29
"Do not judge your fellow human beings so that your judgment will not someday be visited upon yourself. For in the way you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, you too will be measured. Why do you look to the splinter in your brother's eye but do not become aware of the beam in your own eye? And how can you say to your brother: "Wait, I will pull the splinter out of your eye" while there is a beam 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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| Tissot |
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 whoever asks in uprightness will receive; whoever earnestly seeks will find; whoever knocks, to them will be opened. Or are there among you those who when their 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, despite 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 someone 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 that 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 whoever 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 someone who wisely built their 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.
"However, whoever hears such words from me and does not act accordingly is like someone who foolishly builds their 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 finished
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 [or, canon-lawyers].
2nd August Trinity
August 1, 2021
Matthew 7:1-29
Living things always pass through three phases: first, the grounding 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.
The Father's will lives especially in the up-building toward the 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.
There are some places in the Gospels 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" In other words, only those who are building the Father's intended future.
They say, "Lord! Lord! did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?"
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| Roland Tiller |
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. They are serving what is disintegrating.
Meanwhile, a new living thing is being formed. It is grounded 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 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 our willing work toward the up-building of His kingdom.
Through Christ, whose very being is love, we receive back what we have offered,
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.
