2nd Trinity III 2022, Hard to Surrender

 2^nd 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. 

"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 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. 

Narrow Gate, David Hayward

"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].  

2^nd August Trinity

July 31, 2022

Matthew 7:15–27 

In the spring half of its growth cycle, a fruit tree is all about manifesting. First its blossoms break forth, then its tender green leaves that broaden into summer’s crown. But the second half has to do with ripening something hidden: small living seeds, hidden in green fruit, hiding among the green leaves. They have to do with developing something that will survive autumn’s death: Seeds that will outlive the winter. 

What kind of trees are our souls? Are they cultivated, nourished, pruned, cared-for? Or like wild trees, left to fend for themselves, to eke out their existence in a hostile environment? For the important fact about our souls, and the lives they produce, is that we ourselves are both tree and gardener. We ourselves are called upon to recognize and work with our own nature. 

The fruits of noble souls are characterized by a fulsome beauty and regularity of form, by a robust generosity, flavored with a certain sweetness, nourishing others. Noble souls nourish the seeds of a life that will survive death. 

But like wild trees, untended souls create fruits that are dry and hard, measly and bitter, often corrupted from within. For such a wild tree, being turned into warming, useful firewood is an act of redemption. 

To do the will of the Father is to care for souls so that they become fruitful. So that they nourish others; so that they can offer themselves to nourish the Father’s purposes, to surrender to his greater life in the realm beyond the threshold of death. Eventually the tree will die. Its essence will be reduced to either seed or ash. 

For as Rilke says,* 

we are only the rind and the leaf.

The great death that each of us carries inside

is the fruit.

Everything enfolds it. 

For untended souls, he continues, it is 

 … hard to surrender what you never received.

Their exit has no grace or mystery

It’s a little death, hanging dry and measly

Like a fruit inside them that never ripened. 

God gives us each our own death

The dying that proceeds

from each of our lives

the way we loved

the meanings we made…. 

*Rilke, Book of Hours, Barrows and Macy, pages 130-132.

 

 

1st August Trinity 2019, Regions of Kindness

Matthew 7, 1-29

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].’

Burnand

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].

 1^st August/September Trinity

July 29, 2012

Matthew 7: 1-14

In ancient times, caves were often places used for certain kinds of initiations. They involved tests of courage. Even today, being in a cave, or any dark tight space, are places where the only light is the one you bring with you. Often the darkness brings one face to face with oneself.

Our lives can also bring us to tight dark places, where the only light seems to be what we can bring to the situation ourselves. They often involve tests of our courage and our faith.

Today’s gospel reading is a kind of instruction on ‘soul-caving’. It encourages us to enter our perhaps dark and tight soul space. We are encouraged to turn our powers of discernment inward into ourselves, rather than only onto our fellows; to notice the hindrances to seeing that exist within our own soul; to avoid the cynical, the broad and easy.

For what is to be learned is the courage to face, not what is outer, but one’s own inner darkness; to bring our inner light to bear upon ourselves. We are to generate the light of trust toward the beneficence of our God. We are to generate the light of nourishing kindness to shine toward ourselves and toward our fellows. As Naomi Nye says:

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness....*

---

 *‘Kindness’, by Naomi Shihab Nye, in Words From Under the Words: Selected Poems

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2nd August Trinity, Plumb the Depths

Kenneth Dowdy

2nd August Trinity

Matthew 7, 1-29

 “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. 

2nd August Trinity

July 30, 2017

Matthew 7, 1-29

Our eyes were shaped and formed by the light, in order to see what the light reveals. Our souls have eyes, formed and shaped by our inner experiences and by the soul's attitudes. A critical attitude sees what is lacking, in oneself and in others. Harsh criticism perceives and measures how far we fall short. It is cutting. We need to keep quiet.

Our souls can also be filled with what is holy. In our enthusiasm, we can spill this holy substance in front of cynics, squander holy substance on those who have no capacity to receive it. We need to keep quiet.

Instead of criticizing or gushing, we can quietly center ourselves. We can plumb the depths of our own hearts. With compassion and without harshness, we can honestly recognize our lacks and faults. With an upright heart, we can ask the spiritual world for the strength of soul and nourishment of spirit to become the kind of soul that can help both ourselves and others. Through the Father, we can become conscious of our humanity; through Christ, we can experience the evolution of our humanity; through our human capacities, we can receive and grasp God's Spirit of Love and Light. 

2nd August Trinity 2016, Protect the Holy

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.  

2nd August Trinity

August 31, 2017

Matthew 7, 1-29

Today’s gospel reading takes us on an inward spiral. This spiral clears a path for Christ to enter our hearts.

The first step inward is to notice our tendency to criticize and judge others. By focusing on others, we can fail to notice how such faults live within us. Critical judgment of others blinds us to what needs correcting within our own souls. It creates a closed door, a barrier to inwardness of heart. We need to pay attention to the direction in which we focus our attention.

The next step is to learn to protect the holy, to refrain from letting the profane overwhelm what is sacred. That which is holy is that within us that connects us to the divine. It must be protected from destruction. One way we profane inner holiness is by talking it to death. So this step suggests we enter an inner silence, and create a well-guarded inner treasure-chamber.

The third step is to bring our practice of prayer into the deepest part of our heart. We are not to treat the divine world as a kind of cosmic vending machine to satisfy our material wishes. Rather we are to offer our deepest needs, our deepest heart to the Father. We submit our hopes to his greater will and wisdom. He knows even better than we do what would truly benefit us.

And lastly we are to choose to treat others with respect and with wisdom.

A critical attitude of mind, a profaning of the sacred and a demanding heart; they operate within us as powers of diminishment and destruction. They eat away at our true, wise discernment, our inner relationship with God and with our fellow human beings.  John O’Donohue said,

We seldom notice how each day is a holy place

Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,

Transforming our broken fragments

Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us a dignity presides

That is more gracious than the smallness

That fuels us with fear and force,

A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.

So at the end of this day, we give thanks

For being betrothed to the unknown

And for the secret work

Through which the mind of the day

And wisdom of the soul become one.

“The Inner History of a Day,” John O’Donohue, in To Bless the Space Between Us

www.thechristiancommunity.org

2nd August Trinity 2009, Bedrock of the Heart

Matthew 7, 1-29

2^nd August Trinity

“Do not judge your fellow man, so that your judgment will not someday be

Rembrandt

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]. 

2^nd August Trinity

August 2, 2009

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.  

www.thechristiancommunity.org

2nd August Trinity 2010, Creating Fire

Matthew 7, 1-29

2^nd 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]. 

2^nd August Trinity

August 1, 2010

Matthew 7: 1-14

The fiery summer sun is in the house of Leo the Lion. This is the house in which hearts are forged. This is the house in which our relationship with Christ, the Lion of Judah, is further developed.

Last week we heard how Peter’s heart opened to recognize the Christ in Jesus. This heart recognition is the necessary first step on the path of our developing relationship with our God.

The second step, is a further heart development, which we find in today’s reading. Christ says to us to be careful about how we regard others; critical, judging thoughts of them will boomerang. What lives in our hearts will end up injuring our own hearts. At the same time, we are to guard what is precious content in our own hearts and not expose it to others’ destructive cynicism.

To walk between the abyss of these two cynicisms, our own and others’, is to walk a narrow path. Our task is to remain heart-centered, heart-healthy, heart-balanced. To walk this middle path forges a heart vessel in Leo’s fire, a vessel that is open to receive the gifts that the spiritual world wants to pour into us. For ‘he who asks in uprightness will receive; he who earnestly seeks will find; he who knocks, to him will be opened’. Matthew 7: 7

This earnest uprightness is the hallmark of the lion-hearted. This is how we rightly enkindle the fire of the heart, the fire of a love that is creative. This is the fire that is behind all existence. For as the poet says:

Listen, I've light

in my eyes

and on my skin

the warmth of a star, ….

…  And

everything alive

…is turning

into something else

as at the heart

of some annihilating

or is it creating

fire

that's burning, unseeably, always

burning….[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] Franz Wright, “The Fire” in God's Silence

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

---

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